Rayon Wick - Better Flow, Flavor, Longevity, and Nic Hit!! - Pt.2

[Alter]

Did you remove the coil or did you just clean the top of it? I'd hate to rewick when the rayon looks nice and white and the flavor is still good.

That's the thing with rayon. Your coil cocoons up with YUK long before the rayon poops out then once you remove the rayon from the coil rinse it off its barely browned and looks like it can be used again. I don't see why a good rinse then scraping off the chunkies the best you can too get a bit more life out of the build. Depending on the circumstances and atty its prolly easier just to toss the entire build then have a wicked spare handy to install than to remove, rinse, scrape, maybe loosening the wicking then reinstall but in a pinch if the wick isn't burnt then rinse, scrape, blot the excess water then refill should do.
Cotton turns dark and burnt looking from the juice flowing inside the fiber getting crusty then plugging up the fibers one at a time until it starts to dryhit.

 

[Flavored]

well

Rayon is, what, $15 for 500 feet? 1 1/2" makes 2 wicks, 16 wicks per foot, 8000 wicks per box, so that's about 0.2 cents per wick, takes me 10 minutes to pluck the wicks from dual coils, rinse, dry burn, re-wick.

I vape the sweet and gunky juices, still get around 25-35 ml's between wickings, and I don't mind that 10 minutes at all, as a fresh wick in a clean (or new) coil is always better than trying to run them into the ground.

Just my opinion, but I bet any other alternate cleaning methods will take about the same amount of time.

 

[Hoggy]

Rayon is, what, $15 for 500 feet?

Or $19 for the 900ft/3lb box I bought.. I just couldn't resist that price differential.. In the same way I can't resist 1-3 dollars more for quadruple the flavoring vs. the 30ml bottles. ... Therefore, even my 'testers' most often tend to be 120ml bottles.

<sigh> It's a sickness, I tell ya.. A sickness. ... Ah well, at least its a fun sickness!

ETA: So that would be 14400 wicks at $0.0013194 per wick - given Flavored's other figures.
... But I can still totally understand the OP's desire to not feel wasteful. Come to think of it, I think I did try rinsing and drying when first starting with rayon. I can't remember how that went, but I know it didn't last long.

 

[Herrick]

Or $19 for the 900ft/3lb box I bought.. I just couldn't resist that price differential.. In the same way I can't resist 1-3 dollars more for quadruple the flavoring vs. the 30ml bottles. ... Therefore, even my 'testers' most often tend to be 120ml bottles.

<sigh> It's a sickness, I tell ya.. A sickness. ... Ah well, at least its a fun sickness!

ETA: So that would be 14400 wicks at $0.0013194 per wick - given Flavored's other figures.
... But I can still totally understand the OP's desire to not feel wasteful. Come to think of it, I think I did try rinsing and drying when first starting with rayon. I can't remember how that went, but I know it didn't last long.

For Herrick it's not about wasting good rayon or saving a few bucks. It's about being laaaaaazy

 

[Fozzy71]

For Herrick it's not about wasting good rayon or saving a few bucks. It's about being laaaaaazy

quit vaping net/gunky juice. i have 8 - 10 tanks in rotation and vape 100ml+ of diy juice (mostly now sweetener, some a little now stevia) per tank before I rewick and dry burn

 

[awsum140]

The thing about using silica is that silica wicks so badly, especially compared to rayon or cotton, that the whole experience changes and you add to the possibility of running at temps over 450F which, in turn, increases the risks of producing things you may not want to be inhaling. I think that's a real problem in the devices we use today, lots of power and, usually, higher power due to low resistance coils. I know silica was "king" for a long time, heck that's all we knew about back then, but technology and knowledge have moved far beyond silica. While using it today may be a way not to waste it, the risks and poor performance just don't seem worth it to me.

I've still got a stash of silica, and ekowool, in various sizes. I can't figure out why I just don't throw it all away, it'll never be used for vaping and sure doesn't represent a big investment. In an emergency, I guess I could kludge together some emergency lights running off of some kind of oil and use it that way.

 

[ricks]

The thing about using silica is that silica wicks so badly, especially compared to rayon or cotton, that the whole experience changes and you add to the possibility of running at temps over 450F which, in turn, increases the risks of producing things you may not want to be inhaling. I think that's a real problem in the devices we use today, lots of power and, usually, higher power due to low resistance coils. I know silica was "king" for a long time, heck that's all we knew about back then, but technology and knowledge have moved far beyond silica. While using it today may be a way not to waste it, the risks and poor performance just don't seem worth it to me.

I've still got a stash of silica, and ekowool, in various sizes. I can't figure out why I just don't throw it all away, it'll never be used for vaping and sure doesn't represent a big investment. In an emergency, I guess I could kludge together some emergency lights running off of some kind of oil and use it that way.

I still use silica and ekowool at times and it wicks great. Mostly Rayon tho. But I only vape 12 to 18 watts with coils that average 1ohm.

