To preface I have been rebuilding my Triton heads and just ordered my Zmax and KFL+. I have been using 32g kanthal, and had cotton, ekowool (cotton center), silica, and stock silica.
To me, the stock silica was the best before cotton. After torching the non-stock silica that came close to the stock silicas flavor.
After properly boiling the ekowool and really letting it have a long 10 minutes to absorb, that too came to have it's own flavor, but far cleaner than my previous attempts with it.
And finally, cotton. I had done a short, say 5 minute boil to try them out, and absolutely hated them. No matter what coil I built, how long I let it soak, it just tasted burnt and awful. After trying again, with only like 10 cotton balls in a 15 minute boil into a rinse into a 10 minute rolling boil (and smelling the crap that came off), they taste great. Perfectly clean.
tldr; If you've had issues with your wicks, overkill on the preparation of your cotton, ekowool, or silica. Double what you think it needs or what you have done before, and don't give up.
I figure this topic has been drilled into the ground, but if you had cotton and didn't feel it was for you, just boil the crap out of it and try again. I'm happy I found some cotton that works for me so I can throw it in the new KFL+ I have coming
To me, the stock silica was the best before cotton. After torching the non-stock silica that came close to the stock silicas flavor.
After properly boiling the ekowool and really letting it have a long 10 minutes to absorb, that too came to have it's own flavor, but far cleaner than my previous attempts with it.
And finally, cotton. I had done a short, say 5 minute boil to try them out, and absolutely hated them. No matter what coil I built, how long I let it soak, it just tasted burnt and awful. After trying again, with only like 10 cotton balls in a 15 minute boil into a rinse into a 10 minute rolling boil (and smelling the crap that came off), they taste great. Perfectly clean.
tldr; If you've had issues with your wicks, overkill on the preparation of your cotton, ekowool, or silica. Double what you think it needs or what you have done before, and don't give up.
I figure this topic has been drilled into the ground, but if you had cotton and didn't feel it was for you, just boil the crap out of it and try again. I'm happy I found some cotton that works for me so I can throw it in the new KFL+ I have coming
