Different Cottons for different wicks

[Butters78]

I stopped by the Dollar Tree and picked up some of the same type as Mack showed a picture of. I'm anxious to try it, but all four of my reduxes and my new gen 1 from COV are all vaping like a freight train at the moment. I guess I could try it on the gen 1. All I'd need to do is pull the cheese cloth out and pull this in using the existing coil.

Let me know how it works out. The one I got says quilted on the packaging does yours? Don't know if that makes any difference. I'm really clueless on what to do with these things. It's a circle of course so do I just cut a straight section and roll it? I am definitely lost right now lol.

 

[JD1]

Ok, I couldn't wait any longer lol. I now have my gen 1 from COV wicked with cotton cut from these pads. It's performing great. I think it might be doing better than the cheese cloth I took out by a little bit, not sure, but I do think it was slightly easier to work with.

I used a drill bit that fit lightly snug in the dud wick hole to roll my coil, and mounted it to the dud, took out the drill bit, and slid in a piece of the cotton through the coil and wick hole. I left about 3/8th in. at the top and folded that over and tucked it between the coil and the center post. I saturated the wick with juice, put some in the dud and started vaping. (Couldn't make myself wait lol). Right out of the gate it was good, with that fresh cotton taste (I like it) that went away after just a few vapes. I've got over an hour on it now and still going strong. Very good vapor and flavor and about as much th as I'm going to get out of ~16 mg juice.

Let me know how it works out. The one I got says quilted on the packaging does yours? Don't know if that makes any difference. I'm really clueless on what to do with these things. It's a circle of course so do I just cut a straight section and roll it? I am definitely lost right now lol.

There's no mention of it being quilted. It just says 100% cotton and lists a few things it's good for.

I cut out about a 3/16th inch strip, and found that it wasn't consistent in the center so I pulled it in two (separated top and bottom). I started to roll one piece and very quickly rendered it useless because it was separating and getting thin in places. I got the other piece and just squeezed and lightly rolled it into a fairly consistent wick. If you allow your hands to put any stretching force at all, it'll pull apart and make a thin spot.

As you probably saw in the Viva thread, Underwhelmed said that he didn't have much luck with what he tried but I'm wondering if he applied some stretching force some way. Again, I just sort of squeezed and rolled between my thumbs and fingers, keeping my hands together. I didn't try to roll them tight at all.

I do recommend wrapping your coil on a nail, drill bit, or something, and then teasing your wick through. If it's too hard, then your wick is probably to big, and if too easy, it's probably not big enough lol.

Another tip for the vivi type heads is too make two wicks. Put the ends together and pull both in your coil at the same time. That allows the cotton to fan out a little more through the slots and helps prevent choking. If you're going to wrap around the wicks, be sure and use a paper clip. A thin needle won't leave enough space.

This turned into a longer post than I intended. Oh well, I hope some of it helps. Best of luck.

 

[Butters78]

Thanks for the insight! I'm going to try today most likely, but with the yarn to get my feet wet. After I boil it I'm just gonna stick the yarn in my dryer lol. I don't think it'll hurt anything.

 

[JD1]

Thanks for the insight! I'm going to try today most likely, but with the yarn to get my feet wet. After I boil it I'm just gonna stick the yarn in my dryer lol. I don't think it'll hurt anything.

Yeal, I wouldn't think so. It's hard to tell from the picture, but it looks to me like unrolling it would give you two cords at about the right size.

edit: I watched the video and looks like he didn't unroll it. If it was me, I'd experiment with unrolling it back to the coil, after I got it through the coil.

Another thing I do different is I only twist the positive wire and I do it before I start rolling the coil. When I put it in the head I make sure the negative lead is all the way over against the slot. It should make connection there and not glow.

 

[Butters78]

Yarn must be good for wicks.

I put it in a garment bag by itself and put it in the dryer a full cycle on delicate and it was still damp lol. I didn't boil the whole ball of yarn just like 10 feet.

 

[JD1]

Yarn must be good for wicks.

I put it in a garment bag by itself and put it in the dryer a full cycle on delicate and it was still damp lol. I didn't boil the whole ball of yarn just like 10 feet.

Lol. Plus, it tastes good. I'm very pleased that I don't have to fight with hot spots and shorts to get a good vape. I'm still puffin' away on my dud, 2.9 ohms, 4.8 volts. That's 7.9 watts and 1.65 amps. Well within the limits of my Vector.

 

[xMackx]

Glad to see you guys trying the cotton rounds. Here is what i do...

1. I always boil the cotton in water to make sure it's clean (boiling several is enough to last a long time). Squeeze water out pressing flat so they dont lose their shape and let dry over night spread out over a plate.

