If you have hot spots and do not remove them before continuing on, you will multiply your problems. If you cannot move your wick without bending the coil, the coil is wrapped too tightly on it thus your hot spot. You should be able to gently spin your wick and move it, but be snug enough to stay where you leave it.
Here's a quick look at an empty tank with a properly adjusted hot spot free coil:
Another point that has been stated is your wick should fill the wick hole, but not be too tight. After I am sure the wick easily slides in the wick hole but stays where you put it, similar to the wick to coil example, I then wrap my coil on the wick prior to installing it in the aga-t (as opposed to doing it on the rba).
Finally, my wicks are rolled solid without even a hint of a center hole. I can fit 3.5" of mesh into a stock sized hole and not have to force it. Its a balance. You want a solid wick to fill the hole but loose enough be able to easily move. It is more important to have that play between the wick and hole than it is to roll 3" or 3.5" of mesh. No matter how tight (or not) your wick is rolled, if it chokes the wick hole your capillary action suffers.
Thus my guideline is to roll a wick as solid as YOU can roll it. If it is too tight in the hole, cut a bit off and try again. once that is all proper, then wrap your coil. After it is installed, check to see if you can slide your wick in and out fairly easy. If you do these steps prior to applying power, your hot spot issues will be most easy to eliminate. I have gotten lucky twice and not had to remove hot spots at all.
If your wick to coil grip is too tight, sometimes merely adjusting the coils is not enough, you need to loosen a connection, give your coil a little slack and re-tighten. Imagine you are wearing a tie that has been cinched too tight around your neck. You have a top coil hot spot. No amount of moving it around will relieve your discomfort, you need to loosen the tie.
