I use a 2mm drill bit for my coils, and I make sure they're "snug" inside the coil, however when I'm looking at people's wick on youtube, forums, etc, it always looks so fluffy and full? I always have a hard time trying to keep my wick fluffy while pulling it through the 2mm coil. Then after I juice it, it looks so flimsy.
Techniques for cotton wicking?!
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Balls are tricky (ha). I usually roll and tease the cotton out until it is about pencil thickness, then twist on a point, and get the point threaded through. To feed the rest, I sort fo twist it like a rope and ease it through the coil. If I think it needs to be fuller on the ends, I cut it down the middle with scissors, as close as I can to the coil. I then fold each half of the wick back inside the cut...making it half the length, twice the thickness.
this vid is good if you want a nice full fluffy wick that doesnt shrink and holds a ton of juice>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1hqRp9TDDE
if you install a wick that is to tight or loose dont be afraid to pull it back out of the coil and adjust the thickness and reinstall it Before you juice it up
if you install a wick that is to tight or loose dont be afraid to pull it back out of the coil and adjust the thickness and reinstall it Before you juice it up
I use KGD. After the cotton is through the coil and trimmed to length, I pull it apart a tad and stuff it down. Once it is down, I separate it a bit with an eyeglass screwdriver.
Fun to tinker. The profit is better taste.
Fun to tinker. The profit is better taste.
i was also gonna suggest rayon, you can install it a bit tighter than cotton.
i think of cotton like a dish sponge, if you keep it squeezed it wont soak up any liquid.
and rayon i think of like a fiber optic cable
I'm on a quest to improve my cotton wicking myself. I started trying the "less is more" approach by starting with a strip of cotton about the width of my coil's ID, but was getting tons of dry hits from insufficient wicking, so I've been trying to increase the amount I use. One issue I was having was that if I tried to jam too much cotton through the coil, it would bunch up on one side, causing the cotton to tear apart when pulling. At the same time, squeezing the cotton to make it narrow I believe was causing the wick to choke. Two ways I found to combat these issues:
a. Smooth the cotton by rolling it (the vid linked by SLIPPERY_EEL above shows a pretty good technique) before threading. Avoid compacting or twisting it; just roll so the outside is smooth but the inside is still puffy, if that makes sense (it should have give in it when gently squeezed).
b. When threading, pull lightly on both ends, keeping the cotton taut, rather than just pulling from one side. This flattens it somewhat and allows it to slide through easier, and allows it to puff back out when released after it's threaded.
The real trick I've found is determining how much cotton to use in the first place. For example, in the vid above, Yosh is using about half the width of the cotton strip, but he's using a 9/64" 22g coil, which is much bigger than say a 5/64" 28g coil. Still experimenting with that.
a. Smooth the cotton by rolling it (the vid linked by SLIPPERY_EEL above shows a pretty good technique) before threading. Avoid compacting or twisting it; just roll so the outside is smooth but the inside is still puffy, if that makes sense (it should have give in it when gently squeezed).
b. When threading, pull lightly on both ends, keeping the cotton taut, rather than just pulling from one side. This flattens it somewhat and allows it to slide through easier, and allows it to puff back out when released after it's threaded.
The real trick I've found is determining how much cotton to use in the first place. For example, in the vid above, Yosh is using about half the width of the cotton strip, but he's using a 9/64" 22g coil, which is much bigger than say a 5/64" 28g coil. Still experimenting with that.
What I do is put as much Shiseido into the wick as I can and work it back and forth for a bit until it loosens up. This should cause the middle of the wick to fray a bit while leaving a ton of cotton on the ends to suck up juice.
How many ml of juice can you guys/gals get through your cotton before you have to re-wick? I just started doing this on my protank 2 coils, it works great but I'm lucky to get one tank before I have to replace it, no re-filing. Am I doing something wrong or is this normal? It does this with light color 65/35 pg/vg, I expect it to be like that with darker/sweeter juices.
I prefer coils with a 2mm inner diameter, though I just built my first build yesterday lol. Even though I've only been building since yesterday, I've been wicking for going on a few weeks now. Not too brag, but I seem to be a natural at it lmao, I find it so simple it's almost a meditative practice for me.