2. I wrap my coil 33 awg kanthal 4 wraps around a 2mm wide needle and leave the needle in while mounting in the vivi nova head. Tighten everything up and twist excess wire off and slide the needle out for a 1.8ohm coil.

3. I take a cotton round and cut a strip about 5mm wide. Then roll it tight in my fingers until it's nice and round and pressed thin enough to thread through the coil easily.

4. After threaded through trim both ends to desired length.

Now I can't stress this part enough and how important it is. Always let your cotton wicks soak in juice (in tank) a half hour to an hour before even attempting to vape off of it or it will burn (even if it looks wet). This initial soak is important because it takes a little time for the cotton to absorb and expand to preform with the capillary action needed for wicking.

When it's time to change the wick, take some scissors and snip one side of the wick close to the coil and it should slide right out. Then you can cut another wick and thread a new one through.

 

[Butters78]

Thanks Mack, I'm off the next couple days so I'll be trying it with your method and I'll post the results.

 

[donnah]

Great tutorial! I wrapped my coil around a small screw, then slide the cotton (ball rolled thin) through and then installed it. I'm going to try installing the coil (putting on the grommet and that other thing) and then slide the wick in. Also, I've not felt the need to boil my cotton. The cotton balls come sterile already and I would imagine that makeup rounds do also.

(one hour later) Hmmm... rolling a perfect coil is easy, installing it into the vn head is easy, checked ohms.. nice.. 1.9.. all the coils glow. It's rolling the cotton thin enough to slide through the coils that's the tricky part! (trying again!)

(two hours later) got the cotton thin enough to thread through the coil but it's not easy to thread it through with the coil already installed in the head. I had to roll the coil, thread the wick through and then install it. I like the idea of installing the coil first because I can test the ohms and replace the wick without having to roll another coil. I'll pick up some makeup rounds next time I'm in town, they seem like they would be easier to work with than the cotton ball.

 

[Butters78]

I boiled the rounds tonight and they are drying now. Considering how much they swelled with the water I bet they'll be great for wicking.

 

[donnah]

I got some last night. I didn't boil them though. you have to cut a really really thin sliver and twist them tight to get them to slide through the coil. I've got one built but haven't tried it yet. It does seem a bit easier to work with then a cotton ball.

 

[JD1]

.......Now I can't stress this part enough and how important it is. Always let your cotton wicks soak in juice (in tank) a half hour to an hour before even attempting to vape off of it or it will burn (even if it looks wet). This initial soak is important because it takes a little time for the cotton to absorb and expand to preform with the capillary action needed for wicking........

Good advise, that. When I received my Gen 1 from COV I promptly put in a cheese cloth wick, wet it good, waited all of a minute and went to vaping. It performed well, but I did notice some muted pops and could feel the pulse of some of them. Several hours later, I took of the cap and looked at my coil. It was pretty black and I could see that some of the cotton was burned. I never got a bad taste though and it was still performing good. I put it aside and went to one of my reduxes because I've been experimenting with different size coils and wicks in them also.

Fast forward a couple of days and I picked up some of the cotton rounds from Dollar Tree that Mack showed in this thread. I pulled the cheese cloth wick out, and sure enough, some of the threads were burned in two. I dry burned the coil a little and put in a wick made from the rounds. Well, I couldn't make myself wait, so I went to vaping. Again, it performed great with some popping and juice spitting. (none in my mouth, thank goodness.) Within a few hours, I felt that performance was dropping off a little, and when I examined the wick, I could see that it was burned. I replaced it again and this time laid it aside for several hours. This time, no popping or juice spitting, and although it's darkened you can tell that it's from the juice and that the cotton underneath isn't burned.

I've had the same experience a couple of times with my reduxes, even after letting them set. In both those cases, I had made the wick to large and it was getting choked.

 

[Butters78]

My rounds haven't dried all the way yet lol.

 

[donnah]

Good advise, that. When I received my Gen 1 from COV I promptly put in a cheese cloth wick, wet it good, waited all of a minute and went to vaping. It performed well, but I did notice some muted pops and could feel the pulse of some of them. Several hours later, I took of the cap and looked at my coil. It was pretty black and I could see that some of the cotton was burned. I never got a bad taste though and it was still performing good. I put it aside and went to one of my reduxes because I've been experimenting with different size coils and wicks in them also.

