fc-2000 porous ceramic wick

[DSmooch]

hey buddy, so how is the zap comparing to the other set-up with the ceramic?

any car will drive you home, the question is how fast... (and maybe the state of your behind after 50 miles)
the zau setup needs to be tweaked a bit.
The 1/8 ceramic fills the wick hole. your pretty much left with that tiny fill hole for air flow in the tank.
As a result, the brake in is a pain compared to the DID. so its probably best to sand that 1/8 a bit to let it breathe.
The main down side for me is the length of that center post. because of it, a 3/4 28g wrap on it with on the 1/8 amounts to 1ohm and I need that .8 the get my hit on a mechanical. ppl using the ZAP on the provary can coil at higher ohms and push the voltage, I don't have that luxury. Final observation, you gotta be damn careful with that top cap.
I think whatever performance comparison chart you had going with an ss setup is still valid with a ceramic setup. so staying with the car metaphor, the DID is faster, more powerful, more comfortable.
As of now, the DID on ceramic is giving me the vape of my life. I have very very high expectations for the AC9....

 

[SteveW]

any car will drive you home, the question is how fast... (and maybe the state of your behind after 50 miles)
the zau setup needs to be tweaked a bit.
The 1/8 ceramic fills the wick hole. your pretty much left with that tiny fill hole for air flow in the tank.
As a result, the brake in is a pain compared to the DID. so its probably best to sand that 1/8 a bit to let it breathe.
The main down side for me is the length of that center post. because of it, a 3/4 28g wrap on it with on the 1/8 amounts to 1ohm and I need that .8 the get my hit on a mechanical. ppl using the ZAP on the provary can coil at higher ohms and push the voltage, I don't have that luxury. Final observation, you gotta be damn careful with that top cap.
I think whatever performance comparison chart you had going with an ss setup is still valid with a ceramic setup.
As of now, the DID on ceramic is giving me the vape of my life. I have very very high expectations for the AC9....

I agree. I only have 32g wire and the lowest ohm coil I have with this is about 2.2 and I am pushing the volts up to about 5.2 with the Provari to get a nice thick vape. I have snapped a wick already taking the lid off, just no margin for error here, you need to be very gentle. I have a DID on the way and cant wait to try it (bought one of the cosmetically flawed models for 65 Euros). With ceramic I do not believe there is any linear pathway for the juice to travel top to bottom so I think the tilt will be permanent. The hole pattern in these is just randomized bubbling from whatever the production method is, at least that is my take on it. Much better chance for flow if you have some space for the juice to climb around the wick and up/down the sides rather than trying to find a pathway inside if it is a snug fit. There will always be some true internal capillary wicking but I think this is "luck of the draw" due to the randomness of holes.

 

[DSmooch]

hey Steve... those are usually very minor cosmetic imperfections that are kinda hard to spot... you won't be disappointed. Although I'm not very much in phase with the owner's attitude, I have to admit the DID is a serious piece of machinery.

 

[SteveW]

hey Steve... those are usually very minor cosmetic imperfections that are kinda hard to spot... you won't be disappointed. Although I'm not very much in phase with the owner's attitude, I have to admit the DID is a serious piece of machinery.

Thanks for the feedback. I will wait to my 30g wire arrives as well and see what happens. I am not going to replace any more wicks in the ZAP if I break the current one to make sure I have a couple around for DID experiments.

Cheers

 

[MikeE3]

Froghat - don't be boring out the fill hole on your ZAP. I'd say that's not needed. I'm running 2 ZAPs w/ ceramic and both are working well enough.

That said on with my observations. One ZAP has an .125" (1/8") FC-2000, the other a PetSmart Fishwick at .120" od. The ZAP wick hole is 1/8". Both are wrapped w/ 30g Kanthal and vape well (could they be better, yes - I'm still learning).

Neither will sustain vapor production in a vertical position. The wicks dry out and do not really recover without tilting the PV.

I can get multiple (3-4) back-to-back 15 seconds 'burns' (power on 'till the Provari shuts off, 1-2 second pause power back on). They both seem to recover Ok in a horizontal position now. Subjective opinion here - but it 'looks' like the vapor production of the Fishwcik is fuller on successive 'burns'. Even though the FS-2000 is keeping up the vapor volume drops off slightly with each repetition. Also the FS-2000 took a couple-few tanks to break in before it would do this. The Fishwick, didn't need breaking in.

