Silica or Cotton???!!!

[Dinks8600]

So between myself and other family members we mainly use Kanger tanks. I hold my hands up as I've always just bought pre-made silica coil/wicks as making them myself hasn't interested me until now so im a complete newbie when it comes to this.

I've seen people using silica & cotton, micro coils &'normal' coils.

What I want to know is:
A) what coil type works better in a kanger tank & what difference is one or the other actually going to give me?
B) which wick generally last longer silica or cotton?
C) whats the best kanthal gauge to use?

Generally I use anywhere between 1.5ohms - 2.4ohms depending on the tank at the time.

I've heard you need to boil the cotton & let it dry out before using it even if its 100% organic?

I think kangers stock heads go up to 2.5ohms, would ordering these be better if I want to go to the top end of the ohms? I use a MVP v2 mainly at the moment if that helps?

thanks in advance

 

[defdock]

What I want to know is:
A) what coil type works better in a kanger tank & what difference is one or the other actually going to give me?
B) which wick generally last longer silica or cotton?
C) whats the best kanthal gauge to use?

A) from trying a few peoples PT at a fair with micro coils - i cant tell a difference - i use "normal" coils

B) silica lasts longer as it does not burn, but it wicks horribly slow compared to cotton. using silica i normaly change wicks around the 2 week mark - with cotton i change every other day.

C) i have no idea - i cheat and use premade coils.

 

[TCombinator]

A - matter of preference. Regular horizontal single coils work fine. I do build vertical for fun, seem to work too and look cooler. Performance wise, no idea.

B - Post above nails it. But I use cotton, because I just can't get silica right, despite trying.

C - I use 32 AWG. Supposedly 30 is fine too, but I shoot for higher resistance and smaller coil. Because I'm lazy.

Good luck.

 

[RIMP]

I majke coils for my Kanger tanks I use 29-30g kanthal, you're going to need to make coils around 2mm inner diameter. I use cellucotton, get it from sally's beauty supply in the US. I will provide some links The below links are not an endorsement. They are just so you can see what I'm talking about

TEMCo Kanthal A1 Wire 30 Gauge 100 FT (0.39oz) Resistance Resistor AWG A-1: Electrical Wires: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific
Four Piece 4" Jewelry Pliers | Lightning Vapes
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0068RQ85K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 use the 2nd from the smallest for 2mm diameter
Welcome to Graham Beauty any good beauty supply place in the UK should have this The product #'s are 44043 and 44060, make sure it says "100% rayon fibers" on the box, you don't want the one that says 100% cotton, the rayon fibers absorb and release liquids better to me and you get better flavor

Go on youtube and watch many video's, it's how I learned There's also a UK forum on ecf Happy vaping

 

[Dinks8600]

Thanks for your replies folks

I seem to have lost my brain on this evenings dog walk . What kanthal garage should I be looking at for the ohms I want (1.5-2.4ohms)? I know there's ones that are no res, res etc. but which one do I need?

I might try them both silica & cotton & see how I get on. Is there any particular Silica I need to be getting like treated silica??

Or should I just dive straight into ekowool??

I want to get cracking on this ASAP, sick of using premade ones & paying out more over what it would cost me to make myself

 

[TCombinator]

I made evod coils from 1.7 to 2.5 Ohms with 32 Kanthal. Wick is a matter of taste. I tried cotton from cotton balls my Mom had. Cheap to try. You can go bananas with wicks. Cotton, sterile cotton, organic cotton, Japanese cotton, rayon, ceramic,... I'm sure someone put steel mesh in a Kanger.

My current wicks are organic cotton from CVS and 2 mm silica wick from atomizerwick.com (because they fulfill via Amazon).

 

[Dinks8600]

So if I order some 32g A1 wire & some eko-wool & some silica I should be able to get the range that I want?

 

[aznnp77]

I use 32 gauge kanthal. Got 100 feet off ebay for $4.50. 6 wraps and I'm at the recommended standard of 2.2 ohms.

I used organic cotton for about 2 weeks before I picked up a box of rayon after reading that long thread hyping it up.

Personally, I couldn't tell you if cotton or rayon tastes better. They both tasted good to me. I can't use silica because it doesn't wick fast enough. 3 continuous drags with silica and you'll get the burned taste.

I use the rayon, because after spending $11 I have enough for a lifetime. Also though, I find it easier to work with than cotton. With cotton you have to worry about expansion after absorbing the juice, which I never became an expert in. Rayon also pulls apart easily and comes out staight. My cotton wicks always had uneven bulges for some reason.

 

[TCombinator]

My cotton wicks always had uneven bulges for some reason.

