Instead of laying the wick "across" the juice holes, left to right or right to left, i'd have problems with wicking sometimes, especially with darker liquids, i drape the wick like a fringe. Before screwing on the barrel i'll pull the wick through the coil until one side is the right length and then spread it out across the holes to cover them, the bottom of the tail sits like a curtain which is a little too long. Then i'll cut the other side and do the same thing, then i screw on the barrel, prime etc. There isn't enough wick to stop the flow using this method.
Packing a whole load of wick into that barrel can always be hit or miss.
K4.