This is what I'm thinking. The slightly slimmer Fishstick wicks better. If I 'burn' the wick dry in a vertical position, then tip the PV horizontal I can watch the FS-2000 slowing get damp from wicking. The Fishwick, I immediately see 'wetness' creeping up the outside of the wick and is pretty rapid. I have to watch for the FS-2000 to recover, I can see the Fishwick recovering.

Does it matter? Both are performing well, but to me it appears the thinner wick does wick faster. I don't think its a difference in the porosity of the stones, I think it has to do with the 'gap' size around the wick in the wick hole.

I've got some full 1/8" Fishwicks to try, just hesitant to pull apart a working setup to experiment.

 

[FrogHat]

Yep.....I agree with everything you said. I came home last night and sanded my 1/8" down for about 10-15 minutes....these things are pretty dense, I am going to look for a sharpening stone to assist.
I also think these wicks are just a vehicle for travel and don't absorb much juice, they may stay moist but not like a sponge. When vaprdvr mentioned he shut off his air flow and the flavor was reduced....it clicked for me because I have flavor issues. We definately need space for flow and air which means a thinner wick for this to perform to its potential.

 

[DSmooch]

I beleive there's real wicking going on not just "linear path ways"... if you see how it reacts in an aquarium, the air seems to have ways inside to produce bubbles...
Mike could you point out the more observable differences between the fc2000 and the fishwick? should I understand youre getting better results with the fishwick?
FC is supposed to stand for Fire Cured but I still don't have a clue about its composition and wth makes it diff. from the fishwick.

 

[MikeE3]

I beleive there's real wicking going on not just "linear path ways"... if you see how it reacts in an aquarium, the air seems to have ways inside to produce bubbles...
Mike could you point out the more observable differences between the fc2000 and the fishwick? should I understand youre getting better results with the fishwick?
FC is supposed to stand for Fire Cured but I still don't have a clue about its composition and wth makes it diff. from the fishwick.

I'd agree there is real wicking going on, just no way to for me to say how it compares to the diff grades of SS mesh. I suspect it's less from trying to do vertical burns with the ceramic.

The only obvious visual difference is the FC-2000 is a darker shade of grey. I looked at both of them side by side under 2x and 10x magnification and my eyes couldn't see a significant difference between the pores of one vs: the other. Even side by side under magnification to me they looked basically the same.

No, I'm not saying either performs better than the other. The outstanding feature that makes either work, is getting the coil snug for it's entire wrap. From my use of both - one (either one) will perform better/worse than the other depending on the coil not the wick.

I can say, that I can easily see a difference in the 'outside' wicking of the my thinner .120" DIY wick compared to the .125" FC-2000. For me it's easy to see the juice wicking up the outside of the thinner wick when the wick is dry and PV held horizontal. Even when doing back-to-back max burns i can see more juice on the thinner wick. Sometimes maybe too much, as I can see it bubbling between the coils. It may be 'too' much as I'm burning/boiling the juice between the coils, kinda flooding the wick.

Now that might be an advantage for extreme vapers w/ low ohms and high watts (more juice fed to more heat). I'm not one of those, I like my ohms 1.8-2.0 and vape about 4.2 volts on a Provari. So for my use/style normal ( and even 3-4 chain vapes) the vape is quite comparable.

The only advantage I could really say the PetSmart DIY wick has over the FC-2000 is cost. If you can fashion your own, I get 12 wicks from a $4.00 medium size stone. That's about 33 cents each. And so far for me, the higher priced FC-2000 doesn't out perform it. Is one safer to vape based on it's construction and materials - I've no clue.

Hope this clarifies my experience with both of them.

edit: here's a link to the best large sized picture I could get.
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i466/MikeEbner/Posts/IMG_1497-2_zps871e2670.jpg

 

[FrogHat]

Where are people getting the 30 gauge wire, I only have 32 and the lowest coil I can manage is 2.0? not bad I would just prefer more wraps.

 

[Rule62]

Where are people getting the 30 gauge wire, I only have 32 and the lowest coil I can manage is 2.0? not bad I would just prefer more wraps.

I just got 100' of 30ga. yesterday. I wanted it for 1/8 wicks in my DIDs. I searched it out on ebay.

