Most vapers start on cig-a-likes or Ego-style e-cigs like this:

After a while though, you may be after more from your device. Maybe it's just not as satisfying as you think it should be, or maybe you were just intrigued by all the massive clouds you see on your Facebook wall. However you come across them, you eventually discover rebuildable atomizers and wonder if you should take the leap.

What is a rebuildable atomizer?

A rebuildable atomizer is simply an atomizer that requires the coils and wick to be made by hand instead of using replacement coil assemblies. They are favoured by many because of their increased flavour and vapour production. 

There are two main kinds of rebuildable atomizer:

1. Rebuildable tank atomizers (RTAs)

2. Rebuildable dripping atomizers (RDAs)

For the purposes of this blog post I will discuss the most common types of RTA and RDA and not go into some of the more esoteric designs.

Rebuildable tank atomizers (RTAs)

RTAs generally consist of a rebuilding deck with two posts and juice channels, a "chimney" section for the atomized vapour, surrounded by a tank section to hold the e-liquid.

Most RTAs on the market today are the Kayfun-style design. When you fill the tank section, you suck on the atomizer without firing to create air pressure inside the tank. Then when you fire your coil and draw on the atomizer, the change in air pressure inside the chimney section draws e-liquid up the juice channels onto the wick.

The main advantage of an RTA is the ability to hold a large amount of juice without having to drip directly onto the wick every couple of puffs. The disadvantages are in airflow - many of them are a tight draw, and if they are not wicked correctly flooding and gurgling can happen.

Rebuildable dripping atomizers (RDAs)

RDAs also consist of a rebuilding deck with posts, but instead of juice channels and a chimney section, RDAs may have a small juice well to hold small amounts of liquid, or a flat deck with no juice reservoir. The wicks go through the coil and rest on the base of the juice well or flat deck, and the air is drawn either through holes in the sides of the cap or in the deck underneath the coils for bottom-flow juice well designs.

RDAs also vary in the number of posts. Some have a simple two-post setup, others have three posts, with a centre post or block and two posts on either side. Some have four or more posts, but we won't go into those here.

RDAs by far produce the best flavour and vapour, however the requirement to drip liquid onto the wick at regular intervals puts some people off.

What are the benefits of switching to a rebuildable atomizer?

Sub-ohming and custom resistance

Of course these days we have beasts like the Aspire Atlantis or the Kanger Subtank, but before they came onto the scene, going rebuildable was the only way to sub-ohm. Even now with these sub-ohm clearomizer options, going rebuildable gives you a lot more flexibility in choosing your own coil resistance. If 0.5 is not hot enough for you but 0.2 is still a bit too much, you can build yourself a nice halfway 0.35ohm coil and vape in your sweet spot.

Flavour

Rebuildables are undoubtedly the kings of flavour. Being able to choose your own wicking material, adjust your airflow and customise your resistance gives you endless possibilities in searching for the ever-imminent perfect vape. As mentioned above, RDAs have the upper hand in the flavour department, but any rebuildable will give you a better flavour than your little Ego silica wick clearomizers.

Vapour

If you're an aspiring cloud chaser, rebuildables are the way to go. Again RDAs have the unfair advantage because of the smaller distance the vapour has to travel from coil to tip, but any rebuildable option will be better than Egos for the old cumulonimbi production.

Price

Buying replacement coils regularly can have an impact on your wallet, albeit not the same as buying five packets of cancer sticks a week. But rebuilding supplies give you a lot more mileage, and are cheap. One spool of resistance wire and one packet of organic cotton sheets can last you for months on end and cost less than $10!

What will I need before switching to rebuildables?

The right tools

Once you've added your new RTA or RDA to your shopping cart, the next items you need to add are:

1. Resistance wire. If you're new to the game, choose 28 gauge Kanthal. Nickel wire should only be used by experienced rebuilders with strong knowledge of Ohm's law. You can use other gauges of Kanthal once you've gotten coil building down pat.

2. Wicking material. You are spoiled for choice here, but the most common choice is cotton, be it in sheets or balls. Silica wicks are also available and can be used if you're not confident working with cotton.

3. Small pair of pliers or tinsnips. You will need these to cut your lengths of resistance wire and trim the legs of your coils, so they need to be small. You can also use nail clippers if you so desire.

4. Tweezers. These are used for squeezing your coils, and should be ceramic-tipped if possible. For more information on this please see our blog post on building your first coil.

5. Scissors. These are used for cutting and trimming your lengths of wicking material.

6. Ohms meter/resistance tester. This is a small outboard unit used to check the resistance of your coils prior to installing onto your mod. If you are using a regulated mod it is optional but still recommended.

7. Coil jig. This is used for wrapping your coils, although you can use a drill bit, small screwdriver or large gauge syringe needle if necessary.

Your new rebuildable should include a small screwdriver or Allen key for the posts, and if you're lucky some spare screws and o-rings.

The right knowledge

You will need to learn a few new skills:

1. Coil building. As mentioned above we have a blog post about this, but you can learn off YouTube or a generous vaping friend or relative.

