So this non-oxidized mesh thing...

[KillTheNoise]

Was doing a bunch of reading today and I became pretty interested in the Petar K method.

So, from what I've gathered...he wraps the wire closely around a drill bit, locks it in place, then he rolls the mesh in a cone-like roll and doesn't oxidize the mesh, just quickly burns it for cleaning.

I am interested in trying it, but I can already tell it's going to screw up for me. Is this non-oxidized mesh really that big of a difference compared to a well oxidized one? I'm using an AGA-T2, would this be a good device to try it out on? Any GOOD links to a tutorial?

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[Thrasher]

i dont know where a tutorial is. try searching youtube maybe, but i do this. i roll the wick and just torch the end with a bic lighter to help with shorts, i know on a mech mod you dont even do that much. juice stays clean for days.

personally i love it and think it rocks, wicks like a champ and tastes better then burnt mesh. in one atty i use a 500 solid and the other a 500-400 semi solid wick.(small space up the center but not defined like a paperclip hole).

the idea is the wick just kinda floats inside the coil, by not being wrapped tight the efficiency of the coil increases as there is no heatsink effect.
doing this i can pull the wick without messing with the coil, dont know about a cone as i roll a normal wick. it will be very frustrating the first couple of times as it allows for no errors and everything must be just right.



this is an older pic i took for another post but this is the 3rd or 4th refill on that wick, you can see the wick is still silver mesh and the juice is crystal clear.

 

[KillTheNoise]

I kinda want to try it, really liking the idea of a nice looking silver mesh in there...it would be quite attractive! I would also love an increase in flavor...I feel like im not getting the flavor I should be out of my current setup (30awg kanthal a-1 @ 2.0ohm, 400mesh oxidized really well). I understand there is a break-in period but I've ran close to 4 tanks through it so far and my flavor is still at an 801 carto level.

So when you roll the wick do you only use a small strip of mesh? I can't see a 1 1/2" wide wick (what I've used the past 3 times) fitting losely into this hole without torching it.

I chain vape pretty regularly, so what would you recommend wrapping up? Keep in mind im on an eVic, and I use 50/50 blend fruity flavors (mostly clearish juices). I have both 30 and 32 awg kanthal, and also 400 and 500 mesh.

What would you try first in my shoes?

 

[Thrasher]

while i do not know what will fit your atty hole i would try a good solid 500 doesnt need to be log stiff just solid - ish and the 32g around 2 ohms.

one thing i always forget to mention is even though i dont blacken the mesh i do heat it up after rolling it to take the spring out of it and then roll some more to get a nice solid wick.

you have no idea how bad i wish i was there to help you cause i want you to enjoy this like we do.

one thing i would be interested in is do you have any juice you can try that is more pg then 50/50

 

[KillTheNoise]

First off, the first two wicks I rolled were wide, by that I mean its rolled quite a few times (probably around 2 inches of mesh) to fit into this 1/8" hole. This current one I went a different route and cut a small piece (prob 3/4 to 1 inch) and its actually working quite well. I rolled it with a paper clip inside so there is a noticable hole in the middle.

By saying you would try a solid wick, is that just a wick rolled without anything in the middle?

Next, I have some 100% pg @ 34mg nic base, but I haven't messed around with mixing it yet. I do have calibrated syringes so I could do some accurate thinning, but I really want to be able to use my 50/50s...I love them, lol.

 

[Thrasher]

well when i start the wick i kind of roll off center at first - to me solid means i didnt use a paperclip, not tree log thick and stiff as a metal rod so usually a small space up the center.but if your getting decent results with a tube wick stick with it as they work great. im just telling you what im using right now. lol i have like 12 wicks laying here as i am always testing stuff.

i just asked about the juice to see if you had a different mix to test the lack of flavor your having, if it doesnt happen with a different thickness juice that tells us something, but thinning what you got already is just going to kill the flavor further.

 

[KillTheNoise]

Ah I see...

I'm just worried about taking out what's working for me right now and ruining IT for something I don't even know will work.

Are certain rolling methods of wick (solid or straw) better for chain vaping? I guess my end result wanted is not having to worry about keeping the wick in a down position submerged in juice EVERY TIME I vape.

edit - You say you heat up the entire wick to take out the springyness of it, how do you make sure it's clean before vaping with it? I've read about rinsing it with hot water, but I'm not sure if that works well enough or not.

 

[KillTheNoise]

Welp I went ahead and tried it, against my intuition of trying a new wrapping method while being intoxicated.....

....but.....

