fc-2000 porous ceramic wick

[vapdivrr]

So I finally got around to trying a slotted FC2000. I got to say the only advantage I see so far is I can put my fill screw back in. I can't say it wicks better, but the juice really flows along the canals in the wick. It was actually flooding my coil with too much juice. It still doesn't wick well vertically but with the fill screw in and giving it the genny tilt it works well enough. At full horizontal I can run the Provari 'till it cuts off with back-to-back cycles without glowing the coil. I can't get a full 15 second burn with it at an angle less than horizontal though, but long enough for me to get a good vape. Maybe it'll do better when it breaks in some more.

I did this in an AGA-T2 with a .120" (3mm) wick hole, 30g Kanthal (Elias Hot Wrap) @ 1.6Ωs. This particular wick must be a tad undersize and slipped right through the hole. The 1st 2 wicks I tried wouldn't fit at all.

maybe because I vape at higher wattages I did notice the slotted wicking better, but not to a point that it was a huge difference. also hadn't noticed an over wicking issue either, this also might be from higher wattages. and yes these newer 1/8 wicks are more like 7/64.

 

[MikeE3]

maybe because I vape at higher wattages I did notice the slotted wicking better, but not to a point that it was a huge difference. also hadn't noticed an over wicking issue either, this also might be from higher wattages. and yes these newer 1/8 wicks are more like 7/64.

Without the fill screw, I just had too much liquid bubbling and boiling around the coil and the juice would just pool on the base of the atty. And it's not a 'thin' juice - it's 50/50 PG/VG. Don't know - maybe higher volts/watts would help, but then I don't like the taste of this particular juice if I go higher. I'll try again w/ a tobac flavor that I like to vape at higher settings.

 

[zygote]

; ; ;

Here are the pics. of coil wrapped around Nextel strands on ceramic. Offset coil and no need to hot wrap

 

[Equality 7-2521]

Though I'm pretty much a genny user, and into ceramic wicks.I'm curious about the xc-116 braided ceramic wick.Have people heard anything about the saftey of using it in vaping.

 

[Stoneface]

Though I'm pretty much a genny user, and into ceramic wicks.I'm curious about the xc-116 braided ceramic wick.Have people heard anything about the saftey of using it in vaping.

It is supposed to be very safe. There is some discussion about safety, and good general information in this thread: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...stems/402821-nextel-xc-116-u-wick-aga-t2.html
It's not a huge thread, so a fairly quick read...

 

[vapdivrr]

Without the fill screw, I just had too much liquid bubbling and boiling around the coil and the juice would just pool on the base of the atty. And it's not a 'thin' juice - it's 50/50 PG/VG. Don't know - maybe higher volts/watts would help, but then I don't like the taste of this particular juice if I go higher. I'll try again w/ a tobac flavor that I like to vape at higher settings.

so with the screw in your not getting the pooling in deck? from time to time I see posts about this pooling, or over condensation, an wonder why this actually happens. maybe it could be the type of juice? not really sure, but sometimes after I rinse out my tank with water, then add my juice, I get this popping and squirting thing for a while, I know this is a little water in the juice, and after a little time it goes away. so maybe some vendors use a lot of water in the juice? not really sure what else it could be because I have done all types of wraps on the fc's, like to loose of a coil, this doesn't produce the excess splattering & pooling, all this produces is a hotter coil & bad taste. also a coil that's to tight? don't think so on ceramic. the only other thing I can think of is to much gap between wick & wick hole, so as you tilt juice is flowing between & pooling. as for the higher resistances & lower wattages, not sure because I only used a coil over 1.3 one time about 3 months ago just for a couple hours, so I really didn't have enough time to compare. also I know what you mean about certain juices not tasting good over a certain wattage, but this is usually when you are using a thinner wire. I have not yet found a juice that didn't taste better with 28g or thicker compared to a thinner wire at higher wattages. maybe there are some, but just not the ones I have tried.

