SS mesh directional orientation

[CloudZ]

I feel like I recently "figured out" how to set up a mesh wick on my RSST with great results for a few consistent builds. I had to replace the wick which had been working great and rolled a new one, set it up just as I had when the vape was awesome, but now the wick could not keep up with the coil. Within 2 seconds of atomization I had glowing coils. After fiddling with it and rebuilding about 10 times with the same results, I threw the wick away and rolled another one, this time cutting my sheet of mesh perpendicular to the previous cut. Now it is back to working great.

This is 500 mesh, I can't see any obvious difference in the mesh between the two orientations, but I am thinking there may be something to this. Any thoughts?

 

[folkphys]

I was given a bit of unsubstantiated advice from a venerable vapery shopkeep upon my first purchase of SS mesh. He told me to cut out my wick rectangles at a roughly 45 degree angle to the sheet's weave pattern. I assume his reasoning goes like this: if you cut out your wicks in the "normal" way, half of the strands will be running across - directly perpendicularly to - the path of juice flow along your wick, thereby (possibly?) hindering that flow. And thus if you instead cut diagonally, your final wick-tube-thingy has an apparent diamond-like pattern with all the strands within the weave more or less running up and down -- albeit diagonally so. Your juice never again has to hop over any speedbumps on it way up to your atty's veritable heart of darkness.

 

[zipflint]

This sounds good to me. I will try to keep it in mind, just.....because it sounds good.

I'm not a scientist, but I like to put on a lab coat and run around town.
Pants optional, but suggested

 

[CloudZ]

I've heard of the diagonal cut thing before, but like you say, no real evidence for it. Most folks who are successful mesh builders claim that the orientation doesn't matter, but I suspect they just cut their mesh the same way every time without thinking about it.

All I know is that it was like a light switch difference... From very bad wicking to very good wicking.

 

[folkphys]

If you think about it, the weave pattern of diagonally cut mesh in a rolled wick ends up looking an awful lot like the braids of ekowool. And though it tastes - to me - like a pickled-then-fried socks, it certainly can suck juice.

 

[BuzzKilla]

i've cut diagonal for U-wicks and cut strait for normal wicks.... i've found no wicking difference in weave orientation...
i cut at diagonal only to make bending the rolled mesh easier...

I've come to my own conclusion that the wicking properties are very dependant on HOW your mesh is rolled.
I roll what i call Cinnabon-wicks. where the mesh is loose but full.
There is a gap between each rolled layer of mesh, just as thick as the mesh itself.
wicks like a champ but also keeps the juice from just dripping out...

I've shared this little trick with my friends, but i believe this is the first time i have mentioned it on the forums... everyone is so obsessed with cotton that i never felt the need to.

 

[Glenn_K]

Interesting thread. I got a new package of 500x500 mesh in the mail yesterday, and tried it last night. It was very stiff, not like the previous stuff I used, which was soft enough and pliable enough to basically crumple into a ball.

With the new stuff, it also looked like orientation would make a diff; hard to explain this, but it was like there was a grain that could possibly make it very different to roll up from top to bottom, vs side to side -- possibly like what Cloudz is describing in te original post. I'll keep this in mind as I try other wicks from this new material, I might try a diagonally-cut wick, too.

-- Glenn

 

[folkphys]

i've cut diagonal for U-wicks and cut strait for normal wicks.... i've found no wicking difference in weave orientation...
i cut at diagonal only to make bending the rolled mesh easier...

I've come to my own conclusion that the wicking properties are very dependant on HOW your mesh is rolled.
I roll what i call Cinnabon-wicks. where the mesh is loose but full.
There is a gap between each rolled layer of mesh, just as thick as the mesh itself.
wicks like a champ but also keeps the juice from just dripping out...

I've shared this little trick with my friends, but i believe this is the first time i have mentioned it on the forums... everyone is so obsessed with cotton that i never felt the need to.

I agree. It certainly matters more how you roll it than how you cut it. And thank you, now I know why all of my mesh wicks were so darned floppy.

 

[Rule62]

I don't know if it's fact, because I've never done a comparison. Maybe I'm just a creature of habit. But f I look closely at the sheet of mesh, I can see that there is a 'grain' to it. I have always cut my mesh so that the grain runs lengthwise with the wick; not crosswise.

 

[Glenn_K]

That's pretty much what I saw when I checked out some newly arrived 500x500 mesh yesterday. Do you find that rolling it lengthwise allows you to use a larger width of mesh, for a given wick hole size?

Previously I was using mesh that came with my genny, I have no idea what size it was, but it was soft and very easy to role. No real difference, as far as I can tell so far, in wicking performance.

-- Glenn

I don't know if it's fact, because I've never done a comparison. Maybe I'm just a creature of habit. But f I look closely at the sheet of mesh, I can see that there is a 'grain' to it. I have always cut my mesh so that the grain runs lengthwise with the wick; not crosswise.

 

[Rule62]

That's pretty much what I saw when I checked out some newly arrived 500x500 mesh yesterday. Do you find that rolling it lengthwise allows you to use a larger width of mesh, for a given wick hole size?

Previously I was using mesh that came with my genny, I have no idea what size it was, but it was soft and very easy to role. No real difference, as far as I can tell so far, in wicking performance.

-- Glenn

I don't really try to see how much mesh I can cram into the hole anymore. I used to roll real tight wicks, back when I started building gennys; but I stopped doing that. Real solid wicks will hold more juice, true, but the more mesh you use, the greater heat sink it is.

