COIL CARE GUIDE
Picture of a stitched mothership Mohawk.
Many mistakes have been made during pulse work and coil cleaning between cotton changes.. we have all done it and many have learnt the hard way.
over the years much bad advice has been given and even some of the most experienced people are still making rookie mistakes.
INSTALLATION AND PULSE WORKS..
your objective is to have your coils installed, perfectly pulsed and firing cleanly.. along the way you may encounter “Hot spots” which people often tend to deal with by strumming the coils with either a screwdriver or tweezers ect which is not ideal.. but what if I told you that those “Hot spots” are something which you just created?
it is possible with a bit of patience to avoid creating them altogether by simply starting with much less power and giving the coils long pulses to give the power a chance to find its way. (Set the path)
initially your not looking to make the coils glow at all and in fact this is something you should try to avoid as much as possible.
if you see a hot spot or any part of the coil start to light up suddenly then you have likely just created a hot spot by using to much power to soon.
don’t panic and whatever you do don’t start abusing them with a screwdriver.. gentle coil manipulation or even gentle little taps can be very effective at helping to get rid of them.
Those long pulses with 10 watts or with some coils like a single MTL even less may not look like they are doing anything because your not visually seeing anything change but in actual fact they are paving the way and setting the path for the power to flow without forcing it to jump across the wraps which is exactly what a hot spot is.
going in with to much power to soon is exactly how to create a hot spot and glowing your coils up excessively is only robbing you of the best that they had to give before you have even had chance to use them..
so take your time, aim to get your coils to turn in to gold colours and then gradually in towards the blues.
one little quick glow at the end at a power level just above what you intend on using them (that’s important) then your good to go.
COIL CLEANING/WICK CHANGING.
This is where most people manage to ruin coils.
many like to remove the cotton and then “Burn Off” all the gunk in to an ash.. this is a terrible idea..
firstly you may be burning some of that gunk in to an ash but at the same time you are burning on and in to the coils a horrible tasting black residue which will forever taint the coils performance and result in the coils life being significantly reduced..
You wouldn’t dream of setting fire to the dirty pots and pans after cooking as a way to clean them and if you did then you can be sure that any food cooked in them after doing that will taste weird..
instead when doing cotton changes and coil cleans then follow these simple steps.
note that during this process you are avoiding glowing the coils as much as possible as you will be using the power of steam and water to clean your coils.
you will need a small amount of water like a cup or shot glass ect that you can use to dip your finger in to and take small droplets of water.
Step 1. remove cotton and then using your finger take a drop of water and add it to the coils.
make sure the coils are wet.
Step 2. fire the coils and watch closely for the water you just put on them to start to bubble and eventually evaporate.
immediately stop as soon as you see the water is gone.
do not let the coils light up as you want to avoid burning anything on to them.
Step 3. Keep adding small droplets of water to the coils and then firing while watching the whole bubble and steam process.
watch as the water bubbles in to steam and cuts through the gunk but being sure to always stop once the water has gone.
Step 4. Upon seeing you now have coils that have been steam cleaned without having any nasty stuff burnt on to them.. give the whole thing a rinse and dry.
now a quick little fire up to make sure everything is in order.
Step 5. re-wick and enjoy coils that will last you significantly longer.