 

[MikeE3]

so with the screw in your not getting the pooling in deck? from time to time I see posts about this pooling, or over condensation, an wonder why this actually happens. maybe it could be the type of juice? not really sure, but sometimes after I rinse out my tank with water, then add my juice, I get this popping and squirting thing for a while, I know this is a little water in the juice, and after a little time it goes away. so maybe some vendors use a lot of water in the juice? not really sure what else it could be because I have done all types of wraps on the fc's, like to loose of a coil, this doesn't produce the excess splattering & pooling, all this produces is a hotter coil & bad taste. also a coil that's to tight? don't think so on ceramic. the only other thing I can think of is to much gap between wick & wick hole, so as you tilt juice is flowing between & pooling. as for the higher resistances & lower wattages, not sure because I only used a coil over 1.3 one time about 3 months ago just for a couple hours, so I really didn't have enough time to compare. also I know what you mean about certain juices not tasting good over a certain wattage, but this is usually when you are using a thinner wire. I have not yet found a juice that didn't taste better with 28g or thicker compared to a thinner wire at higher wattages. maybe there are some, but just not the ones I have tried.

Correct w/ the fill screw in I'm not getting excess juice in the deck. It was definitely caused (with screw out) by too much juice running through the channels in the wick. It was obvious to see it when I had the PV tilted with the top cap off. The juice is DIY 50/50 PG/VG.

 

[Yail Bloor]

Okay, I received my Cobra yesterday and as promised I'm back to report my findings. As suspected the 1/8th ceramic wicks are too large to fit in the factory wick holes, so I immediately began boring out one of the holes with a 7/64th Titanium drill bit. What I didn't expect is how quickly the body of the Cobra gained heat, so removal of the top insulator is advised. I could only drill for about 10 seconds before the body of the atomizer got too hot to hold on to and I dropped it in a cup of water. This was repeated for about a half hour (and 3 drill bits) before I finally made it all the way through the deck.

Now, out of my order of 6 FC-2000 1/8th wicks, about half of them seem slightly thinner then the other half, again I don't know if this was a mix up or what, but that's what I've got. The thicker of the wicks are just to wide to fit into the bored out hole, but the thinner ones slide right in, so I'm sure the thicker ones would go in fine after being ran over with a grinder. I'm not sure I would comfortable trying to bore the hole out to 1/8th, as the ground screw holes and the center post insulator are pretty damn close to the edge of the now 7/64th hole.

So in short, if your willing to step down to 7/64th FC-2000s, or file down the 1/8th FC-2000s a little bit, they can be made to fit the Cobra with (if your like me) a whole lot of effort, more then a few curse words, and some burned and blistered finger-tips.

 

[gdeal]

Wow, Pics please. I have never seen a bored out Cobra. Those drill bits must have been red hot...

Okay, I received my Cobra yesterday and as promised I'm back to report my findings. As suspected the 1/8th ceramic wicks are too large to fit in the factory wick holes, so I immediately began boring out one of the holes with a 7/64th Titanium drill bit. What I didn't expect is how quickly the body of the Cobra gained heat, so removal of the top insulator is advised. I could only drill for about 10 seconds before the body of the atomizer got too hot to hold on to and I dropped it in a cup of water. This was repeated for about a half hour (and 3 drill bits) before I finally made it all the way through the deck.

Now, out of my order of 6 FC-2000 1/8th wicks, about half of them seem slightly thinner then the other half, again I don't know if this was a mix up or what, but that's what I've got. The thicker of the wicks are just to wide to fit into the bored out hole, but the thinner ones slide right in, so I'm sure the thicker ones would go in fine after being ran over with a grinder. I'm not sure I would comfortable trying to bore the hole out to 1/8th, as the ground screw holes and the center post insulator are pretty damn close to the edge of the now 7/64th hole.

So in short, if your willing to step down to 7/64th FC-2000s, or file down the 1/8th FC-2000s a little bit, they can be made to fit the Cobra with (if your like me) a whole lot of effort, more then a few curse words, and some burned and blistered finger-tips.

 

[Yail Bloor]

Like I said, I had to stop every 10 seconds to cool down the Cobra and the drill bits.

...Worth it. Worth the time, the blisters and burns, and the money spent on drill bits. Worth it.

