Wicking for beginners

Lol, I’ve left the vaguely helpful attempts in…but that YouTube vid :joy::joy::joy:

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@Lolly
You know nobody’s gonna let you get away with that

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The 12 year old, vaping on a mech with a bad switch, and burning his lips???

‘I’m going to get a lot of devices’ (As soon as I get my allowance)

That video deserves a spot in the how NOT to do things. LOL

That in itself is educational.

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He probably doesn’t have a face anymore :slight_smile:

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Didnt have much of one to begin with :laughing:

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Hi Cool Granny!
First of all, I think it’s pretty cool what you’re doing, whatever your reason is :smile: I wish I could get my mother to do the same…

I’d make sure I get a couple different tanks for your kbox. If you remain within a certain flavor profile, it’s quite easy to switch flavors and not ruin your coil. But if you only have 1 or 2 tanks and you’re swapping different flavor profiles, it will quickly give a bad taste.

Make sure you have a tank for every different flavor profile that you vape/test. If you don’t want to or can’t build on an RBA, you’re going to be stuck with those expensive coils.

There are tricks to clean your coils and get more life out of them (like soaking them in alcohol or water/alcohol mixture, then rinse out). As long as your wick isn’t scorched, you should be able to repeat this cleaning cycle and get good flavor from your used coils again. There are plenty youtube videos that can help you.

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Lol… no building no wicking comes w territory. I’m gma age and I learned… it’s so much cheaper and to sft it’s absolutely necessary to use an rda/rtda …pfft whatever, lol, point is to test flavors you need a set up w a buildable deck so you’re able to wick your coils and change the wick for new flavors… many videos on utube to help you learn. It’s going to cost you much less in the long run than buying new coils constantly and it’s not at all practical to sft in a tank. It just isn’t. Maybe you’re not quite ready yet to sft, you might need to learn a little bit more about different rda/rdta first then decide. It cost me not that much honestly, but it is an investment. You have to consider the 10, 20 and/ or 30 ml plastic bottles to test in and make the juice and then the bottles to buy to store it. I can send you some things if you’re determined to do it but can’t afford it just do me a favor and do a little more research. Pm me and I’ll be happy to help you…;)) God speed

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P.s. I’m only technically a gma age, I’m not actually an old lady as I’m sure you’re not either LOOL. Idk maybe you are but I’m not. Doesn’t matter I’ll shut up now haaa!

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Rule #1: absolutely No acronyms when talking to an absolute newbie! :wink:

@donna7
SFT = single flavor testing

As was mentioned, “wicking” refers to a variety of options as to the material that actually performs the function of transferring the liquid to the actual coil.

I say “actual coil” above, because in reality, calling pre-made coils “coils” is a bit of a misnomer. They’re actually more of a cartridge (a total package that contains individual components).

Whereas, when used in proper context, “coil” refers to the actual element that does the heating of the liquid. The wicking material is then (typically) run through the center of the coil, after it has been installed into the deck (mounting area) of whatever rebuildable device you prefer.

There’s a lot more to learn about, but as long as you have cursory manual dexterity, you should have no problem being able to make your own coils. Wicking them is just as easy, if not easier!
The complexities of building vary greatly though, and I’d suggest a device with an easy access deck (such as a Limitless or Theorem) to help facilitate mounting the coil while you learn to wick.
Some of the smaller devices with only complicate matters and frustrate you as well (until you at least have the basic concept down)!

Now, as to cost. Let me give you some incentive to learn to make your own coils, and learn to wick.

I spent $15 on a 25’ spool of stainless steel (SS) wire, and another $6 on a package of “Cotton Bacon v2” (a brand of wicking). A year later and I still have some of each left. Yes, you read that right!
Good luck getting a month out of that blister pack of 4 or 5 cartridges!

There’s savings to be had, you just need the confidence to try! And, oh yes, you can do this!
Good luck, and welcome to ELR!

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I’m not the most inexperienced beginner with vaping, but this still boggles me how difficult it often is to know what people mean with “coils”. It’s often loosely used in ambiguous ways.
Pre-made coils, to me at least, are coils that are already wrapped and ready to be put in an RBA (ReBuildable Atomizer) and fitted with a wick. I often see people use the term for the “expensive coils”, which to me are coil-heads, disposable coils or I don’t know what you want to call it, the ones enclosed in a metal casing, already wicked. Very confusing sometimes.

