At My Wicks End!

[Caterpiller]

I'm at my wicks end with this whole rebuilding thing!

Having given up anologs with my nautilus Mini, I thought I'd treat myself to an authentic Kayfun v4.

My first rebuildable. It vapes great, lots of dense smooth vapour, but the cotton tastes awful!!

Tried cheap cotton from the chemist. Tried Koh Gen Do. The best so far has been Klaud cotton, but there's no denying it. While the vapour is superior to my nautilus the taste is no where near as good.

Everything in my Kv4 tastes of cotton with a hint of the juice flavour.

I've watched all the videos on you tube, it's wicking fine, but cotton just tastes bad!

7wraps, 3mm ID, 28g Kantal, 1.4 Ohms.

Promised myself a Vapor Flask DNA40 for the Kv4. But if I can't get it tasting better
then this the Kayfun can go in the bin, I'll stick with the Nautilus Mini's on iStick 20w's.

 

[ChuckB]

I never got the hang of cotton either. Tried quite a few different types, all no go. Went back to Ekowool and will probably stay there.

 

[VaPreis]

Perhaps you're wicking a bit to thick. I've tried many rebuildable tanks and I recently purchased a couple of Kayfun v4 clones. IMO, very few tanks of any kind can stand with the Kayfun V4 in terms of taste.

I get a cotton taste immediately after re-wicking, but that is something that quickly goes away.

FWIW, I use CVS "Organic" cotton balls for wick. IMO, cotton is cotton, and I don't find "Japanese" cotton to taste any better. For me it boils down to matter of the material I like to work with the best, and I prefer the consistancy of unrolled CVS cotton balls.

 

[tmcguffie]

I must admit I've never had a bad taste from any of the cotton I've used. I've just noticed that Cotton Bacon claims to be 100% tasteless, could try Fibre Freaks or some of the other cellulose based wicking materials, or as ChuckB mentioned earlier Ekowool or silica type wicks. There's always other options, don't give up on the V4, it's a cracking RTA

 

[Ohm Gnome]

Perhaps you're wicking a bit to thick. I've tried many rebuildable tanks and I recently purchased a couple of Kayfun v4 clones. IMO, very few tanks of any kind can stand with the Kayfun V4 in terms of taste.

I get a cotton taste immediately after re-wicking, but that is something that quickly goes away.

FWIW, I use CVS "Organic" cotton balls for wick. IMO, cotton is cotton, and I don't find "Japanese" cotton to taste any better. For me it boils down to matter of the material I like to work with the best, and I prefer the consistancy of unrolled CVS cotton balls.

I agree the Kayfun is a flavor king. I just don't like the tight draw. To me RTAs are the hardest to wick. Building coils is much easier than wicking those coils. I agree I believe you have the cotton to tight. I promise you if you get the wicking figured out you'll love the tank. Hang in there. Practice practice practice

 

[Alter]

I had no luck wicking my kayfuns with cotton. I use cellucotton(rayon) in my kayfuns and have had success. Cotton IMO is too finicky with too much or not enough, hemp fiber is much superior to cotton, more forgiving but doesn't have the durability of the rayon in my kayfun builds. With my DIY Hangsen juices I can run 20+ mls through before I need to rewick my kayfun. You can easily research all sorts of wicking material in this forum.

 

[Thrasher]

I never got the hang of cotton either. Tried quite a few different types, all no go. Went back to Ekowool and will probably stay there.

Yup silica for me too, in a kayfun4 with the airflow screw removed, nice easy draw and zero dryhits.

 

[Alien Traveler]

FWIW, I use CVS "Organic" cotton balls for wick. IMO, cotton is cotton, and I don't find "Japanese" cotton to taste any better. For me it boils down to matter of the material I like to work with the best, and I prefer the consistancy of unrolled CVS cotton balls.

I have both - organic cotton balls and Japanese cotton. When wicked properly I see no difference. But for me Japanese cotton is much more easy to use, and more consistent also.

 

[Caterpiller]

I have too admit to being a little down hearted.

I've been trying to get a good vape out of this Kv4 for about three weeks now.

At first I thought it was just my newbie wicking, but I've tried it packed full of wick, with hardly any wick and everywhere in between.

I mainly do what they show in the videos and what everyone seems to advise, enough through the coil to have some friction, but not enough to get jammed or pull the coil out of place.

Wick ends carefully feathered and cut to just tough the juice holes on the deck.

In any case the wick is always completely saturated when I open the deck. I'm getting great vapor, and only pushing 7 watts through it.

I thought the bad taste was dry hits, but now I believe I just don't like the taste of cotton!

I really hoped the KGD would solve this, but it only taste marginally better than cheap cotton to me. The Klaud has the least taste, but still I much prefer the clean flavour of the Nautilus' BVC's.

I'll try a couple more builds, but I may not be able to get past the taste of cotton.

As others have mentioned I can still try silica, rayon, etc... so it's not beyond hope.

 

[WindyCityJoe]

I get a cotton taste immediately after re-wicking, but that is something that quickly goes away.

I have found this to be true even with cotton bacon, after the taste goes away it's an awesome vape. Stick with it and you'll get it right.

 

[Sgt.Rock]

The wick is definitely the trick...

