Ekowool questions, will be used for a Kayfun

[New2vaps]

Hi everyone, I have a few questions about Ekowool which I will be using it for my wick in a kayfun. I am having some type of reaction from cotton and figured I would give Ekowool a try.

I will be buying it from Lightning Vapes. Genuine Ekowool Braided Silica Core Wick (SCN) | Lightning Vapes

1- is it recommended to boil the Ekowool in distilled water or is it good to use as is?

2- do I need to torch it before I use it? Not sure if the torching is used to make it easier to work with or if it supposed to burn bad material that might be inhaled.

3- 2 types of Ekowool, one has Silca core and one is hollow. Is there a difference in vape quality?

4- when wrapping the coil around the Ekowool, must the coil be wrapped tight? Or must it move a little freely? I know with cotton it expands and Ekowool probably doesn't. I was thinking of creating a coil first then feeding the ekowool through instead of wrapping around it. If I do that, it may not be very tight. I would appreciate any advise

5- Spaced coils or touching coils? Will it make a difference using Ekowool?

Thank you

 

[Flt Simulation]

All I use in my Kayfun anymore is braided Ekowool silica.

I don't boil it ... Just rinse it in tap water, pat dry and install it in the coil.

The photos below show cotton yarn, but installing the silica is the same technique.

Just pull a double piece of it through the coil ... make sure the coil's inside diameter is large enough so that you have enough room to pull it through ... Easy!

 

[New2vaps]

Thanks Flt Simulation. Would you be able to answer questions 2-5 for me please. Just want to make sure I build it right from the start.

Thanks again

 

[Flt Simulation]

Hi everyone, I have a few questions about Ekowool which I will be using it for my wick in a Kayfun. I am having some type of reaction from cotton and figured I would give Ekowool a try.

I will be buying it from Lightning Vapes. Genuine Ekowool Braided Silica Core Wick (SCN) | Lightning Vapes

1- is it recommended to boil the Ekowool in distilled water or is it good to use as is?

2- do I need to torch it before I use it? Not sure if the torching is used to make it easier to work with or if it supposed to burn bad material that might be inhaled.

3- 2 types of Ekowool, one has Silca core and one is hollow. Is there a difference in vape quality?

4- when wrapping the coil around the Ekowool, must the coil be wrapped tight? Or must it move a little freely? I know with cotton it expands and Ekowool probably doesn't. I was thinking of creating a coil first then feeding the ekowool through instead of wrapping around it. If I do that, it may not be very tight. I would appreciate any advise

5- Spaced coils or touching coils? Will it make a difference using Ekowool?

Thank you

1. Use as is

2. No

3. I have used both ... I like the solid core braided silica better than the hollow core.

4. Don't wrap the coil around the braided silica. Make your coil first, then pull 2 pieces though the coil with a piece of wire (like in the photo I posted above). Just make sure the coil's inside diameter is large enough so you can pull the silica through without damaging or deforming the coil.

I use Kanthal 28 AWG wrapped around a 3/32" (2.4mm) drill rod ... 9 wraps will get you a 1.6 ohm coil. Less wraps, obviously less ohms.

Tip .... Take a very small piece of cotton from a cotton ball and lightly put it over each of the 2 juice channels before pushing down your silica wicks. This will keep the Kayfun from ever gurgling and/or flooding .... just 2 very small pieces of the cotton.

These small cotton pieces will never be close to the coil, so they will never burn.

 

[New2vaps]

Thank you very much for all the information, pictures, and tip.

 

[tchavei]

I would torch the ends of the silica prior to work with it so it doesn't fray.
Personally I prefer doing butterfly shaped wicks but they all work.

Good luck

Regards
Tony

Sent from my GT-I9195 through Tapatalk

 

[New2vaps]

I would torch the ends of the silica prior to work with it so it doesn't fray.
Personally I prefer doing butterfly shaped wicks but they all work.

Good luck

Regards

Tony

Sent from my GT-I9195 through Tapatalk

Thanks for the tip Tony. Do you have any instructions I can follow on butterfly shape?

 

[slyphex]

Don't boil it. I don't do anything with mine, except torch the ends to prevent them from fraying.

Solid core has cotton in it, I believe, or at least the stuff from my B&M does.

If you wrap the coil directly on the ekowool 'free-hand' go with spaced coils. If you build your coil separately, touching coils will be easier.

You don't want to make your coils too tight. If you get dry hits, it's probably too tight. You should be able to slide the wick side to side in the coil without distending or skewing the coil, but if you make it too lose the coils won't touch the wick and that's no good either.

The best wick I have found is to make an S shape with the wick, then bring the top, middle and bottom of the S together so you have 3 strands touching, 2 loops and 2 tails.

Use a paper clip, or a pin or something and lay it along the 3 strands. This will help you wrap the coil, and help you not wrap it too tightly.

Wrap the coil around the middle and mount it on the deck. Tug on the wick tails to adjust the size of the loops. The loops will go down and touch the deck. Once the loops are sized correctly, trim the tails close to the coil.

Sorry I don't have pictures... it's kind of confusing to describe.

 

[New2vaps]

Thanks slyphex, I think I understand what you stated about how the wick should shaped.

 

[slyphex]

I'm back with pictures!

 

[tchavei]

Thanks for the tip Tony. Do you have any instructions I can follow on butterfly shape?

Sure (pasted from the original thread):

Here the technique

Tchavei's method

There is an inherent problem with silica wicks: you either make a freehand coil which sticks perfectly on the silica but have to live with a not so neat looking coil or you do an assisted coil but then you have a problem wicking it properly.


I did a lot of experiments in this area and ended up using a mix of different wicking and coiling methods that, when combined, produce almost a perfect vape it's really not far away from rayon.

The trick is to make an assisted coil (.3 kanthal, id 2.5mm) and then use the hot vape sandwich method to wick the coil butterfly style.

The following was made directly on a coil because I didn't want to ruin my beautiful build on my kayfun so if someone wants to make the same, he obviously should mount the coil on the deck first. It's easier.

1. Tools used:

- torch (for the coil)
- hex driver 2.5 mm to assist coil making

- 10-12 cm Ekowool 2mm hollow
- same size kanthal A1 0.3 mm
- piece of 3-4cm kanthal piece


2. Wick the coil tightly after you pre burned it:

3. Heat the coil and compress it further with a pair of tweezers until it's compacted:

4. Your coil should look like this:

5. Bend Ekowool at 1/4 and use kanthal piece as guide :

6. Start pulling it through the coil:

7. Now the trick people don't want to share... Bend the longer end like this:

8. Insert the end close to the coil sandwiched between the two strands:

9. Gently pull the sandwich through the coil until you see the end appearing on the other side:

10. Pull the end further out and distribute the Ekowool evenly to have a butterfly shape:

That's all... Now you would pull on the ends to adjust the size of each loop so it doesn't go over the flow channels and then you cut off the ends near the coil so you're left with just a loop on each side

Regards
Tony

 

[New2vaps]

Thank you both for the pictures. This really helps.