question for people to use cotton wicks.

[happydave]

how often do you change your wick?

when you change your wick out does it look yellow or dark brown?

trying to get an idea if i'm doing this right or not.
Thanks

 

[Laylel]

Everyone different. I did change wick just to get out of flavor what i didn't like. Light brown, more like yellow, can be burnt to black as well. It just doesn't take to long to change, so when ever when you feel like it (it's no wick change control you know )

 

[happydave]

so the wick is going to change color with use?
and i should change it when it starts tasting bad?

 

[JTyler82]

so the wick is going to change color with use?
and i should change it when it starts tasting bad?

I like to change mine every day. I pull it out the night before and wake up and put in a new one. A whole day if vaping should make it yellow. Depending on how many times you re drip. If we are talking about RDAs that is.

MVP 2.0/Nemesis/VamoV5 - Protank2/kayfun/nautilus

 

[happydave]

you would say this is about normal for 2 mL of eliquid with no flavor no nicotine?

4/5 wrap 34 awg kanthal. wrapped on a 2 mm drill bit. then feed the cotton into the coil.

under 30 x magnification

 

[Rule62]

View attachment 324401

you would say this is about normal for 2 mL of eliquid with no flavor no nicotine?

4/5 wrap 34 awg kanthal. wrapped on a 2 mm drill bit. then feed the cotton into the coil.

under 30 x magnification

Why does the wick look like there's blood on it?

 

[Laylel]

View attachment 324401

you would say this is about normal for 2 mL of eliquid with no flavor no nicotine?

4/5 wrap 34 awg kanthal. wrapped on a 2 mm drill bit. then feed the cotton into the coil.

under 30 x magnification

Oh, man that pic looks scary, with splash of blood... what do you vape
I will say go by taste, you don't like check it.

 

[happydave]

Why does the wick look like there's blood on it?

well it must be a product of a chemical reaction... if you notice the top has a little green nub in the middle (closest to the air hole)... and the bottom has red spots.

the colors were not there when i first started using the wick... every other puff i would pull off the top and look at the coil under the 30 X loop and the colors originated at the coils and over time diffused into the other parts of the wick. i also noticed that the wire seemed to "dig in" into the cotton wick more and more with each puff. this was a 3.2 ohm coil that i ran at a regulated 3.9 volts until i used up all 2 mL of e-liquid. im using USP food grade VG and PG. 50/50 no flavor no nicotine.

im thinking that we are seeing new chemicals produced from the Thermal Decomposition of the cotton wick.

i have never seen colors like that before with a silica wick.. even when using nicotine and flavor...

 

[Rule62]

well it must be a product of a chemical reaction... if you notice the top has a little green nub in the middle (closest to the air hole)... and the bottom has red spots.

the colors were not there when i first started using the wick... every other puff i would pull off the top and look at the coil under the 30 X loop and the colors originated at the coils and over time diffused into the other parts of the wick. i also noticed that the wire seemed to "dig in" into the cotton wick more and more with each puff. this was a 3.2 ohm coil that i ran at a regulated 3.9 volts until i used up all 2 mL of e-liquid. im using USP food grade VG and PG. 50/50 no flavor no nicotine.

im thinking that we are seeing new chemicals produced from the Thermal Decomposition of the wick.
seen anything
i have never seen colors like that before with a silica wick.. even when using nicotine and flavor...

I've been using cotton wicks for a long time, and I've never seen anything that remotely resembled blood on the wick. I use either cotton balls or cotton yarn, depending on the device. I also don't use spaced coils with cotton. Always micro or mini coils. No space in between the wraps.

 

[happydave]

I've been using cotton wicks for a long time, and I've never seen anything that remotely resembled blood on the wick. I use either cotton balls or cotton yarn, depending on the device. I also don't use spaced coils with cotton. Always micro or mini coils. No space in between the wraps.

i should have pointed out that using a white LED for a light source made the red spots look purple, and the green spot look darker green.

have you ever tried to use just pure VG and PG with no flavor or nicotine?...

check out this chuck of wax i found in my cotton. i put a dropper top next to the wax and cotton for scale.

wax under 30 x magnification

 

[happydave]

ill try it with a micro coil and see how that goes.