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I completely agree!
That’s the large part of why I was trying to be as specific as possible, while not going into what you point out below… :wink: (Just in hopes of not confusing donna7 with info overload.)

Those are pretty much just a recent development. They’ve really only been around for the last year or two (with any market prominence anyways…). They’re sometimes pre-filled with wicking (usually cotton or silica) but it’s become far easier to find just the “raw coils” (pre-coiled) for sale. More so than ever before anyways! And that’s a great thing for folks that can’t make their own (arthritis, missing fingers, etc), as it is still cheaper to buy those types of coils, as you can at least dry-burn them (kanthal or stainless steel) and rewick!

These are what I was referring to as cartridges above. The all in one “refill” cartridge that folks buy for their Nautilus Mini, or Cleito, etc. But yeah, disposable nails it perfectly. One piece, where the wick, coil, and “deck” (that supports the coil) all gets changed at once.

Indeed!

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This is even a very expensive “quote”. I buy a spool of 300’ of SS wire for about $5 and if you use hemp wicking, you’re going to spend a fraction of what Cotton Bacon v2 costs (ask @therabidweasel or look at his hemp thread), or, there’s also a rayon (search Google, I thought it was like 500 pages long) where you can literally get a lifetime supply for about $15 or $20. Both types of wick are supposedly superb for flavor.
So yeah, if you’re on a budget and you have some use of your fingers, DIY is the way to go. It may look daunting in the beginning, but it’s fun, it’s rewarding and it’s not difficult at all. Plenty of info about it in the other threads here on the forum.

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RDA’s use the same wire coil but the wick can be changed in less than a minute. Might want to read:
vape-resource.com
A Dripping Atomizer Guide - The Art Of The Drip For 2024 - Spinfuel
(7) Information Resources for Your First RBA | E-Cigarette Forum
quitsmokingcommunity.org - This website is for sale! - quitsmokingcommunity Resources and Information.
RBA Vape Guide: RDA, RTA, Genesis, and More - Vaping360
Wrapping Building Coils 101 For Beginners | E-Cigarette Forum
I Love my RDA | E-Cigarette Forum
Rayon wick, better flow, flavor, saturation and Nic Hit! | E-Cigarette Forum

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There are some really good tutorials on Youtube, I learned everything I know about vaping there, good luck…

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You’re 110% ty for clarifying that for me and reminding me not to do dat w a bigger noob than myself, haaa! Guess I thought since she specifically asked about sft’ng and wicking she’d figure it out but that’s just not a good idea as a rule I suppose. Bad girl me!
Don’t get me started ion coils cuz I’ll start cussing as I’ve got 2 rda’ s sitting here I can’t get built properly to save my life :rage:… one is my Smoant Mobula. It leaks if I don’t keep it closed just right. I’m sure it’s the wicking but I’ve tried every way possible I thought- pushing the wick into the coil thingy( round thing name slips my mind :weary::joy:), put the wick barely in the top of thingy and not put wicking thingy at all ( bad idea haaa)! I can deal w it kinda working at least it’s not got a steady slow leak anymore however I have it now but I would like to be able to put it on any settings I want and it not leak and just do what it’s supposed to. My real headache tbt is my Marquis clone, uuuugh! Seems like I always get one side too close to the middle part and it touches it and burns if you know what I mean. I’m aware I have to do I build backwards instead of 2 exact builds and that’s it i guess. Just bugs the crap out of me I can’t do this thing myself and it really shouldn’t be so difficult according to the vids it’s ez peezy so it must be my dumb ass :weary::joy:, haaa! what I did find helped a lot was an easier gauge wire to work with. Using 28g kanthal now since none of my mods w read my nifethal :weary:. Before was using 24 g and 28 much easier is mmy point. I know this is out of bounds but for whatever reason I’m not able to create a new post…? ( must’ve been a baaad girl idk lol) so I snuck it in here. Excommunicate me if u must I understand there are rules and I apologize if I’m breaking them. Thx for listening and all the great advice and support!!

God speed…;))

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@daath! I think someone needs a hand! :wink:

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Like an applause or a spanking?

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Oooor a helping hand?? :grimacing:

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Back. Hand? The bird?
What did I do now? :weary::joy:. Just wanna have fun and learn about this stuff. I have so many questions…

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Honest, my post new topic won’t highlight. Am I grounded? On probation? Just a nooob dumb arse?

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