 

[vapdivrr]

Like I said, I had to stop every 10 seconds to cool down the Cobra and the drill bits.

...Worth it. Worth the time, the blisters and burns, and the money spent on drill bits. Worth it.

good job on the bore, and its good to know that it is (although not easy) possible to bore out a cobra. the sizing of the fc's are definatly all over the place. most of my 1/8 channel wicks are like 7/64. when the 1/8 were round they didn't seem to vary like this. anyways it looks like your using twisted 32g on that wick, right? I would have to say, as it looks in the photo that the wraps are to loose. how is it performing? did you hot wrap or electric wrap? maybe its just the photo but I would say that needs to be re wrapped and made tighter unless your in for a long break in period. thanks for the update on the cobra. also how is the air hole in the cobra? is it small as well? with the wick hole now opened up does the airhole need adjusting?

 

[vapdivrr]

Correct w/ the fill screw in I'm not getting excess juice in the deck. It was definitely caused (with screw out) by too much juice running through the channels in the wick. It was obvious to see it when I had the PV tilted with the top cap off. The juice is DIY 50/50 PG/VG.

that's right, forgot about the slots. so by installing the fill screw it keeps down the juice more so it doesn't flow as much. I might have to try this to see if it helps with my juice darkening with these slotted's

 

[vapdivrr]

always wanted a cobra, this is good news. amazing the difference in materials used, I bored out my agi's wick hole in 10 seconds

 

[Yail Bloor]

anyways it looks like your using twisted 32g on that wick, right? I would have to say, as it looks in the photo that the wraps are to loose. how is it performing? did you hot wrap or electric wrap?

It's performing much better then the 400 ss mesh U wick I had in it until this afternoon. I did hot wrap it, though I am relatively new to that particular method, but I think those apparent loose areas just happen to be the section bridging the channel. Either way, it's working excellently so I wont risk redoing now, maybe later this week.

also how is the air hole in the cobra? is it small as well? with the wick hole now opened up does the airhole need adjusting?

The air hole is (was) tiny, probably the tightest draw I have experienced in my vaping journey. Which is exactly why I spent a half hour boring out the air hole with a 1.5mm finger twist drill bit I got from Avid Vaper: Atomizer Air Hole Finger Twist Bit - Avid Vaper. I didn't want to use a power drill lest I damage the anodizing on the Cobra cap. With these two modifications it is my personal opinion that the Cobra is now a better device then it was out of the box, of course, personal preference may vary.

 

[gdeal]

My Cobra has been lonely since ceramics and RSSTs. To bore or not to bore that is the question..... Any recommendation on a particular drill bit?

 

[vapdivrr]

My Cobra has been lonely since ceramics and RSSTs. To bore or not to bore that is the question..... Any recommendation on a particular drill bit?

yes, a really good one

 

[Yail Bloor]

I used Milwaukee Thunderbolt Titanium Drill Bit 7/64. That worked for me.

 

[vapdivrr]

I used Milwaukee Thunderbolt Titanium Drill Bit 7/64. That worked for me.

fight fire with fire

 

[vapdivrr]

It's performing much better then the 400 ss mesh U wick I had in it until this afternoon. I did hot wrap it, though I am relatively new to that particular method, but I think those apparent loose areas just happen to be the section bridging the channel. Either way, it's working excellently so I wont risk redoing now, maybe later this week.


The air hole is (was) tiny, probably the tightest draw I have experienced in my vaping journey. Which is exactly why I spent a half hour boring out the air hole with a 1.5mm finger twist drill bit I got from Avid Vaper: Atomizer Air Hole Finger Twist Bit - Avid Vaper. I didn't want to use a power drill lest I damage the anodizing on the Cobra cap. With these two modifications it is my personal opinion that the Cobra is now a better device then it was out of the box, of course, personal preference may vary.

forgot it was the slotted, sorry about that. your right those do show up as gaps. glad to hear its performing well, and it will continue to get even better. so that's cool you opened up both, wick and air? awesome

 

[Yail Bloor]

That was my thinking.

A piece of advice: oven mits. I am not kidding when I say the body of the Cobra gets HOT! It will melt your insulators if they are not removed.