 

[Rule62]

I don't know why you'd have wax. I've never experienced that. My cotton wicks don't discolor much at all, unless I'm vaping a dark juice to begin with.

 

[happydave]

I don't know why you'd have wax. I've never experienced that. My cotton wicks don't discolor much at all, unless I'm vaping a dark juice to begin with.

Project Cotton - Chemical Composition of Cotton Fibers

"cotton" contains .6 percent wax..
i look through the whole pack of sterile cotton gauze and this was the only one i could find that was big enough for me to pull out. i can see some other small black dots that i can only guess are also the same substance.

 

[Rule62]

Project Cotton - Chemical Composition of Cotton Fibers

"cotton" contains .6 percent wax..
i look through the whole pack of sterile cotton gauze and this was the only one i could find that was big enough for me to pull out. i can see some other small black dots that i can only guess are also the same substance.

Gauze? I dunno. Never used it. I use either cotton ball cotton or Peaches n' Cream 100% cotton yarn. I've never seen a wax build up.

 

[happydave]

Gauze? I dunno. Never used it. I use either cotton ball cotton or Peaches n' Cream 100% cotton yarn. I've never seen a wax build up.

i went with the "sterile cotton gauze" because it seems like popular choice for many people. something that is more processed i'm sure would remove more of the wax.

also the micro coil test rig is done. 7 wrap 2 mm drill bit. 1.8 ohms going to run it at 3.9 volts.

 

[Rule62]

i went with the "sterile cotton gauze" because it seems like popular choice for many people. something that is more processed i'm sure would remove more of the wax.

I haven't seen many people using gauze. Most people I know of use either rolled cotton, cotton balls, or cotton yarn. Some insist on boiling it before use; some don't. Personally, I don't boil mine.

 

[happydave]

boiling it would add more unwanted stuff to it... unless you used distilled water.

its interesting to watch the micro coil expand and contract as you hit and let off the power.

 

[supermarket]

Project Cotton - Chemical Composition of Cotton Fibers

"cotton" contains .6 percent wax..
i look through the whole pack of sterile cotton gauze and this was the only one i could find that was big enough for me to pull out. i can see some other small black dots that i can only guess are also the same substance.

Hey brother, thanks for the link! Had to like your post for that.

I always love to see science on these boards. Debating and discussing things is great, but when you use scientific experiments or knowledge as well, it takes things to a whole different level....and it is something we as a community can BUILD on.

Vaping is relatively new, and we know relatively VERY LITTLE about it. Truth is, I personally believe that the way we vape is SOOOOO elementary compared to how things will be even a few years down the road. Who knows.....we might not even being using coils anymore. Maybe not even using wick??

Anyway, thanks again.

Also, I too have never noticed anything on my cotton besides yellow/brown/black discoloration. No green, purple, blue, or red or anything like that.

I ONLY use rolled cotton from CVS. I tried the peaches and creme brand from walmart that everyone raved about on here, tasted like garbage.

 

[happydave]

Who knows.....we might not even being using coils anymore. Maybe not even using wick??

it will be sooner than you think. check out Vibrating Mesh Technology.

 

[happydave]

so here we see the micro coil after 2 mL of e-liquid.
i noticed as i was checking on it in between puffs that strands of cotton are getting past the tiny gaps in the micro coil and are falling over on the top of the coil then burning up. also the red color is back but this time its all over the coil... i have yet to take the coil off the wick because i want to do it very carefully. i don't want to disturb the wick underneath the coil so we can get a real good look at it.



removed the coil from the wick. most of it was not that interesting just a yellowish brown color.
this red/purple spot on the surface was under the coil.