Help on OBS Engine RTA build

LeakingLava

Hey guys,

First off, thank you all for your help in the last few months regarding me buying my gear. Now I got some stuff, I gotta say, the experience had been great. First time I build on the Griffin 25 plus was great and resulted in a few days' vaping goodness.

Now, my OBS engine had just arrived from China and I'm currently trying to build on it and I'm getting, what feels like, spitting AND what I think is dry hit(taste of something else completely different from the juice). It's not pleasant at all. First wicking was from a suggestion on youtube saying to just cover the juice holes with wick and don't put the wick into the holes. Second attempt of wicking is to leave the cotton a little longer to be able to touch the base of the tank through the hole. Both resulted in both spitting and dry hit. Now I'm a little bit disappointed and don't even want to try the vape unless I change some setup on it again just because I don't want to taste that disgusting thing again, or hot e-liquid on my mouth.

Any suggestions of what could possibly be the issue?

Setup:
-OBS Engine RTA
-Dual coil fused clapton @ 0.25Ω
-Tarot Pro tried @ 60-120W. Different wattages same result, any higher than 90 and you could cook your own finger when you touch the tank, still tried anyway just to try and make the bloody thing work.
-70/30 VG/PG juice

LeakingLava

Thecageyone

I love mine, great little RTA. I wick somewhere in between, I do dip the cotton down into the holes, but just barely enough to 'peek' out other side. I snip the cotton about level with the edge of the deck, just a tad over, and fluff it up. I have had spitback the very odd time but I reckon it was more to do with filling. When filling I aim the nozzle of the juice bottle downward, so juice goes down into the tank rather than just splurging it in sideways - if that makes any sense? And if you get a little initial spit back, fire it and blow into the tank, seems to clear any stray juice, you might get some shoot out the air holes so just watch for that. But ... mostly I don't experience this, just try 'peeking' the cotton through the holes, ensure it's fluffy and covering the hole, and when filling aim downward into the tank and slow and steady. It's easy enough to overfill too, which will cause a bit of flooding/spitback. Just keep an eye on that too.

As for weird flavour, sounds to me like machine oil. Did you flush the tank out with hot water when you got it? A lot of tanks come with some free, delicious machine oil as a bonus I always rinse the hell out of new tanks before use. If not that, could be the coils? I never get anything weird from mine, flavor is decent and as it should taste

LeakingLava

Thecageyone wrote: »

I love mine, great little RTA. I wick somewhere in between, I do dip the cotton down into the holes, but just barely enough to 'peek' out other side. I snip the cotton about level with the edge of the deck, just a tad over, and fluff it up. I have had spitback the very odd time but I reckon it was more to do with filling. When filling I aim the nozzle of the juice bottle downward, so juice goes down into the tank rather than just splurging it in sideways - if that makes any sense? And if you get a little initial spit back, fire it and blow into the tank, seems to clear any stray juice, you might get some shoot out the air holes so just watch for that. But ... mostly I don't experience this, just try 'peeking' the cotton through the holes, ensure it's fluffy and covering the hole, and when filling aim downward into the tank and slow and steady. It's easy enough to overfill too, which will cause a bit of flooding/spitback. Just keep an eye on that too.

As for weird flavour, sounds to me like machine oil. Did you flush the tank out with hot water when you got it? A lot of tanks come with some free, delicious machine oil as a bonus I always rinse the hell out of new tanks before use. If not that, could be the coils? I never get anything weird from mine, flavor is decent and as it should taste

Thank you very much for this input. Tried it out and seems like it's working fine now. Well, I can't really be sure. I think the new liquid that I've tried on it really just tastes weird(crap). It's meant to be grapes but I really don't taste grapes off it but I do feel its menthol-y effect. Although, I did google around for the actual meaning of dry-hit and it did describe one of the many wonderful tastes that I got in the last few hours very accurately. Burning tyre.

I did rinse the tank off, although maybe not as thoroughly as I should've. I'll give that a try again tomorrow.

Regarding the coil, what do you mean exactly? I mean, I just made it from a spool of wire from Demon Killer that I just bought. Should I have done something before building with it?

