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I bought some cotton rounds today, but they aren't the kind that I think I need. The cotton is inside a cotton "shell". The middle picture is after they had been boiled. They look like white potato chips. Has anyone tried these?
Says pure cotton, you're good to go after boiling. Just make sure you let them dry before using. You can do a burn test to make sure it's pure cotton.
Let us know how they work out for you. After installation let it soak for a while or I could burn.
When talking about cotton for wick material you have two main different categories.
Cotton Wools: ( cotton balls, cotton rounds, cotton gauze, Q-tips) These are some of the most absorbent types of cotton we can use. Cotton wool is basically raw cotton that hasn't been woven making it fluffy and somewhat delicate depending on their intended use. It's these more basic forms that perform with a faster capillary action than woven forms making for a shorter initial soak time before use. They are also very easy to shape into the preferred wick shape.
Woven Cotton: ( cotton twines, rope, yarn, cheese cloth, candle wick) These types of cotton are extremely durable because of being woven into stronger tightly compact forms and are less absorbent than cotton wools making for a longer initial soak time. These types of cotton are easier to prepare because there is'nt a need for reshaping.
The basic rule of thumb is the stronger the cotton is the less absorbent it will be. Even the different types of cotton in the same category perform different to each other. So it's these pros and cons you have to weigh in figuring out which cotton is best for you.
Cotton Wools: ( cotton balls, cotton rounds, cotton gauze, Q-tips) These are some of the most absorbent types of cotton we can use. Cotton wool is basically raw cotton that hasn't been woven making it fluffy and somewhat delicate depending on their intended use. It's these more basic forms that perform with a faster capillary action than woven forms making for a shorter initial soak time before use. They are also very easy to shape into the preferred wick shape.
Woven Cotton: ( cotton twines, rope, yarn, cheese cloth, candle wick) These types of cotton are extremely durable because of being woven into stronger tightly compact forms and are less absorbent than cotton wools making for a longer initial soak time. These types of cotton are easier to prepare because there is'nt a need for reshaping.
The basic rule of thumb is the stronger the cotton is the less absorbent it will be. Even the different types of cotton in the same category perform different to each other. So it's these pros and cons you have to weigh in figuring out which cotton is best for you.
Thanks for your help. I tried the cotton wicks on the vivi nova and a Dream rba, which is a dripping rebuildable. Let the juice soak on both before I tried. The cotton wick on the vivi nova is great. Lots of flavor and vapor. The dripping RBA didn't work so well. In the Dream RBA the wick isn't always soaked in juice, which I believe leads to a little bit of burning and flavor distortion if you don't keep it well soaked. This obviously isn't a problem with silica, but I'd hoped cotton would work with the Dream.
Do you have any ideas on how I could make cotton work? Maybe just a really big cotton wick?
Do you have any ideas on how I could make cotton work? Maybe just a really big cotton wick?
In my short experience with cotton, I've found that popping indicates that a cotton fiber has burned, and the usual cause has been either too short of a soak time or choking at the coil. Cotton expands a lot, so I would suggest a smaller wick. One of the nice things about cotton is how cheap it is. We can afford to experiment a little. Good luck and I hope you get it dialed in soon.
I don't know how the Dream RBA works, but my dripping RBA will hold something like 15 drops from a needletip bottle (I usually just pull off the drip dip and drip about 5 big drops from a regular tipped bottle though) so it's kind of like a super low capacity tank in that way.
Also, my coil is horizontal so I could run both ends of the wick down to the bottom of the well but that seems to block airflow too much so I just run one long end with the other short end extending a little way out of the coil and pointed up toward the drip tip. I have a side airhole so I aim that perpendicular to the short half of the wick....lining up that airhole just right is pretty critical.
There are a lot of variables ... the diameter and spacing of the coils took me the longest to figure out.
I use larger diameter 30 gauge Kanthal wire so I need to wind a larger diameter coil to make it fit. The coil I'm using now was wrapped around my multi-meter lead to size it, but a round toothpick works too.
I use a 4/3 wrap and get about 1.8 ohms and when I had the coils close together I would burn the center of the wick after a few hits every time so now I have them spaced about a toothpick width apart and that works great.