2. Wicking. If using cotton, you will need to learn how to create wicks of the right thickness. Again we have a blog post about this. (How good are we?)

3. Ohm's law and handling electricity. It will now be up to you to determine the right power levels for the right resistance. A regulated mod makes this easier, but it is vital that you understand the principals to ensure you don't blow up your mod and for your own personal safety. And yes, you guessed it, we have a blog post about this.

Are rebuildables right for me?

As with everything in the vaping world, whether or not you use a rebuildable is entirely a matter of personal preference.

You should seriously consider switching to rebuildables if:

• Your current setup isn't satisfying you
• The only way to ward off your cravings is through chain-vaping
• You want better flavour
• You want to blow massive clouds
• You are tired of fighting peer-pressure from your more experienced vaping friends and want to feel the sweet relief of giving in

Rebuildables may not be right for you if:

• Your cig-a-like or Ego is all you need to quit smoking
• You're not good at doing small fiddly things with your hands
• You prefer the convenience of tanks and pre-made coil assemblies
• You have no desire to sub-ohm or cloud chase
• You're not interested in larger sized setups or being teased by your co-workers about sucking on something that looks like a dictaphone

To sum it all up though, I think I speak on behalf of all rebuilders when I say:

Give it a go!

I have never once regretted the switch. Rebuilding my own atomizers is a much-loved hobby and I have learned a lot from doing it. Plus (nerd alert) it makes me feel more "connected" and "invested" in my vaping journey. Plus, now I'm hooked on RDAs, nothing else quite stacks up.

If you're toying with the idea but are still not 100% convinced, I highly recommend buying a simple two-post RDA (and a regulated mod if you don't already have one) and giving it a go. You may just find the vaping experience you've been looking for!

Now that you've entered the wild and wonderful world of rebuildable atomizers and mastered the art of wrapping micro coils, you will need to select a wicking material.

If you started on the Egos like - well, pretty much everybody, you would be familiar with silica wicks. Silica is a great all-purpose wicking material that is hardy, doesn't burn easily and lasts a long time. You can definitely use silica in your rebuildable, however if you're after better flavour and vapour production (a big reason most vapers start building their own coils), you will eventually want to consider alternatives to silica.

There are actually a lot of options. Apart from silica and cotton, you can use Rayon, a type of synthetic cotton material; you can use stainless steel mesh (most commonly used in Genesis-style atomisers and certain kinds of RDAs); or you can even use ceramic wicks, although again apart from the Gennys they are not so common these days.

If you settle on cotton for your wick material, there are further options again within this group. We've already mentioned Rayon, which some users prefer for its superior wicking properties and the fact it imparts no flavour to the vape. You can use organic cotton balls, or even the el-cheapo supermarket cotton balls you steal from the bathroom cupboard - although, quality will vary widely depending on your choice, and this will impact the flavour of the vape.

Most experienced rebuilders (including myself) will tell you that organic cotton sheets are the way to go, for a few reasons:

• Quality - your local friendly - and reputable - vape supplier will generally go through the hassle of sourcing and experimenting with different suppliers, ensuring the sheets you buy are top quality;
• Ease of use - once you've had enough of picking bits of fluff out of cotton balls and somehow rolling them into wicks you will appreciate how simple wicking with sheets is;
• Consistency - no more lumpy bits or thin bits in your wicks, leading to burns, snags and dry hits;
• Flavour - believe it or not, most vapers who use organic cotton (again, including myself) actually like the flavour it imparts to the vape. There ain't nothin' like that freshly-wicked cotton taste! Mmmmmm

In addition to the reasons outlined above, if you are new to rebuilding, using organic cotton sheets is a great way to get the hang of wicking, with the added bonus of never needing to use anything else if you don't want to.

SO, now we've got that out of the way, how do we actually do this? I'm glad you asked!

To keep it simple for this tutorial, I have put a single micro coil on my trusty old Kayfun clone so you can get a good look at what's going on. Also in the name of simplicity, we will not discuss model-specific wicking techniques here. If you would like advice specific to your atomizer, please contact us and it should appear in a future blog post. Now, let's get down to brass tacks!

You will need: Packet of organic cotton sheets, scissors.

1. Grab your packet of cotton sheets, and extract a single sheet. Be careful not to pull the individual sheets apart or you will have an unusable mess on your hands. You can tell where one starts and the other ends by looking at the raised lines on the edge.
     
2. Grab your scissors and cut a strip off the edge of the sheet, going with the grain. For most coils you will need no more than 5mm.
   
3. Gently twist one end to a point. You do not need to twist the whole strip.
   
4. Carefully insert the twisted end into your coil, and slowly pull the strip through.
   
   NOTE: check the width here. If it's too thick, don't force it! Trim it down and start again. If it's too thin, throw it out and cut a new one.
   Why? If your wick is too thick, juice will not get to the coil and the wick will burn. If it's too thin, you can get flooding and gurgling, and the coil will get too hot. Don't be afraid to ditch a dodgy strip!
5. Once inserted into the coil, gently pull back and forth inside the coil. This does two things: 1. ensures you have the thickness right - it should move easily within the coil whilst still touching the whole inside of it; and 2. conditions the cotton inside the coil so it will be better at delivering juice.
           
