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EddardinWinter

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You might want to try a little less cotton and letting it soak at least a couple of hours before using. Cotton swells more that silica and if you have a setup that starts fine and then tapers off it might be because the wick has swelled enough to start it choking at the coil a little.

I always make sure mine is good and saturated (even the part inside of the coil, back when I used to put cotton IN the coil), now since I am wrapping it with the RiP Trippers chimney vertical method, saturating is much easier. Once I see it is good and soaked with juice, I know it is ready to go. Since the cotton is on the outside with this method, it is much, much easier to tell when the cotton is ready to go!

I do agree with your premise of "less is more" when it comes to the part inside of the coil. I bet many more coils are over-stuffed than under-stuffed.
 

vapspaz

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You might want to try a little less cotton and letting it soak at least a couple of hours before using. Cotton swells more that silica and if you have a setup that starts fine and then tapers off it might be because the wick has swelled enough to start it choking at the coil a little.

This makes sense in a way and I've wondered about this myself. But... (and correct me if I'm wrong) if the wick is swollen then doesn't that mean there is a bunch of juice in it? I don't think the cotton fibers themselves swell thus it must be juice in between the fibers that causes the swelling. right?


Judging the correct amount of cotton and conveying this to others has been very difficult from what I have seen and read. I think something that might help folks out is if we all think and use the word resistance in other terms other than just our coils. ;)

Let me explain what I'm talkin about.

In my brief time (2 weeks) with the KFL+ I have notice there is a fine line between too much cotton and too little. I have tried both ways and have found that if I consider the amount of resistance the wick has inside the coil then I can nail it every time. If I have just enough cotton run through the coils such that I could hang something like a large binder clip from the wick and it just barley stays put and doesn't slide out then that is about the correct amount. Obviously I don't use a binder clip but more to convey to others the correct amount of cotton to use. Maybe this way of thinking of resistance could help some folks with their builds.


just my 0.02
 
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nttdemented

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I would say the throat hit is about the same, I think the vapor is about the same, perhaps a bit better in vertical when compared to horizontal coil configuration. I think the flavor is clearly better with a vertical coil. I also find that I can vape with a much higher wattage without getting the dry, scratchy vapor I get with horizontal at higher wattages.

I find that the vertical builds I make do have better flavor but its because they constantly spit droplets of juice on my mouth. I've tried it 3 times and all of them I get some spattering into my mouth, no gurgling or anything but they spit at me constantly. If I can get them to vape cleanly I think I might stick to a vertical.
 

Akdare

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My experience. I pull off just a small amount of cotton. Just what will fit between my finger & thumb. Then, I take that piece and pull it gently apart. Not creating holes, just stretching it a bit. Cotton fibers are long, and when you are gently pulling, it tends to align those fibers. When the width of the piece of cotton is roughly about 1.5 time the coil diameter, stop pulling, and gently press that width together (don't roll it, it will compress too much) until it looks like it will just slip into your coil. Moisten one end slightly, and roll just the tip to make a point. Run that through your coil, pulling very gently. If it looks like the cotton is bunching up, stop and pull off a tiny bit of the cotton with some pointy tweezers. I push the sides of the coil downwards, and trim each side a little below where the chimney threads start. I make sure that each end has a square cut, as the cut ends are where the wicking starts. Pull the wick up vertically, and screw on the bottom section of chimney. Gently tuck the ends down to the juice channels. Don't pack it, and make sure your air hole is unobstructed. Wet the wick, and, I put one drop of juice outside the chimney in each juice channel. You should see the juice crawl right into the chamber. Assemble, fill from the juice hole & enjoy.

Sorry no pics, it's almost more feel than anything...


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nttdemented

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I feel like I got horizontal coil wicking down pat to a science. Its been much easier for me with 5/64th sized micros using 28awg. The coil is much harder to move accidentally with the thicker gauge and I can fit a pretty decently sized puff of cotton in there with onlly a bit of resistance. Been running great at 11 watts the past few days on both of my Kayfuns this way. Haven't re-wicked in like 3 days now. Still haven't had time to take my dremel to my KFL+ for a tiny enlargement of the juice channels and sanding down the air control screw to keep it as open as possible. Right now I'm taking sharp and short 2 or 3 second draws and they are vaping fantastic. Running the KFL+ with the screw removed to make it as open as possible and I'm praying that if I ever do flood it that the hybrid adapter is making enough of a seal under the base to not allow juice to flow into my mech's tube. Hence why I want to sand down the set screw a bit so that I can put it back in there with some loctite and never touch it again, reallly don't like to make the KF tighter.

And I recently got to play with a friends Igo-W with a single micro coil and the flavor of that vape at 15 watts was phenomenal, hence why I want to reach that same flavor level with the KF as it is not quite up to par flavor wise, its like 80% there.
 

JD1

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..................I do agree with your premise of "less is more" when it comes to the part inside of the coil. I bet many more coils are over-stuffed than under-stuffed.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit how long it took me to learn that back when I first started using cotton wicks. I was using larger id coils back then as well, which makes it even more critical. Part of the problem was they would start off great for a while then start dry hitting and singing. I never did solve it myself, but ran across a few great post on the forums here that got me straightened out.

This makes sense in a way and I've wondered about this myself. But... (and correct me if I'm wrong) if the wick is swollen then doesn't that mean there is a bunch of juice in it? I don't think the cotton fibers themselves swell thus it must be juice in between the fibers that causes the swelling. right? ..........