I think it took me a good week or two of trial and error...maybe 15 or 20 different wraps to get it working good. Some day I'll get brave a see if I can get better performance but I'm happy for now. Better vapor and taste than the cartos and clearos I used, so not bad!
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That is some great info. I'll definitely keep trying with the Dream. The Dream is basically a clone of the Fatty RBA, pic included. Not much space in there and you do have be mindful of the airhole, like you said. I just need to keep experimenting with longer wick, longer soak time, coil spacing. Thanks for the suggestions.
Yesterday I tore down one of my reduxes that was popping a little too much to suit me. Sure enough, I had some burnt fibers. I had used a very close wrapped coil, and I think that might have been the problem. I rebuilt with a small space between coils, so we'll see how that goes.
That's a good looking atty. Looks like adjustable air flow? How's the coil set up?
I see a lot of people here at ECF having good luck with really close coils, but I was burning completely through the wick right between the center two coils, so it was like heat was concentrated there.
There are so many variables and different RBA's that most users will probably just have to put up with some trial and error break-in period.
Oh...and for cotton wicks on a dripping RBA...when you get the slightest hint of "dry linen" taste you need to take your finger off the button fast! You'll learn to recognize the taste pretty quick...it's not awful but peculiar at first. Different juices vape away faster than others so if your trying new juices you can't really rely on habit for adding more juice.
It seems like it's OK to toast cotton a little, it can recover with added juice, but there's no returning from even a light burn. Luckily, it's super easy to just pull the cotton out of the coil and dry burn the crud off and put in a new wick. It happens.
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Just make sure whatever you do to let the cotton soak for a couple hours before attempting to vape off of it.
im planning on cottonizing my A7. i bought it to use on my VMod. the stock silica wick and coil worked, but i want to make this puppy really shine.
ive got this cotton:
Organic Cotton Wick Material
i boiled it for about 20 mins, then air dried it. i plan to make a coil on a sturdy rod or toothpick, then feed the wick through by folding the wick in half and leading the loop through the coil with a bit of wire.
the only thing is, i dont know how large of a tool to use to wrap the coil. how tight of a coil do i want... squeezing the cotton, barley touching the cotton, or somewhere in between?
i read earlier about spacing the coils about a toothopick's width apart- so that helps. perhaps i just need to experiment around with the tightness until i find what works.
ive got this cotton:
Organic Cotton Wick Material
i boiled it for about 20 mins, then air dried it. i plan to make a coil on a sturdy rod or toothpick, then feed the wick through by folding the wick in half and leading the loop through the coil with a bit of wire.
the only thing is, i dont know how large of a tool to use to wrap the coil. how tight of a coil do i want... squeezing the cotton, barley touching the cotton, or somewhere in between?
i read earlier about spacing the coils about a toothopick's width apart- so that helps. perhaps i just need to experiment around with the tightness until i find what works.
The coil diameter and spacing is going to depend on the gauge of your resistance wire and how much space you have and what resistance you want to end up at...that'll all probably have to be trial and error.
I wrap larger diameter coils (about the diameter of a toothpick) and I roll a piece of cottonball lightly and thread it through the coil so it just barely rubs all around. With a tightly rolled wick you'd probably need to leave more room for it to swell.
There seems to be as many ways to succeed as there are to fail, but just keep tweeking. If it's too cool maybe you want closer spacing on the coils or lower ohms or maybe adjust the wick diameter or coil diameter...too hot, maybe do the opposite or maybe the airhole needs to be adjusted for better flow across the whole wick.
TBH, cotton is probably not ideally suited to a dripping RBA, but it can work and it's cheap (almost free) and is easy to change. It's a little fiddly at times but it suits me. Kind if reminds me of pipe smoking for some reason.
Wrap your coil with the wraps as close together as possible. The closer the wraps the less likely it's going to burn the cotton. You don't want the coil too tight around the wick either, you should leave room for expansion. Also that wick material looks like a tight weeve so definitely let it soak in the tank for at least 3 hours before vaping.
Someone had the opposite experience in the Vivi Nova rebuilding thread. The diameter and wattage could be crucial in determining which one works the best for cotton. Haven't gotten solid results of my own yet.
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