I don’t get much free time so I’m sorry if this is a common question.
For the last 5 years I thought the cotton controlled the flavour. If you look after the coil it runs for ages. Just rewick and all.
I think I was wrong.
Do old coils loose the flavour?
Long answer short: yes
I would clean a coil every week, and replace it every 2 weeks, because after that, the loss of flavour was significant for me. Even if I clean it well.
Sad because I can’t make them as good as I can buy. As an Aussie I better learn fast lol
Look at it on a scientific level. The more you heat metal and it cools over time it becomes weak. It expands and shrinks. So over time the burn surface will change. And honestly at higher watts it does speed it up faster. It is like anything you use. Use it more replace it more often. And this repeated function does effect how it burns off the juice. I usually swap out every two weeks. But if im busy ill use it another week. But as the coil weakens it does change the taste. When it comes to wire its why i tend to buy 15-30 meters of inner and outer wrap to make my own claptons. Whenever i find myself wanting to use coils instead of mesh. One of the reason i never bought premade specialty builds. But when time is of the essence its just easier to change out some mesh then having to go build coils.
I vape MTL and make my own coils. I find that they will last for a fair while in my usage without tapering off too much flavour wise. I can always tell when they do though as even with fresh cotton they are just Meh…
I thought the same. Its not that hard to make them. I use a wood clamp with some fishing spinners attached to it. And use a drill. Its more about patience at first. Once you do it a few times it becomes easier. Just do a reg fused clapton with either a two core or four core. They are pretty simple. Choose your outer wrap and just go slow. If you mess up you wont damage the wire. I tend to make twisted claptons as the do give me the flavor i want. But using just plain old round wire as a coil works good too. So you can use that while you are practicing. Use Wire wizard | Steam Engine | free vaping calculators
To get your ohms correct
Your bonus ids you are a low wattage vapor so you get weeks
Yep, so true mate. And I run at least 8 RTA’s in rotation so sometimes it’s months… 
I change my cotton every juice change, or 60mls. Coil every couple weeks. Flavortown 24/7
Most have highlighted the key points:
Coils will carbonise (build up a layer of carbon over time).This reduces heat transfer overall, can add bitterness to the blend, and risk a coil shorting.
Coils also oxidise. Though this can increase the surface area it adversely effects uniform firing: When part of a coil heats faster than the rest it can burn the cotton, lead to dry hits, and result in an uneven vaporisation of the particles.
Coils can last for over a month but, you need to be familiar with how to dry fire and gently abrade them.
I am a high PG blender, so I can avoid carbonisation longer than most. But, any hotspots will lead to hellish results.
To paraphrase the American voting system through comparison to vaping: change early and change often will ensure you enjoy each drag. Also, others like @D.Sims are comPLETELY RIght about changing COTton with each FLAvour cHANGe!
Wait, people were changing flavors WITHOUT changing the cotton ?? !!!
EXACTLY!! Pure madness!
I have found that for most recipes I use, the best flavor and tank/pod function comes from using a new coil for 14 to 16 ml of ejuice and then clean coil and replace cotton. Replace coil and cotton at 30ml. My wattage varies from 12 to 21 watts depending on Nicotine & mix but 15 & 30 ml maintenance works for all. No leakage from tanks or pods either but the longer you go over 15ml with cotton, leaking occurs due to cotton not holding liquid as well (my guess). Rotating every 2ml on all 12 tanks as my main juice(3mg),3 pods at 6mg and 2 pods for 24-35mg. I do cotton maintenance on average every 3 months and change coils every 6 months. Pods with DIY coils last 20 to 45 days depending on use and yes I track all of it. https://i.imgur.com/rO8QiyO.jpg
Correction to post, I do cotton maintenance approximately every 45 days and change coils every 90 days due to using the 12 rotating tanks for my main e juices. Initial post I counted two changes instead of one if that makes sense.
Yes!!! Been there done that I was vaping a peanut butter ry4 cookie flavor once and then when I finished the bottle I immediately started a bottle of chocolate pudding. It tasted pretty good until the peanut butter burned off. LOL can we say REESE’S.
