subohm wicking

[vape0351]

I've tried a couple of different wicking strategies for this .2ohm 4 wrap dual parallel build. The first is the standard pull through the center of the coil, which produces good flavor and quantity of vapor. However it can't seem to wick fast enough to keep the coils wet, especially if I'm chain vaping. In the second picture I tried wrapping the cotton loosely around the outside of the coils and aimed the airflow through the center. This produced good vapors as well and seemed more effective at getting juice to the coils, but the area of cotton draped over the top very quickly (1-2 days) lost mass and needed to be rewicked as it lost its capacity.
so, how do you wick your coils?

 

[Nikea Tiber]

Through the center for horizontal coils. On rdas that have circular bottom airflow like the Kennedy or Nixon if I run a vertical (chimney) coil I'll roll around the outside (this is a really good setup for spitty twisted wire builds as the spitback gets shot back into hot coil to re-vaporize).
What is your inner coil diameter? My typical build is a 316L ss @ .2 ohms, and in my experience at 60+ watts you need to have 2.3mm inner coil diameter at the very least or your wick will have trouble keeping up with how fast the coil cooks the juice out of it. In addition, you might not be using enough wick, or one of your coils is heating faster than the other.

 

[vape0351]

not sure about that build, I was eyeballing with an unknown mandrel. I've since rebuilt with 1/8" 20ga kanthal with six wraps single coil coming in around 0.4Ω, which is sending really good flavor. Waiting on some smaller wire to try dual coils again.

 

[Robert Cromwell]

Chain vaping in a dripper with a .2 dual coil build? You will need to drip a LOT to keep those wicks wet.

 

[vape0351]

Yes, I've gotten much better at that. The setup pictured was my first attempt at anything lower than 0.8Ω, and one too many dry hits since then has taught me the necessity of dripping before it starts to taste like it needs it.

 

[Robert Cromwell]

Yes, I've gotten much better at that. The setup pictured was my first attempt at anything lower than 0.8Ω, and one too many dry hits since then has taught me the necessity of dripping before it starts to taste like it needs it.

Yep why I only use drippers for testing my juice mixes.
too lazy and forgetful to do it without bad hits.

 

[Robert Cromwell]

I noticed an ohm meter there. Remember hold the probes together and if not a zero reading subtract that from the reading you get on your coil.
Test lead resistance and all that figure in.

 

[vape0351]

yes, mine hovers between 1.0-0.9Ω internal resistance. I've got one coming in the mail that's +/- 0.005Ω accurate

 

[Robert Cromwell]

yes, mine hovers between 1.0-0.9Ω internal resistance. I've got one coming in the mail that's +/- 0.005Ω accurate

The ones you screw your atty on are the best to use vs a regular DMM.
Or use a regulated mod that checks the resistance.

 

[EINTKALILFG]

I didn't have a recent photo on my new phone so I grabbed a screen cap from my IG.

I wick thick and tight, very tight. I have to pinch one end and twist it very hard to fit it through, and then hold the coil with my finger to pull the rest of the wick through. It basically sounds like the exact opposite of traditional logic, but it works. Regardless of how hot the build is, it wicks quickly and I never get dry hits unless I legit forget to drip.

The build there is one of my go-to builds: 20g Royal Wire, 5 wraps on a 3mm screwdriver. It comes out to around .08 and the wicking handles it no problem.

 

[SLIPPY_EEL]

For wicking internally a good vid to watch on YouTube is a guy called 'yosh vapergate' he has a vid on wicking,I've use it down to 0.07ohms and it keeps up good although yeah on a dripper at high power no doubt you will have to re-drip every few pulls anyway

 

[Snugglepooter]

Check out the rayon thread - best wick ever.

Rayon is not a plastic material. It is like cotton, but made in a lab. It is 100% cellulose with absolutely zero anything else.

 

[Avapxia]

Check out the rayon thread - best wick ever.

Rayon is not a plastic material. It is like cotton, but made in a lab. It is 100% cellulose with absolutely zero anything else.

