This topic has been on my mind for a while and I was hoping I could get some input. I’ve recently been wondering just how tight or loose to wick your coils, I hear people talk about how certain coils need to be wicked tighter then others. I guess my question is how do you know how tight or loose to wick a coil. Here’s some examples: 1. Six wrap 24 gauge spaced nichrome 80 build around a 2.5mm bit. 2. Twelve wrap 22 gauge kanthal build around a 3.0mm bit. 3. Eight wrap 22 gauge kanthal build around a 2.5mm bit.
Myself I like it snug just able to move it back and forth not loose
Seem to get less posing in my mouth
Not to tight to cut off juice flow though
I do .8 ohm build .7 ohm on subtank plus
Plenty clouds for me
I am sure that others do differently
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I use 24gauge kanthal, 2.5mm, 7 wraps, dual coil on Aromamizer and when I wick it, I make it pretty tight, with rayon, and a little looser with organic cotton. Just enough for it to slide back and forth with a bit of a tug, but not so much you warp your coil trying to…
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I agree with still being able to slide back and forth, also roll mine kinda like a joint shape (for lack of a better description), so its firm or sponginess. Always going with the grain of the cotton. If that makes any sense.
Example would be cigar with one pointy end. Then trim once finished and fluff up the ends.
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Thanks for all the input guys! I guess the general consensus I’m getting is that you want the wick snug in the coil but not so snug that when you try and pull it through it yanks on the coil?
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Exactly. See, when rayon and cotton wicks get wet they kinda condense down a bit, so that somewhat snugness you have putting it in, once saturated, will be just right.
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In my experience if it’s too tight, it may wick poorly resulting in dry hits. If it’s too loose, you may experience “spitting” where hot juice splatters up into the mouthpiece.
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In my experience, I have found that wicking issues can lead to a lot of problems and it varies for different tanks too, so in order to prevent these problems you would have to get it spot on. Based on the best and the worst tank that I have had which is the Serpent, I can tell you that, wicking this had taught me all I need to know about wicking. I have listed points that I have faced and how I have solved it(using Serpent).
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My serpent leaked alot, I mean like filling=leaking. Eventhought the JC was closed all the way while the AFC was too(for air pressurization or watever). Looked up a lot of forums to find most people had this issue. When everybody blamed the tank I knew I was doing something wrong. I was wicking too much choking the cotton.
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I used less cotton to wick, keeping it a bit loose, now what I achieved was that more flavor and less leaking. And I would have dry hits now and then too.
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For the above problem to go away, I tried chopping up my wick a bit on top so that it wouldnt touch the chimney, in order to keep it stationary in there no matter whatever part I was moving. This prevented the wick from moving away from the juice depot.
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Still leaking, so, i make a new wick but this time a bit more cotton, almost to the point of just before choking(the way to make sure if it is choking or not is by moving the week through the coil left and right. If too tight probably you are choking). I brushed the outer side of the wick to get the excess out, therefore loosening the hold but not by too much.
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Issues fixed, my serpent never leaked, never dry hit and amazing flavors.
Moral of the story, each deck needs different type of build, look up how people who have mastered it to get it right. If you are getting dry hits, leaks, its probably your fault(which we never like admitting). Keep trying different things and you will prevail. Also as a side note try always using Kogendo Gold cottons. Best bang for your buck, lasts for ages and very manageable, compared to cheap cottons.
Hope this helps.
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Time and experience , trial and error,…is the best way to know what works best.
Even though I have been wicking for quite some time, I still have a bad ‘wicking’ occasionally.
It is also different when you re-wick after cleaning your coils.
When you wick with cotton or rayon it is always a guess at how thick/thin your wick is, you can never
get the same exact amount each time.
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I guess I should have specified that I’m more so talking about wicking coils in RDAs. But from what I’ve heard RTAs are tricky and they all need to be wicked and experimented with a little differently. Thanks for your input though man (:
That sure is what I’ve learned during my vaping journey : P
Anytime :), RDAs are definitely easier, normally I use a bit more cotton, sometimes near choking it then brush off the excess cotton, that way I can keep adjusting on how much I would need to take off. Hope this helps.
I’ve found that wicking isn’t a one size fits all technique. Several factors play into what wicking is needed.
Low ohm, high wattage builds need fast wicking because they burn juice at a higher rate. Snug, tight or over wicking will slow juice flow resulting in muted flavors and dry hits.
Higher ohm, low wattage builds can be more forgiving with tighter wicking.
Fluffy or tight also depend on the juice flow ports.
Coil material also play a role into how it’s wicked. Ti heats hotter and faster than kanthal, so a different wicking may be needed.
Master all wicking methods and you can fix any problems that arise.
I primarily use tanks and believe me, they all are different. Sometimes you nail it the 1st time and others it’s trial and error.
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Holding the back of the cotton with a little resistance, you should be able to slowly tug it through from the other side. That’s how I do it, never have any issues. If it slips through too easily, it’s too lose, and will cause spit back, popping and bad wicking. \If it doesn’t budge, it’ll also cause problems. If you always build the same diameter coils it becomes second nature after a while, how much cotton to use
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I’ll throw a plug in for hemp, it is impossible to use too much, it will always wick to the awesome. It doesn’t compact like cotton or rayon, so you can only cram in so much. (If youre interested in hemp, there’s a thread.) But, if you have a tank with big juice channels, sometimes it’s very dicey to have a big enough coil to accommodate also plugging the juice channels.
Everything @Pro_Vapes said is spot on. I’ll add that the shortest wicks that can be used are what work best IME. That seems to be universal in material or atomizer. . so just touching the deck once wet on an RDA.
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Don’t know about rayon, but cotton expands/swells when it gets wet. Rayon, being a polymer should hold its shape.
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