Cotton wicking issues in RDA

[jer77od]

I posted a thread earlier about my RDA demise, any help there would be great. Anyways, since then, I've gotten just a ton of cotton wicking material and trying new things out. I picked up some pure white cotton yarn from Michael's and built about 5 coils and every single one had an incredibly harsh taste. One coil I even let soak for days and still harsh. I dragged on it maybe 10-20 times and that didn't help. I'm using A1 32G Kanthal by the way. That yarn was 3mm, I've been wrapping either with a syringe or nothing at all, and I've been using the smoktech RDA octopus.

Lastly what I do is buy some cotton balls, cotton yarn, cotton gauze, and cheesecloth from Walmart, boiled them all, and made coils out of each type of material. Each one had that same familiar harsh hit and hardly any vapor. Currently my RDA is set up with the cheesecloth and been sitting for days.

Lastly, I bought some silica from RVD, and that too, in turn, had that same exact harsh hits. Most of the cotton wicks I used did have a good flavor too. Idk if that helps. I'm thinking about upgrading my cheap RDA and trying all over again. I don't know how about 20 coils with 5 or so different wicking materials all have that harsh tendency. Any help would be super appreciated.

 

[Ninjay16]

Just a guess, but what nicotine level are you using in your e-liquid. For me i normally use 18mg but when i use a dripper i only use 6mg anything higher and its to harsh. Or you don't have enough airflow, I've seen people drill an air hole in with octopus but i'm not sure because i don't own one. Cotton is iffy for me, some wicks taste like cotton for days others don't and i normally boil 3 times for 15-20min changing water each time. What ohms are you normally running? generally the lower you go the more airflow you need. Most likely from what u described with taste not being an issue but harshness you are probably using to much nicotine or your using high PG liquid which has a lot of throat hit. More info would help.

 

[ThermoNuker]

Perhaps it's your coil-to-air hole alignment. The coil needs to be in front of the air hole for smooth taste and vapor production. You get more TH (harshness?) as it moves away from the air hole.

 

[E_DeCastro]

what is harsh? like a burning harsh or flavor harsh (too intense?) if it is burning you have a hot leg, take the wick out and fire up the coil and see which leg is glowing. neither legs should be glowing.

 

[JJ1977]

im not a pro in this as im just beginning into it. cotton wicks i stay away from for now as they burn easier for me. i rebuilt a few with 32 gauge kanthal a1 wire and silica wick on the Nimbus afterwards i drip a few drops and wait a few. jmo on how i do it and not a problem yet.

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

My guess is too much heat, reduce your Watts, or too high a nic as another poster mentioned. Used cotton for months without any harshness, but a better vape, more saturated flavor, and preferable to silica and mesh, imho. However, all wicking material, when used properly works fine for me. I think it's your heat, more than likely. What Wattage are you using and what flavor are you vaping?

 

[c803knight]

I second the suggestions about Nic level, wattage, and coil placement in relation to the air hole. I know on my octopus I tend to get a harsher throat hit the higher the coil sits from the air hole. How many ohms is your coil running? Are you running this setup on a mech or a VV mod?

 

[danny4x4]

harsh hit = nic level too high

However, you mentioned that you get hardly any vapour. So, I would think that you're wrapping the coils too tightly, hence choking the silica wick. With cotton, ensure that the cotton slides in the coil with only a LITTLE resistance when dry. Also, do not roll/compress the cotton too much when rewicking. If it's too compressed, the wicking ability of cotton deteriorates.

 

[wutarush]

If by harsh you mean burnt and you don't have the could wrapped real tight then it could be hot spots in the coil itself. If you mean to strong then others suggestions of drilling the air hole and better alignment with the coil should help. Just keep fiddling with it, at this point I can build a coil in about 5 min normally, but some still take endless adjustments to get right. All part of the process.

 

[MarkAlan74]

If by harsh you mean burnt and you don't have the could wrapped real tight then it could be hot spots in the coil itself. If you mean to strong then others suggestions of drilling the air hole and better alignment with the coil should help. Just keep fiddling with it, at this point I can build a coil in about 5 min normally, but some still take endless adjustments to get right. All part of the process.

I also am having no luck with my RDA. I have tried Ekowool and USP Sterile Cotton and still have that harsh taste. Here is what I have now:

30g A1 Kanthal @ 1.5 ohms running on a mechanical mod with EH IMR 18650 NP 30 Amp fully charged. 5 mg 60/40 eliquid. I have my air hole aligned with the coil. I just ordered 28g and 27g Kanthal to see if the gauge was the issue.

Here is an image

 

[Ryedan]

MarkAlan, your picture is not too clear, but if the black thing just under the center post is the coil, it's way too far from the air hole in the cap. That will give you a lot of TH and low vapor production. Here's how I set up my Trident:

The airflow is right on the coils and gives me great flavor and vapor production. I get the coils close to the air holes but I'm careful to not let them touch the cap or they will short. These are two 1 ohm coils and the air holes are about 1.8mm diameter each.

 

[MarkAlan74]

MarkAlan, your picture is not too clear, but if the black thing just under the center post is the coil, it's way too far from the air hole in the cap. That will give you a lot of TH and low vapor production. Here's how I set up my Trident:

The airflow is right on the coils and gives me great flavor and vapor production. I get the coils close to the air holes but I'm careful to not let them touch the cap or they will short. These are two 1 ohm coils and the air holes are about 1.8mm diameter each.

Awesome, I will give it a try. Thank you so much for the reply and pics.