Nickel Foam?!?

[SloHand]

Sorry I took so long to around to this …. Anyway, here are my observations.

Tried a wick of just the foam in an RSST – no wicking, just ‘tilt for pour to the coils’. A bugger with hot spots. Flavor not so great.

Tried in an Ego-w, single coil. Again no wicking, juice pooled in the collector dish in the bottom of the Ego-w. juice didn’t really stay in the foam. Dry hits quickly, absence of flavor.

Tried a 500 SS with a foam core. Marginal improvement on wicking but left my tank contaminated with ‘backwash’ of burnt juice back into the tank. (note: used a PTFE sleeve so wick was not shorting to the tank body). Absence of flavor.

This was fun but not something to write home about

 

[tiburonfirst]

- i had hoped for better reports! because of my allergies i did not get any foam for myself but had my fingers crossed for a better outcome.
since titanium foam has about the same porosity any wicking issue is detrimental.
apparently bj still has not gotten any samples - my original envelope seems to have gotten lost and it looks as if he has not received the second sample sent out by FranC as a favor to me

 

[mikepetro]

I played with it a good bit. To be honest the results just werent encouraging enough to dissuade me from ceramics. I dont think they are encouraging enough to try the titanium either.

Now I do think the material has value when combined with other materials in non-jenny attys. It can help diffuse flow really nicely. Hence why the old original atomizers used it as a bridge.

 

[MikeE3]

I played with it a good bit. To be honest the results just werent encouraging enough to dissuade me from ceramics. I dont think they are encouraging enough to try the titanium either.

Now I do think the material has value when combined with other materials in non-jenny attys. It can help diffuse flow really nicely. Hence why the old original atomizers used it as a bridge.

I too went back to ceramic. I was doing some voltage drop testing w/ an atty that had the nickel. So basically I was doing a dry burn with it while playing around. It didn't hold up well to the 'dry heat'. It became "crumbly".

My next experiment will to line the inside of a tip cap to reduce the chamber capacity. Also curious to see how it changes the airflow coming if I cover the air hole.

 

[BJ43]

Thanks to Tibs and FranC I got my sample today. It is boiling at present. Will play with it this evening.

 

[foggdawg]

Well I guess it's true....."results may vary" With so many people with different vaping styles results are sure to be mixed. I have had no problems with the foam. Even when adding the ss sleeve. Now I do see where my juice is getting darker as if im using hollow wicks but still experience good vapor, wicking and flavor. Again, using an AGI atty DK Tab 15%. Just checked the ohms about 1.26.

 

[BJ43]

Washed the foam twice with dish detergent, yes it had some crap. Boiled twice 20 min in distilled water.
First test: Complete rectangle in water, no rise of water, but this is the same with SS mesh, no capillary action until you roll and overlap layers. Just realized I am out of kerosene, so the lamp burn test will be tomorrow.



Water line stayed right at the water level.



The foam holds a lot of fluid, as you can see the amount of water that has drained out.



17mm of foam rolled into a 3mm wick, showed marginal capillary action, the water level is just under the cap so the rise in the first 5 min was less than half an inch.

 

[BJ43]

The marginal capillary action of the NI does not rule it out as a wick as with additional thermal rising and gravitational flow from tilt can make it adequate. The ceramic white wick is not that great at capillary action either. it rises juice pretty fast but not very far. Nothing like the 3.5 inch rise on 635 mesh. My interest in this foam was more for its capacity to store juice. Encapsulating a white ceramic wick with the foam in the tank section should in effect keep the fluid level very high and close to the coil even when the tank is less than half full, without depending on a lot of tilt.

 

[Shekinahsgroom]

The marginal capillary action of the NI does not rule it out as a wick as with additional thermal rising and gravitational flow from tilt can make it adequate. The ceramic white wick is not that great at capillary action either. it rises juice pretty fast but not very far. Nothing like the 3.5 inch rise on 635 mesh. My interest in this foam was more for its capacity to store juice. Encapsulating a white ceramic wick with the foam in the tank section should in effect keep the fluid level very high and close to the coil even when the tank is less than half full, without depending on a lot of tilt.

How about an AO tube with a Nifoam core?

 

[BJ43]

How about an AO tube with a Nifoam core?

Don't have the tools to try that. But did this. 5mm x 2in rolled and stuck in a 1.5 ohm Vampage hybrid, a new "Bonut". Wow, many many great hits between squonks.

 

[Sniffle]

this has me thinking stuff some of this on the side wicking area of something like a kayfun

 

[BJ43]

So I encapsulated a white ceramic wick in a RSST, seems to work good. Will see when the tank is half empty.

 

[BJ43]

Update on the NI bonut. This stuff drains very fast, needed longer storage and a little less drain. Removed the NI bonut unrolled it, covered the outer surface with a thin layer of cotton and rerolled the bonut. The center air hole is all NI so it remains unobstructed. Holds more juice and seems to be feeding slower and more consistent. About 5mm by 2 in of cotton, very thin, like when we did the Quigtip, forming a layer of cotton between each layer of NI in the roll.

 

[BJ43]

So why am I trying to make a better carto. First on the BF and a Drip type, I sqounk. I get the first 2 draws weak, too wet, then two good draws, then a harsh draw and re squonk. So 2 good draws out of 5 just doesn't do it for me. BTW my draws are long double draws. Regular cartos I quit using a long time ago.
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/cartomizer-issues/216274-duals-triples-grose.html

I have some shorties coming and will try some again after a couple of years. Maybe they have improved them but if they still use poly filler, I doubt it.

Update: The Ni/cotton bonut I squonk untill I see the Ni/cotton wet, then I get two wet draws, then 15 very good double draws until a harsh one requesting more juice, this works for me.

 

[BJ43]

Didn't want to double post in two thread as this is both white wick and Ni...
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/modding-forum/419128-my-bd13-setup.html#post10500975

 

[tiburonfirst]

curious if this will perform better than any of the materials - ni, ao and hemp - alone

 

[BJ43]

curious if this will perform better than any of the materials - ni, ao and hemp - alone

Hemp alone on a gennie PITA, not sold on the Ni as a wick but does hold a lot of liquid so it is a good transfer medium and holds together the other parts, the AO IMO is the best wick coil flavor setup and using small pieces you eliminate a lot of the lag from heat sink effect.

 

[BJ43]

Ni encapsulated AO wick, great wicking even on less than half tank.

 

[BJ43]

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/modding-forum/419128-my-bd13-setup.html#post10511382

 

[mikepetro]

Ni encapsulated AO wick, great wicking even on less than half tank.

Did you "secure" the NI foam around the AO wick with wire or something?

Was the view worth the climb?