Kanger T3S Rebuild w/Cotton

[JamezC]

So, after many recommendations to rebuild my bcc's with cotton, I finally took the plunge and picked up some 100% organic cotton from my local Walgreens. Here are a few pictures of how I rebuilt it the FIRST time, which failed. But it's basically the same procedure I used in my second (with a few alterations). Sorry in advance for the horrid picture quality btw.
I used a toothpick to wrap the coil around on my first attempt and I believe it may have been a bit too large. The second time around I used a miniature screwdriver which was a tad bit smaller and that seemed to work well. Also, you probably can't see how many wraps I used but on this pic I used five which was a little too much I think. I used just four wraps on the second and it's working quite well.
then I just cut off a small piece of cotton lengthwise and wet the end of the cotton to allow easier threading through the coil
I learned that you have to make sure not to use too big of a strand of cotton because it makes it tough to thread through the small little coil.
Once it's threaded through I just trimmed the ends a bit until they were even and flush. Also, make sure and have a GOOD pair of scissors handy, your gonna need them you can also add a small little piece of cotton on top of this to make a flavor wick, which is what I did.

Now on the first time, the ohms were wayy to high, around 3 ohm (roughly). I had a ton of gurgling (which was user error on my part), the coil also popped, which I admit was a bit scary at first lol. Like I said, I'm pretty sure the toothpick that I used to wrap the coil was a bit too large in diameter so I switched to something a bit smaller. I also went with four wraps instead of five which seems to be working pretty descent at 3.4v at the moment

The ohms on my 2nd try ended up being around 2.5, I used a multimeter but it seems to give me more of a rough estimate than an accurate reading. I also didn't boil the cotton before I used it, the taste is perfect at the moment, I didn't get any type of cotton taste even on the first draw. So far I'm really liking cotton, the taste and performance are quite good. If anyone has any feedback/tips or even want to explain how they rebuild bcc's with cotton I would certainly want to hear it! The more info I can get the better.

 

[Trayce]

Hey, that's great the organic cotton tasted fine without boiling! Sounds like a job well done. I wrap my kanthal around a small drill bit... whatever works. Imho I don't think the toothpick was too big, you just gave it one too many wraps for your liking. The more wraps, the higher the ohms. You could always try the toothpick again with 4 wraps unless you are happy with the latter results and don't want the wick bigger.

Only other thing I'll add is that the veterans here recommend torching the kanthal before wrapping. Then after the coil is finished and installed - and before you thread in the wick - it's a good idea to dry burn it, looking to see that it heats up evenly. Should start glowing from the center with the glow spreading outwards to both ends. If one side gets hot or it has a hot leg, or there is irregularity in the glow, that's not what you want. Once that's done, then thread the wick. (And maybe you did that and just didn't mention it.)

 

[JamezC]

Hey, that's great the organic cotton tasted fine without boiling! Sounds like a job well done. I wrap my kanthal around a small drill bit... whatever works. Imho I don't think the toothpick was too big, you just gave it one too many wraps for your liking. The more wraps, the higher the ohms. You could always try the toothpick again with 4 wraps unless you are happy with the latter results and don't want the wick bigger.

Only other thing I'll add is that the veterans here recommend torching the kanthal before wrapping. Then after the coil is finished and installed - and before you thread in the wick - it's a good idea to dry burn it, looking to see that it heats up evenly. Should start glowing from the center with the glow spreading outwards to both ends. If one side gets hot or it has a hot leg, or there is irregularity in the glow, that's not what you want. Once that's done, then thread the wick. (And maybe you did that and just didn't mention it.)

That's the thing when I rebuild, I almost always forget 1 thing I forgot to test out the coil until after I already had everything installed. One thing I don't like about using a toothpick is that after I have the coil in place it seems a bit more difficult to get it out, where if I use the mini screwdriver I can just pull it straight out. That might just be me I don't know lol

 

[Trayce]

Again, whatever works! I like the little drill bit myself... some people use a screw to get the coils spaced perfectly. Long as the result is good, one method is as good as another. I used to forget to check the coil all the time too but finally am remembering that. Now I'm working on remembering to torch the kanthal before I wrap! Which I have not remembered to do once yet...

 

[JamezC]

Again, whatever works! I like the little drill bit myself... some people use a screw to get the coils spaced perfectly. Long as the result is good, one method is as good as another. I used to forget to check the coil all the time too but finally am remembering that. Now I'm working on remembering to torch the kanthal before I wrap! Which I have not remembered to do once yet...

Yeah I didn't torch the kanthal either oddly enough though, I didn't get any odd taste.