Less cotton is more?

[flaw101]

Number one, thanks for all the participants and the great things I've learned here on my newbie vaping experience.

I'm using a TOBH dual coil RDA and loving it. I've read that less cotton is more and have a build that seems to work very well. using a mech mod. The way I'm wicking is very minimal, with organic cotton from each coil basically laying down in the juice well. I see so many builds that stuff cotton under here there and everywhere. The Dragon nano builds for example.

My question is, is all that cotton really necessary? I drip 15 drops in the drip tip hole on my TOBH and get some nice draws, no problem. With all the cotton in some these builds, do you end up throwing 3 ml of juice in there just to saturate all that cotton?

Am I wrong to think of the cotton as simply a wick drawing juice from the well? I guess I'm not completely clear on the physics of wicking ejuice.

Thanks,
Frank

 

[Robert Dupre]

I dont quit understand it either maybe it because they are using an rda that the juices well isnt deep enough.

 

[HecticEnergy]

Well, just speaking from experience and not from an electrical engineering background, I've found that's true to a point.
Too little wicking and the liquid either doesn't wick to the coil so you are burning cotton or the juice is boiling off the coil popping and burning your mouth... It's been a while since I wicked with too little cotton I guess
Too much cotton and the juice isn't able to efficiently wick to the coil so you burn out your cotton.
Thats talking about the wick that goes through the coil.
as afar as extra wick in the juice well... it seems like it would hold less juice, but possibly leak less.
I've seen people tuck cotton under the coil, and my thought on this is your coil is exposed to more juice to create vapor from. I tuck my tails under my coil usually, in the back toward the posts so juice is pulled to the under side of the coil as well as through the microcoil. On builds where the coil gets hotter I just lay them in the juice well and set the coil higher so when air comes through the airflow it hits the bottom 3/4 of the coil and air is allowed to circulate under the coil to better cool it. Both have a different vape.
Keep playing and find out what works for you, just be safe!

 

[flaw101]

Thanks Hectic! I guess I'm wondering how important capillary action is to the wicking. Does ejuice blindly follow heat? Cross fiber? Is capillary action in wicks overrated?

 

[HecticEnergy]

dunno about all that, but I was told to cut my organic Japanese cotton with the grain of the fibers, so I imagine capillary action does effect the flow of juice..

sorry, thats all i got

 

[super_X_drifter]

Here's a vid to demonstrate how to prep and get the right thickness of cotton

http://youtu.be/lfOEoLumeR0

 

[David1975]

From my experience less IS more..... in the coil, but not necessarily everywhere on the RDA or RTA. I always use enough cotton in the micro coil to give me a little resistance as I pull it through, and then back it out slightly. From there, the less is more ends for me.... too a point. I like to somewhat fill the chamber with cotton (keeping it fluffy) to do 2 things. 1-hold juice, but 2- to fill the chamber there by reducing the inside volume. I find this gives me a denser vape. No real "rule of thumb", I just experiment with each new atty till I find the sweet spot.

 

[MrStik]

To me, it is a goldilocks scenario. It has to be just right. Too little for me and I get a lot of leaks due to juice still being in the drip well. Too much and it generally chokes. I used to go with less is more, and now I go with the "A bit more is better than less is more". As long as the cotton stays fluffy and not packed down, it will work as a perfect wick.

I use this method for wicking
http://youtu.be/M1hqRp9TDDE?list=UU0BsJLTkPW6nh4__Q2_8Pzg

 

[nocigsnomore]

Thought less cotton was more, but found out by watching a YouTube video that before rolling it, it should be double the size in width. Had to rewick today cause I used too little and got a burnt taste. Used double and now it's fine.

 

[DrewGrimey]

Here's a vid to demonstrate how to prep and get the right thickness of cotton

http://youtu.be/lfOEoLumeR0

This looks like such little cotton compared to all the other japanese cotton builds I've seen on youtube. I can't wait till my Japanese cotton comes from Amazon to try both methods, this stuff takes forever to receive from Japan

 

[super_X_drifter]

This looks like such little cotton compared to all the other japanese cotton builds I've seen on youtube. I can't wait till my Japanese cotton comes from Amazon to try both methods, this stuff takes forever to receive from Japan

Yes, it doesn't take much. Try Koh Gen Do website. You'll have it in a week

Trust me, most of what you see on YouTube is done by people who don't know what they don't know and stuff their coils and attys full of cotton and think it vapes good. When you get just the right amount it is off the chain. Very easy to get the right amount with KGD

 

[RiceBurner95]

I have myself found less cotton to be better. Any time I've done a build where I use a wick with long tails, or tails packed under the coil, the coil gunks much faster and the flavor quality drops very quickly after only a few hours. Whereas when I use less cotton fit a little less snug in the coil, and with shorter tails only just barely touching the deck and not under the coil, I get a longer coil life and the flavor stays acceptable MUCH longer. Of course everything varies depending on what coil, what resistance, what atomizer, etc. I also use a Tobh, and my favorite build on it is a ~1.2 ohm dual 28 gauge build, 8 wraps each with loose fitting cotton and short tails, at 20-30 watts.

I'm currently using my Steamboat RDA with a single 28 gauge, 12 wraps at 2.2 ohms, and with short tails just long enough to touch and sit flat on the deck. It's working very well. This is all with Japanese organic cotton.