If I remember correctly while (was it Dupont?) was reexamining the qualities and fire hazzards of its fabrics and Rayon was one of them. At some point during testing the passed the temperature where Rayon burned and while trying to cut it a very perceptive man noticed it was nearly impossible to cut up burned cotton. Then he realized it was nearly impossible to break the fibers by pulling on them. Yada yada ,... this over cooked fabric ended up in space as "carbon fiber".

But check what wiki-p says about cotton.

Critical temperatures

• Glow temperature: 205 °C (401 °F)
• Fire point: 210 °C (410 °F)
• Autoignition temperature: 407 °C (765 °F)
• Autoignition temperature (for oily cotton): 120 °C (248 °F)

So don't allow cotton whicks to go past 200'C-390F and don't vape any oily stuff.
Hmmm.. but ... wait. ... what about wet with PG/VG ... ???

 

[Frenchfry1942]

Have a question. I am coiling/vaping at 1.0 ohms & 13 watts with 26g Kanthal. This is a rather simple and middle of the road set-up. I have just (last month or so) tried it on all of my atties using VS rDNA40 mods.

So, sometimes I don't get good/continuous juice pull from the RTAs. So, I figure my wicking can be better. But how to make it better?

Should I wick through the horizontal coil very tight...or so that it is easy to pull through? Does the shoulder of the wick, just outside the coil, need to be very large to support juice getting to the coil? I mean very large. Should I reduce the air flow so that my draw pulls juice (more so) than air?

Just looking for experiences and others conclusions concerning getting better juice flow.

Thanks, it will help me and, I hope, others about common wicking concepts.

 

[edyle]

Have a question. I am coiling/vaping at 1.0 ohms & 13 watts with 26g Kanthal. This is a rather simple and middle of the road set-up. I have just (last month or so) tried it on all of my atties using VS rDNA40 mods.

So, sometimes I don't get good/continuous juice pull from the RTAs. So, I figure my wicking can be better. But how to make it better?

Should I wick through the horizontal coil very tight...or so that it is easy to pull through? Does the shoulder of the wick, just outside the coil, need to be very large to support juice getting to the coil? I mean very large. Should I reduce the air flow so that my draw pulls juice (more so) than air?

Just looking for experiences and others conclusions concerning getting better juice flow.

Thanks, it will help me and, I hope, others about common wicking concepts.

1: maybe thin the liquid; add some water.
2: if you are using 2mm ID, try 3mm; and with the bigger ID, you can use tighter wicking.
3: you want the shoulder to curve gently and not make a sharp sudden angle.

 

[Frenchfry1942]

Good points.

I use 2.5 and 3.0mm IDs. Really depends on how much I can fit. I do try to use the largest size and still have good wick "layout".

I know that the wick is kinda dependent on how the juice enters the coil area. I wanted the question to be kinda open so that people could comment on how they wick particular atties that other users can read.

I for one, with vertical juice channels have been thinning the wick in the channel, but above it, near the coil, I have been increasing.

There is also the question/discussion of the draw. I have not searched that or gave it much thought as it relates to good wicking to keep the dry hits/juice flow fixed.

Thanks @edyle

 

[Avapxia]

I don't have that much experience to comment but it is taste I am after as well and not cloud production. I'm willing to speculate that there is some good ratio between a specific liquid and air where juice/air flow have to adjust. I want to believe if viscocity of a fluid is mantained across juices and the tank can not be altered to increase/decrease flow, then the only juice adjustment is the wick. The airflow if maximum is already too much we can easily handle, althogh in some containers wicking also affects air flow.

What really puzzles me in this early stage of vaping is how much better or more taste I get out of juices in cooler open air. There are no smokers in the house and is well vented, so I doubt is the quality of the air, with exception of humidity. Has anyone else experienced this? I enjoy outdoor vaping twice as much, although my motive for picking it up was so I can smoke indoors.

Maybe it has to do with heat flow where moist and cool air prevents the overheating spikes that mess up the flavor. Short intermitent firing does not help much with flavor.