sensitivity to cotton wick??

[Kyi]

Ok, so I'm a pretty casual vaper and a while back I tried my hand at rebuilding. I found that I'm not very good at making coils, and any decent ones I made, the vape just wasn't impressive enough to me for me to want to continue. It wasn't bad, but I just felt like it was easier to use my other dripping atomizers (non RBA), clearos and tanks. I don't do sub-ohm or have any mech mods, so I would have to stick with relatively simple builds.

I tried rebuilding again a bit later using cotton balls, and while it was easier to thread the cotton through the coils, the hits just killed my throat! I've built at least 8 different coils using varying amounts of cotton and saturated the hell out of them with juice, and no matter what, after a few hits my throat would feel scratchy and harsh and almost like I have a sore throat. This completely turned me off to RBAs for a bit, until tonight, where I tried rebuilding again with some silica wick I have (3mm wick, 31 gauge kanthal, 5-6 wraps, roughly 2.2 ohms, on an Igo-S). Now, while the vape itself isn't super impressive, I am not getting the sore throat feeling. I'm wondering if the cotton I use has anything to do with the harsh feeling, could I be sensitive to cotton wick or is it perhaps the type of cotton I used? It's just generic grocery store brand that I've boiled and dried off.

Also, how can I make a good micro coil and use silica? I find it hard to wrap it well around the wick but also hard to thread it through the coil if I make the coil first. I need some tips. Thanks.

 

[sunnata]

Also, how can I make a good micro coil and use silica? I find it hard to wrap it well around the wick but also hard to thread it through the coil if I make the coil first. I need some tips. Thanks.

Do you have some 1mm silica around? This is how I used to do it on my protanks:

- Wrap coil around a 5/64 drill bit
- Torch/compress coil so all wraps are touching and hot spots are gone
- Fold a piece of 1mm silica in half, then use a beading needle or piece of wire to pinch it from the center as shown bellow
- Pull the wire thru the coil, and it will fold the silica into 4 parts as it goes thru the coil (adding a little bit of juice will help it slide thru)

I haven't heard of sensitivity issues with cotton, so can't offer any advice. Hope you get it figured out, good luck!

 

[doctadrea]

This makes me wonder. I've only ever tried rebuilding with cotton, and it's always seemed a bit too harsh for me. I never thought the cotton might be the problem.

 

[sunnata]

This completely turned me off to RBAs for a bit, until tonight

I was wondering, how long between attempts? Maybe it was an issue with the juice from the previous attempt? Or something else that might have changed on the new build? (distance from air hole or air flow alignment are the only two I can think of)

 

[Glenn_K]

I notice that the taste is different when I use cotton (compared to silica), but I 've never had a problem with harshness.

Any chance the problem is related to the kind of cotton you're using, i.e. something that it's treated with? I've never been to fussy about what I use (I once did a once with cotton pulled off a q-tip), but you might want to give organic cotton a try.

Also, it's important to be mindful of quantity; I was using way too much at first, and I found that I got better results when I made thinner wicks.

Good luck.

-- Glenn

 

[Butters80]

In a thread I saw the other day, numerous people recommended rolled cotton from cvs pharmacy....said it's a huge difference from cotton balls.

 

[TheVapingNinja]

Less cotton is more I've found. You can also try boiling them to get rid of some nasties in the cotton.

 

[Zurd]

I've been using cotton for a while now. People using my device find it's too harsh for them. And I agree, cotton is harsh but that's why I like it, the throat hit is awesome, it's just not for everyone. Silica is easier to vape on.

 

[HughDaHand]

What nic strength are you using? I find that my cotton wicks see to throw out more vapor and use more juice. If you are using high nic like 24mg that might be part of the problem. I had to drop down from 18mg to 12mg when I started to use cotton.

 

[snow blind]

If anything silica is more harsh... all the glass fibers embedding themselves in your throat and all. You're feeling the nic if id have to guess.

The likely cause (as hugh mentioned) is cotton seems to just work better. I dropped from 12 to 6 and it "feels" the same after.

