Got this idea while reading through the "Cartridge Filler" Thread.
I'm new to vaping but I've been a scientist for many years now. The world is my laboratory. Someone mentioned braided fiberglass earlier and I have to agree with him. Liquid candles use ultra high grade paraffin oil, the better candles include fiberglass wicks.
An assortment of wicks:
Capillary action draws liquid up the bundle, fiberglass strands such as this are chemically inert, though can cause damage if dust in inhaled, higher quality fiberglass wicks are dust-free and durable, made of thermal glass such as to not melt under the heat of a small flame. A length of braided fiberglass of precisely the right diameter would work splendidly in a cart, but you'll be hard pressed to find the exact size you need as each cart varies.
My second idea is polyester based. I understand that polyfill is popular but even high quality fiberfill is not very good as a wick. Most modern sports or workout clothing is designed from microfiber polyester and polayamide weaves and has excellent wicking properties. In clothing this is used to draw moisture (sweat) away from the skin, though this is counter productive (sweat evaporates on the skin to cool the body, the same way that an air conditioner evaporates freon or other liquid to cool air). Nonetheless, woven microfiber would be my first choice (microfiber is made from extremely small polyester fibers). The type of weave will further improve the wicking abilities. I'll need to perform tests to see if the microfiber locks the moisture too well for the atomizer to be able to pull the moisture out of the fibers (shouldn't be a problem, I suspect).
Close up of a single microfiber thread, the star shaped core is polyester, the wedges are polyamide (a type of nylon):
Here's some more info on microfiber taken from an article on the web:
It'll be a while until I can start experimenting. Any of you who want to try out various microfiber products please post your results here. I'm going to see if I can get in touch with some microfiber manufacturers to see about getting bundles of microfiber thread (imagine a bundle of firewood), that way all the wicking channels are parallel, I may also ask about braided microfiber rope, as I've been unable to locate braided microfiber anywhere on the net.
I'm new to vaping but I've been a scientist for many years now. The world is my laboratory. Someone mentioned braided fiberglass earlier and I have to agree with him. Liquid candles use ultra high grade paraffin oil, the better candles include fiberglass wicks.
An assortment of wicks:
Capillary action draws liquid up the bundle, fiberglass strands such as this are chemically inert, though can cause damage if dust in inhaled, higher quality fiberglass wicks are dust-free and durable, made of thermal glass such as to not melt under the heat of a small flame. A length of braided fiberglass of precisely the right diameter would work splendidly in a cart, but you'll be hard pressed to find the exact size you need as each cart varies.
My second idea is polyester based. I understand that polyfill is popular but even high quality fiberfill is not very good as a wick. Most modern sports or workout clothing is designed from microfiber polyester and polayamide weaves and has excellent wicking properties. In clothing this is used to draw moisture (sweat) away from the skin, though this is counter productive (sweat evaporates on the skin to cool the body, the same way that an air conditioner evaporates freon or other liquid to cool air). Nonetheless, woven microfiber would be my first choice (microfiber is made from extremely small polyester fibers). The type of weave will further improve the wicking abilities. I'll need to perform tests to see if the microfiber locks the moisture too well for the atomizer to be able to pull the moisture out of the fibers (shouldn't be a problem, I suspect).
Close up of a single microfiber thread, the star shaped core is polyester, the wedges are polyamide (a type of nylon):
Here's some more info on microfiber taken from an article on the web:
Basically on a very tiny scale this star and wedge design creates lots of surface area and little channels by which liqui naturally is pulled up, as the atomizer "drinks" liquid at the top, the liquid will naturall move up to fill in the missing liquid, the very definition of a wick.Microfiber is a continuous filament fiber, which is actually a combination of two fibers: polyester and polyamide (a nylon byproduct). The interlocking composition of the two fibers is what makes microfiber so unique and adept at attracting dirt. Polyester and polyamide are woven together to form a pie-shaped pattern, as seen in this 1,000 times magnified photo above.
A very specific manufacturing process gives microfiber its signature shape, as David Goldberg, vice president of operations of Leading Edge Products, explains. “The two fibers are squeezed together, then pushed out through a star-shaped nozzle,” he says. “The fibers are then treated mechanically and/or chemically with heat and pressure. This action causes the two substances to separate due to differences in surface tension.”
This structure creates the small sharp edges, gullies and grooves ideal for cleaning, for moisture capillary action and retention of particles.
It'll be a while until I can start experimenting. Any of you who want to try out various microfiber products please post your results here. I'm going to see if I can get in touch with some microfiber manufacturers to see about getting bundles of microfiber thread (imagine a bundle of firewood), that way all the wicking channels are parallel, I may also ask about braided microfiber rope, as I've been unable to locate braided microfiber anywhere on the net.
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