Phoenix/Chalice Vertical Cotton Wick Setup

[hildicat]

I've done this method several times now on the Chalice and the Phoenix and its works like a charm EVERY time.
OK, here goes...

Tools/materials needed
scissors
straight pin
lighter
3/32 drill bit
juice
small tweezers
precision screw driver
kanthal 32
wick (in this case I'm using 100% cotton cheesecloth, undyed, unbleached, purchased at Bed Bath & Beyond for $3.99 for 9 yards)

First off, use the lighter to heat up a length of Kanthal wire, about 3 inches should be more than enough. Heat until the wire glows then move to another spot till you've gotten the whole length.

Now take your wire and the drill bit. Make a tight half loop of wire around the bit.

Once you have that started make 4 more wraps of the wire, keeping it tight against the bit. I use a 4/5 wrap, but this will depend on your desired resistance.

Now try to squeeze the coils closer together, They will spring back a bit, and thats ok. We're looking for tight, nicely spaced coils.

Now set the whole thing including the drill bit in your Phoenix/Chalice.

Continued in part 2...

 

[hildicat]

Part 2

Insert the bottom wire leg into one of the post holes. Move the bit around till its right in the center between the two post, and while holding the excess wire firm, tighten down the screw in the post.

Now take the remaining top leg and wrap it around the other screw post instead of feeding the wire through the post hole. Do a complete turn of the wire around the screw, trying to keep it fairly tight the whole time.

When you have it roughly centered and the wires pretty tight go ahead and tighten down the remaining screw.

At this point use the drill bit to move the coil around between the posts, making sure its centered, none of the coils are touching each other or the posts, and the legs going to the posts are just about the same length. I then simply apply a bit of tension and twisty motion to the excess wire and it snaps off nicely, but you could always cut them away.

Now remove the drill bit (it should slide out easily) and inspect your coil from all angles to make sure nothing is touching anything it shouldn't.

Fire it up and the whole thing should light up evenly.

I've done this 4 times now and always get 1.8Ω or 1.9Ω.

Continued in part 3...

 

[hildicat]

Part 3

Now for the wick. I cut a piece about 3/4 of an inch by about 4 inches long. Fold this roughly in half.

Now take this between your fingers and twist it as much as you can. It will spring back after the twist, but just try and get this shape going.

Now lay this in the palm of your hand and run your other palm over it several times. Do this in the same direction each time and you will start to form a tight rope.

Now take your wick and bend it in half. Make a tight crease in the center and then twist it around this bend trying to get it very tight. It helps here to add a couple of drops of juice to the wick to help keep all the fibers tight together.

Keep rolling this tight between your fingers and you should be able to feed the double wick through the coil. Don't force it if it wont go through easily. If you have trouble add a bit more juice and roll it up till you can get it to a nice sharp point. It may also require a bit of a twisting motion as you insert the wick.

Once you have it to where its protruding form the bottom coil, take the pin or small tweezers and start to pull it through the bottom till you can get at the bend you made and pull it down till you have a bit if wick coming through the bottom of the coil. This should move pretty easily through the coil, but it cant be so loose that the wick is making contact with all the coils. When you have it through start to unwind the wick a bit. Unravel it enough that it essentially fills up all the space within the coil.

Now for the Phoenix, leave the bottom wick a bit long and stuff it down into the juice well, then trim off the tops to about a half inch and fold then down on either side of the coil.

For the Chalice, flatten out the bottom of the wick so that it sort of mushrooms above the feed tube, then trim to just over the posts and fray them out a bit.

Now add some more juice and see how it fires up. It should all work well, but if any part of the coil is touching the floor of the atty or the post move them around a bit till its all clear and you should be good to go.

 

[hildicat]

I'd love to get some feedback on this method, and any improvements offered would be awesome!

 

[Illuminatu]

Nice tutorial with explicit picture dude! keep it up, I was using a different technique for my cotton gauze and yarn but I just might try this one tonight to see how good it goes and will definitely try it in my bottom feed RBA when it gets to me!

 

[hildicat]

I have also opened up the air holes on both Phoenix and Chalice just a bit. I'm really liking a loose draw and I feel like it produces more vapor with less effort.

 

[mwa102464]

I've experimented with opening up the air hole myself, I suggest you take the same size bit and just ream out the stock hole for starters, even 1/1000 makes a big difference in air flow on these units, if you go one full size bigger in regular bits it makes a huge difference taking it from stiff to total airy, so like I said just take the same size bit and ream out the stock hole just a little bit at a time.

