#500 SS Mesh

[BJ43]

Starting a new thread for those who may be interested in # 500 SS mesh, I am now using it on all my genesis and all I can say is I wish they made a #600. I will be posting some pics soon and my simple lab wicking experiment with PG, VG, and the kerosine lamp.
Here is where I bought it and they give at least two sheets for the price of one.


The Mesh Company (Warrington) Ltd #400 Super Fine Filtration Mesh - 25 Micron


Super Fine #500 Stainless Steel Mesh - 25 Micron - A4 Sheet
Ref: WSS500SF-A4

An A4 (210mm x 297mm) sized sheet of #400 stainless steel woven mesh.

Orders will be sent out in brown, hard backed envelopes.

We will ship a free standard 'super fine' sheet for every #500 mesh A4 sheet purchased.

This really is a fantastic offer for our finest material.

In Stock - Usually dispatched in 1-2 working days


Price: £7.99

[BJ43]

I am using 55mm tight roll with very small center hole in my "Lines" and 65mm in my Vivi RBA. This is getting very close to the wicking efficiency of cotton.

[slimest]

BJ43, 55mm or 65mm - do you mean wick length? And what about optimal width?
According to seller data, mesh500 made from the same wire as mesh400, so it should be the same thickness. Seems that we should use the same width - about 14mm...

[asdaq]

That is the width slimest, rolled very tightly with a very small hole in the center, and fitting a 2.5mm hole so that it is quite solid. For myself, I'm still quite happy with a 14mm width in a 2mm hole. Just goes to show that there are a variety of ways to make mesh work nicely and there is quite a bit of leeway, which is not commonly believed by a beginner to mesh having trouble getting it right.

[slimest]

asdaq, I use the same classical width 14mm, so it is a surprise that someone uses so massive wicks... My wicks are even thinner - outer diameter is about 1.6 - 1.7mm. 6 turns of 0.2mm Kanthal A give about 1.8 ohms.

[BJ43]

If you want juice to flow going down by gravity, a loose wick with with a big hole flows the best but that is not true wicking. That is gravitational flow.
Wicking (capillary action) defined as a fluid rising against gravity is best with a tight dense 400 ss wick with a very small center hole.
I am now using # 500 ss on all my lines and it is twice as efficient at wicking as #400.
In a simple lab test I put 3 inch same dia wicks in 2 inches of VG and 3 more in 2 inches of PG and 3 in 2 inches of kerosine. This new test I used 325, 400, 500 SS mesh. The kerosine only rose 1/16 in on the 325 and not measurable with PG or VG. I put a little dab of cotton on the top tip of each wick to see when it got wet. With kerosine the cotton got wet almost immediately on both 400 and 500, pg took 2 min to wet the cotton on 400 and and less than a minute on the 500, the VG took about 30 seconds longer on each. Using small jars with a hole in the metal cap for the wick I made mini kerosine burners. Even with prewetting the 325 it would not maintain a flame. The flame on the 500 was twice the size of the flame on the 400 and consumed the kerosine in half the time. All were 45mm rolled by 3 inches long, rolled tight on a thin paperclip. All rolled mesh to 2.5 mm dia,
In an earlier lab experiment I did a three #400 wicks 35mm, 45mm, 55mm, rolled to 2.5 mm dia and on the kerosine lamp test each progressively maintained a larger flame.
From my simple tests I concluded.
More density in the wicks provided more wicking and therefore more juice to the coil
comparing oranges to oranges
PG will rise higher in a 400 mesh than on a 325 mesh.
Vg will rise higher in a 400 mesh than on a 325 mesh.
On the same 400 wick PG will rise higher than VG because of cohesion forces, but it will not rise higher on 325 than on 400,
And now all rise higher and faster on 500 mesh

[BJ43]

BJ43, 55mm or 65mm - do you mean wick length? And what about optimal width?
According to seller data, mesh500 made from the same wire as mesh400, so it should be the same thickness. Seems that we should use the same width - about 14mm...

Slimest: asdaq answered your question, those are the widths I am using, and most of my coils are 7/8 wraps 32g A1 at 2.4/2.6 ohms vaped at 5/5.5v. I said before, we vape at many angles and the transfer of juice is a combination of wicking (capillary action) and gravitational flow. These test were just to test capillary action and my curiosity stemmed by all the comments to use 325 for VG and 400 for PG and it didn't seem to comply with my knowledge of capillary action. I later found out there was some 325 out there, because of the weave has the same hole size as 400 so basically it is the same. Anyway regular 325 has more gravitational flow but much less capillary action than 400. So each time you vape on a 325 and tip it when you take it to tour lips, you are getting juice transfer by gravitational flow.

As far as optimal width, I am finding more is better. The more mass I can get into a wick at a given dia the better it wicks. This of course is relative to the fact that with fingers I can't press hard enough to eliminate the holes in the mesh. The smaller the holes and more holes closer together = more capillary action.

[slimest]

My wicks made from mesh400 14mm wide work absolutely reliably with the bottom feed system. I can push the button and see good vapor for about 10-20 seconds. Why more? If I use more massive wick, I need either much more power to get vapor immediately, or I need to warm the system before vaping. Also heater spiral cannot heat all layers of a thick wick - only 2-3 layers give real vapor. One more: if you use a mesh500 instead of mesh 400 with the same wires thickness, the wick gets more massive, so more heat inertia...
I tried thick wicks, but after some research I came to classical 14mm width. Anyway everyone choose what he prefer

[slimest]

Well, here is my 25 seconds demo. Bottom feeder in vertical position, 14mm width mesh400 rolled to 1.7mm thick wick. 1.8 ohm heater on standard eGo voltage 3.2V = 5.7 watts. Real vape immediately after button push. Capillary action works
VIDEO0001 - YouTube

BJ, thanks for inspiring me to make my first video on youtube Enjoying...

[BJ43]

My wicks made from mesh400 14mm wide work absolutely reliably with the bottom feed system. I can push the button and see good vapor for about 10-20 seconds. Why more? If I use more massive wick, I need either much more power to get vapor immediately, or I need to warm the system before vaping. Also heater spiral cannot heat all layers of a thick wick - only 2-3 layers give real vapor. One more: if you use a mesh500 instead of mesh 400 with the same wires thickness, the wick gets more massive, so more heat inertia...
I tried thick wicks, but after some research I came to classical 14mm width. Anyway everyone choose what he prefer

That is the beauty of vaping, each finds his sweet spot, I tried 14 mm and it was way to harsh for me and with my double draw about 5 sec each it couldn't keep up with me. I find the dense wick to work like a mini tank, there is always some reserve juice available, I hardly ever use batteries, all VV PTs and my coils heat up immediately at 5.5v. By the way where have you been, haven't seen you here much lately.