Silica wick VS Cotton

[herb]

Silica's a pita imo , much easier to build a micro coil then pinch and thread some cotton through the coil , ( not too tight or too loose) snip to suit , prime with a few drops of juice and your good to go .

'Peaches and Cream' or 'Sugar and Cream' yarn is also excellent for wicks , same diameter and easy to pull one strand out if need be , excellent flavor as well.

 

[herb]

I'm definitely looking forward to wrapping my own coils and experimenting since I'm a tinkerer but I was thinking of buying a 50 pck since they are dirt cheap just as a starting point. I have plans to buy 50ft of kanthal wire and a bunch of silica and cotton and toying with them both since its all fairly cheap in the long run.

Also I was considering buying a dripping atomizer a bit further down the line when I'm used to wrapping coils, for that I probably should be using cotton over silica correct?

I would , i bought premade wicks before i started wrapping and found i don't even use them , very very easy to wrap your own.

 

[screwball]

Silica's a pita imo , much easier to build a micro coil then pinch and thread some cotton through the coil , ( not too tight or too loose) snip to suit , prime with a few drops of juice and your good to go .

'Peaches and Cream' or 'Sugar and Cream' yarn is also excellent for wicks , same diameter and easy to pull one strand out if need be , excellent flavor as well.

Videos I've watched about building coils doesn't make cotton look to difficult to thread through if you twist it

 

[Equilibrium]

Wicking material is just preference, really. I prefer cotton. You can buy it in bulk very cheep just about anywhere and it allows you to re-wick without having to re-coil. Just pull out the old cotton, dry burn, insert new cotton and you're good to go. You can't do that with silica.

Wrapping coils isn't hard. Watch a few youtube videos and you'll be wrapping like a pro in no time. Just remember safety - check the resistance and your battery limitations.

 

[screwball]

Yeah I'm doing/have done alot of reading on safety with coils.

I'm kind of leaning toward cotton as well a dripping atomizer since I like to try flavors but I'm definitely planing on trying both.

 

[bluecat]

Silica is cleaner tasting to me. I still taste the cotton after boiling 5 times. Quite frankly, 2 bucks for a lifetime supply of Peaches and Cream at Wally World and 10 bucks for 30 feet of 3mm Silica at Lightning Vapes. Basically 12 bucks for all the cotton or Silica I will probably use. Then I can switch as needed.

Use both. Grab a dripper for 15 bucks and make up one of each.

 

[screwball]

Oh I definitely plan to buy both at some point but I don't always have piles of cash to toss around this time of year.

 

[edyle]

I've decided to buy a MVP and a RBA and was wondering what the pros and cons of silica vs cotton are.
also are Fast Techs prebuilt coils and wicks worth buying or should I just wrap my own?

Silica wick:
- can be dry burned clean; it does not burn.

Cotton wick:
- you can rewick with cotton without recoiling;
- better wicking
- easy availability.

 

[edyle]

If I were to get cotton like that from walmart I would have to boil it a crap ton wont I?

I just drop a cotton ball in a teacup of water and zap in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes;
just in case theres any bleach or such chemicals in the cotton.

Alot of people don't bother boiling their cotton.

 

[Bryong70]

I use this Graham CelluCotton Cotton Coil, 100% Rayon Cotton Fibers. Big discussion on it here http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/rebuildable-atomizer-systems/561226-rayon-wick-better-flow-flavor-saturation-nic-hit.html.
I've used both silica and cotton before, cellucotton is so much better and easier to work with, IMHO. If it came to either Silica or Cotton, I'd prefer cotton any day.

 

[CloudPusher]

Wicking material is just preference, really. I prefer cotton. You can buy it in bulk very cheep just about anywhere and it allows you to re-wick without having to re-coil. Just pull out the old cotton, dry burn, insert new cotton and you're good to go. You can't do that with silica.

Wrapping coils isn't hard. Watch a few youtube videos and you'll be wrapping like a pro in no time. Just remember safety - check the resistance and your battery limitations.

Not if you are vapeing a thicker liquid. I found that out the hard way when i was at a freinds house without rebuilding supplies. I was vapeing a coffee variant and it gunked up pretty bad after a day and a half of building it. I could not get the cotton off no matter what i tried, without breaking the coil.

 

[Equilibrium]

I've yet to be able to remove a cotton wick. Sometimes it's more difficult than others though. I always take a pair of scissors and snip the cotton as close to the coil as possible and then pull it through. I even had to run it under water once and then the cotton came right out. Dried everything off - dry burned - re-wicked - reassembled - filled and was good to go.

 

[MikeMills]

I even had to run it under water once and then the cotton came right out. Dried everything off - dry burned - re-wicked - reassembled - filled and was good to go.

I always run water on my atty's before re-wicking them.
Gets rid of the juice and makes removal real easy.

I like cotton.

 

[Equilibrium]

I like cotton too

 

[screwball]

I'm wearing cotton

 

[CloudPusher]

I've yet to be able to remove a cotton wick. Sometimes it's more difficult than others though. I always take a pair of scissors and snip the cotton as close to the coil as possible and then pull it through. I even had to run it under water once and then the cotton came right out. Dried everything off - dry burned - re-wicked - reassembled - filled and was good to go.

Well i tried all of the above and i could not get it loose. I've had it happen to me a couple time's actually(both with pre-wraped micro coils). The other time the coil just broak. I use 26 guage Kanthal now but haven't used it with cotton yet

 

[CharliesTheMan]

I've yet to be able to remove a cotton wick. Sometimes it's more difficult than others though. I always take a pair of scissors and snip the cotton as close to the coil as possible and then pull it through. I even had to run it under water once and then the cotton came right out. Dried everything off - dry burned - re-wicked - reassembled - filled and was good to go.

It probably has a lot to do with the setup, but in my Kayfun Lite I use organic cotton and pull it through, assuming it's not burnt. Also in my RDA's, both using a standard microcoil at 1/16 or 5/64. My wicks are twisted from boiled organic cotton balls, and either about 3/8 to 1/2 inch I'd guess on each side of the coil for the KFun and RDA's vary.

I wonder if I'm wrapping mine too loose since I can pull the cotton out, although it takes a lil working back and fourth a bit sometimes to uncatch it if there's a bulge at the edge to get past.

Ohhhh I wonder if it's because I use 28 guage, or smaller coils. What kind of coils and wire size are you using? I'm wondering if I'm wrapping mine too lose, but now that I think about it I don't think I could get much more cotton in there and still pull it through.

Sorry for so many different questions but I've only been building a few months and trial and error with cotton fairly often only to return to "old faithful" because the new wick style I'll be testing either burns or doesn't breathe, etc.

 

[Equilibrium]

I also wrap micro coils on a 1/16 or 5/64 drill bit with 28g wire. You want the cotton tight but not so tight you have to force it through the coil.

 

[The Ministry]

Moved to Rebuildable Atomizer Systems -

 

[TamiPac]

I thought I would hate a kayfun....LOVE 'EM...... thought I would have a dripper when I was old enough to wear diapers again to justify carrying around a bottle...got one LOVE IT!!!! Just try everything! Everyone will have different preferences but thousands can't be wrong either so just try 'em all! With the cheap prices and the money saved on cigarettes I'm coming out about the same so far. I've gotten almost a dozen mods as well as a couple of vv/vw's and atomizers coming out the wazoo. Still finding my exact loves and hates but I'm having so much fun doing it!

Buy kanthol in every size and try all of them with every type of wicking you want to try.