SS Mesh not better than Silica flavor?

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Scott Paré

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So I got my first genesis atty and I must say Im kinda surprised. I think I like silica better. Not sure if there's something different I can do. I only vape cotton candy juice which seems to work better with silica... more vanilla creamier cotton candy. I thought with SS mesh I would get better flavor but it doesn't seem to be that way.Ive fully oxidized and half oxidized, flat and round kanthal. Don't get me wrong.. flavor with the SS mesh good I almost say cleaner but not cleaner it's just different it's basically it seems smooth and creamy with silica and with the SS mesh it's a very light and almost like perfume fruit. Any tips or is there any users out there that prefer silica to SS mesh and why. What is the best silica rba.
 

Vedra

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Most if my ejuice changes depending on the wick material. Some change very dramatically. SS mesh wicks can be frustrating because there are more factors than just the material to worry about. Mesh size, how tight you roll, oxidation, hotspots, wether to insulate with cotton/sleeves, hollow or tight, mixed material, lalalalalala... Anyhow, keep tweaking your setup until you find one that works well, and stick with it for awhile.
 

pizza2me

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C'mon folks!! Help us out here please. Personally I've only used SS. But, I've seen a LOT of votes for both whether silica or SS is better spread all over this sub. Almost seems about 50/50'ish. I'm sure it all depends on juice, like Vedra said, delivery device, build, heat, one juice'er or multiple flavors, etc...

I'd love to see a LOT of people chime in here in one place and answer Scott.

Personally, I am very happy with SS on an RBA and I'm not very interested in trying silica. For me, it is because I am not very particular about taste, so it's working and I like it. And, I think (fairly new to this) the SS wick will last much longer and less maintenance. It may be a little more effort to get it set up and working good. But, once you get there, you don't do anything but dry burn and maybe a rinse. (In the 2-3 months I've been doing RBAs I have never HAD to change a wick, or coil for that matter, I've only changed it because I wanted to play.)

Bring it on folks!
 

MattU29

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The following info is assuming your wick and coil are correct, and it has had plenty of time to break in.

The genesis can play a lot into it as well, not just the wicking material. Design, material, wick hole, air hole, etc all come into play when you are talking about the flavor you get from a genesis. A 1mm air hole will give you lots of flavor typically, and a 1.5mm air hole will give you tons of vapor, but mute your flavor. That's the frustrating part of a genesis is not only how you set it up, but the device itself that can make your juice taste a certain way.

Also unfortunately mesh DOES typically give you a truer flavor so you taste things in your juice that the silica muted. The alcohols, or maybe a tart flavor from a raspberry, etc. all of a sudden become pronounced with SS mesh and makes your juice that you've loved for years all of a sudden taste horrible. SS mesh at times can really make it seem like you almost start over at times to find a juice that you like.

I have a friend on another forum that was having this problem so I just had him open up his air hole to mute the intenseness of his juice and it helped him a lot because the flavor was what he was used to. If you are dead set on the juice you want to use and are about to leave using a genesis any way that's what I would suggest you try.

Just some thoughts..
 

Jerms

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To me regular silica kind of mutes flavor, German silica produces much better flavor for my builds. I have a couple drippers set up with ss mesh. I find mesh has a good clean taste, and makes for a very good wicking medium. It depends on the juice, but so far I prefer the German silica to the mesh for most. Packs a little more oohmph to the flavor, and reproduces creamy aspects better. I wouldn't say the ss mesh mutes any notes, they all come through, but some are a little lighter, and sometimes lack a roundness to the vape. Both are great options.

Sent from my LGL55C using Tapatalk 2
 

eratikmind

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Having tried a handful of gennies and experimenting with different types of wicking media, I tried a dripper. Since that time, I have switched over to all silica base designed delivery devices using german silica and ekowool.

For me, direct dripping affords the best flavor and vapor. For more juice capacity, I use silica tank type devices.

It really boils down to what works for each individual. Whatever one uses, experiment with different coil and wick assemblies to find your favorite set-up.

- Andy
 

Statistic

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^^^ very subjective topic indeed. If SS mesh or SS rope works for you then roll with it. Personally, after much experimentation with many wick materials I have settled on XC ceramic rope in my drippers and cotton in my bottom fed REO.

