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Chat => Guides & Projects => Topic started by: Shaun on May 27, 2012, 01:34:02 AM

Title: Building a Repairable Atomiser
Post by: Shaun on May 27, 2012, 01:34:02 AM
What is a repairable atomiser you might be asking? It is an e-cig component which contains user serviceable parts and allows tinkering to adjust performance to personal taste.

Atomisers commercially bought have a finite lifespan,they can developing reduced vapour production and flavor loss  or a brunt taste. High voltage or a very thick e-liquid (both popular in the scene) tend to speed this up and a drop off in performance can be noticed within in a few hours of first use, nothing can be done when performance starts to drop off apart from replace and throw the old one in the bin.
A week is generally considered exceptional, for my personal use 4-5 days use I consider good, (I tend to use 3 or 4 in rotation) and spend about 20 quid a month on them.

The coil and wick in a repairable can be replaced for pennies using Kanthal wire and stainless steel mesh, repairable atomisers are quite a niche product at the moment, as they are fiddly and there is an art form to getting the best out of them. They tend to be built by men in their shed and sold in small batches on e-cigs forums, so tend to be quite expensive, but still sell out in minutes and some of the better examples trade hands on the second hand market for 2x-10x the list price.

Been on ecigs myself since the new year and really enjoying it, it’s great to be able to indulge my Nicotine addiction without all the health concerns and I have truly indulged it since I got my first decent ecig! (by the way the cheap ones that look like a plastic cig tend to be sh*t)

Got the heads up on an ecig forum I use that a Greek guy was putting out a new model called “the Did” so decided to grab one for myself to have a play with, it cost 75 euros inc postage.

The parts.

(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k26/bobbins53/did1.jpg)


Started off by putting on the O-rings, this system has a tank which holds 3.5ml of e-liquid (about a day at my usage rate).

(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k26/bobbins53/did2.jpg)

Screwed in the centre pin into the base, this houses the positive connection to the atomiser.

(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k26/bobbins53/did3.jpg)

The tank and top fitted.

(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k26/bobbins53/did4.jpg)

Fitting the brass positive pin.

(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k26/bobbins53/did5.jpg)

The 3 brass nuts fitted on the positive pin, the lower one holds the pin in position, the upper 2  are a anchor point for the coil.

(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k26/bobbins53/did6.jpg)

I then made the wick this is made by rolling up a 3.5 x 5cm sheet of stainless steel mesh into a tube and rolling it into a tube between my fingers a bit like a rollup cigarette.

(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k26/bobbins53/did7.jpg)


The finished tube tested for size. 

(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k26/bobbins53/did8.jpg)

Stainless steel mesh makes an excellent wicking material using capillary action and is resistant to the heat produced by the coil, however due to the fact it is conductive it needs to be insulated, the easiest way to do this is to oxidize it in a flame then quench it in water, this can be done with a blow torch or chefs torch. I did mine on the gas hob holding it with pliers heating it in the blue bit of the flame till it glowed, then dipping it in water, did this 3 times (no pic of this was really sunny in the kitchen and they didn’t come out well)

The next part was to soak the wick in e-liquid and then set it on fire, this aids the capillary action with a new wick.

(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k26/bobbins53/did9.jpg)


Then I made the coil this is done by trapping Kanthal wire under the allan key screw and looping it round the wick 3-5 loop then trapping it between the brass nuts on the positive post. Sounds simple! ...Took me under 20 mins to do all the above, spent hours on the coil length and positioning! lol

(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k26/bobbins53/did10.jpg)

The target with a device such as this is to get a resistance from the coil of around 1.4-1.6ohm, so wire length, coils touching and short circuits can reduce the ohms and can lead to a burnt out coil or a burnt tasting and reduced vapour production, also hotspots (my biggest issue) these happen  if the coil or wire has too much power running thru it without being able to dump the heat it generates into something (the wick or the + - posts). 

This is what a hotspot looks like.

(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k26/bobbins53/did11.jpg)

Vapour production when I had the coil sorted out.

(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k26/bobbins53/did12.jpg)

The finished device.

(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k26/bobbins53/did13.jpg)

The money shot!

(http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k26/bobbins53/did14.jpg)
             
   
Title: Re: Building a Repairable Atomiser
Post by: matt5cott on May 27, 2012, 12:10:06 PM
That's a steampunk wet dream  ;) :ptu: