Cotton wicks not lasting long--is this normal? Am I doing something wrong?

[toothboy]

I started out using rolled cotton (rounds, gauze) but have since graduated to Peaches N Cream ecru yarn. I primarily use an IGO-L on a Vamo with 28 or 30g Kanthal.

My problem is that after half a day's use I will notice flavor dropping off and see that the wick isn't wicking anymore (liquid is building up in the reservoir). If I tug lightly on the wick it just comes apart where it enters the coil.

I have had wicks last longer than this, so I feel that I must be doing something wrong. Is the wick too loose? Too tight? Not soaking long enough before using? Do I need to use a different type of cotton? (though one of the reasons I switched to the yarn was because it seemed to be more durable) Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Micro24]

Did you let the juice soak up overnight before vaping? if not, then the juice might not be at the core yet and the cotton is burned. That's if, you didn't let it soak up overnight. That's what I think is the problem, rebuild the coil before sleeping and let the juice seep through the cotton wick, that will surely do the trick.

 

[inkdog]

My cotton wicks usually last a few days. I let them step and soak up juice for at least 30 minutes before vaping. If you're running a darker juice or lots of VG, you'll probably have to change the wick more often. When I vape chocolate or tobacco extract I change wicks almost daily.

My setup is a 1/16 micro coil using 30g kanthal. I roll a bit of cotton ball and slide through the coil after its mounted on the mod. If there is a lot of resistance pulling the cotton through, there's too much. It should slide in easily before steeping with juice

 

[hildicat]

If your wick falls apart under the coil you've burnt it. Your coil may be too tight, choking the wick. The cotton will swell considerably when saturated. Your cotton needs to slide through the coil with nearly zero resistance when dry, otherwise once its saturated it will swell and possibly choke at the coil. You may be vaping it too dry before adding more joose.

That being said, the juice makes a huge difference. Lighter, cleaner juices will yield longer wick life than darker ones. My caramel and RY4 jooses require daily wick swaps.

 

[Hitmetwice]

You may want to try some cotton string, much more durable than the yarn in my experience.
Just be sure and unfurl it before threading it into the coil.

 

[JBL-37]

What ohm is your coil and how much power are you pumping to it? I have had one on for a week without any issues. I never let it get close to dry either, I always check it after a few toots. I've found 2ohm range is best for cotton, as always though YMMV.

 

[Cheechako]

If your wick falls apart under the coil you've burnt it. Your coil may be too tight, choking the wick. The cotton will swell considerably when saturated. Your cotton needs to slide through the coil with nearly zero resistance when dry, otherwise once its saturated it will swell and possibly choke at the coil. You may be vaping it too dry before adding more joose.

That being said, the juice makes a huge difference. Lighter, cleaner juices will yield longer wick life than darker ones. My caramel and RY4 jooses require daily wick swaps.

This has been my experience...if the wick is compressed at all, it's too tight.
I just drip some juice on the wick while the device is apart and it's good to go when assembled.
Cotton balls do wick better than any other cotton product I've tried.

 

[toothboy]

Thanks for the replies.

I think problem is multifold based on everyone's response--I don't think I am soaking the wicks long enough, I think I'm putting my wicks in too tightly, and my juice tends toward the darker side of the spectrum. I need to get another IGO so I can have one soaking and alternate it out with the one in use.

 

[toothboy]

What ohm is your coil and how much power are you pumping to it? I have had one on for a week without any issues. I never let it get close to dry either, I always check it after a few toots. I've found 2ohm range is best for cotton, as always though YMMV.

1.8-2.0ohm at around 4-4.2v

 

[JD1]

If your wick falls apart under the coil you've burnt it. Your coil may be too tight, choking the wick. The cotton will swell considerably when saturated. Your cotton needs to slide through the coil with nearly zero resistance when dry, otherwise once its saturated it will swell and possibly choke at the coil. You may be vaping it too dry before adding more joose.

That being said, the juice makes a huge difference. Lighter, cleaner juices will yield longer wick life than darker ones. My caramel and RY4 jooses require daily wick swaps.

