I’m using 26g*2/40g SS fused clapton 99% of the time. Both Kanthal and Nichrome give me terrible metal taste. Occasionally I use Titanium but honestly speaking, I’m only vaping in TC and I don’t get dry hits or burn my cotton because of it.
If I’m not mistaken, Dan uses the same coils or the staggered version (unless he’s flavor testing on a stove top). Correct me if I’m wrong @Dan_the_Man…
In my experience, the only downside of SS is that it retains heat much longer so if your wick is nearly dry, yeah, dry hits are just around the corner. Just have to use TC and you don’t have to deal with it anymore 
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Your not wrong and… BTW even my stove tops (lolly) are SS fused Claptons.
I have been using TC almost exclusively. Unless I am reviewing a mod that has crappy TC which a lot of them do have crappy TC. My favorite at the moment is the Crown IV in TC mode using those 904SS coils. I have been enjoying that a lot. It works for SS 316L fused Claptons also.
@jim16 that’s a good idea actually. If you can afford it, get yourself a good Temp Control mod there are some good ones that won’t break the bank and if you like the cotton pads then that should work for you.
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This 
Also, it is a general rule to only have 15% thickness of the rayon that is stuffed into coil used in the tails outside the coil.
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So you mean you can’t use rayon in RDA’s like the Dead Rabbit or something that requires long tails?
I never quite understood those rules, what kind of explanation do people give for that?
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Actually I use rayon in almost all my RTA’s and RDA’s. It’s the thickness that matters, not length.
I should have specified thickness. Apologies for any confusion.
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So it doesn’t wick well if you use more or what other reason is it for?
I’m just trying to imagine it … but how do you fill your RTA wicking holes with only 15% of the wick?
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I’ve found that if more than about 20% thickness is used, flavor loss starts to happen and the possibility of dry hits increases. The properties of rayon differ than cotton. Rather than soaking up the juice like cotton, rayon channels it or allows it to flow.
I don’t fill them. On the dead rabbit and kylin m rtas, I trim somewhat flush with the wick holes, but there is space that allows air to escape to avoid getting airlocked and dry hits. I do have to close the airflow when refilling to avoid oversaturation of the coil/spitting.
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Sorry for drilling down on this but it’s only because I never got on with rayon and I’m a rational person, just trying to understand what’s going on…
As far as I understand vaping, flavor is produced by the flavor molecules being vaporized, together with base liquids. This happens by heating up a metal coil that heats up the liquids surrounding it. As far as my experience goes, no wicking material wicks fast enough to continuously feed the coil of liquids so you need to take puffs and give it (at least) a little time to feed more liquid to the coil.
Whatever happens away from the coil doesn’t really interfere with the flavor as long as you keep a good airflow in the chamber.
So using as much rayon as cotton in the tails should, in my humble opinion, not interfere with the flavor. If you say it is, I’m lacking the understanding why that is and that’s really what I’m after 
I’ve read that the main difference between cotton and rayon is that cotton swells up with liquid and rayon shrinks. Which is why I’ve always been told to stuff the coil with rayon, so that even with the liquid, the wick keeps touching the coil or you’ll get hotspots, spitting and other unpleasant side effects from heating up bare, uncooled metal.
Wicking through cotton happens through capillary action. How is this different from rayon and why would that effect diminish if you have more/thicker wick tails? Is there any physics theory behind it? Just on sight, you’re dealing with similar materials made from fibers so most people would probably think it works in a similar way.
That is pretty much what I do with cotton too. The thing I don’t understand is how you fill your wicking holes enough not to have gaping ‘air’ holes that will flood your tank or leak empty in an instance. As I mentioned before, rayon shrinks when it gets wet. If you fill your 4mm id coil with rayon and only have a strand of 0.8mm (20%) rayon… or even a dual coil 2x3mm id and 2 strands of 0.6mm rayon… I don’t see how that could work in any of my RTAs (Steamcrave Plus, Zeus X dual, Blotto, Zesthia, …).
Do you have some pics (even if they’re grabbed from the www) to demonstrate that with a current popular RTA?
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I have used Rayon for a couple years, I wick as tight as possible, that is the only difference than with cotton. I get what the OP is refering to even with Rayon if I do not wick tight enough or over heat it will burn out the center inside coil, cotton or rayon.
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Post 41 has links to tons of info on rayon
Now that I think about it, I only have top airflow RTAs. So there is the possibility of leaking occurring in bottom airflow RTAs.
Here’s one with the Zeus.
It doesn’t look like 20% thickness in the picture.
I’ll rewick my dead rabbit later on today and show you how I do it. I use the same type of coil in my dead rabbit.
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I personally find that rayon works/wicks best if it is squeaky tight in the coils with the tails thinned out considerably (perhaps this is just another way of saying what Deerslayer is saying). Cotton on the other hand is not packed between the coils as tightly (cotton wicks swell when they absorb e-liquid, rayon ones don’t. The thinning of the tails with the rayon increases the capillary action.
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Sorry haven’t been able to get decent pictures on my tablet yet but getting very lost with all the comments on this post. Take the point that was made about keeping the shape with 29g 317L ss when wicking, however in trying to get about 1ohm to fit in my mtl tanks this is about as large as I can go.
I am using a Voopoo Drag with True, Amitt, Ares and Siren 2 tanks all very small beds.
Would really like to try using ss clapton coils between .8 and 1ohm. Any advice on suitable wire I can purchase in UK? Biggest problem apart from the short bed is the small diameter of the holes for the wire especially on the True.
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Pretty much they way I should have said it.
@anon28032772 I got called in to work early tonight, so I’ll have to get pics tomorrow and post them for you.
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Alright @Deerslayer you done went and opened up the can-o-worms now LOL.
I really only DABBLED in Rayon (just too damned good and hooked on my cotton), but refresh my FAILING memory would ya ?
Cotton you pack medium tight (in the coils) as it expands somewhat/slightly when soaked. Rayon is the OPPOSITE, i.e. you need to pack it really tight (in the coils) as it shrinks somewhat/slightly when soaked, right ?
I’d never heard anything about tail length issues. What did I miss ?? I’ve got a huge bag-o-Rayon that I’ve not really ever played with.
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Hmmmmm, well THAT doesn’t sound good. Ball Kick +1, Rayon -1 ??
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My thoughts on rayon are verbose enough on some other threads. Having spent over 40 years in the plastics industry, you couldn’t get me to touch rayon. Each to our own poison though. For the record, I rewick mine daily. I was strictly a KGD user, but with advancing arthritis in my hands I’ve switched over to Demon Killer slacker cotton just so I don’t have to cut it.
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Rayon is made from wood pulp.
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Tail length doesn’t matter, tail thickness does. Less is more. What I basically do is twist the rayon tight and wick it through the coil. When I start wicking the coil I will have to twist it as I’m pulling it through the coil. It will distort the coil if you aren’t careful. After it’s in the coil, I trim the bottom 50% off the tails. The remainder is thinned out to 20% or less; I’m usually around 15%. For me, trimming the bottom 50% works better than the top 50%. I don’t think rayon shrinks per se. I think it just compacts tighter when breaking in. There is one picture in that ECF thread where someone has tails that are 5% or less.
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