Note2: "The Kanger Wick Tuck"?
Cut your cotton wick a little longer than normal and tuck the ends behind/under the chimney seal with a pin or small screwdriver. Then reach behind the wick and pull it back down to it's normal position. This leaves the tips of the wick up behind the seal and covers the area of juice slots where your flavor wicks would go.
There's no need to use those "flavor robbing" flavor wicks any more and if everything else on your tank setup is good it will not leak.....ever.....not even a drop on the battery with 80pg/20vg mixes.
It's been working great on my evods and protanks for months without issue.ymmv
I wonder if this will work with the new nextel xc-132(2mm slim) wick I just ordered? Hmmm, I guess we'll see!
Happy vaping
I've mentioned in previous posts that despite best efforts
pigments do buildup in ceramic braid where contacting the coil. That's where pigments are also bonding to the coil surface as a roughened gunky buildup. It also ingrains like a rocky lattice in the outermost braids of Nextel. I believe it significantly reduces the efficiency of vaporization eventually throttling the wick. Shorts cause acceleration of the buildup, any inefficiency of contact within the coil like barely seen inconsistencies in turn-to-turn contact as with a conventional
formed microcoil. Any such imperfection promotes the buildup of pigments on coil and braid. This includes Eko and silica as well.
That cig is why I so devotedly extol the benefits of proper electrical winds here. You want the best vape, longest most satisfying build performance — build it right, build it tight. Out with overly compressed flimsy grommets producing hangers and intermittent shorts. Pigment gunking is the enemy of a consistent vape.
That said, your suggestion on filling out the slot area and doing away with the flavor wick is great. Better exit airflow in my estimation. That in part is why I loved 5/64 on the KPT. I could put an oversize Eko wick in that fluffed up to the slot and forego the flavor wick. Pretty good result. Just not as good as Nextel despite the need for a flavor wick. But I loved doing those tests. Just that I concluded the average user would not go through the hassle of Kanger assembly modification to get it. And many would be deterred at the prospect.
But your idea with cotton works well and I honestly did not test it adequately with the options I tried or had available at the time.
Your approach works because the ends of the cotton wick are pointed up. Cotton wicks tends to settle. If laid horizontally exiting the slot they tend to sag. Sometimes this leaves a slight gap and likewise
a contact gap at end turn top!!! Most people may not even notice this. I didn't for the longest time while I was actually testing cotton. I only realized this when I started working with drippers long after I concluded those tests…that you're often running an effective short with cotton if you're not careful.
With
your method the cotton being held upward by the cup wall would serve to avert that collapse and maintain a complete contact on those very critical end turns. Just wanted to point that additional benefit out to all of you.
The only concern I would have depends upon the density and fiber structure of the cotton. Highly directional material like Japanese cotton is not as permeable. Highly directional fiber structures tend not to saturate as effectively from the side. So if you bend the cotton it may not exhibit the same flow. Too tight and it may strangle. Also be careful not to bend too tightly or the coil could be distorted and compromise the micro effect, or leave a contact gap at the bottom of the first turn (short)…or, introduce a slight leak gap underneath the exit of the coil at the slot. All three things you must check with your set.
You though seem to confirm this may be averted bending such a short section of wick. And I wholeheartedly agree on the airflow advantage as huge though not exceeding the benefits of ceramic braid.
I'd say, definitely worth a try for all you cotton users who would prefer it in the Protank. Just get the density right and don't give up. Be forewarned what to look out for. This is reproducible with both cotton and Eko. And I will certainly be trying it with Japanese cotton when I decide on the right coil build for it.
Not Nextel cig. The core needs to exit in line to the coil. Even minute interruptions like very slight contact on the edge of the liquid channel will block it. Bending it is
verboten. However, Nextel simply fills the slot like it was made for those silly 3mm's or so and nothin' gets past it that doesn't get sucked up like you got a black hole in your back yard. You'll see. Cutting at the midpoint to the juice channel edge is just right. I cut a slight bias using the edge of the flange as a guide for the bottom cut with nail clippers. Nice clean single cut.
Thank you cig for the great feedback.
Good luck all.