My understanding is that it's the fibers that swell. This is from an article I found on the internet and as we all know, if it's posted on the internet, it has to be true, right? :vapor:

"The innermost part of cotton fiber- the lumen- is composed of the remains of the cell contents. Before boll opening, the lumen is filled with liquid containing the cell nucleus and protoplasm. The twists and convolutions of the dried fiber are due to the removal of this liquid. The cross section of the fiber is bean-shaped, swelling almost round when moisture absorption takes place."

All I know is, your wick should slide in the coil with just a hint of resistance and not have much of a shoulder on each side of the coil. Vape on. :vapor:
 

bigmaaark

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so I got bored at work. Wrapped the 28g around a little screwdriver I had. Came across a video of someone who did micros with silica and figured id try it since I have some ekowool left over. Have no idea what the ohms are but it still hit nice. Take a little longer to heat up then my normal setup (8 wraps on 1/16th bit .8 ohms) but it's still a nice vape


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk edit: I realize due to the diameter of the coil it's not close to being considered micro but just a tightly wrapped coil
 

finagle69

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How long does cotton typically last for you guys? I've only been getting about a day or so before flavor starts dropping.

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That depends greatly on the thickness and color of your juice, what power you run it at, and your taste buds.

My ADV is a near colorless Strawberries and Cream from DFW Vapor. My cotton in a 5/64" Micro 28G lasts about 5 to 7 days before it desperately needs replacing.
 

Akdare

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How long does cotton typically last for you guys? I've only been getting about a day or so before flavor starts dropping.

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I change mine every other tankful. Takes about 2 minutes. Vaping Halo TriBeCa.


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JD1

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I find that the vertical builds I make do have better flavor but its because they constantly spit droplets of juice on my mouth. I've tried it 3 times and all of them I get some spattering into my mouth, no gurgling or anything but they spit at me constantly. If I can get them to vape cleanly I think I might stick to a vertical.

I've seen some posts where they put a little ss mesh below the drip tip to solve that. I think the vertical coils work better and spit less with a larger id coil as well.
 

Rule62

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How long does cotton typically last for you guys? I've only been getting about a day or so before flavor starts dropping.

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It depends on the juice. Usually, when my flavor starts dropping off, it isn't because of the cotton. It's often because the micro coil starts gunking up. When this is the case, I pull the old cotton out, dry burn and clean the coil, and slide in a new piece of cotton. With some darker juices, especially if they contain stuff like caramel, it might need to be done every tank full. With other lighter juices, the cotton may last for several tanks.
 

ronpaek100

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I find that the vertical builds I make do have better flavor but its because they constantly spit droplets of juice on my mouth. I've tried it 3 times and all of them I get some spattering into my mouth, no gurgling or anything but they spit at me constantly. If I can get them to vape cleanly I think I might stick to a vertical.

I also get droplets of juice in my mouth, did you make sure the bottom of your coil is pressed down and touching the base of the air hole, I stopped getting so much spit back after I made sure to not raise the coil any. But I notice I get more TH and it irritates my throat at the same wattage compared to a horizontal coil and less vapor, I do get a little more flavor but I think it's the droplets of juice.
 

Bronze

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Finding 7 wraps of 30 to be better than 10-11 of 28. More flavor and vapor. Wasn't what I was expecting.


-Lord

I am finding 30ga to be much better than 28ga on my Provari. Seriously better TH and flavor. I'm getting a Mech (maybe it will be here tomorrow) and will try the 28ga on it. I think the opposite will be true using a mech.
 

Dusty_D

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I am finding 30ga to be much better than 28ga on my Provari. Seriously better TH and flavor. I'm getting a Mech (maybe it will be here tomorrow) and will try the 28ga on it. I think the opposite will be true using a mech.

That's because you're regulating the voltage so low on your Provari. That mech is going to hit you like a freight train. What ohm coil are you planning on having on the mech?!

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Bronze

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How long does cotton typically last for you guys? I've only been getting about a day or so before flavor starts dropping.

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Much of it depends on the juice you're vaping. Some juices gunk up quickly. Others do not. I vape lots of NETs (naturally extracted tobaccos) and they gunk up lickity split. Changing daily would be the norm. I have others I can vape four times longer and the wick is fine.
 

Bronze

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That's because you're regulating the voltage so low on your Provari. That mech is going to hit you like a freight train. What ohm coil are you planning on having on the mech?!

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The biggest problem with 28ga on the provari is it takes too long to heat up at the wattage I prefer. 30 ga is much more responsive. yes, at the same resistance. I'm going to shoot for 0.7 - 0.8 ohms on the mech using 28 ga. I'll probably have to go down to 1.5mm ID and 8 wraps. Just guessing.
 

donnah

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My main vape is a peanutbutter/bavarian cream mix. I can only get 1 tank full before the flavor starts tasting off. It's not my wick, it's the coil that gunks up. I can take the kfl lite apart, take out the wick, dry burn the coil, rinse everything off, dry everything, slide in a new coil, reassemble and fill in 5 minutes 4 seconds (yes, I timed it)

I can't stand a gunky coil! This is why I got away from carto tanks... it would start off good but it wouldn't take long before I got the off/stale taste and once that happens with a carto, it's game over..no cleaning/boiling will clean the coil. I know cartos are cheap but at the rate I went through them... it was getting expensive fast!

The kfl is super easy to keep a fresh coil and with micro coils and cotton, there's no need to recoil every time I change the wick.
 

Dusty_D

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The biggest problem with 28ga on the provari is it takes too long to heat up at the wattage I prefer. 30 ga is much more responsive. yes, at the same resistance. I'm going to shoot for 0.7 - 0.8 ohms on the mech using 28 ga. I'll probably have to go down to 1.5mm ID and 8 wraps. Just guessing.

So, you're going to go from 5.5 watts to over 20 watts?! : shock:

Let me know your thoughts after you find your head that you blew off!! :D

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