Damned if it didn't work! Wrapped 32awg KanthalA1 around a drill bit, hooked that up and tested...it came out to 2.1 ohms. Then I rolled a 1 1/2 inch-ish piece of 500 mesh just tight enough to fit in the hole freely, quickly burned it with a cig lighter and charred the end where the coil would sit, and did a couple dry burns to sort out the hot spots.

I made a quick video showing the performance, although the video is blurry so you can't see the up close shots (I think?_ heres how it works!



TY very much Thrash...any pointers would help!

edit - Couple pics to make up for crappy free recording software:

 

[StaircaseWit]

One of the keys to the Petar K. method is that the wick cannot be tight in the wick hole or it will short. I realize now why he used such a small (2mm) drill bit: the resultant wick just floats in the hole, without much (if any) contact. It also cannot touch the bottom of the tank or it will short, being that it's un-oxidized.

I'm thinking about drilling out the AGA-T2 wick hole to 1/8" to give more room for a fatter wick (better wicking) using this method, because the couple builds I did with it worked well and the nice thing is you can pull the wick without disturbing the coil, clean the wick and dry-burn/brush the coil, re-insert the wick and be back up and running in short order.

 

[KillTheNoise]

Yeah I can't believe I actually got it to work on the first try...was very suprised, lol. It does seem like it wouldn't work with it being SO loose, but it's working flawlessly!

Still have a couple questions...

Does the wick still have a break-in period being un-oxidized?
For cleaning it, do you just rinse with hot water and let it dry? And does this ruin the said "break-in"?

 

[Thrasher]

For cleaning it, do you just rinse with hot water and let it dry? And does this ruin the said "break-in"?

mucho gusto! heres your bottle of awesome sauce!
yea i usually hold the wire with a fingernail or paper clip and pull the wick out and rinse under hot water for cleaning. most of the time it works fine, and usually it need to resettle but not as long as a brand new one. i notice about halfway of a second tank it seems it suddenly gets all buttery feeling in my mouth and I taste all kinds of like wurthers caramel-y goodness. ( i vape double ry4).
kudos to PK for continuing his quest to make life easier for all of us.

 

[EDO]

If you do 5 X 10 second wet burns before starting to vape....it should break in the coil and mesh so that your first vape should be excellent.

 

[StaircaseWit]

Yeah I can't believe I actually got it to work on the first try...was very suprised, lol. It does seem like it wouldn't work with it being SO loose, but it's working flawlessly!

Still have a couple questions...

Does the wick still have a break-in period being un-oxidized?
For cleaning it, do you just rinse with hot water and let it dry? And does this ruin the said "break-in"?

I flame pass mine to burn off oil before rolling, so it's a "sort-of" oxidizing process, but I don't notice any break-in doing it this way. It also discolors your juice a lot less, something I like because I hate when a nearly-clear juice turns dark amber in the tank.

Yep, I wash mine in hot soapy water and just pat dry on a paper towel. It will spit and boil off whatever water is remaining when you re-insert it. Then just add juice. I only did that because I wanted to change flavors though; I've since learned that you don't really have to wash them unless there's a performance-related reason. Changing flavors happens very quickly with SS mesh; just drain the tank and add your new juice and the flavor will change very quickly.

 

[KillTheNoise]

Just changed my flavors, sucked out old juice, checked my coils (dry burned maybe 3 or 4 times to make sure they were still good), refilled new juice, and vaped!

I had chocolate strawberry in there and put in a butterfly bait flavor, didn't even notice the old flavor in there.

Thanks everyone, I love this community!

 

[ricks]

Do you guys have an insulator on your wick holes in your RBA's? My did clone has none and I want to try this.

 

[unowner]

thanks this community, i did my first unoxidized SS wick setup on my cobra~ my wick fit pretty tightly around the coil but it works beautifully!

 

[dirtyrigger]

Do you guys have an insulator on your wick holes in your RBA's? My did clone has none and I want to try this.

Insulators aren't needed, when you pulse out the hotspots the coil creates an oxidation layer between the wick and coil that isolates the 2 so it won't matter if the wick is grounded.

 

[ricks]

Did you wrap the coil on the wick or a drill bit?

thanks this community, i did my first unoxidized SS wick setup on my cobra~ my wick fit pretty tightly around the coil but it works beautifully!

 

[ricks]

Should the wick be cleaned before rolling it? How do you clean it?

 

[Thrasher]

i usually just rinse it under some hot water, if it feels greasy just wipe it with a soapy sponge and blot dry with a paper towel. but i also do the whole piece at once so i dont have to do it again,

i get 12x12 and cut down to 6x6 pieces and rinse a 6x6 and just use that one till done.