 

[Stringer63]

Ok, I have taken the full plunge into the ceramic wick approach. Picked up some TopFin fine bubble stone from PS for under $6. Cut my pieces and went to work on the bench grinder. Broke the first 2 tries, but then came away with 2 perfectly sized wicks for my aga-t. I went with the approach from Rip and Vapdivrr and wrapped a strand of cheese cloth around the top of the wick, and then wrapped a 2.0ohm 4/3 wrap of 32awg kanthal. Holy $*%#!! This thing has rocked the house right from the start on my VAMO at 9 watts. What a forum this is! You guys are awesome and I now have the cleanest tasting and thickest vapor plumes I have ever experienced. Thanks to you all for the insights and the excellent video tutorials. I have found my vaping bliss for now - next move is a mechanical mod to try out the sub 1 ohm world. Vape on my friends, vape on!

 

[MikeE3]

Ok, I have taken the full plunge into the ceramic wick approach. Picked up some TopFin fine bubble stone from PS for under $6. Cut my pieces and went to work on the bench grinder. Broke the first 2 tries, but then came away with 2 perfectly sized wicks for my aga-t. I went with the approach from Rip and Vapdivrr and wrapped a strand of cheese cloth around the top of the wick, and then wrapped a 2.0ohm 4/3 wrap of 32awg kanthal. Holy $*%#!! This thing has rocked the house right from the start on my VAMO at 9 watts. What a forum this is! You guys are awesome and I now have the cleanest tasting and thickest vapor plumes I have ever experienced. Thanks to you all for the insights and the excellent video tutorials. I have found my vaping bliss for now - next move is a mechanical mod to try out the sub 1 ohm world. Vape on my friends, vape on!

Way to go! Congrats! Nice to read happy story. So, you like it huh?

 

[Lhartman89]

I called my local PS and they said all they carry are the blue stones. So if I want the top fin I have to order it off the website and with shipping I will have to pay around $10..... That sucks for me. I'm gonna have to get some somewhere else.

 

[Stringer63]

Way to go! Congrats! Nice to read happy story. So, you like it huh?

Oh yea, it is awesome - and getting better. Just installed one in the Griffin dud and it's kickin in real nice too. Hell, I even went so far as to install a very tiny one in a Kanger T-3! Don't ask how I managed that without breaking it, but it's in and working like a champ - the best it has ever tasted and produced vapor!

 

[SteveW]

Where are people getting the 30 gauge wire, I only have 32 and the lowest coil I can manage is 2.0? not bad I would just prefer more wraps.

Not sure what quantity you are looking for but here is a lifetime supply:

Kanthal A1 Wire 30 Gauge 250 ft 0 97oz Resistance Resistor AWG A 1 | eBay

On a side note, I put my AGA on yesterday which has a stainless wick but has the same juice in it and after using the ceramic for the week exclusively the stainless setup just tasted very funky. To me there is a big flavor difference. I don't consider my taste buds to be very sophisticated but to me there was a major gap in flavor quality. I honestly don't know if I can go back to the old setup now.

 

[Stringer63]

Not sure what quantity you are looking for but here is a lifetime supply:

Kanthal A1 Wire 30 Gauge 250 ft 0 97oz Resistance Resistor AWG A 1 | eBay

On a side note, I put my AGA on yesterday which has a stainless wick but has the same juice in it and after using the ceramic for the week exclusively the stainless setup just tasted very funky. To me there is a big flavor difference. I don't consider my taste buds to be very sophisticated but to me there was a major gap in flavor quality. I honestly don't know if I can go back to the old setup now.

I couldn't agree more. Just packed away my ss supplies.

 

[FrogHat]

I couldn't agree more. Just packed away my ss supplies.

I'll never use it again....even if I have to pay 7 bucks a wick, which I don't think the prices will stay high for long

 

[vanillagurilla]

Well you guys did it to me again, hitting pet shops next week! Hahaha

 

[SteveW]

Does anyone know anything about this company?

Porous Ceramic Wick,View porous ceramic wick,HB Product Details from Lianyungang Highborn Technology Co., Ltd. on Alibaba.com

Looks like they specialize in this type of technology. They also say they manufacture different diameters. I guess questions remain about materials although I see alumina mentioned. Price is mentioned as around 3c per piece but you would need to order 100000 pieces. I wonder if they are flexible on quantities.


EDIT
Just sent a message to them about materials, toxicity at high temperatures and size possibilities. Let's see what happens . .

 

[vapdivrr]

I'll never use it again....even if I have to pay 7 bucks a wick, which I don't think the prices will stay high for long

froghat, is the set-up getting any better? i wish i had some 3/32 wicks for you to try in the zap, just to see the difference, i suppose if the insulator was in the 3/32 would fit. this would really tell about this issue. also did you try maybe a thread of gauze? just until you maybe find something different?