This has been my experience as well. I have also come to prefer a smaller diameter coil (~1/16th inch) as I seem to be getting consistently good results with them.

I usually use strips cut from the makeup rounds but I've also used cheese cloth with good results. I've also seen several positive posts about the Peaches N Cream ecru yarn that you're using.

I prewrap the coil then twist the cotton to reduce it's diameter and to keep it from pulling apart as I pull it through the coil, then I un-twist it once I have it in the coil. I usually let it soak at least 2 hours before vaping. Like hildicat, the mixes that I like are bad coil gunkers and I replace my wicks often but I'm getting little or no singing of the cotton.

 

[hildicat]

1.8-2.0ohm at around 4-4.2v

That's pretty much where I run mine. You should not get any burning if your wick is wet enough.

On a bottom feed RBA its very easy to keep the wick wet. With a good goosing the wick gets saturated and the remaining liquid drains back into the bottle. I get around 3 or 4 good hits on a very minimal wick between each 'goose'.

I've not had nearly as good experience on a dripper. I tried a longer wick to hold more joose so I wouldn't have to drip as frequently. It was a very fine line between dry and flooded. This is going off my experience, and admittedly, I didn't spend much effort trying to perfect the use of the IGO. If I were to compare it to my BF RBA's, I guess I would first make sure the wick is fully saturated, then probably take 2 or 3 good tokes before adding maybe three more drops. Wash, rinse repeat...

 

[Rader2146]

I use the Wal-mart Red Heart brand #10 Crochet yarn and I usually get about 2 weeks on my wicks. I try to keep them wet at all times but I do have the occasional dry hit/burnt taste. I've found that this setup recovers well from the dry hit and I dont have a lingering burnt taste.



8 strands through a 2.8mm .5Ω coil.

 

[genoxy]

Cotton balls seem to work really well and you can get hundreds out of one ball!

 

[Porksmuggler]

I use the same yarn at around the same resistance and voltage. You're probably using too much yarn and too large a diameter coil. I coil 32 kanthal at 1.4mm and only use 2 strands of the #4 ecru.

 

[toothboy]

Thanks everybody for the replies. Porksmuggler, gonna try your setup and see how that does. Rader, picked up the crochet yarn and am really liking it so far.

 

[Porksmuggler]

Thanks everybody for the replies. Porksmuggler, gonna try your setup and see how that does. Rader, picked up the crochet yarn and am really liking it so far.

Definitely let it soak first too, it will look totally fine, and will vape, but I promise there's a difference when you let it sit 15-30 minutes first.

I make dark juices, so I'm still pulling the wick almost daily. If you use 1.4mm coil and 2 strands, it's easy though, the wick will slide right through the coil.

 

[toothboy]

Just an update here.

It was most definitely my juices. Specifically HHV juices. They are MURDER on cotton wicks. I can get a wick to last several days to a week or longer when vaping stuff like AVE, Indigo, Str8, or NLV, but the second I put HHV juices the wick just disintegrates within a day.

Switching back to cheesecloth seems to have helped a bit, as it seems to be much heartier, but it still feels the wrath of HHV pretty significantly.

 

[REOfanatic]

i use HHV 30/70vg on my nimbus dual coil .75ohms on cotton ball wicks and they last me a good 1 1/2 weeks. it helps to have a RDA that has a decent dripwell and spitback protection so you can just flood it and vape 4-5 hits and redrip

 

[Xobeloot]

I also just use basic cotton from cotton balls or off the head of a q-tip. a tiny amount goes a LOOOOOOONG way. I used to let it sit for about 20 mins or so before vaping it, but now I just wet it and go.

my clear juices i rarely have to change the wick. My cigar extract RY4 blend that I make requires a new wick sometimes 2-3x a day.

The beauty of cotton is that it's dirt cheap and can be changed super fast without need to do anything other than dry-burn the coil to dry it before re-wicking. Want to change flavors after a few vapes? rewick! Took a few too many puffs and burned it? rewick!

I've been working off of the same cotton ball for over a week now and you can barely tell I've been pinching off of it.

 

[REOfanatic]

why is cotton so awesome <33333 haha after using cotton balls i shall never use any other wick