Silica wicks, cotton wicks, or tanks?!

[Thrasher]

yea that tread has been bounced around a bit but as you can see there is no actual proof offered except someone posting picks they cant verify. i took apart several nova heads and never seen that kind of damage, not saying it doesnt happen but i have never seen it or felt needles in my mouth so. take things with a grain of salt..

 

[grandmato5]

Much about the safety of our ecig world is still unknown for certain. It will likely be a LONG time before enough good unbiased studies come out to prove what is safe and what is unsafe. To me, common sense in what I use or don't use makes the most sense right now.

I prefer stainless steel mesh for my rebuildables but I'm ok with using silica. When I do use silica I do pay attention to the condition of the silica I'm using. I've not yet rebuilt using cotton. I have no fear of vaping with cotton but I don't like the idea that it will burn if not kept wet. I'm sure one of these days I'll give it a try.

Personally when I give it some thought I'm more concerned with the attys and cartos and clearos built in China and what materials they are actually using in them then with concerns with the silica I use to rebuild my RA's. But even with that said it hasn't stopped me from using China built attys or cartos or clearos so far

 

[mrelwood]

I really like using cotton, mostly because of the taste, and secondly because it gives me less throat irritation than silica.

Cotton is a bit tricky to get right, because it has to be just the right thickness at the coil not to flood and not to burn too quick. And it can't be dry burned, not even a second. That makes it unsuitable for any system where you don't see the juice level.

It's been a really cold winter here, and as the juice gets thicker, it won't wick as well and the cotton wick will burn easily. Therefore my winter vapes are Vivi Nova Mini's with silica wicks and 85% PG juices. At home I vape cotton wicked T3 with 80% VG.

 

[Rapture]

I am still a noob but have been doing a lot of reading..... I have recently upgraded to a few ego-c twist bats with a couple mini vivi nova clearos. I am very happy with them and excited to order many new flavors.

However!

Everyone has me freaked out about silica wicks! Now I have a couple questions. Rebuilding my nova heads seems easy enough but am I just being paranoid? If I go the cotton yarn route do you use 2 pieces or just 1? If I just go to a tank system does it eliminate this concern? Is it truly known that cotton is safe??

I too was very paranoid about silica. soo paranoid that i could not enjoy vaping anymore. i researched the topic for many many hours. silica dust is what is harmful if inhaled, very small peices like less than 5 microns can make it into your lungs. There is no way of telling if peices of wick can get that small and travel with the wet vapor into your lungs. I decided to save myself from my paranoia and do the cotton. I bought some cheesecloth and then was looking to order some 32 gauge kanthal wire. i found some wire on ebay and was looking at the location of the seller. To my surprise the seller was Tempco which is down the road from me in Fremont California. I WAS SHOCKED. I took all of my silica wicks out of my vivi nova heads and threw them out the window. Rewicking vivi nova heads is fairly easy if your good at small detailed things. I followed a video on youtube and it worked great the first time. I suggest using straight VG juice to test everything with first. After I tested with VG juicei made the mistake of rinsing the cotton head off with water and then refilling. NO VAPOR. i made a new wick and put it on my ego and fried my battery. The battery light was flashing out of control and wouldnt stop. i got scared and put in a sock and then in a tuperwaer container and threw it out the window. I do not suggest coiling anything with out a multimeter. i got one a walmart for 10 dollars and coiled and wicked a head today. after about a half a tank of juice it is working fantastic. I am back in love with vaping. This was my first post on this forum too by the way.

 

[Rapture]

I really like using cotton, mostly because of the taste, and secondly because it gives me less throat irritation than silica.

Cotton is a bit tricky to get right, because it has to be just the right thickness at the coil not to flood and not to burn too quick. And it can't be dry burned, not even a second. That makes it unsuitable for any system where you don't see the juice level.

It's been a really cold winter here, and as the juice gets thicker, it won't wick as well and the cotton wick will burn easily. Therefore my winter vapes are Vivi Nova Mini's with silica wicks and 85% PG juices. At home I vape cotton wicked T3 with 80% VG.

i too love cotton now. it has a nice taste to it. have u tried just straight VG juice with a cotton wick. I use that to test my head for leaks before i put in my nic juice. it really tastes kinda smooth and natural. I will never use another e-cig that contains silica.

