The Swich From Silica to Cotton, What Did You Notice / Change?

[crg31953]

I have been rebuilding my PT2 and Mini PT3 coils for a while now, but I always used silica.

I just switched to cotton and will soon try Rayon. What I'm curious about is what you noticed that changed when you made the switch.

Did you increase / decrease wattage or voltage? Did the flavor change for you?

Just interested in what you may have noticed.

Are you building Micro coils or conventional wraps?

Thanks

 

[Flt Simulation]

See, I went a different route ... I got tired of my cotton wicks only lasting a couple of days in my kayfun before they needed replacing, so I went from cotton to Ekowool braided / hollow silica wick.

Much happier now. And the silica wicks can be dry-burned without burning the wick up.

Silica lasts a looooooong time!

 

[crg31953]

See, I went a different route ... I got tired of my cotton wicks only lasting a couple of days in my Kayfun before they needed replacing, so I went from cotton to Ekowool braided / hollow silica wick.

Much happier now. And the silica wicks can be dry-burned without burning the wick up.

Silica lasts a looooooong time!

Did your flavor change much?

 

[Firestorm]

I moved from silica to Ekowool to cotton. I noticed that the taste of cotton (post boiling) tastes cleaner. I used traditional wraps with my silica and Ekowool, but I use microcoils with cotton and change my cotton wicks at least once a week. I primarily use mechanical mods so I can't change the voltage or wattage, but I didn't change the resistance of my coils when I switched.

 

[Flt Simulation]

Did your flavor change much?

Not that I can tell

 

[rusirius]

I've tried both silica and ekowool (which is silica too) and used then both for a long time. I tried cotton initially and didn't care for it. Mostly because it seemed like I was replacing it a lot. But after I got better at building I switched back and wouldn't dream of using anything else now. Even after boiling or torching I can still taste silica. Cotton to me is much cleaner. And as for replacing it, once I learned how to make a good build and get it wicked right I can go a week or two on a cotton quick without ever replacing it. And when I do replace it, it's not cause it tastes funny, it's just because I feel like it's time.

It's a lot easier too. Especially with micro coils. Plus I can get silica/ekowool to wick decent, but nothing like cotton... not even close. So I can run much higher wattage...

 

[DetraMental]

I love the ease of using cotton, it's cheap, and it's readily available without having to order it. I use microcoils using different gauges of 28, 30, & 32 kanthal. I love the flavor I get with cotton too. I rebuilt some stock coils and let my fellow vapers try them and they love the flavor and vapor production they get. It sure does save some $$$$ knowing how to rebuild.

 

[RIMP]

I use Koh Gen Doh cotton or cellucotton Graham CelluCotton Cotton Coil to me the cellucotton tastes cleaner

 

[crg31953]

On my current build I have 10 wraps of 30 gauge Kanthol on a 1/16 drill bit. It came out close to 1.9 ohms, micro coil style and cotton wick.

So far I like it, no gurgles or leakage. I'm still playing with wattage to see where I get the best flavor. Right now I'm running about 8 watts and it seems to be good.

The only e-liquid I had on hand was Halo and we all know that its 80/20 pg/vg at best. What would you say is the most common pg/vg ratio used?

I'm also curious as to if you reuse your coil and just rewick or just throw in a new build?

 

[rusirius]

Crg31953,
Depending on what you have that coil in, you should be able to bump to like 10-12 watts with it and get more vapor and better flavor. That's assuming you have your quick right. Not too much and not to little. You could go 15 easy with that coil and not burn but I think you'll find 10-12 will probably give you the best flavor depending on juice.

I personally like 50/50 most of the time. Gives a good balancein my opinion.

And yes, if I get a happy coil it will usually stay in place for a month or two at least. I just dry burn it when I re wick just to make sure it still looks happy. Otherwise it should be fine!

 

[Marc411]

I've tried both silica and ekowool (which is silica too) and used then both for a long time. I tried cotton initially and didn't care for it. Mostly because it seemed like I was replacing it a lot. But after I got better at building I switched back and wouldn't dream of using anything else now. Even after boiling or torching I can still taste silica. Cotton to me is much cleaner. And as for replacing it, once I learned how to make a good build and get it wicked right I can go a week or two on a cotton quick without ever replacing it. And when I do replace it, it's not cause it tastes funny, it's just because I feel like it's time.

It's a lot easier too. Especially with micro coils. Plus I can get silica/ekowool to wick decent, but nothing like cotton... not even close. So I can run much higher wattage...

So tell me, how are you getting a week out of cotton and not losing taste. I rebuild and use cotton but I can taste the change in a couple days and re-wick.

 

[rusirius]

So tell me, how are you getting a week out of cotton and not losing taste. I rebuild and use cotton but I can taste the change in a couple days and re-wick.

