Rope/Wire For Penelope

[Kenho21]

So I'm about to buy wire for my newly acquired Penelope. Would some peeps mind telling me what I should be looking for as far as great wicking and low ohm setups? I'm pretty familiar with Genesis style rba's but Silica is new to me. What's the deal with the nichrome kanthal combo etc...? Please point me in the right direction.

 

[Kenho21]

around 1 ohm no higher than 2 ohm by the way. And I don't mind buying a variety of materials either...

 

[WinchellNomNom]

Silica from silicawicks.com. Kanthal from temco power. Silver nr wire from rio grande - 50ft for less than 10$

You can get 1 ohm fairly easy with 30awg kanthal. For 1-2ohm i would go with that.

As for wick, there are so many good ways to do it. Look on youtube for the way that suits you best.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Gr8Scott]

Silica wick here:
Bulk Silica Wick

35 cents a foot.

Nichrome on ebay pick your size 25 feet for a buck.

 

[Xaiver]

You can also use pure nickel wire for nr. Been using it for a while with no problems.

 

[anavidfan]

Silica wick here:
Bulk Silica Wick

35 cents a foot.

Nichrome on ebay pick your size 25 feet for a buck.

WOw, that is really cheap, will have to try a foot or so to test. I buy some that is really good, so good I can actually reuse the silica to almost new with a good torching. How well does this hold up to a good torching?

I used to use Sterling silver but felt bad using and throwing away a precious metal, so I switched to pure nickel and I like it better. It doesnt break as easy and I get better more consistent builds as I dont have to worry about twisting it too tightly and having it break.

 

[PhreakySTS9]

I like the Imeo's wick from CoV. I feel better using wick that is specifically meant for the Penelope. They also have cheap spools of nichrome, $5 for I think like, 30 feet. Really not bad at all, IMHO. I've never used nichrome in my Penelope or my old Oddy drip mode, but considering I much prefered it to kanthal back when I had all my genesis setups, i'm sure it would be just fine.

 

[Kenho21]

So what are the differences between nichrome and the other types or NR? And as for the actual coiled part of the setup I can/should use my regular A1 Kanthal that I use for my Geny's?

 

[Kenho21]

What about Vapor Base wick from Germany? I've heard good things about it...

 

[pAth77]

I'm curious about the vaporbase wick too. So far, all that I've used on my Penny is the 3.5mm silica from CoV and, for the past two days, bamboo wick from HDV. The 3.5 silica was a bit too thick, and no matter how much I torched it, I couldn't get rid of the initial silica taste. The silica flavor, however, did go away after about half a tank. I was told that removing a few strands from the 3.5 silica would make the fit better, as well as improve the wicking and flavor. The performance was definitely better after removing a few strands, but there was still a slight silica taste.

The bamboo wick that I currently have set up has been much better for me. It's a bit tougher to work with because it's fluffier. I had to use a 2mm nail to wrap the coil, but my initial feeling is that I'll definitely be sticking with this over silica. I also got some 100% organic cotton wick that I'll be testing out on my next rebuild, and from what I've read, most people like cotton better than bamboo. Just throwing those options out there for you to chew on since you're new to the world of silica RBAs. I just started my journey a week ago so I'm pretty much in the same boat.

 

[anavidfan]

I use the vaporbase silica, love it, can take a lickin and keep on ..... I can actually reuse it. Easier to find and I like it better than the silicawicks. You cant go wrong with the COV, though I have never used it, silicawicks is good. A good test to see if a silica is safe is to torch it. If it doesnt stay white, and falls apart in bits, its not safe.