whats the best wicking material?

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Wow1420

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I love rayon! I rebuild my T3S's and for me the flavor is so much better than the cotton and yarn I was using. I don't get a breaking in time, the flavor much "cleaner" and I can change flavors and it takes very little time before you taste the new flavor. You can read on the rayon thread about the safety of it. Also, if you don't want to use the one from Sally's there are medical rayon balls you can buy from Delasco. The thread talks about those as well.

There is something almost magical about rayon in those small Kanger coils. I noticed a huge improvement over cotton in those coils.
In Kayfun or RDA, the performance seems closer (compared to Japanese cotton), except for the much longer life of rayon. I vape very light fruit flavors and the wicks just keep on going and going.
 

jonhall2

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rayon balls from Delasco arrived today. paid $3.50 + $4 shipping 200 balls. i am using 26ga gplat 1/8" id coil .6 ohm in a kayfun lite plus. i pulled as much rayon as would fit the coil. a good bit more than when i use cotton. started with 10 watts to get things wicking and there is great flavor and a lot of popping and cracking going on. at 28 watts the juice is flowing and keeping up with the power. cotton would have singed at 18 watts already and forced distasteful retreat. rayon just keeps delivering incredible flavor and screams bring it on. 30 watts the mod is applying 4.2V regulated. simply incredible, i am converted. i am convinced rayon is a major improvement compared to any cotton. i reduced the power to 15 watts because i am not used to inhaling that much humidity at once and nic wouldl have to be lower. nice to have the ability to catch a stronger hit when i need it. i get busy at work and cuts into my vape time. now when i take a break, i can jack up the power and catch up quick. my search for the best wick is over.
 

AndriaD

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did anybody see p.busardo's video comparison/test of four types of wick material. he compares organic cotton, koh gen do japanese cotton, rayon, and hemp. from what i could tell, rayon was the best. koh gen do seemed to wick as fast but clogged sooner after multiple tanks. organic still out performed hemp.

i guess what i am asking is who vapes rayon? what are your thoughts on this material. his test is the first i have heard of rayon and that being a suitable wick material.

Rayon is by far the best wick I've tried, and I've tried silica, ekowool, cotton yarn, regular cotton, and organic cotton. Rayon beats 'em all. Better flavor by FAR than silica or ekowool or cotton yarn; better wicking/capillary action than any kind of cotton, and far more heat resistant than cotton. It makes small tanks like a Mini PT II, Aro Pyrex, etc, provide flavor almost as good as from a Kayfun, and in a kayfun or other rebuildable (tried it in a Caterpillar too), it's simply amazing. I'm about to have a Smok RSBT also, just ordered it, so I expect it will also be great in that.

+100,000,000 for rayon/cellucotton!!!

Andria
 

vapdivrr

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I use all three, cvs sterile cotton, kgd, and rayon, it just depends on which one I grab. flavor wise, they all are pretty dam close, honestly if I set up 3 of my kayfuns, all with the same juice, I really would doubt if any one could tell the difference. the differences are really in how one has success with a particular material, some may just not be able to successfully make a perfect build with cotton but they can make one with rayon, in that case of coarse the differences are major. like wise if one doesn't have great consistency with rayon but can make a cotton build perfect every time then sure that person is going to say cotton is better. seriously if all 3 wicking materials were done perfectly one would have to vape each one many times back and forth to find differences between each one, and even then, you might just be imagining the differences. there are some definite advantages other then flavor that each materials do have, like rayon, I do see it lasting a bit longer before having to re wick, also kgd is seems easier then regular cotton to wick a coil because of the flat pads, just cut a strip and go. my usual wattages are between 15 to 30 watts and all 3 wicking materials, with a good build, keep up fine. maybe it comes down to individuals particular taste perception but I have done maybe a thousand cotton builds, maybe a hundred kgd builds and about 60 rayon builds and tbh the flavors are pretty close imo. I never got the " I just received some kgd today and its 100x's better then cotton" or " rayon is such a game changer, its 1000x's better then anything I ever used before" or how about this one? " just did a rayon build at 13 watts, i could of never have done that with cotton". well i know for sure that last one is proof that the differences are not the material, but the build and how successful one is with that material.
 