Again, thank you very much. Your response is greatly appreciated.

youdipstick

These tanks are known for spit back after filling but you should be able to vape through it & spit back disappears.
Your coils are looking good,so it's all down to your wicking that is causing the dry hits,I am a great believer in the scottish roll technique on all tanks,in this tank I do a half scottish roll just tease out the cotton a small bit,by doing it this way,there are more air pockets going through the cotton & wicks a hell of a lot better,watch the video below from 15mins to the end & he shows you exactly what I have been doing,wicking it like a dripper & it works.
I don't remember,but I probably copied him :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH_kLKVJJDE&t=1443s

LeakingLava

youdipstick wrote: »

These tanks are known for spit back after filling but you should be able to vape through it & spit back disappears.
Your coils are looking good,so it's all down to your wicking that is causing the dry hits,I am a great believer in the scottish roll technique on all tanks,in this tank I do a half scottish roll just tease out the cotton a small bit,by doing it this way,there are more air pockets going through the cotton & wicks a hell of a lot better,watch the video below from 15mins to the end & he shows you exactly what I have been doing,wicking it like a dripper & it works.
I don't remember,but I probably copied him :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH_kLKVJJDE&t=1443s

Will try this out tonight, too. Thank you very much!

Thecageyone

Sometimes wire will have it's own share of gunk, oils, dust etc ... I just pulse them to red every time before wicking, but I'm sure you do thi anyway? I would say it's more down to the wicking as youdipstick says, and it might also be the juice you are using. Try another, with fresh wicks, see how it goes

LeakingLava

Tried new coils, new cotton, different tank(griffin 25plus), same crappy taste. Could it be the juice? I'm using an unfamiliar brand that I got from a shop. XL Juice The Rebellious Grape Gooz. The only thing that allows me to keep using it despite that horrible burning taste is the mint taste that I get off it that lets me breath clearer. Apart from that, everything else is absolutely horrid. Any ideas? The shop that I bought it from said that my cotton may be to tight in the coil but they are still able to move left to right if I wanted to, and another possibility according to them is the juice. Now, I was just being polite in agreeing with them but I don't think they're entirely confident about their opinions.

LeakingLava

Well, just went back into the vape shop and they, very greatly, rebuilt the deck for me. They even asked me if I wanted to have them fill it with juice to which I said I wanted to give the grape gooz another go just to see what it actually tastes like on a 'good build'. Welp, much to my disappointment, nothing was wrong with my build. This juice is really just crap. Now there is a possibility that my previous juice was just more flavourful but yet in the same range which made this juice taste like crap but even so, it's meant to be grape and my previous was candy corner so there had to be some sort of distinct difference anyway for me to be able to at least enjoy it somehow, but no. Juice is crap. The taste that I get from this now is pretty much the exact same as what I got from my 2 previous builds, both on OBS engine RTA and the Griffin 25 plus. The shop did say that the flavour was definitely better on this build than the build that i walked in with. And I agree, because that build was 2 days old. But still, on this fresh build, same flavour. Very shallow almost empty grape flavour with a little mint aftertaste. On this third build, he even used a prebuilt twisted clapton and supposedly better cotton than what I had, but nothing was different apart from being able to use higher wattage due to lower resistance. Anyway, I will probably just keep using this crappy juice until I finish it up as I'd hate to see an expensive juice literally go down the drain so I'll just sub ohm the crap out of it and look forward to going back to my nicer juice and to ordering more juice.

/Rant

TL;DR that juice company should never ever produce that juice anymore and should probably invest more on research for discovering what grape actually tastes like.

Thecageyone

Bright side: you know it's not your builds

I've had some awful, and over priced juices n the past. Its what led me to DIY. My old ADV was €23 per 30ml :O which was killing me, but it was one of very few 'premium' juices I loved. Now I can make one just as good [IMO] for about €1.50

youdipstick

Glad you got sorted Leaky...

LeakingLava

youdipstick wrote: »

Glad you got sorted Leaky...

I'm glad that my name doesn't apply to my tanks. :pac: :pac:

LeakingLava

Thecageyone wrote: »

Bright side: you know it's not your builds

I've had some awful, and over priced juices n the past. Its what led me to DIY. My old ADV was €23 per 30ml :O which was killing me, but it was one of very few 'premium' juices I loved. Now I can make one just as good [IMO] for about €1.50

How does DIY actually work? Could you give me a basic ingredients list for a basic enough juice? Just so I could look into the whole DIY cost and so I can consider it. I'm on 0 nic so I assume that would make it a bit easier for me in terms of calculations? If possible, provide links as well? I am sorry for asking too much, but at the same time, thankful that I can ask too much.