 

[awsum140]

Not to get into a p.... contest, but the difference in wicking ability of silica and rayon/cotton is vast. Actual tests by PB and many others have illustrated that time and again. Even at your power levels of 12-18 watts it is easily possible to reach temperatures that produce bad byproducts. If the air flow is right, coil diameter is right, spacing is right and a few other variables are right, things can be fine with silica. If it works for you, fine, but please be aware of the problems it can produce.

 

[ricks]

Not to get into a p.... contest, but the difference in wicking ability of silica and rayon/cotton is vast. Actual tests by PB and many others have illustrated that time and again. Even at your power levels of 12-18 watts it is easily possible to reach temperatures that produce bad byproducts. If the air flow is right, coil diameter is right, spacing is right and a few other variables are right, things can be fine with silica. If it works for you, fine, but please be aware of the problems it can produce.

I don't think it has ever been proven to be harmful... Just a lot of unproven scary stories. I have not heard of anyone being harmed from the years of silica usage to this day.

What harm can it do?

 

[ricks]

Here's some more "scary" BS, The Hazards of Vaping with Cotton Wicks (Use Silica or EkoWool Instead!)

Crazy crap out there... No one has been hurt using any of the wicks out there.

 

[DavidOck]

I don't think the issue is the wick material, but the wicking ability and the chances of vaping at such a high temp that the heat byproducts may become unhealthy.

 

[awsum140]

I won't respond to that, it's not worth it. To be clear, I never said silica, by itself, is harmful. What I am saying is that the poor wicking abilities of silica can lead to the production of undesirable byproducts under many circumstances previously thought to be safe. If you are confident that you are not experiencing those circumstances with silica and without any direct measurements of coil temperatures, fine. I am trying to point out that things can, and do, happen in an atomizer that can go completely unnoticed.

End of discussion from my end.

 

[ricks]

I don't think the issue is the wick material, but the wicking ability and the chances of vaping at such a high temp that the heat byproducts may become unhealthy.

Silica wicks very fast. Some materials can wick faster but silica still wicks fast enough for a great vape. Anything vaped too hot can't be healthy tho.

 

[ricks]

I won't respond to that, it's not worth it. To be clear, I never said silica, by itself, is harmful. What I am saying is that the poor wicking abilities of silica can lead to the production of undesirable byproducts under many circumstances previously thought to be safe. If you are confident that you are not experiencing those circumstances with silica and without any direct measurements of coil temperatures, fine. I am trying to point out that things can, and do, happen in an atomizer that can go completely unnoticed.

End of discussion from my end.

I'm just saying you can't believe everything bad about what you hear about vaping. Too many false stories...

 

[VictorViper]

Silica wicking is one of the only things in vaping I consider to be truly obsolete. No compelling reason to use it, some compelling evidence to avoid it.

I've got a pile of silica, ekowool, Bastos wick... why do we keep this stuff around, seriously?

 

[ricks]

Show me solid proof silica wick is bad and I'll throw all of mine away...

 

[Herrick]

quit vaping net/gunky juice. i have 8 - 10 tanks in rotation and vape 100ml+ of diy juice (mostly now sweetener, some a little now stevia) per tank before I rewick and dry burn

Yeah I'm going to start looking into less gunky stuff. I'm not sure I'm ready for DIY though but it's something that I'd love to eventually try. I'm just worried about the trial & error aspect. I've had enough problems with vaping since I started last September. Hey it's been a whole year of vaping for Herrick!

 

[Sloth Tonight]

Yeah I'm going to start looking into less gunky stuff. I'm not sure I'm ready for DIY though but it's something that I'd love to eventually try. I'm just worried about the trial & error aspect. I've had enough problems with vaping since I started last September. Hey it's been a whole year of vaping for Herrick!

There's no trial and error unless you want to play around with your own recipes. There's many great recipes online, so at that point, you can view shopping for recipes like shopping for ready-made eliquid. The only trial and error in that approach is the same as buying a new eliquid in general, seeing if you like it or not. The actual process of making juice is easy with a recipe in hand.

 

[ricks]

Yeah I'm going to start looking into less gunky stuff. I'm not sure I'm ready for DIY though but it's something that I'd love to eventually try. I'm just worried about the trial & error aspect. I've had enough problems with vaping since I started last September. Hey it's been a whole year of vaping for Herrick!

There's a lot of great threads with great people in here about DIY

 

[VictorViper]

Show me solid proof silica wick is bad and I'll throw all of mine away...

Nobody is trying to prove anything to you. I'm certainly not going to try. There is ongoing research into the chemical effects of high temp vaping, the results of which seem most easily replicated using older style vape gear. Silica has incredibly high scorch resistance meaning that without TC, the likelihood of achieving those high temps at the wire are, at least anecdotally, increased. Pile on that silica is utterly inferior to cheaper, more easily sourced wicking options, and I just don't understand why anyone would bother.

But again, like everyone's said, you want to use it go right ahead. Worked fine for me when I had no other choice too.