 

[rustafar]

Dimitri has a problem with cotton.. see video.

 

[sunnata]

nice one rustafar. interesting that he got that kind of reaction from cotton.

I have to say I was somewhat ashamed to post a 5/64 build when the OP asked for help with a micro-coil. but after seeing the diameter of Dimitri's build I don't feel as bad

ps. I never really looked much at the minis as I prefer larger capacity tanks. I think this was the first review I watched. But now that I seen the fill port position..I think I want one

 

[suspectK]

In a thread I saw the other day, numerous people recommended rolled cotton from cvs pharmacy....said it's a huge difference from cotton balls.

All I use now. I cut a little off and seperate the layers, then cut my piece for wick, and I haven't cut a piece not consistent yet, once I tried it a few times on a dripper. $6 first aid aisle, sterile, so no boiling.

I've never heard of cotton sensitivity. I refuse to use silica after seeing how it starts to fall apart with a good torch. We're not using ~1,800°(f), but feeling in between my fingers after running down the wick..not what I want inside of me.

 

[doctadrea]

This is all very interesting. I'll switch to no cotton for a few days and see if that makes a difference.
I'm extremely sensitive to TH, already had to switch to almost all VG and dramatically dropped my nic. That helped, but I still feel like I get a smoother vape either from silica or cartomizers. I'm also vaping at 3.5w, because anything higher is too much for me. Obviously, this is not typical for most vapers because I'm super sensitive to everything, but maybe it is true that cotton increases TH to some degree.

 

[Kyi]

I personally do not like a lot of TH, I prefer a smoother vape but I do need at least a LITTLE TH. I will try the CVS cotton balls and see if that makes a difference. I use 12mg nic juice and it is what I used in my RBA so I know it's not the juice. With the silica, the juice doesn't give me that harsh TH and weird throat feeling so it has to be something related to the cotton build. I did use a big strand of cotton and stuffed a lot of it into the RBA, so maybe I will try less cotton as well. If it gives me harsh TH again, then I think cotton is just not for me. Plus, I feel like the cotton has a slight taste to it.. whereas silica doesn't. Maybe I'm just one of the few people that cotton doesn't work out well for. I'll give it another go though, cotton does seem like a better wick but I just can't use it if it continues to make my throat all scratchy.

 

[dylanlg2]

12mg in an rba is rather high... the problem was most likely that the silica build you made wasnt a very good build, thus the throat hit was not there.. cotton tends to work better than silica in nearly every category so the performance of cotton may also add to the issue.. drop your nic to 6 and use 60% VG and your problem should be solved

EDIT: I use the sterile rolled cotton from cvs unboiled.. you may find a slight taste to the cotton the first few pulls, after that there should be no wick taste

 

[Kemosabe]

12mg in an RBA might be high for some, but for me its kinda low. i struggled for TH before switching to RBAs, even with 24mg juice. so now with 18mg in my rebuildables, im loving it. however, 12mg can get the job done first thing in the AM, or if im puffing just to blow clouds and dont actually "need" the nic.

 

[StrappedKaos]

I will add my input to the discussion, I have been rebuilding for over 7 months and never had an issue I thought until recently. I have used Mesh/Silica/Ekowool/Cotton-Regular-organic-sterile-peaches and cream and just about every other cotton known to man.... After about a week of using RBA's and cotton I developed severe acne and everyone said it was related to me stopping smoking even thou I had been off the smokes for over 2 months, I used cotton the entire rebuild time and it kept up with the acne issues and after about 4 months I couldnt think maybe it was something else. SO after dimitri and JT from vapestars started talking about the cotton issue I had to consider it and switch.... Now for the two weeks before switching I was getting nausea right after vaping which would go away after about 10mins. and come back when I would vape again, so much that I was going to stop completely...I went to my local shop and talked to someone about the issues and he handed me ekowool and told me to drop the cotton as he has been getting overwhelmed with the issues from many customers same as my issues...3 weeks since the switch and acne gone almost completely and no more nausea- Not sure why but it was my solution, keep in mind using same juice and same .6-.8 coils. nothing changed except the wick material and never better. just my input and hope it helps

 

[MacTechVpr]

Ok, so I'm a pretty casual vaper and a while back I tried my hand at rebuilding. I found that I'm not very good at making coils, and any decent ones I made, the vape just wasn't impressive enough to me for me to want to continue. It wasn't bad, but I just felt like it was easier to use my other dripping atomizers (non RBA), clearos and tanks. I don't do sub-ohm or have any mech mods, so I would have to stick with relatively simple builds.