heyilikethis

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granted i never got the hang of building a kayfun until recently but using rayon was the first time i was blown away by the flavor from these devices, got a sample from local b&m and later bought the 500ft box, love the stuff, leaves way less gunk on the coil and wick and evap chamber, also in most cases u can stuff quite a bit into the coil and have it work great, netime i left the rayon loose in my coil is when i had flavor issues with it
rayon has my vote for best wicking material atm (ive never tried mesh so my experience is limited)
 

vapdivrr

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granted i never got the hang of building a kayfun until recently but using rayon was the first time i was blown away by the flavor from these devices, got a sample from local b&m and later bought the 500ft box, love the stuff, leaves way less gunk on the coil and wick and evap chamber, also in most cases u can stuff quite a bit into the coil and have it work great, netime i left the rayon loose in my coil is when i had flavor issues with it
rayon has my vote for best wicking material atm (ive never tried mesh so my experience is limited)
Absolutely, I agree, imo rayon is less picky inside the coil. If one uses to much rayon thru the coil you don't suffer as much with flavor loss. If you use to much cotton, almost unvapable.
 

xpen

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After trying almost any conceivable materials for my wicks, I've eventually settled on ramie and rayon.

They're both very effective, so which one to use is mostly depending on the build (and flavor) at hand. And mood of the moment :)

To sum up their characteristics:

Rayon: excellent wicking, no taste, requires some more power - or you'll get a somehow 'watery' vape.

Ramie: very good wicking, excellent scorch resistance, a bit of a earthy taste (good with tobaccos).

Both should be boiled IMO for hygienic reasons (not the sterile rayon balls, though), but in the case of ramie also for washing away possible chemicals from production.
 

jonhall2

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I was convinced on rayon after vaping 4 full tanks on the same wick and just enough hint at the last that the coil was gunking. It is trickier than cotton to get just right into a kayfun. An 1/8" id coil takes way more rayon than cotton to fill. I make sure it squeaks a little pulling through. Trimming the ends on and angle and just the right length to push the wick down with the chamber section installation beat tucking it in. Tucking can create a gap at the top of the coil if not careful. No matter the amount of material inserted. If you try to lift to fill the gap, you can raise the wick off the deck. Leads to more tucking. Basically, when you get it right it will vape four tanks. When you get it wrong you will know very soon. The wick will have scorched and start over immediately. For Kanger and RDA builds I don't see any problems.
 

jonhall2

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Tried rayon in a 28ga. Kanger coil yesterday and was very pleased. On the other hand, I am having some problems getting my Kayfuns running right. The 1/8" id coil is too large and makes such a bushy wick its hard to duplicate the results I got before. Smaller id, more wraps should be able to manage the amount of material and be able to tuck the wick after the chamber is installed is my hope. I am working with some 26ga and need at least a half ohm to fire regulated. I have a mech mod if I come up short and can add a wrap on the next build if it works.

My english setter has some good looking organic fur. May require boiling first.
 

vapdivrr

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Tried rayon in a 28ga. Kanger coil yesterday and was very pleased. On the other hand, I am having some problems getting my Kayfuns running right. The 1/8" id coil is too large and makes such a bushy wick its hard to duplicate the results I got before. Smaller id, more wraps should be able to manage the amount of material and be able to tuck the wick after the chamber is installed is my hope. I am working with some 26ga and need at least a half ohm to fire regulated. I have a mech mod if I come up short and can add a wrap on the next build if it works.

My english setter has some good looking organic fur. May require boiling first.
Personally I prefer slightly smaller diameter coils but if you would like to keep the 1/8 coil then you could just trim the tails. Because the rayon requires a bit more thru the coil, the tails often require trimming in most instances anyways. Just don't trim to close to the actual coil itself, by leaving the first couple of mm from the coil Un trimmed, you reduce the chance of the wick flopping. Also 26g is a great wire but if your running lower wattages it can be a bit unresponsive. I like the 28g for wattages under 17, from 17 to 20 I use 27g. Usually over 20 is when I use the 26g.
 
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