Thecageyone

LeakingLava wrote: »

How does DIY actually work? Could you give me a basic ingredients list for a basic enough juice? Just so I could look into the whole DIY cost and so I can consider it. I'm on 0 nic so I assume that would make it a bit easier for me in terms of calculations? If possible, provide links as well? I am sorry for asking too much, but at the same time, thankful that I can ask too much.

There's a DIY thread on this page, that's where I started my wee DIY journey. The basic ingredients you need are VG (Vegetable glycerine) PG (Propylene glycol) and flavorings. 0mg nic makes it so easy, it's just a matter of getting your flavor % right.

If you want to just give it a go, hit Pick'n'mix DIY, they run out of Wexford so you get the package asap. If you got some VG/PG (if you vape 70/30 or higher VG you only ever need a small bottle of PG) some 100ml bottles and some concentrates you'd be on your way. A scales is handy for measuring but you can use syringes. I love the bottles I link here because you can just add your flavorings and PG and then free pour the VG to fill.

500ml VG
http://picknmixdiy.com/vg-500ml-picknmixdiy-vaping-concentrates-wexford-ireland9.99

100ml PG
http://picknmixdiy.com/100ml-Mono-Propylene-Glycol-mixing-E-Liquid-vaping-picknmix-ireland

100ml easy mix bottles
http://picknmixdiy.com/100ml-hdpe-dropper-bottle-picknmixdiy-wexford-vaping-ireland

1mm syringes, get a bunch of these
http://picknmixdiy.com/1ml%20syringe-measuring%20syringe-Luer%20Slip-picknmix


to get mix recipes and conjur up your own, use http://e-liquid-recipes.com/

Depends on what flavors you enjoy, have a look through the concentrates on there. A 10ml bottle of concentrate will usually do for a bunch of mixes, as you'll only be using a few ml per each 100ml mix [or the whole bottle if you just want a solo flavor]

Check through the DIY thread for tips

LeakingLava

Thecageyone wrote: »

There's a DIY thread on this page, that's where I started my wee DIY journey. The basic ingredients you need are VG (Vegetable glycerine) PG (Propylene glycol) and flavorings. 0mg nic makes it so easy, it's just a matter of getting your flavor % right.

If you want to just give it a go, hit Pick'n'mix DIY, they run out of Wexford so you get the package asap. If you got some VG/PG (if you vape 70/30 or higher VG you only ever need a small bottle of PG) some 100ml bottles and some concentrates you'd be on your way. A scales is handy for measuring but you can use syringes. I love the bottles I link here because you can just add your flavorings and PG and then free pour the VG to fill.

500ml VG
http://picknmixdiy.com/vg-500ml-picknmixdiy-vaping-concentrates-wexford-ireland9.99

100ml PG
http://picknmixdiy.com/100ml-Mono-Propylene-Glycol-mixing-E-Liquid-vaping-picknmix-ireland

100ml easy mix bottles
http://picknmixdiy.com/100ml-hdpe-dropper-bottle-picknmixdiy-wexford-vaping-ireland

1mm syringes, get a bunch of these
http://picknmixdiy.com/1ml%20syringe-measuring%20syringe-Luer%20Slip-picknmix


to get mix recipes and conjur up your own, use http://e-liquid-recipes.com/

Depends on what flavors you enjoy, have a look through the concentrates on there. A 10ml bottle of concentrate will usually do for a bunch of mixes, as you'll only be using a few ml per each 100ml mix [or the whole bottle if you just want a solo flavor]

Check through the DIY thread for tips

Thank you very much!!

I wouldn't mind waiting a bit for them. If it was you, would you consider ordering from Darkstar from the UK for the savings? I just kind of made up an order there and the cart price is I think around 70GBP but I get much more. For example, 2 Litres VG is just 7GBP there instead of the 10euro 500ml VG here. It just makes more sense in my opinion. Would I be correct? Or is there something that I'm missing here? Are we still allowed to order from the uk?

Another question is, what do you mean by scales? Like, to measure weight of the liquid?

youdipstick

LeakingLava wrote: »

Thank you very much!!