 

[CloudZ]

I might try a more loosely rolled wick. The only problem is that I like the wick to be very stiff so I can get the coil tension right, something I've always struggled with. I use 28 gauge kanthal (4 wraps for 0.8 ohms to get a good vape from a mech) which is somewhat heavy wire that needs a good pull to "hug the wick" properly. I can't imagine trying to build with heavier wire, while thinner stuff like 30 gauge just doesn't provide enough surface area.

I also thought of creasing the wick lengthwise to open up channels to help carry the juice up, haven't tried it yet though. Not sure if it would help at all.

I will report that the wick I mentioned at the end of the OP is still working perfectly, I vaped it all the way down until the tank was empty and the dry hits started. Only a few more seconds of firing it fully emptied the wick and caused the coils to start glowing. A small hotspot formed while I was doing this, so I poked it out, tested, refilled the tank and went right back to great vaping. When mesh is good, its good

And I was strongly considering a kayfun style clone while the previous wick wasn't playing nice...

 

[Rule62]

I might try a more loosely rolled wick. The only problem is that I like the wick to be very stiff so I can get the coil tension right, something I've always struggled with. I use 28 gauge kanthal (4 wraps for 0.8 ohms to get a good vape from a mech) which is somewhat heavy wire that needs a good pull to "hug the wick" properly. I can't imagine trying to build with heavier wire, while thinner stuff like 30 gauge just doesn't provide enough surface area.

I don't wrap my coils directly on the mesh wick. I wrap on a drill bit, mini screwdriver, or whatever, install the coil, and then roll my mesh wick to slide into the coil. You can adjust the mesh by tightening or loosening the roll, to get the fit just right.

 

[BuzzKilla]

On more of what Rule62 is talking about, search the Petar K Method.

 

[CloudZ]

Yeah, I tried the petar k method several times and can't get it to work. There are always gaps between the wick and coil. Every video I've seen, the builder simply slips the rolled wick through the coil and "omg its perfect". I know I'm doing it wrong, but I have no idea why.

 

[Rule62]

Yeah, I tried the petar k method several times and can't get it to work. There are always gaps between the wick and coil. Every video I've seen, the builder simply slips the rolled wick through the coil and "omg its perfect". I know I'm doing it wrong, but I have no idea why.

The trick is to get all the gaps out of the coil while the coil is on the drill bit, or whatever you're using, by adjusting both the positive and negative connections. With a little adjusting, the coil should be perfect before sliding the wick in.
You can also fine tune the diameter of the wick, by tightening it, or you can loosen it by rolling the mesh in the opposite direction.

 

[CloudZ]

The trick is to get all the gaps out of the coil while the coil is on the drill bit, or whatever you're using, by adjusting both the positive and negative connections. With a little adjusting, the coil should be perfect before sliding the wick in.
You can also fine tune the diameter of the wick, by tightening it, or you can loosen it by rolling the mesh in the opposite direction.

I think the problem may be that the wick I roll is not perfectly round, it ends up being slightly oval shaped. Its not out of round enough that I can see it immediately, but once I get it in through the coil it becomes apparent with the gaps. It may be the coil itself as you mentioned, but I find it difficult to finish the coil perfectly round and consistent on an RSST since the positive connection is only held by the spring force. At some point between removing the drill bit and inserting the wick, it may be getting slightly tweaked. I could see this method being easier on a genny with a solid screw positive connection where you can actually tighten it down. It may also be because I don't have a drill bit that fits perfectly in the wick hole, it is slightly smaller.

Anyway, I don't think it is that important to me since my normal wrap method seems to work quite well. I just ran into that wicking issue with one wick and noticed it went away when I cut the mesh in another direction. I never paid attention to the direction of my cut before this, but I have struggled with mesh for one reason or another for several months prior to getting it right (see my blog post for more details). I don't know if the mesh orientation is definitely what solved the problem, but I was wondering if anyone else had noticed this.

 

[Annie56]

Hope im not being a pest by chiming in. Dids have these ginormous wick holes. When i originally set them up, i was using, like, 110 mm of 400 mesh, a HUGE amount of material. The coil, 3wrap 28g ~ 1 Ω, would just kinda cook my juice.

I started doing this 'straw' thing with my mesh. I have a set of Allen keys. I've been going with 80mm 325 mesh ( i like thinner juice, and coarse mesh). I start off by rolling on the 5/64 Allen key, a tight, straw wick. I move on to progressively smaller keys, until my straw fits nice and loose in the hole. Grain up and down.

Wrap coil directly onto the wick (with Allen key left inside!!). Install coil, attach pos and neg leads. It is the best of both worlds, because coil is nice and neat, like the drill bit method. But you get that nice wick-coil contact. If i need to adjust tension, i pop Allen key back into my straw wick, adjust wraps or disconnect one of my leads. This genny setup seems to be working pretty well, with faster vaporisation, no hot legs or burny juice (switched to 30g kanthal to up the Ω a bit).Hope i helped

 

[Glenn_K]

I bought a drill bit that turned out to be smaller than my wick hole, but because it was closer in size than any other drill bit that I have, I used in anyways. I was very surprised to find that it gave me my best build to date, vape wise. For some reason, the coil ended up being not too tight for the wick (possibly the wick was on the small side).

Previously I was using a hex key that fit the wick hole perfectly, but of course is not round.

-- Glenn

Yeah, I tried the petar k method several times and can't get it to work. There are always gaps between the wick and coil. Every video I've seen, the builder simply slips the rolled wick through the coil and "omg its perfect". I know I'm doing it wrong, but I have no idea why.