Rab D
Postman
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2014
- Messages
- 655
There are already a lot of good guides on building the Erl; here are just a few suggestions based on my experience with the full-size clone and its little buddy from FT. Might work with others; might not.
1. Get better deck screws. All the Erls on FT have negative comments in reviews and forum posts about their round-bottomed screws, which make fixing the wire under the head difficult (and with thicker wire, impossible). The size is M1.6 x 3. They're same size as Kayfun deck screws (FT's Kayfun clones are almost as bad for this) so worth getting a bag of proper screws with big heads off ebay. boltbase on eBay
2. Check the 510 isn't loose. Holding the base by its knobbly airflow ring, try to wobble the 510. FT sends a lot out loose. If it's loose, undo and put to one side the metal screw in the base of 510; insert a 3mm flat-bladed screwdriver into the plastic which held the screw (there's a slot in the plastic, although not easy to see); tighten it up; and replace the metal screw (thanks to @arboreal for this).
3. With decent screws, can use quite thick wire without problems (I'm using 0.3mm, 3mm diameter, 7 wraps, just under 1 ohm. Bit too low for me, but hey ho).
4. Follow guide by @pauly meatballs for wicking.
5. Screw on chimney; push tank onto base; screw top cap onto chimney until finger tight. The lugs to hold on to on topcap are tiny, you can't get it screwed down, but don't worry...
6. ...Get a pair of pliers. Holding base and tank in left hand, place pliers over the top cap so that they just hold the lugs in place. Not gripped, no pressure, just enough force to stop the lugs from moving when you use your left hand to screw the tank+base onto the topcap. A few turns like that and it will stop dead - cap on. Looking at the atty from the side, both top and bottom 0-rings should be clearly within the body of the tank; about half a mm of tank should be showing above the top 0-ring and below the bottom 0-ring. A bit of a palaver, but if topcap is not on right, it will seriously piss juice.
7. Good luck!
1. Get better deck screws. All the Erls on FT have negative comments in reviews and forum posts about their round-bottomed screws, which make fixing the wire under the head difficult (and with thicker wire, impossible). The size is M1.6 x 3. They're same size as Kayfun deck screws (FT's Kayfun clones are almost as bad for this) so worth getting a bag of proper screws with big heads off ebay. boltbase on eBay
2. Check the 510 isn't loose. Holding the base by its knobbly airflow ring, try to wobble the 510. FT sends a lot out loose. If it's loose, undo and put to one side the metal screw in the base of 510; insert a 3mm flat-bladed screwdriver into the plastic which held the screw (there's a slot in the plastic, although not easy to see); tighten it up; and replace the metal screw (thanks to @arboreal for this).
3. With decent screws, can use quite thick wire without problems (I'm using 0.3mm, 3mm diameter, 7 wraps, just under 1 ohm. Bit too low for me, but hey ho).
4. Follow guide by @pauly meatballs for wicking.
5. Screw on chimney; push tank onto base; screw top cap onto chimney until finger tight. The lugs to hold on to on topcap are tiny, you can't get it screwed down, but don't worry...
6. ...Get a pair of pliers. Holding base and tank in left hand, place pliers over the top cap so that they just hold the lugs in place. Not gripped, no pressure, just enough force to stop the lugs from moving when you use your left hand to screw the tank+base onto the topcap. A few turns like that and it will stop dead - cap on. Looking at the atty from the side, both top and bottom 0-rings should be clearly within the body of the tank; about half a mm of tank should be showing above the top 0-ring and below the bottom 0-ring. A bit of a palaver, but if topcap is not on right, it will seriously piss juice.
7. Good luck!
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