I ran silica for six plus months, cotton (various types) for another six plus months and moved on to Rayon

Shoulda started with Rayon. Hands down the cleanest taste of all and also if wicked properly will pump the juice to your coil like nobody's business.

Check out the humongous thread on Rayon in the wicks and wire subforum. Lots of great info there that will save you a ton of time learning how to use it correctly.

Spoiler

It's a different method than cotton!

 

[Alien Traveler]

I really hoped the KGD would solve this, but it only taste marginally better than cheap cotton to me. The Klaud has the least taste, but still I much prefer the clean flavour of the Nautilus' BVC's.

Aren't Nautilus coils are made with "cheap cotton"?

Sometimes I wonder if "cotton taste" is just in the mouth of the beholder...

 

[AntC]

Cotton seems to have a break in period,and I've noticed some brands more than others. Maybe try giving it more time with one wick and see if it goes away?
I also had to really trust in others cus I had the same issue,and everyone told me "less is better". I thought "yea right", but when I actually put waaaay to little cotton (what I THOUGHT was too little at that time), it worked! I am still, after 1.5 years,amazed at how little cotton it takes. Maybe try what seems to be a very very little amount?
And finally,if all else fails,I'd say Rayon. Never tried it but with all the hype I've been seeing I'll be getting some (by some I mean a lifetime supply for 15 bucks lol) just to have another option.
Oh,another option:Billow2. All problems with RTA's gone.

 

[Caterpiller]

Aren't Nautilus coils are made with "cheap cotton"?

Sometimes I wonder if "cotton taste" is just in the mouth of the beholder...

No argument there AT, as far as I know there is cotton in the BVC's, although due to the tiny size of the BVC's I'd guess far less than in an RTA build.

Could it all be in my mind? Quite possibly, but that still leaves me hating the taste I'm getting from my Kv4.

I've read hundreds of posts from people who can take any piece of cotton from their wives make up box and still get a great vape.

Even more from people who swear by KGD. So imagine how unhappy I am right now that I can't make a good vape!

What I don't get is how it could still be my wicking after re-wicking some 20 times, only going to 7 watts, and seeing the cotton is saturated when I remove the deck?

 

[Caterpiller]

ANTC, I've tried using minimal cotton, but do worry about not having enough actually in the inner coil diameter (if that makes sense).

I tried a minimal build earlier and noticed that once saturated the cotton only filled the bottom half of the coil, leaving a gap to the top of the coil.

This build kind of sizzled and still tasted bad.

What I'm trying to do now is put enough cotton in to fill the coil, but then cutting down the tails (that go to the juice holes) to a bare minimum.

 

[AndriaD]

Perhaps you're wicking a bit to thick. I've tried many rebuildable tanks and I recently purchased a couple of Kayfun v4 clones. IMO, very few tanks of any kind can stand with the Kayfun V4 in terms of taste.

I get a cotton taste immediately after re-wicking, but that is something that quickly goes away.

FWIW, I use CVS "Organic" cotton balls for wick. IMO, cotton is cotton, and I don't find "Japanese" cotton to taste any better. For me it boils down to matter of the material I like to work with the best, and I prefer the consistancy of unrolled CVS cotton balls.

Yep, organic cotton is organic cotton whether it comes from Japan or Podunk, USA. The only advantage I've found with the JOC is that it's quicker and easier, and it seems to have less of a break-in time, but wicks made from organic cotton balls last 2-3 times longer before needing a re-wick.

I second your suggestion that the OP is simply using too much -- learning the "correct" amount is an art form, and takes a while to figure out... but organic cotton vapes better than anything else I've tried -- silica, ekowool, or rayon.

And the only vape thingy with flavor even close to a kayfun is a Magma RDA -- which has its own problems, namely, leaking. Great for home use, though.

Andria

 

[roxynoodle]

I much prefer cellucotton (rayon) in my RTAs. Within a few pulls its broken in. I am able to taste both cotton and silica.

 

[AntC]

ANTC, I've tried using minimal cotton, but do worry about not having enough actually in the inner coil diameter (if that makes sense).

I tried a minimal build earlier and noticed that once saturated the cotton only filled the bottom half of the coil, leaving a gap to the top of the coil.

This build kind of sizzled and still tasted bad.

What I'm trying to do now is put enough cotton in to fill the coil, but then cutting down the tails (that go to the juice holes) to a bare minimum.

Sorry, I meant to say that. I went through the same thing,I feel for ya. But yea I don't "stuff" it in there,but pretty snug,then trim the tails down to fit the juice channels. I should've been more clear. But don't let it beat ya,these RTA's these days are a dream, once you get them dialed in. Really hope it works out for ya.

 

[EBates]

You keep referencing the juice holes, you are not allowing the wick material to block the juice holes, are you?

 

[ReigntheGamer]

I use KGD all the time and there definitely is a break in period, usually after I have been vaping on it a half hour or so it's all good. The upside is the break in doesn't take that long if you stick with it, and really gets barely noticeable after sometime rebuilding with it.

Having said that I have only bought the boxes which the pads come in loose and the box is wrapped in plastic. Looking at yours it looks like they are smaller packs where the plastic is actually touching the cotton and that makes me wonder if the packaging isn't giving you a stranger than normal taste off the KGD.

I've sent KGD to several people and had nothing but great replies about it once they've tried it.