 

[hildicat]

Yup. I used a cylindrical file with a pointed tip. Set it in the air hole and just filed away a small amount at a time till the draw felt right. In reality they probably didn't open up more than 1 millimeter, but the difference in draw is significant.

 

[Nurzrachit]

Man I would have to say that is one of the best tutorials I have seen on this website. How does it vape. I have a phoenix that I like, but the throat hit is too intense at times. I use a silica wick through a SSmesh Horizontal coil. I am trying to find a technique which is smoother on the throat hit, or does that have more to do with the air hole? Once again though, bravo on this tutorial.

 

[Nurzrachit]

Will opening the airhole help with that intense throat hit? Very nice tutorial by the way, Top Notch!

 

[pianoguy]

I'm gonna stop on the way home tonight to pick up some cheesecloth and give it a whirl - thanks much!

 

[Iffy]

Very nice tutorial with awesome pics!

 

[hildicat]

Man I would have to say that is one of the best tutorials I have seen on this website. How does it vape. I have a phoenix that I like, but the throat hit is too intense at times. I use a silica wick through a SSmesh Horizontal coil. I am trying to find a technique which is smoother on the throat hit, or does that have more to do with the air hole? Once again though, bravo on this tutorial.

Thanks! She vapes like a steam train. As for throat hit, I much prefer cotton over silica. It does feel much smoother to me. I've had very little success with SS mesh so I'm sticking with cotton unless some other new and better wicking material is discovered.

I also feel a bit more air flow helps to mellow the whole experience as well. The vapor is warm and plentiful without burning my throat.

 

[hildicat]

One other nice point is that you can easily remove the wick when it gets gunked up or burnt (which WILL happen with cotton if you don't keep it wet). Just trim up the excess and carefully pull out the wick. With a little patience you can take it out without disfiguring the coil. You can then give it a couple of pulses to dry burn then insert your new wick.

 

[Nurzrachit]

Thanks! She vapes like a steam train. As for throat hit, I much prefer cotton over silica. It does feel much smoother to me. I've had very little success with SS mesh so I'm sticking with cotton unless some other new and better wicking material is discovered.

I also feel a bit more air flow helps to mellow the whole experience as well. The vapor is warm and plentiful without burning my throat.

Thanks for the quick reply, going out to the garage for a little filing, see what happens. Thats the good thing about a phoenix, don't mind altering at this price. I will have to pick up some cheesecloth soon and attempt a cotton wick and see the diff.

 

[SilentEcho13]

My issue: I can't get one of my posts to rise up higher than the other one, like yours are in the pictures.

I have a vertical SS mesh wick setup right now which doesn't stand up straight because my posts are the same height..lol

How'd you do that without damaging them? Mine don't even move, they're stuck tight!

 

[dirfm]

I have been using this method for almost a month now, found it from a russian forum. Works beautifully every single time, and you can change the wick out very easily. Nice job, I should have posted it here.

 

[hildicat]

At least in the Phoenix, the posts are not screwed in or otherwise permanently attached. You can in fact twist them around or pull them out completely with some pliers. That said, its not really critical that one post be taller than the other. My Chalice has equally tall posts and is set up in the exact same way. I think the height difference between the post hole and the top of the screw is enough for a 4/5 wrap to fit nicely without having to lean the wick too much in either direction.

Notice the posts are the same height... Bottom leg is secured in the post hole, top leg wrapped around screw head.

 

[SilentEcho13]

The problem is that no matter how flush the coils are around the mesh, I get hot spots near the posts, and it doesn't stay centered quite well either so I'll end up with shorts when two wraps touch, or when a leg touches a wrap.

My posts don't spin. I got one of them to spin, and it took ALOT of effort, so I ended up pretty much crushing it. Luckily the screw was inside so it didn't collapse.

 

[hildicat]

The problem is that no matter how flush the coils are around the mesh, I get hot spots near the posts, and it doesn't stay centered quite well either so I'll end up with shorts when two wraps touch, or when a leg touches a wrap.

My posts don't spin. I got one of them to spin, and it took ALOT of effort, so I ended up pretty much crushing it. Luckily the screw was inside so it didn't collapse.

I've not tried mesh in this setup so I can't really comment, but it sounds like it might be an oxidation issue. I know with cotton, it swells a bit when its wet so I feel like it fills up the space inside the coil.

I've heard of people wrapping a very thin layer of cotton around a mesh wick. Maybe that would help with the hot spots???