I have lost almost all interest in dealing with the hassle of setting up and maintaing any variety of genesis atty at this point but even in that case it's XC all the way.

I couldn't imagine any reson to go back to using SS mesh in any atomizer, just my :2c:
 

Thrasher

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my 2 cents,,,,,,,

it takes a lot of work and finding the perfect setup to make them taste the same or close. silica and soft wicks are pretty much foolproof and just work.

as I tinker more and more i have found i can pretty much make them identical now, BUT one thing i think is being overlooked is as the juice blends become more complex and there is several layers of flavor, not every device will make every juice as tasteful as it can be.

i notice some juices seem to taste better in my drippers and others have better notes in my geni's, then others taste identical in both. so i think we need to stop generalizing a geni is better or a dripper is better. it will come down to setup, materials, your level of experimenting and ultimately the way the juice is vaporized.
and we need to worry about the best device for the juice or the best juice for the device.
 

UncleChuck

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I've experienced similar things to the OP.

Mesh wicks seem to give a "thinner" and cleaner, but more intense flavor. Where as silica seems to give flavor with more "bass notes" (if you could call it that) but overall more subdued flavor.

For the type of flavors I usually like, like fruity flavors, gennys seem to give the best flavor. It seems to translate the more intense and sharp flavors of fruity juices better than silica. Tobacco flavors and bakery flavors seem to be better on silica, as those types of flavors seem to do better with the more smooth, bass-note, mellow flavor of silica.

One of the exceptions I've found is Pina Colada juices, silica seems to bring out the creaminess (like the OP describes) better than mesh, which is obviously advantageous for something like a pina colada juice.

Just like everything I'm sure this comes down to personal preference, but that's the way it is for me.
 
I use both. I prefer silica and/or ekowool for ease of use. Even my bad coils work and like a champ, but.......................................I LOVE MY RSST!! IT is a lot more challenging to work with but once you get it right, wow. At this point, and I'm almost sure this is due to inexperience, when my RSST is on, I seem to get way more vapor with my single hole RSST than my dual hole igo-w. Igo-w isn't bad, just doesn't seem to hit as hard as consistently. I do however use it more because it's almost fool proof. I've had my RSST stop working in the middle of my work day and when you don't have time to mess around and get it going again, well that's just no bueno.

EDIT: I will say I use a lot less juice and vape for the same amount of time with dripping versus loading up the RSST tank, another plus for silica/ekowool IMO.
 
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darkzero

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I'm must be doing something wrong but whenever I used SS mesh I have heatsinking issues. Always have to pre-fire or take a primer pull first to heat up. I hate that. I'm not the type to give up easy & I played a lot with different ways of building but I was never able to eliminate the heatsinking. A full Ekowool or mesh sleeved with Ekowool are the only times I've had decent results on my RSST. And the only reason I used a sleeved mesh wick is to make it easier to install the coil/wick. I wrap coils first, then install. Mesh had good flavor but nothing that amazed me to the point where I wanted to keep using it. Also when I used mesh it wasted a lot of juice, the deck & cap would be soaked. Not with Ekowool which has great flavor too.
 
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Scott Paré

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exactly what I was thinking!

darkzero. I guess I had heatsink issues too... I had to do the same. And juice is my biggest expense and my genesis leaks all the time... or one accidental tip and more juice is gone. I think silica or ceramic is perfect for me and cotton candy lol
 
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pizza2me

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I'm must be doing something wrong but whenever I used SS mesh I have heatsinking issues. Always have to pre-fire or take a primer pull first to heat up. I hate that. I'm not the type to give up easy & I played a lot with different ways of building but I was never able to eliminate the heatsinking. A full Ekowool or mesh sleeved with Ekowool are the only times I've had decent results on my RSST. And the only reason I used a sleeved mesh wick is to make it easier to install the coil/wick. I wrap coils first, then install. Mesh had good flavor but nothing that amazed me to the point where I wanted to keep using it. Also when I used mesh it wasted a lot of juice, the deck & cap would be soaked. Not with Ekowool which has great flavor too.

Interesting!! Are you saying Ekowool doesn't spitter spatter all over the deck/cap?
 
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