I'm sure the juice plays a part in it, but I haven't really noticed a big difference.... I think honestly a lot of it comes down to build... I remember when I first started trying to use cotton (in a kayfun) I hated it. Thinking back now I'm pretty sure it was just that I sucked at building! Too much cotton and it doesn't wick right. That means dryer hits and more wear and tear on the cotton. On the other hand, too little cotton and wicking is fine, but the coil just isn't soaked in juice the way it's meant to be. Plus if the coil isn't good, and you have any hot spots or un-eveness in the firing that plays a part too. I haven't used silica for a long time, but I remember after just a tank or two of juice I would pull the coils and it would be a nightmare... The coil would be nasty and gunky and the silica itself was just blackened and horrible tasting. Again I attribute this to the fact that rather it's my build skills or what, I just can't seem to get silica to wick right. Certainly not the way I can cotton.

When I build with cotton, I'll take the time to unroll the ball, examine the grain.. look for a good "spot" to pull the wick from... cut it out and then roll it until it's what I deem "perfect". I like my tails to have a slightly larger bulk while the part that goes through the coil is slightly thinner. Not too thin though. The idea is to keep the coil well supplied with juice, and have plenty in the wick as a reserve, yet not "packed" in there... Remember it will expand slightly when wet, but in the same respect you've got to make sure the coil has complete and full contact with the wick.

I can run tank after tank after tank this way with no problem at all... When I finally do change the wick the coil is still pretty clean and while there is some darkening around the wick it's NOTHING like it was with silica. It's really just that, a darkening of it. Next time I do a wick swap I'll have to try to take some pics and see if I can post them up. My coil in my kfl has seen heavy use lately (i've been using it every day pretty hard) and is probably a week old at the moment... So I'll see if I can re-wick it soon.

Like I said, I think it's just a matter of getting the wick right.. So it's wicking at a speed that can keep up with the vape and not have hot spots or un-juiced portions of the coil... Any of those factors will burn the wick and deteriorate it's performance which leads to a kinda downward spiral...

 

[Jimi D.]

I tasted my childhood sucking on t-shirts. So I went back to silica.

 

[crg31953]

Crg31953,
Depending on what you have that coil in, you should be able to bump to like 10-12 watts with it and get more vapor and better flavor. That's assuming you have your quick right. Not too much and not to little. You could go 15 easy with that coil and not burn but I think you'll find 10-12 will probably give you the best flavor depending on juice.

I personally like 50/50 most of the time. Gives a good balancein my opinion.

And yes, if I get a happy coil it will usually stay in place for a month or two at least. I just dry burn it when I re wick just to make sure it still looks happy. Otherwise it should be fine!

I'll have to try this, I am relatively new to cotton so I am still playing with amounts for the wick. I currently have on a Vamo, so I can take the wattage that high.

I appreciate the input!

 

[Moonbogg]

I don't rebuild with anything but cotton or cellucotton (mostly boiled cotton). I compared to my kanger mega with stock coils and I can't vape that thing anymore. Its so bizarre. I used to love that mega and now I can't use it. Flavor is so muted compared to a cotton kayfun with micro coil. The mega produces a good vapor amount, but its a dry, less dense kind of vapor. Hard to describe but the vapor seems light and empty compared to the denser, heavier vapor from the kayfun with cotton. Clouds are the same size generally, but the vapor density and flavor are very different.

 

[crg31953]

Hey Moonbogg,

What gauge Kanthal and resistance are you running in your kayfun? I'm looking at a kayfun lite.

 

[crg31953]

I tasted my childhood sucking on t-shirts. So I went back to silica.

Out curiosity, what didn't you like about cotton or cellucotton?

 

[Moonbogg]

Hey Moonbogg,

What gauge Kanthal and resistance are you running in your kayfun? I'm looking at a kayfun lite.

Kayfun lite+ V2
28ga
3/32" drill bit (.093" ID)
micro coil
1.2ohm
3.8 volts
CVS sterile rolled cotton, boiled.

This is the lowest ohm coil I've used. I usually stay between 1.5 and 1.8, but this 1.2 is rockin it pretty good right now. I don't always waste time trimming the wick perfectly and making it all pretty. All I do is put the chimney on with the wick sticking up through it, trim the wick level with top of chimney, and stuff the wick down. It looks like its blocking the top of the juice channels, but it works perfectly.
Last night, I tried to trim the wick perfect to where its barely brushing the top of the deck, and guess what. I got dry hits because there wasn't enough wick touching. I use the much easier trim and stuff method. Works every time. I change my cotton every day anyway for flavor purposes, so no point in messing with it too much.
The flavor goes bad after a full day no matter how nice the wick looks, so I don't waste my time anymore. Same with Rayon/cellucotton. Flavor goes bad and needs replacing every day to keep flavor at its peak, so I just use my boiled cotton.

 

[Jimi D.]

Out curiosity, what didn't you like about cotton or cellucotton?

The taste, and the shrinkage. Silica is my favorite, but I'm very picky. I lightly torch it to sterilize. I've found the cleanest to be from the U.K.

 

[USMCotaku]

Bad taste from cotton is almost always caused by improper amount used. Once you get that down the flavor is an amazing leap above silica. Now silica just tastes bland to me. I was tinkering a few days ago, and built a dual coil .45 ohm in one of the old style kanger dual coil heads, wicked with cotton. Atop of my nemesis it rivaled my RDA for flavor and vape production.

This was in an aerotank