I think 3M adopted a CYA stance on this product for e-cigs due to several people selling it without following the "Heat Cleaning" or "Heat Treating" instructions listed on their Data Sheet in the beginning. The untreated material does have some rather "unpleasant" chemicals associated with the manufacturing process that must be burned off at high temperature for an extended period of time in order to render it "safe". If you browse rba's website you will find a video that shows the difference between "untreated" and "treated" in a cut test. Alot of the early XC-116 that hit the market was untreated and might explain 3M adopting a "not for e-cig policy".
opinions on wick
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I think 3M adopted a CYA stance on this product for e-cigs due to several people selling it without following the "Heat Cleaning" or "Heat Treating" instructions listed on their Data Sheet in the beginning. The untreated material does have some rather "unpleasant" chemicals associated with the manufacturing process that must be burned off at high temperature for an extended period of time in order to render it "safe". If you browse rba's website you will find a video that shows the difference between "untreated" and "treated" in a cut test. Alot of the early XC-116 that hit the market was untreated and might explain 3M adopting a "not for e-cig policy".
Why does silica last longer than cotton?
something is not adding up here... if cotton is not changing on a chemical level it should last just as long.
(Pending that all the other variables are the same)
something is not adding up here... if cotton is not changing on a chemical level it should last just as long.
(Pending that all the other variables are the same)
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I've not been using cotton for very long (few months) but as I learn with it more, it's now much less common to burn up the wicks from dry hits or bad setup. I can go about a week on my RDAs before the flavor/performance drops enough to warrant cleaning and rewick. I'm finding the cotton is nearly as clean as when first installed, but still have to remove to dry burn the coil. Back when using ekowool in RDAs I'd leave the wick in place to dry burn. Once the cotton is pulled for a dry burn I always toss it and use a fresh wick rather than trying to clean the cotton somehow or reuse.
For me, it's not the cotton that causes a rewick, but the gunked coil instead.
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what sort of ohms / voltages and what type of coil are you using?
starting to notice a pattern here, maybe someone could explain this. the cotton is turning yellow - tan - brown with use. im using a 50/50 VG/PG solution no flavoring, no nicotine. it goes from white, to yellow pretty fast about the first 20-30 hits. then after about 50-60 hits starts turning tan. more than about 100 hits its starts to turn brown. i have noticed this across the board for pretty much all the cotton wicks i have tested. is this normal?
i dont get this effect with silica..
also i have been told that using a K-Type thermocouple in an cig wick "SHOULD" and its BIG SHOULD (because who really knows right) be ok as long as i keep the plastic insulation away from the heat.
going to drill another hole im my RDA cap.
i dont get this effect with silica..
also i have been told that using a K-Type thermocouple in an cig wick "SHOULD" and its BIG SHOULD (because who really knows right) be ok as long as i keep the plastic insulation away from the heat.
going to drill another hole im my RDA cap.
My cotton seems to only change to the color of my DIY juice. New to DIY too and only have two recipes, one is clear as water, the other is kinda light brown. I pulled wicks and cleaned coils from a week and a half used dual coil dripper using the darker juice. Ran the cotton under running water and thy turned back white. If I looked closely could just barely tell which part was fed inside the coil. I've been amazed at how little the cotton seems to burn, but have definitely learned the taste of cotton that's about to go dry.
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I have to 2nd havoc I pulled a used wick from my r91, if looked burned out and I had gotten a couple dry hits off of it throughout the use of it, prolly 25ml. I rinsed it with water And it's completely white and new looking, I must say that it's not what i was expecting.
what im looking at is not obviously burned. its some sort of discoloration.
think by rinsing it you are removing the substance in question.
Yeah just rinsed one, looks white again. this tells me whatever it is probably water soluble. only one way to find out...
think by rinsing it you are removing the substance in question.
Yeah just rinsed one, looks white again. this tells me whatever it is probably water soluble. only one way to find out...
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Yeah , it seems to me that the discoloration is due to juice absorbed by the cotton. I could be wrong...?
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That's what I thought too since my entire wicks were brown rather than just at contact with coil. Using clear juice the wicks never do change color after a week or so of use.
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I believe it's the juice changing color, not the cotton itself, possibly from being "cooked." One major difference between cotton and silica is, cotton holds a lot of juice. This is observational, I don't have any tests to prove it, but while silica may wick as fast as cotton, the cotton actually holds more juice in a similar space.
Also, I think manufacturers would shy away from cotton just because it has the potential to burn if fired dry.
Also, I think manufacturers would shy away from cotton just because it has the potential to burn if fired dry.
I agree again with havoc, and I think silica is possibly used in place of cotton by manufacturers BC it was more widely used / common than cotton, as well as being a bit more user friendly.
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I have always attributed the discolored cotton to gunk from the coil traveling with some of the juice. I don't have proof, but I can tell you my cotton is not burnt and I rarely get a dry hit. Gunked coils and gunked wicks happen regardless of wick/setup, so I can only assume it is coming from the common factor, which is the juice.
I can't believe I read this whole thread, very interesting though. I will keep following to see what happens. Happy Dave, I applaude your tenacity, though I have one comment for you. It is to hard get someone to except a hypothsis when it seems to have a predetermined end in mind. Thanks for the info anyway!
Excellent point IMO! After reading through this entire thread this morning, I have a couple of notes written down. Dave, I would like to thank you very much for your exhaustive research, time given to the community and for taking the time to care enough about your fellow vapers health to try and make a difference. From the git go, when I first heard people were actually using cotton to vape on I was quite surprised to say the least, I said to myself, don't these people know that cotton burns quite easily? Then I researched the subject here more and found that it is indeed possible if you are very very careful about what temps, build types and wattage you vape the cotton at. I figured there must be something to it because many many people were praising the virtues of using cotton as a wicking material almost to the death! So, I tried cotton a few months ago and while I REALLY liked the flavor of the first few pulls I got through the cotton, after that, I noticed a very faint sweet taste of smoldering cotton that got even worse the more you used it. Even at super low wattage, ample saturation levels of the cotton and just enough energy to vaporize the liquid, no more no less. It seams to me that it is indeed possible, at least in my own mind, that some people prefer this taste. While I could see myself acquiring a taste for this additional sweet flavor, I just don't want to be vaping "essence of smoldering t-shirt". Just my opinion here, that's all. Quite possible that I've got it all wrong though as I'm sure several may be kind enough to point out.
I say! Enjoy your cotton!! I'll stick with silica.
seriously? your intrigued by one material out lasting another?
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