Nice post Vcoupe. Really appreciate that sort of detail in a post.Yes. Without cotton the small silica wick burns juice very quickly so it's not juicy enough for me and my sub ohm builds.
My build is very similar. However, I discovered what you did with cotton, by filling to the point of flooding, the reservoir with my eliquid. Also, my coils ended up on the deck essentially. I hate cotton and not a fan of silica, but am out of ecowool right now. I can taste both cotton/silica and silica frays to much. Eco wool works great if I torch it first off, then cut to length, great taste and no fraying.
I am not touching mine again other then to re-wick, until I get my ecowool… unless I decide to try some SS mesh.