Users of cotton wicks - what's the preferred source?

[bluecat]

Peaches and Cream from Walmart. 2 bucks for an eternity of wicks. I first bought the white then when back and got the ecru which is the natural apparently. I boiled it basically because it is an open package on the shelf. I did not know how the arrived in truck and how many of Wally World's patrons decided to handle that particular ball of yarn. 40 minutes boiling an arm stretched length then let hang dry from basket hooks from the ceiling of the kitchen. I have more than enough ecru and white yarn that I may have to learn how to knit.

I use a silicon wick as the flavor wick.. more or less to give it a firmer seal. I wrap the wire around a big paper clip. Then slide the yarn through add liquid and let it soak in. Depending on wraps I get 2.2 to 3.0 ohms so far. 32 gauge aw.

 

[Taylor7617]

An important thing with cotton is more is not better. Using less cotton it is always better as the cotton swells significantly when wet. Too much cotton will definitely cause problems.
If you are not using 'microcoils' (all wraps touching) you should definitely give them a try ... microcoils and cotton are a perfect combination.
If you need to get up to speed with microcoils you can find everything you need to know on this short post.
Personally I find 9 wraps of 28 gauge kanthal which produces around a 1.4 ohm coil works perfect for me ... if you want a higher ohm coil then you will have to stick to 30 gauge wire as there simply won't be enough room for the wraps required to produce higher ohm coils using 28 gauge wire.

I use organic cotton balls boiled for 30 minutes, drained, and boiled again for 30 minutes, squeeze out water and drie with a fan.
You can wash enough cotton balls in one boil to last quite a long time so it's not that big of deal to boil it.
I often use butchers twine(boiled) for my EVOD/Vivi Nova/etc builds as I find it lasts longer than the cotton balls before it has to be changed.
Remember that cotton wicks need to be changed 'often' ... how often depends on your liquid (darker liquid needs to be changed much more often) and how much you vape of course but you'll know when it needs to be changed. Another nice thing about microcoils is, when it's time to change the wick because it is dirty or because you used too much cotton, you can simply remove the wick from the microcoil and insert a fresh cotton wick, without having to rebuild the coil.

I guess when it comes down to it, I've not made a 'micro-coil'. I have made coils but all wraps were not touching. Last YouTube Vid that I saw stated that doing this could cause hot spots however many I saw previously were squeezing wraps together and using a torch to secure the hold (then dropping in cold water). Sorry - maybe this shows my inexperience, why is using a micro-coil (touching wraps) better then a coil that has space between each wrap. Guess I need to step back and understand the basics.

As well........probably use less cotton and see how little I can use where it doesn't leak.

 

[TomCatt]

Ok.....follow-up on my original questions. I've now done 5 coils and all are working great. Using 30/32 ga Kanthal and depending on the wraps have had anywhere from 2.0 to 2.8 ohms which is what I was expecting. Also using cotton as described within this thread. Now my questions:

1) I see that the 30ga wire heats up slower. Any real advantage or benefit of using 30g over 32ga? I need a few more wraps to get the ohm range, but is heating up slower a plus??

2) Using cotton, I have the Peaches & Cream and another that the wife bought. I boil for 15-20 minutes and it has been working very nicely. One issue, after a tank has been sitting for an extended time....on the first few hits of the power button, I get some "popping and spitting" and have had fluid hit my tongue / roof of mouth. First time really startled me... Note, currently been using the full 4-strand yarn for inside the coil (tightening it down to thread it thru and then unwinding to leave it loose) as well as a couple single strands on top for flavor wicks.

Is this to much cotton which is wicking up to much fluid? Thinking an excess of fluid once heated by the coil is contributing to the popping and spitting. Any thoughts? On my next, I thought about reducing the amount of cotton inside the coil but wanted to get some thoughts first.

Thanks all.

1) People using 30g or larger diameter wire (lower gauge number) are often aiming for "sub-ohm" (< 1 ohm) coils; so the heat-up delay wouldn't be noticed as much (I guess). Mainly a personal preference from my point of view; don't see any pluses in a slower heat-up.

2) Cotton will hold a fair amount of juice, so after setting for a while your wick will be quite saturated. When you power up then, some sputtering is normal. It's been a while since I used any top-coil cartos and I sorta miss this .





Just an FYI: raw cotton sure looks white to me:

 

[Taylor7617]

1) People using 30g or larger diameter wire (lower gauge number) are often aiming for "sub-ohm" (< 1 ohm) coils; so the heat-up delay wouldn't be noticed as much (I guess). Mainly a personal preference from my point of view; don't see any pluses in a slower heat-up.

2) Cotton will hold a fair amount of juice, so after setting for a while your wick will be quite saturated. When you power up then, some sputtering is normal. It's been a while since I used any top-coil cartos and I sorta miss this .

I'm getting the popping and spitting on a PT2 (bottom coil)

 

[Baddog]

I guess when it comes down to it, I've not made a 'micro-coil'. I have made coils but all wraps were not touching. Last YouTube Vid that I saw stated that doing this could cause hot spots however many I saw previously were squeezing wraps together and using a torch to secure the hold (then dropping in cold water). Sorry - maybe this shows my inexperience, why is using a micro-coil (touching wraps) better then a coil that has space between each wrap. Guess I need to step back and understand the basics.

As well........probably use less cotton and see how little I can use where it doesn't leak.

Here's a great video from another ECF member building a microcoil on a Kayfun lite. Same principles apply for any device your building a microcoil.

 

[mezzio]

I'm getting the popping and spitting on a PT2 (bottom coil)

When I get that I take the head out, and blow everything in to a napkin, twist a corner of the napkin and insert it in to the stem to soak up anything in there, also the stem in the tank itself. Once everything's cleaned up, put it back together and its usually good.




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[Ryedan]

I've been using micro coils and cotton from Q-tips for a couple for weeks. Tastes and performs great except that it doesn't last long. I may have been using a bit too much cotton. I tried gauze from a first aid kit a couple of days ago and I am really impressed. Performs very well, lasts a lot longer and tastes great.

 

[TomCatt]

I'm getting the popping and spitting on a PT2 (bottom coil)

Hmmm, I get some crackling, but no ejuice in the mouth with any of my bcc's.


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