I'd recommend springing for KohGenDo, it's far easier to work with in my opinion. You take one of the pads, and cut WITH THE GRAIN about a third of the pad off. Then cut this section in half. At this point the cotton is a tad too thick to fit properly through the coil, so you're gonna wanna peel one of those strips in half, the cotton is layered with multiple plys, so peel the layers apart. You should now have two proper wicks to use.
You gotta make sure you work WITH the grain, not against it, the long grains act like straws or channels for the liquid to follow when wicking. I roll/twist the very end with my finger, then put it into the coil. I then use tweezers to pull the cotton through the coil. Super X's video was very helpful when I first got started. He mentioned the wick should be thick enough to go through snugly, without making the mod or rda move. If the rda or mod moves when you pull the coil through, your wick is too thick, and you'll struggle getting it through the coil.
Once it's through the coil, use your tweezers to guide the ends of your wicks between the channels of your posts to create a cotton bed. I don't trim my wicks.
I'd recommend springing for KohGenDo, it's far easier to work with in my opinion. You take one of the pads, and cut WITH THE GRAIN about a third of the pad off. Then cut this section in half. At this point the cotton is a tad too thick to fit properly through the coil, so you're gonna wanna peel one of those strips in half, the cotton is layered with multiple plys, so peel the layers apart. You should now have two proper wicks to use.
You gotta make sure you work WITH the grain, not against it, the long grains act like straws or channels for the liquid to follow when wicking. I roll/twist the very end with my finger, then put it into the coil. I then use tweezers to pull the cotton through the coil. Super X's video was very helpful when I first got started. He mentioned the wick should be thick enough to go through snugly, without making the mod or rda move. If the rda or mod moves when you pull the coil through, your wick is too thick, and you'll struggle getting it through the coil.
Once it's through the coil, use your tweezers to guide the ends of your wicks between the channels of your posts to create a cotton bed. I don't trim my wicks.
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These are great tips for wicking. You never really want to change the integrity of the fibers by twisting, some people lightly roll the cotton. I use KGD pads and rayon. For the pads I peel in half, cut a strip, and I bend it into a "V" shape slightly, kind of like rolling it. I feel that keeping tension on both sides of the wick while threading through is also important for the outcome of the tails.
I get about 2-3 tanks from my Kayfun between wicks (generally run a sweeter, golden-colored "Snickerdoodle" juice through that), but my Kanger clearos vary; dark or thick juices definitely get rewicked every fill, but I can usually get a couple out of mid-to-light juices. Note that I usually run a 50/50 ratio.
I also just tried out a 3mm 28g coil in my Kayfun, and found it (a) is much easier to wick, and (b) seems to deliver much more vapor. This is using a "bunny-ears through the chimney, clip to the top, stuff down and against the deck, then wrap a thinner loose wick around the coil to carry more juice" wicking technique. Had less luck with a 3mm on my Orchid, though... it seemed much more fiddly, with the coil bending too easily, so I had to go with 2.4mm coils (whose performance was still not as good as the 2mm coils I had before). I'll probably try a 24g for larger diameter next time.
I noticed the difference of easier wicking if I cut the KGD WITH the grain. I cut the pad in the wrong direction a few times and it seemed to fall apart. Finally, with my jeweler's headset I noticed the fibers all going in one direction.
Tinkering and learning.
Tinkering and learning.
That updated method is pretty awesome super x, watched that yesterday and put it into practice today, works pretty well but with a coil setup a 1mm in diameter, it does go dry much quicker than with fluffier 2mm builds.
Quick question though, super x, using your uodated method, some of my cotton seems to be staying wet, while the cotton going through the coil goes dry. The wet cotton isn't funneling the liquid to the coils.
I do have a deep rda, and long tails on the positive side of the coils going down into the rda, should I just trim the long tails and just use the cotton closest to the coils for wicking purposes?
Quick question though, super x, using your uodated method, some of my cotton seems to be staying wet, while the cotton going through the coil goes dry. The wet cotton isn't funneling the liquid to the coils.
I do have a deep rda, and long tails on the positive side of the coils going down into the rda, should I just trim the long tails and just use the cotton closest to the coils for wicking purposes?
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