Rayon Wick - Better Flow, Flavor, Longevity, and Nic Hit!! - Pt.2
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Tight in the coil is good. Unlike cotton, rayon doesn't really swell up, so you want good contact with the coil body.
For the tails, I fluff them out, trim any gross excess, but then want them to fill whatever hole or channel they go into; not tight like the coil body, but no air gaps. This has worked well for multiple rda/rdta/rba.
If you have too much wick in the tails it will tend to turn brownish near the coil, not harmful but you can trim out any bits that show this.
I tend to change coils and wicks every 3 - 4 days, 90 - 120 ml. I could let things run longer, or simply change wicks (I'll do that on travel), but I vape a fairly light vanilla blend, prefer to have the flavor spot on. I build my own coils, the wire is cheap (twisted 26 kanthal), and cost of rayon is totally in the noise. New coil setups are very fast with practice [emoji5]
For the tails, I fluff them out, trim any gross excess, but then want them to fill whatever hole or channel they go into; not tight like the coil body, but no air gaps. This has worked well for multiple rda/rdta/rba.
If you have too much wick in the tails it will tend to turn brownish near the coil, not harmful but you can trim out any bits that show this.
I tend to change coils and wicks every 3 - 4 days, 90 - 120 ml. I could let things run longer, or simply change wicks (I'll do that on travel), but I vape a fairly light vanilla blend, prefer to have the flavor spot on. I build my own coils, the wire is cheap (twisted 26 kanthal), and cost of rayon is totally in the noise. New coil setups are very fast with practice [emoji5]
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I seem to have lost my mojo. Every wick job I do lately seems to snap and pop like crazy. I don't feel like I'm doing anything different, but that's the problem with rayon; getting it "right" is such a hassle (for me anyway), and once I do get one right it lasts for so long, that I never want to change it out, so I don't get much practice, and so I never really get any better at it. I'll get a good one, and then next time I'll do what I think is exactly the same, but it will taste like socks, or dry-hit, or flood my tank, or snap and pop like they're all doing lately, or...
...it's discouraging, but the only thing for it is to keep trying, yeah? And I did just get some new wire in so I guess I'll need to make some new coils anyhoo...
...it's discouraging, but the only thing for it is to keep trying, yeah? And I did just get some new wire in so I guess I'll need to make some new coils anyhoo...
Sometimes it is after a few attempts to get the tightness right. Using a coil thats had a few dryburns under its belt, watching it deform some knowing your going to have to revamp the wraps back inplace. I find using clapton is a more robust build than a single wire. Just the other day I finally got the 29 gauge I ordered, built a nice 1.4ohm single wire coil, nice tight wick then proceeded to vape it like my claptons(14watts) instead of 9 watts like it should have been and burnt it. It annoyed me that I dropped the ball like that and it sits waiting to be trashed and a 29/34 clapton put in, after I build the clapton wire first.
I found twisting the rayon through the direction of the wraps does help a lot in getting rayon tighter in a used coil. If your just pulling through then your thinning out the center, having fat tails and a loose center. It takes very little effort to pull rayon enough to thin out the center in the coil.
Maybe for a bit try rewicking weekly or something, until you are well-practiced? I just rayoned up my Kayfun Prime on my first try, and it's doing great, but there is some sort of "tactile feel" I get with the right amount of wick, and at first I was slightly overwicking, and going through my rayon wicks more quickly. That kind of helped.
Oh, I still watched a tutorial on the Prime, just to figure out how best to thin and trim it (much more than I would have imagined) but for getting it right "in the coil" my fingers kind of have a tactile memory of what is "just right" now.
Repeatable results take a few times to get "sensate" but that's when I know that I am actually knowing what I am doing. Muscle memory is a wonderful thing....
Anna
Oh, I still watched a tutorial on the Prime, just to figure out how best to thin and trim it (much more than I would have imagined) but for getting it right "in the coil" my fingers kind of have a tactile memory of what is "just right" now.
Repeatable results take a few times to get "sensate" but that's when I know that I am actually knowing what I am doing. Muscle memory is a wonderful thing....
Anna
I think a lot of it has to do with the actual strand of rayon itself. Some builds that you think will work perfectly end up not performing the best. It's usually when you sing the praises of Rayon at your local B&M and the fresh build you put in that morning for show and tell won't wick worth a damn...
I like coils I can pull the whole strand through.
I like coils I can pull the whole strand through.
Well, yes, I was overwicking, and then I just got to that "sliding but not quite with a bit of resistance feel" and that's when it was right. It's indescribably honestly....
Anna
Anna
Yeah I think that's part of it. I have the big box from Sally's, and some sections are smoother, while some sections are more kinked up. Sometimes I can just tear it to width, twist it up and put it in the coil with great results, and sometimes I have to fiddle and straighten and thin...
Just now I put a big fatty pair of Scottish roll wicks on my 3mm clapton coils using almost a full thickness of rayon for each one. I really had to twist 'em tight to get them to go through. We'll see how it works out, I haven't gotten more than a small "puff" of a pop yet, but I've just put it in so too early to call.
Thats why I try to twist the rayon as tight as as I can then try to maintain that tight twist while feeding through the coil then back off the twists so the fibers in the coil all go straight. There is no way around having thick tails to thin if you have enough rayon in the coil. The older the coil and the thinner the wire the more chance of distortion trying to wick. Wicking 30 gauge single wire is frustrating as new build let alone a old coil but a 30/34 clapton easy to wick even after a few rewickings, holds its shape and produces a much fuller cloudz than the single wire.Well, yes, I was overwicking, and then I just got to that "sliding but not quite with a bit of resistance feel" and that's when it was right. It's indescribably honestly....
Anna
This is how I've been doing it too...it ensures that there is enough rayon in the coil. Untwisting can be a little fiddly in the beginning, but I don't usually have to go back and mess with it after I've vaped a tank or two.
I very rarely have to reopen a atty to adjust so it doesn't leak. Been vaping subtank minis with the rba for couple years now and they never leak... it all with the wicking. I don't have a army of different attys and the few I got do their job. So far the STM has handled all I've given it so don't need to spend on other attys. My vape has to be reliable when I leave the house, learned that lesson fast back when I was using mechs and kicks then not work properly everywhere but at home.
Any monkey can build a coil but the skill is in how that coil is wicked to get the best vape.
Any monkey can build a coil but the skill is in how that coil is wicked to get the best vape.
Don't have a pick of my wicking but I thin them considerably and trim them to just below where the liquid channels exit maybe like 3 mm below? You want them thin enough that you can gently guide them into the channel and they will stay put (I usually put eliquid on them first so it's easier to get them to seat. They don't HAVE to touch the bottom, although I think they CAN touch the bottom but really, when you are vaping, eliquid gets sloshed around enough that they don't need to sit on the bottom, and if they're too thick, they're going to impede your ability to get them nicely seated in the channels.
Anna
Anna
To you, and to all - I'm sure this has been discussed somewhere in the 7000+ page thread, but I have a question.
Rayon fibers are VERY different than cotton fibers. With cotton, it seems every fiber is even, straight, same length, width, etc. While with rayone, ever bit of it seems cockeyed and uneven.
As this is the case with these fibers, I find it difficult at times to wick it. It will start off fine, then BOOM, it hangs or snags because of a fat piece (different width) that simply won't go thru the coil.
Yes, I twist. Mamma mia, I'd put Chubby Checker to shame at this point in my vape "career".
Any uber simple suggestions to get the fibers all aligned and even and non-pudgy in spots?
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