More questions! This time...wicking!

[Soully]

Yea, I'm rapid fire thinking of questions and posting them as they come up, but I have a notepad on my desktop that I'm keeping all the info in xD

So the question I've come up with this time is about wicking!

...Ok, not really a question, more just summing up what I've learned and making sure I'm not wrong.

I've seen posts and info on cotton wicking...silica wicking...even bamboo and fiberglass wicking. However, the biggest battlers seem to be the silica and cotton.

From what I read, it seems silica is the better bet, as it has less added flavor, can be cleaned better than cotton can for reuse (granted, if you're buying 5-10 feet of it, and using only what...maybe 1/4 an inch at a time...I really am having trouble understanding why you'd clean and reuse, but to each their own!), and even seems to last longer.

The only downside I've found is a few hints at the possibility of a short? I'm not so sure about this part, wasn't aware silica was metallic, but I never was that great at memorizing a periodic table, so I'm probably wrong their.

I just wish to verify what I've found thus far, if I'm wrong please let me know and if you could point me in the right direction that would be awesome!

Thanks again!

 

[Kanj.nguyen]

Silica does not conduct current. Idk where you read that silica gives you risks of short.

 

[Steam Turbine]

The only "coil to wick" electrical short that you can have is by using stainless steel mesh. Silica is not mettalic and it's not surprising that you don't remember it from the periodic table since it's not an element therefore not on thesaid table... It is a molecule or chemical compound cointaining silicon and oxygen. It is very VERY resistant to heat, so there is no chance in hell that you'll burn it while vaping, cotton on the other hand will burn if you don't keep your wick saturated with juice.

 

[Soully]

Silica does not conduct current. Idk where you read that silica gives you risks of short.

Was on another forum, it did catch me off guard, hence why I'm bringing it up here to verify.

The only "coil to wick" electrical short that you can have is by using stainless steel mesh. Silica is not mettalic and it's not surprising that you don't remember it from the periodic table since it's not an element therefore not on thesaid table... It is a molecule or chemical compound cointaining silicon and oxygen. It is very VERY resistant to heat, so there is no chance in hell that you'll burn it while vaping, cotton on the other hand will burn if you don't keep your wick saturated with juice.

Pffft, molecules, compounds, who needsem!

 

[Lessifer]

The main contenders for wick materials are ss mesh, silica, cotton and ceramic. Each has pros and cons, and some perform better in certain devices and with different juices. You'll find tons of threads detailing the uses of all different types of wicks, and there's new stuff being tried every day. Here's my short interpretation of them:

stainless steel mesh: clean flavor(though some can taste the metal), great wicking rate, learning curve for setting up, has the possibility to short your coil. Can be dry burned for reuse/cleaning.

silica: some say muted flavor, some say creamier, decent wicking rate, easy to set up. Can be dry burned for reuse/cleaning.

cotton: many different forms with their own advantages/disadvantages. some say cleaner flavor, some can taste the cotton. Wicks incredibly well, easy to work with, no shorts. Will burn if fired dry. CHEAP

ceramic: comes in a few different forms, clean taste, great wicking action, fairly easy to set up, no shorts, can be dry burned/torched to clean. More expensive and sometimes hard to find.

Hope this helps, and I'm sure someone will point out if I've got anything wrong here.

 

[Altaire Versailles]

you clean and reuse because its simpler to run it under water for a minute or so rather than making a whole new coil or trying to redo the wick and not destroy the coil... You cant taste the last juice honestly and making coils is a pita no matter how quick you can do it. You just soak or rinse it, pat it dry and give it an hour or so to fully dry

 

[toughguitar]

I've been using ss exclusively for almost a month and a half. SS rope wick on a aga t2 and mesh on a rsst and really enjoy the clean flavor they give. Yesterday I vaped from an evod, while the flavor was good I just realized how much I can taste the silica. I've never been into dripping or carto's, but I can notice the different tastes between ss and silica.