I wouldn't mind waiting a bit for them. If it was you, would you consider ordering from Darkstar from the UK for the savings? I just kind of made up an order there and the cart price is I think around 70GBP but I get much more. For example, 2 Litres VG is just 7GBP there instead of the 10euro 500ml VG here. It just makes more sense in my opinion. Would I be correct? Or is there something that I'm missing here? Are we still allowed to order from the uk?

Another question is, what do you mean by scales? Like, to measure weight of the liquid?

Go for Darkstar,always best to get cheap cheap & these are the type of scales you want...
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Electronic-Pocket-Mini-Digital-Gold-Jewellery-Weighing-Scales-0-01G-to-100-Grams-/191500928853?hash=item2c96584755:g:kFwAAOSwIaFZE1V8

LeakingLava

youdipstick wrote: »

Go for Darkstar,always best to get cheap cheap & these are the type of scales you want...
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Electronic-Pocket-Mini-Digital-Gold-Jewellery-Weighing-Scales-0-01G-to-100-Grams-/191500928853?hash=item2c96584755:g:kFwAAOSwIaFZE1V8

Thank you! Could you by any chance briefly explain how the weighing scales would work? I mean, do I have to calculate how much my VG and PG and concentrates weigh per ml? It's just that I know that 1 litre of water is usually around 1kg, does it work the same for vg and pg considering they're thicker?

youdipstick

LeakingLava wrote: »

Thank you! Could you by any chance briefly explain how the weighing scales would work? I mean, do I have to calculate how much my VG and PG and concentrates weigh per ml? It's just that I know that 1 litre of water is usually around 1kg, does it work the same for vg and pg considering they're thicker?

Scales measure by grams only,mixing by weight is done by changing all symbols like "ml & %" to "g"(grams) in all of the juice recipes,there is little difference between ml & grams,so just replace ml to grams.
Here is a video showing you how to use scales...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq6uGb6C1Xc

Watch this one after the first video..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmxuoj1L-gQ

Any questions,just call back...

LeakingLava

youdipstick wrote: »

Scales measure by grams only,mixing by weight is done by changing all symbols like "ml & %" to "g"(grams) in all of the juice recipes,there is little difference between ml & grams,so just replace ml to grams.
Here is a video showing you how to use scales...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq6uGb6C1Xc

Watch this one after the first video..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmxuoj1L-gQ

Any questions,just call back...

Thank you very much yet again!

I really thought that because VG and PG are much thicker than water that the weight of these liquids would be much higher than water but seeing that video, clears it up that there's only a little bit of a difference. Thanks again. Can't wait to start now.. :pac: :pac:

How long would you steep for?

Thecageyone

The site I linked earlier has an inbuilt calculator that takes into account the weight differences between PG/VG - unless you buy specialised VG flavorings, your concentrates are going to be all PG too.

http://e-liquid-recipes.com/create

I use Darkstar, but you have to order using either an AddressPal or Parcel Motel account, and they can be a little slow. Prices are great though, I'm awaiting 2.5ltrs of VG and some 90ml concentrates atm myself. Use DS35TFA code to get 30% off TFA concentrates, on top of their already good prices for 30ml bottles you can save a bunch more. It does only work for The flavor apprentice ones though.

I used to get my nic there too, sadly we can't get those lovely 500ml 72mg bottles anymore, because they had great prices on nic too.

youdipstick

Custard & Creams can take a week or 3 to steep,the others can be vaped nearer nuff straight away...

LeakingLava

Thank you very much guys. All your replies are greatly appreciated. Now the wait begins!

Thecageyone

Careful, mixing can be addictive I often end up with more juice in the press than I could vape over 6 months, just because I find mixing fun

LeakingLava

Thecageyone wrote: »

Careful, mixing can be addictive I often end up with more juice in the press than I could vape over 6 months, just because I find mixing fun

Yeaahh. I think I already see the signs of that. I was looking around a lot of shops to see if I could bulk buy 100ml bottles :pac: :pac:

How long do orders usually take from Darkstar to RoI?

Thecageyone

LeakingLava wrote: »

Yeaahh. I think I already see the signs of that. I was looking around a lot of shops to see if I could bulk buy 100ml bottles :pac: :pac:

How long do orders usually take from Darkstar to RoI?

About a week but I have waited up to 12 days. You learn to order a little ahead after a while though. Pick 'n mix have the best 100ml bottles IMO, they're so easy to use and re-use. Possibly the easiest bottles to VG fill and also, to get stubborn stickers off