Interesting, because I had the same problem with my Mom's cotton balls. Then I bought a bag of CVS organic and no issues. I think it's just a matter of quality.

 

[aznnp77]

Interesting, because I had the same problem with my Mom's cotton balls. Then I bought a bag of CVS organic and no issues. I think it's just a matter of quality.

I wouldn't call it bulges necessarily. I guess when I pull it off and roll it into a wick, there are parts that are thicker than other spots. Rayon pulls apart more easily so I can get a straight line without too much effort.

I used the CVS organic cotton balls as well. I started off first with a trip to wal mart. I got the Peaches and Cream string (funny taste and didn't wick well), and the only cotton balls they sold in the makeup aisle.

They both tasted funny. I tried boiling the cotton, but drying it too forever, to the point where I was afraid of mold growing and just threw them out.

If the OP opts for cotton, just buy the organic ones and don't bother boiling them. Too much trouble and waste of time.

 

[Alter]

I find 30 gauge kanthal is better in the long run with all my builds. It doesn't bend and distort as easily as your scraping the crusties off, and you also build a larger range of ohm levels. Once you get the hang of building PT coils you'll want to lower the ohms of your builds. I vape 1.0-1.4 ohm and get a mighty nice vape out of my protank., they aren't microcoils either but regular wrap coils.
As for the wicking its user preference. I use hemp fiber and been using it daily for the last almost year and have had great success with it. I tried the cellucotton, liked it had no breakin taste but after time the with the cellucotton I felt like I had to pull harder to get the good vape, not days later but after a tankful so the box sits in my closet. The hemp I can go almost a week before noticing performance beginning to slide. I have miles of silica and ekowool but probably never use either one again unless I wanna reminisce the good ol' days. Rebuilding protanks is the simplest to accomplish along with setting the stage for more advanced RBA and RDA building.

 

[jbgibson2]

I rebuild for my wife , I was trying to duplicate kanger dual coil but it is easier to just build singles. I have used cotton with 6-8 wraps on 3/32 drill bit range 1.5 ohm to 2.2. I have been doing 5/6 wrap on 3ml silica on the last ones. I prefer the cotton in my protank and I use walgreens organic cotton. Wife preferred silica though. If you like building I recommend a kayfun. I love mine

 

[Traijan]

One vape on a cotton wick (even well saturated to prevent any sort of burning) and I'm feeling like I just rode the Hammer ride at the local carnival. Seriously, I don't know what it is about using cotton for a wick but it makes me feel sick as a dog with just a couple vapes on a cotton wick. Thankfully we have alternatives.

 

[Alter]

One vape on a cotton wick (even well saturated to prevent any sort of burning) and I'm feeling like I just rode the Hammer ride at the local carnival. Seriously, I don't know what it is about using cotton for a wick but it makes me feel sick as a dog with just a couple vapes on a cotton wick. Thankfully we have alternatives.

Sounds like your getting overnic'd. Overdosing nicotine can cause sickly feeling, headaches and dizziness plus other symptoms. I can drip 18 nic and it knocks me on my azz.

 

[seebo]

just make sure it's USDA cow and grass fed, non-gmo, glutten-free, certified organic cotton.

 

[leekeylee]

The wife and I have been vaping for a few months now and use mainly kanger gear or similiar. The wife likes the t3s and I use the puritank which is not kanger but is virtually the same as the protank 2.

As for coils I rebuild the t3s for the wife with 28 gauge kanthral micro coils about 9 wraps gets here about 1.5 ohm coils and wick with unbleached cotton. She doesn;t complain and is happy with it so that's a plus.

On the Puritanks same kanthral I build vertical micro coils about 13 wraps which is about 1.8 ohm coil and wrap the unbleached cotton around the coil, to me it seems a better vape assuming I have the amount of cotton correct and I also use the kanger airflow control ring on the puritank to adjust the airflow to my liking. All works well for me.
Just received my Eleaf Istick in the post today, with this setup for my puritank I am rocking on 10 watts and my plum fresh juice tastes amazing also recieved some Japanese KGD cotton today so looking forward to doing a re-build tonight with the KGD in my puritank to see how that goes.

 

[93gc40]

just make sure it's USDA cow and grass fed, non-gmo, glutten-free, certified organic cotton.

Yeah, don't know what cow or grass fed has to do with cotton. cotton is the material to which the seed are attached in a cotton plant. Cotton seed are FED to cow and livestock. Glutten-free, well yes but SOOO. we aren't eating it. Finnally ther is NO SUCH THING as NON-gmo cotton. Especially if it was grown OUTSIDE the US. Organic, Cotton...... Organic is BS.............. It's not the way food is grown that causes the issues, with food.... It's the processing done after harvest and the manipulation by science and government that is making food poisonous.