6. Finally, trim the ends to the needed length. The ends should end up looking like they do in the photo. If they are still a bit twisted or compacted, very carefully pull the cotton apart. For RDAs, make sure you have enough length for the juice well. For RTAs, make sure you don't have so much length you're blocking the air channels.
     

That's it! Told you it was simple. This is your foundation wicking technique that will see you through your organic cotton sheet days. Any further variations you may come across all start with this.

If you would like a more specific wicking tutorial regarding your atomizer, please contact us and write "Blog post request" in the subject line.

Next week we will build on what we've learned in the last two posts and talk about how to use doublers.

So you've finally taken the plunge into the world of rebuildables! Your shiny new RDA has arrived in the mail, you’ve opened up the box, dismantled the atomizer, looked at the empty posts and said “OK, now what?”

The first thing you need to learn is how to build a coil. This tutorial will show you how to build micro-coils, which is the only coil you will need until you're ready to try some of the more “out-there” coil configurations.

It’s called a micro-coil because it’s small, and the wraps of the coil all touch each other. Nothing scarier than that :-)

Setting up

Before we dive in, here are the tools you will need for the job:

1. Kanthal resistance wire
2. Small pliers
3. Small tin snips or nail clippers
4. Drill bit, small screwdriver or coiling wand
5. Tweezers
6. (optional) butane torch

• You will need to select a gauge of Kanthal – the best one to start with is 28AWG. This gives you a good all-purpose gauge that will be suitable for most, if not all of your initial builds.
• If using drill bits, either 1/8 or 1/16 is a good size, but this is purely personal preference – you will get to know the size you prefer.
• Ceramic tipped tweezers are the best but you can make do with the ones you steal from the bathroom cupboard - same as the nail clippers :-P
• Using a butane torch is optional; you can still wrap a perfectly fine coil without one.
• And as always, safety first. You will be dealing with red-hot metal and noxious fumes, so make sure the space is well ventilated, and try not to burn yourself! It hurts.

Wrapping up

For the purposes of this tutorial, here are my tools: 30W regulated box mod, Magma RDA, 28AWG Kanthal, small pliers, metal tweezers, nail clippers, 1/16 drill bit and a butane torch.

Unspool about 20cm of your Kanthal. You want plenty to work with until you get a feel for the ideal length, so don't hold back. Snip it off with your pliers or nail clippers.

(optional) Hold the Kanthal with your pliers and take to it with your butane torch. Run slowly along the length of the wire until every part of it has glowed. This burns off the grease and muck from the factory and takes away the “springiness” of the wire, making it easier to work with.

Hold the drill bit in your hand and hold one end of the wire against the flutes for grip. Take note of how much length I leave on the flute side.

With the other hand, wrap the wire once around the shank. This is our starter wrap, so don't worry if it looks ugly.
Now, slowly continue wrapping the wire around the shank. Take your time to ensure each wrap touches the last as much as possible. Keep going until you've done ten full wraps.

Now, carefully unwrap your starter wrap and straighten out the wire.

Voila! Here is your coil. If it’s anything like my first one, it will not be as pretty as the one in this photo! But don't worry. It takes practice, and Kanthal is cheap!

Burning in

You can work with your first one, or practice a few times until you have something better. But the next step of the process is burning in the coil.

You can pre-burn with a butane torch, direct burn by installing in the RDA and dry-firing, or you can do both.

If using butane torch:

Carefully place the coil in the tip of your pliers and apply gentle pressure.

Give it a blast with the torch until it glows, maintaining the gentle pressure. Five seconds should do the trick.

If using direct burn by dry-firing:

Install the coil in your RDA.

Remove the excess wire by either snipping it with your tin snips or nail clippers, or by wiggling the wire until it breaks off.    
If using a mechanical mod, check the resistance using an ohms meter first. If you wrapped ten wraps, you should be reading around the 1 ohm mark. If the resistance of your coil does not match your setup, re-wrap the coil, using more or less wraps to change the resistance. This is important! The wrong resistance on a mech mod is a recipe for damage, so don't skip this step.

If using a regulated mod, you can adjust the power output to the correct level for your resistance, then fire it up! The coil will glow unevenly, and some smoke will probably appear. Keep firing until the smoke is gone.
         
Now this is the tricky bit: get your tweezers ready. Fire the coil until it’s red hot. Then, release the power button, and while the coil is still glowing, squeeze it with your tweezers so that the coil is nice and compact.
         
NOTE: please be careful! If you're not using ceramic tipped tweezers, you can short your system and/or give yourself a nasty little zap. Make sure the power button is released before touching your coil with metal tweezers.

After you've done the squeeze, fire it up again. Make sure the glow starts on the inside of the coil and moves outwards.
         
If it does – congratulations! Your coil is ready for wick installation!

In summary, this takes practice. There is no shortage of Kanthal in the world, so don't be afraid to chuck any messy ones in the bin and start again.

Next week we will take you to the next step – wicking with organic cotton sheets.