I tried rebuilding again a bit later using cotton balls, and while it was easier to thread the cotton through the coils, the hits just killed my throat! I've built at least 8 different coils using varying amounts of cotton and saturated the hell out of them with juice, and no matter what, after a few hits my throat would feel scratchy and harsh and almost like I have a sore throat. This completely turned me off to RBAs for a bit, until tonight, where I tried rebuilding again with some silica wick I have (3mm wick, 31 gauge kanthal, 5-6 wraps, roughly 2.2 ohms, on an Igo-S). Now, while the vape itself isn't super impressive, I am not getting the sore throat feeling. I'm wondering if the cotton I use has anything to do with the harsh feeling, could I be sensitive to cotton wick or is it perhaps the type of cotton I used? It's just generic grocery store brand that I've boiled and dried off.

Also, how can I make a good micro coil and use silica? I find it hard to wrap it well around the wick but also hard to thread it through the coil if I make the coil first. I need some tips. Thanks.

Try visiting my blog entry...Contact (Micro) Coil Rebuilding Tutorials...on the tutorial by super_x_drifter who conceived of the microcoil (or link below). He's demonstrating an adaptation I made to easily create tight durable, electrically correct, coils with tension. My concern has been finding simple ways for newcomers to do this easily and consistently. This may help kyl.

Also it's natural for cotton to run dry quickly when freshly installed until it really soaks. It will seem a very hot dry draw. It could take a few minutes to many depending on high tightly it's threaded and seated in the dripper's bed. If it starts to look at all dry, it will begin to vape dry. Hope you've figured that out by now. If not soak well.

The IGO-L is a basic single air hole dripper and not adjustable for airflow. For many this is not enough air for the vapor generated by a good coil. You will also get a very warm but wet vape. In the case of the IGO-L there's no choice but to drill out the hole. But to what? I like the inexpensive clone of the original Forge dripper often called the Phoenix or V6 clone. The best version has four different size air holes and lets you experiment with airflow to match your taste, the build and juices that you enjoy.

I like 30/31 AWG for clearo atomizer tanks. Fast fire and good heat but you need something a bit sturdier for a dripper that you're going to be rewicking regularly. And you do with cotton. For a smaller dripper 29AWG is a good selection. More durable but won't require as much battery power as 28 AWG. And a bit more responsive. As your gauge gets thicker, you'll need more wraps. Two steps up in guage will mean another 3 wraps or more at the following diameter to get you over 2 ohms.

Downsize your wick to keep your airflow requirement simpler to start. More wick means you'll need more power and airflow. A 5/64" or about a 2mm coil wound on a screwdriver should do it for cotton. Compacted very lightly with fingers and inserted until resistance tugs at the coil (not too much). Cut short the inserted end and set the tail very loosely in the bed. This provides for good saturation, flow and output. Be sure to position the air hole as close to the coil as possible to avoid throat hit. Or away slightly if you want more.

Good luck Kyl.

 

[Zurd]

Try visiting my blog entry...Contact (Micro) Coil Rebuilding Tutorials...on the tutorial by super_x_drifter who conceived of the microcoil (or link below). He's demonstrating an adaptation I made to easily create tight durable, electrically correct, coils with tension. My concern has been finding simple ways for newcomers to do this easily and consistently. This may help kyl.

I tried this recently. The experience is awesome, lots of vapor and good flavor. But there was a big downside to it, the wick is so small it only take me 24 hours to burn it completely. Nothing left but ash. I went back to doing a normal coil (32 AWG with 4 or 5 wraps), I only need to make a new wick every week this way.