 

[Rapture]

yea that tread has been bounced around a bit but as you can see there is no actual proof offered except someone posting picks they cant verify. i took apart several nova heads and never seen that kind of damage, not saying it doesnt happen but i have never seen it or felt needles in my mouth so. take things with a grain of salt..

I was looking at my juice the other day while in the car with the right angle of the sunlight and saw so many shards floating in my juice. i now use cotton and with a little work and tinkering it is working awesome. huge vapor. natural taste. the only problem was getting the right thickness or wick. my first ones leaked. They say silica has to be less than 5 microns to enter your lung pockets. a human hair is 40 microns. I dont know if silica wicks can break off that small but im not taking the chances. cotton ...

 

[mrelwood]

have u tried just straight VG juice with a cotton wick.

No I haven't. I mix my juices, and the flavour concentrates are all PG, so it is 15-25% PG. But I feel that a well working cotton wick is a well working wick, I don't think anything should be done differently for PG or VG juices. Not sure though.

I use that to test my head for leaks before i put in my nic juice.

Cotton swells so much that I don't think you will know if there will be leaks or flooding until the next day after filling.

 

[texastone]

Truth is on the Nova almost anything that you REBUILD weather it be cotton, silica, ss mesh, its most of the time better then what it came with. I am vaping on a nova with a cotton yarn I bought at Walmart. Its not near as much of rocket science as you think rebuilding the nova. But in my opinion and what seems to be a lot of opinions, if you want ultimate flavor and throat hit, just use cartomizers and tanks. The darker juices will tend to clog them after a few days like copper creek house blend but ther is no comparison to the flavor you will get out of carto tanks then the vivi nova. Going from a nova, to a carto tank with the same flavor will knock your socks off when you taste and feel the difference!! The nova is great at ease of use, filling, etc but you can save your time and a pain with refilling carto tanks by purchasing a "Slap Yo Momma" tool! Good luck man. Never hurts to have a little of everything thats good laying around then you have lots of options!

 

[texastone]

oh yeah and they say on cartos with dark juices, use nice easy light draws and take your time at a little lower voltage and it helps prevent them from clogging but every pay day if you buy yourself a couple packs of cartos youll have more than enough too!

 

[Jaysin]

Already ordered a Carto tank just to give it a try. Seems like most pics I see people have em. I just love how simple the clearos are. Not to mention I'm still learning and the carto tanks are more confusing.

 

[texastone]

Already ordered a Carto tank just to give it a try. Seems like most pics I see people have em. I just love how simple the clearos are. Not to mention I'm still learning and the carto tanks are more confusing.

yeah your exactly right. The clearos are so much easier to deal with on a constant basis. Its always a trade off in this business. You have to go to 3 different vendors and pay shipping for each to get everything you need, you love the flavor of cartos better but have to change them out more and refilling is tougher, you live the vivi nova but like it better with a rewicked cotton so your changing the heads to make it better. Everything has its pain in the .... part! lol. But I suppose its a hobby anyway!

 

[Jaysin]

So, I got my first tank today. I love the way it looks but I just can't taste it like my nova. Is this common? Nova taste just jumps out. I wanna like the tank, looks awesome. Do different cartos have better flavor?? Seems like the tank will save juice to. Idk, maybe I'm just a clearo guy. Wanted to like this tank too.

 

[mrelwood]

Do different cartos have better flavor??

Most definitely, and carto tanks only vape as well as the carto itself. I'm not a carto guy so I don't have any actual suggestions, other than the Gotvapes Stallion that seems like a good idea on paper. And people seem to like them.

 

[DontBurnIt]

I just upgraded from a Twist to a Vamo with a carto tank, & look forward to trying a rebuildable atty soon. Having said that, Vivi's were the best I tried on my Twist.

Here's a link to a dude rebuilding his Vivis with SS mesh, eliminating the fiber wick entirely.

Vivi Nova rebuild with SS mesh wick