Fast forward a couple of days and I picked up some of the cotton rounds from Dollar Tree that Mack showed in this thread. I pulled the cheese cloth wick out, and sure enough, some of the threads were burned in two. I dry burned the coil a little and put in a wick made from the rounds. Well, I couldn't make myself wait, so I went to vaping. Again, it performed great with some popping and juice spitting. (none in my mouth, thank goodness.) Within a few hours, I felt that performance was dropping off a little, and when I examined the wick, I could see that it was burned. I replaced it again and this time laid it aside for several hours. This time, no popping or juice spitting, and although it's darkened you can tell that it's from the juice and that the cotton underneath isn't burned.

I've had the same experience a couple of times with my reduxes, even after letting them set. In both those cases, I had made the wick to large and it was getting choked.

Hmmm that may be why one of mine was popping and spitting a couple weeks ago. Eric.. put your rounds in the dryer! LoL

 

[Iffy]

Eric.. put your rounds ...

... next to your 'puter exhaust fan. Seriously! Not kiddin'...

 

[JD1]

Hey Iffy, what are you vaping on these days?

 

[Gloria]

Fancy meeting you here Iffy! LOL I'm still in the "taking it all in" process. Gathering the supplies needed for rebuilding the Nova.

@mack and all of you contributing your knowledge and experiences here.... THANK YOU!!!!

 

[xMackx]

Good advise, that. When I received my Gen 1 from COV I promptly put in a cheese cloth wick, wet it good, waited all of a minute and went to vaping. It performed well, but I did notice some muted pops and could feel the pulse of some of them. Several hours later, I took of the cap and looked at my coil. It was pretty black and I could see that some of the cotton was burned. I never got a bad taste though and it was still performing good. I put it aside and went to one of my reduxes because I've been experimenting with different size coils and wicks in them also.

Fast forward a couple of days and I picked up some of the cotton rounds from Dollar Tree that Mack showed in this thread. I pulled the cheese cloth wick out, and sure enough, some of the threads were burned in two. I dry burned the coil a little and put in a wick made from the rounds. Well, I couldn't make myself wait, so I went to vaping. Again, it performed great with some popping and juice spitting. (none in my mouth, thank goodness.) Within a few hours, I felt that performance was dropping off a little, and when I examined the wick, I could see that it was burned. I replaced it again and this time laid it aside for several hours. This time, no popping or juice spitting, and although it's darkened you can tell that it's from the juice and that the cotton underneath isn't burned.

I've had the same experience a couple of times with my reduxes, even after letting them set. In both those cases, I had made the wick to large and it was getting choked.

Unfortunately we all will inhale burnt cotton before we learn, it looked wet right lol. Seriously though cheese cloth takes even longer to soak, about 2 hours. The cotton wools take less time because they're more absorbent, can vape after soaking a half hour to an hour.

After trying just about every type of cotton out there I settled on the cotton rounds because they are the strongest f the cotton wools. Cotton balls/batting/gauze/Q-tips the cotton wool doesn't hold together so I had to be very delicate but the cotton rounds I can tug and pull and they don't fall apart as easy even after boiling. Also since using the rounds I haven't had any leak issues in my vivi novas.

Eric, make sure you squeezed as much water out of them. I squeezed them flat between my hands to keep their shape, then spread them out on a plate and were dry 12 hours later at room temperature.

 

[Iffy]

Hey Iffy, what are you vaping on these days?

Been using VV Grippers. I also went back to DCTs. I'm just pokin' around searching for that ever elusive 'holy grail' of joose devices...

Fancy meeting you here Iffy! LOL I'm still in the "taking it all in" process. Gathering the supplies needed for rebuilding the Nova.

Well if it isn't the lady with the avi I luv! I'm at the point where I need to jump in with both feet on this rebuilding venture.

 

[JD1]

Been using VV Grippers. I also went back to DCTs. I'm just pokin' around searching for that ever elusive 'holy grail' of joose devices............I'm at the point where I need to jump in with both feet on this rebuilding venture.

Yeal, that looks like it would be a good 'bang for the buck' device, and with a 4 amp limit, I'm guessing you can make a serious fog with your DCTs lol.

As far as the RBAs, I'm not sure if it's the 'holy grail' or not, but I'm diggin' this: COV Gen 1 (If you decide to try one, use code bigbuyer)

I've been using Joye 510 attys for dripping, Smok reduxes for everything else, but now that I have my dud, I think it's going to see the most use. I've been dripping in it all evening and I'm thinking of getting another one just for dripping. It'll have that big juice well at the bottom for nothing, but I already know I'm going to like the draw.

Using cotton, wick and coil building is dead easy and very inexpensive, so I say jump right in, the water's fine lol.

Since you like duel coils, you might want to take a look at the triangle as it's set up to make duel coils easier.
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...-systems/353761-empire-mods-triangle-rba.html