The Reason Cotton Wicks Take Time To Reach Full Flavor Output???

[Portertown]

I was playing around with a couple of my drippers today and I think I now understand why it takes cotton wicks awhile to reach full flavor output after rewicking with new cotton.
I think what happens is that the condensation inside the dripper that forms from the vapor is getting on the wick and coil. After some time a considerable amount of this condensation accumulates.
When you start out with a new cotton wick, you are only getting the flavor of "new" juice being vaporized.
But after the buildup of the condensation on the cotton and coil you are getting the flavor of "new" juice and the previously vaporized juice that has returned from condensation.
If you taste some of the "new" juice out of the bottle it does not taste the same as the vapor from vaporization. Close in taste but not the same.
If you taste the condensation from inside the dripper it tastes just like the vapor tastes.
So, I think it is this recycled juice from condensation that is building up and increasing the flavor after rewicking with cotton.
I would think the same results would happen with any other wicking material.

This is just my thoughts and I may be completely wrong, but to me it seems like this is what may be happening.

 

[State O' Flux]

A consideration from a different perspective...

Every time you take a draw, you heat the juice in the surrounding cotton. The heat/cool repetitions may serve to concentrate the components that make up the juices flavor... the heat acting as an enhancement to the juices steeping/aging process.

 

[Gonzi]

Also, when you dryburn and re-wick, or wick a new coil for that matter, you have absolutely no buildup on the coil or wick, so all you will taste is fresh juice being vaporized. As you use your device, most of the ingredients in your ejuice get vaporized, but some stays behind as condensation and build up on the wick and the coil. This affects the flavor of the vape. It concentrates the flavor, since its adding a higher concentration of flavor to the unvaporized juice, added to the effect of the heat of the coil in the chamber, in all, I'm rambling and thinking out loud.

 

[suspectK]

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=12864771

37, ph0n3 h0m3.

 

[Kemosabe]

i notice quite the opposite effect.
my cotton wicks produce the best flavor when new and allowed to fully soak in. its not until the wick starts getting old that i get a gradual drop-off in flavor.
my flavor does not "bell curve" so to speak, where it starts out not-so-good, then gets better, then gets worse as the wick ages through use. it starts out the best, then gradually gets worse over time. i attribute the drop-off in flavor to the condensation and also to the cotton's natural fibers breaking down and no longer capable of wicking juice, only trapping it. the juice in the cotton wick becomes dark from getting heated and not vaporized due to the inability of the cotton to wick perfectly forever.

 

[Rule62]

There's a common misconception that cotton is a great wicking material. News flash: No it's not. Cotton is a great reservoir, because it holds a lot of juice; but a great wicking material, it's not. In fact, here's a test. Roll a ss mesh wick, as you would use in a genisis type device, and then take an equal length piece of cotton, like you'd use in a dripper. Hold them both vertically, with the end in a bowl of juice, and see which one wets at the top faster. The ss mesh will win, every time. Granted, the cotton will hold more juice, but the capilary action of the mesh will wick from bottom to top faster.
My point is, cotton, which I use regularly in my drippers, takes a while to fully become saturated. Once it is fully saturated, it will swell, and hold enough juice to keep up with even sub ohm vape hits. I'm sure that the reason many people are experiencing semi dry or foul hits from cotton is simply because they are vaping too soon after installing the wick.
Here's what I do. If I have a horizontal coil, such as in a dripper, when I juice it up initially, I only drip juice on one side of the coil, not both sides. I'll wait until I see the cotton on the side of the coil I didn't drip on become wet. It might take several minutes. It's only then that I put the top cap on and begin vaping.

 

[Gonzi]

I love a fresh cotton wick! For me, a fresh wick just makes the juice taste super fresh and dense, as the wick seasons, flavor seems to mature slightly and stay performing great, till it starts gunking up and tasting off, then its time to change. I get what the original poster was stating and it was fun to brain storm, but I also get what Kemosabe posted as well. Taste is subjective my friends, and different juices behave different, and different toppers wick and vape different. Not to mention, the density of a cotton wick is going to be different each and every time, it is hand rolled after all, and we are all unique and we don't buy our coils massed produced at a factory to the same specs.