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Ok thanks! I'm still new at rebuilding and having a hard time hitting that "Goldilocks" spot of just right.
I use Pad Cotton. And for Me, that Goldilocks Zone is when I pull the Cotton thru the Coil and I can feel a good amount of Resistance, but the cotton Doesn't want to Bunch Up.
Either Too Little or Too Much Cotton can both cause Dry Hits. More so with Too Much IMO.
I'm using a little less cotton than that. Mine's not as tight in the coil. I end up with a little bow tie after I pull it through. I'm having a hard time figuring out how much of that bow tie gets cut to make it narrower. I "think" I am cutting it to the right length, but I'm probably leaving it too wide and pushing it into the juice well that way.
Wicking is kinda a Black Art. It just takes some Trial and Error sometimes to find what an RTA or an RDA likes.
I have used some RTA's where it really Doesn't Matter what I do, they just Don't seem to want to Dry Hit. And I have used others where it has to be about Perfect or its Dry Hit City.
Not sure what RTA you are using? But sometimes it Helps to cut the Wick Legs into Semi-Points. So there is Less Cotton wherever the e-Liquid comes into the RTA Deck.
Seems like each has its own quirks. What RTA are you using? I’m sure someone else has one and can share how they wick it.
Ok, that makes a lot of sense. I'm using several different RTA's at the moment. Smok Cloud Beast, Geek Vape Ammit25 and Vandy Vapes Kylin.
All of those RTA's kinda have the same type of e-Liquid Inlet/Well.
So if Pointy Wick Tails doesn't work, try this...
After stuffing the Cotton in the Well and Priming it, take a Needle or Pin (or something Small and Pointy) and push the Needle between the Top Metal "Ring" portion and the Cotton. Then wiggle it slightly and pull it out.
This will leave a Slight Groove/Depression in the Cotton. And give the e-Liquid an Unobstructed path into the e-Liquid Well.
It seems Counter Intuitive. Like you are doing something that will make the Deck Flood. But it can Actually work Wonders. Especially on High VG e-Liquids.
No worries man, we've all started somewhere.
If that helps i use a 3mm coil and usually in it i take a piece of something like cotton bacon which i then cut in 2 (basically a quarter of a piece) i remove a bit more from that quarter then pull it through.
I generally use Jellyfish cotton, if i pull too hard it pulls appart so can't use too much or that happens.
If i feel the wicking is too much i use a bit more liquid on the wicks before putting the tank back on, maybe this is just placebo or my RTA's are too forgiving but works so far 
I get good results by rolling the wick between my fingers to compact it gently before inserting it into the coil. It's important that you get good contact with the coil on all sides. A hot spot will ruin the vape. That said, you don't want to make too tight or juice wicking will suffer. Like zoidman said, it's a touchy/feely type of operation that becomes second nature once you do it over and over and experience the difference in results.
To size the wick, pull it back and forth a mm or so once it's in the coil. If it won't budge and the coil legs bend it's too tight. It should be able to slip back and forth a little when you pull it, but remain snug. The rubbing action sizes the part in the coil and prevents it from being squeezed too tight in the coil.
Too much: dry hits (you need a good capillary action and this is much HARDER when you have too much wick, it gets dry spots and wicks inconstantly.
Too little: POSSIBLY dry hits (I have never waited to find out, LOL) as I usually get immediate leakage along with it. I think you could underwick an atomizer enough that juice wouldn't travel well or fast enough possibly, and it wouldn't leak (depending on the atomizer.)
Watch reviews of the gear you've got and pay attention to wicking techniques it should at least give you a starting point. If I'm not trimming and also thinning, I'm USUALLY doing something wrong (but I use rayon, so that's the error tendency.)
And yes, there is this black sort of art that you will develop after you've failed a bunch of atomizers in one way or another to the point that some masters of this black art can, using their past experience with RTAs generally, just sort of get the sense of how something SHOULD be wicked generally and don't have moments where they're just wiping down I should put this in me format, where I am not frantically wiping down my ohm's meter and trying to disassemble it as I halt filling it. Those moments come MORE for me now, but I'll usually watch a video or two of something new anyway, to get a general sense of size, shape and thickness and then, since I'm using rayon kind of mentally translate that in my head.
But yea, I can usually WICK something now although as far as improving flavor and whatnot, well, sure, I still have a fair ways to go. I imagine we ALL do, but I can for the most part just consistently wick my top favorite atomizers without too much grief.
It is kind of neat how these skills start to translate. But underwicking is the suck, so is overwicking, and I did a great deal of BOTH of it early on.
Best of luck,
Anna
Too little: POSSIBLY dry hits (I have never waited to find out, LOL) as I usually get immediate leakage along with it. I think you could underwick an atomizer enough that juice wouldn't travel well or fast enough possibly, and it wouldn't leak (depending on the atomizer.)
Watch reviews of the gear you've got and pay attention to wicking techniques it should at least give you a starting point. If I'm not trimming and also thinning, I'm USUALLY doing something wrong (but I use rayon, so that's the error tendency.)
And yes, there is this black sort of art that you will develop after you've failed a bunch of atomizers in one way or another to the point that some masters of this black art can, using their past experience with RTAs generally, just sort of get the sense of how something SHOULD be wicked generally and don't have moments where they're just wiping down I should put this in me format, where I am not frantically wiping down my ohm's meter and trying to disassemble it as I halt filling it. Those moments come MORE for me now, but I'll usually watch a video or two of something new anyway, to get a general sense of size, shape and thickness and then, since I'm using rayon kind of mentally translate that in my head.
But yea, I can usually WICK something now although as far as improving flavor and whatnot, well, sure, I still have a fair ways to go. I imagine we ALL do, but I can for the most part just consistently wick my top favorite atomizers without too much grief.
It is kind of neat how these skills start to translate. But underwicking is the suck, so is overwicking, and I did a great deal of BOTH of it early on.
Best of luck,
Anna
I find with tanks like the Serpent SMM and Ammit 25 that they wick a lot better if I thin the tails down to about 50-60% of the original density, unlike an RDA which can be pretty much just fluffed and tucked it. Too much wick tail density in those RTAs and they won't wick well. The longer the tails, the more they need to be thinned in my experience.
I've started making the wick tails as wide as the juice well. So far, this seems to get it about right. I've made the wick a little thicker in the coil too. So, thanks for all the help. I think I'm heading down the right path now.
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