I'm a beginner as far as rebuilding is concerned, but I've done a lot of research recently and it would seem like 29G Kanthal and Japanese Cotton would be the best for me to get started with making coils for my new rta. However, I wanted to get the opinion directly from more experienced people than myself, it would give me more confidence in what I am buying. If anyone has links to some great deals I'd appreciate it as well, but I can always find it myself so don't worry about it if you don't have any in mind. Ideally I'd like it if I could buy it from somewhere in the US that would get it shipped here by Saturday, but I'm willing to wait longer or pay a little more for shipping if there is a better price / arrangement. Thanks in advance!
Which gauge kanthal / type of cotton should I buy for my Lemo Drop to optimize flavor?
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29 seems fine. I use it myself. Later on you will buy other widths just to play with coil making but 29 kanthal a1 works great. Not too thick to force you making overly long coils and not too thin to give you too much work. Obviously it depends on the RTA but haven't heard anything different regarding the lemo.
About the wick... Have you considered rayon? It beats cotton by miles and since you don't bring bad habits from cotton wicking, you should grab the techniques fairly easy.
In the US it's also cheap as chips (Sally 100% rayon fibers / cellucotton).
Regards
Tony
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About the wick... Have you considered rayon? It beats cotton by miles and since you don't bring bad habits from cotton wicking, you should grab the techniques fairly easy.
In the US it's also cheap as chips (Sally 100% rayon fibers / cellucotton).
Regards
Tony
Sent from my keyboard through my phone or something like that.
Thanks for the advice! I've considered rayon but I'm seeing a lot of conflicting opinions between the japanese cotton and the rayon, and I honestly don't know which one I would want to go with. Both have people who are super adamant about their effectiveness.
It's all about whichever works best for you. I've settled on using japanese organic cotton but I honestly haven't tried rayon yet. Once my supply runs low I'll pick some up.
I'm not going to argue in favor of rayon as I would sound like a fanboy but I'll tell you this:
I choose rayon because I'm lazy. A cotton wick will last a day if that much. Silica will last weeks but the flavor is muted compared to any cotton or rayon.
A Rayon wick lasts me 2 weeks and I taste just my juice.
Even if Japanese cotton is just as good, will it last two weeks?
In the end, you will have to find out by yourself if it's worth it.
I tried tons of wicks (Ekowool, silica , muji pads and cotton) before finding my favorite.
If you want to try Japanese cotton, go for it but also try out other wicks and choose what suits you the most
Regards
Tony
Sent from my keyboard through my phone or something like that.
I choose rayon because I'm lazy. A cotton wick will last a day if that much. Silica will last weeks but the flavor is muted compared to any cotton or rayon.
A Rayon wick lasts me 2 weeks and I taste just my juice.
Even if Japanese cotton is just as good, will it last two weeks?
In the end, you will have to find out by yourself if it's worth it.
I tried tons of wicks (Ekowool, silica , muji pads and cotton) before finding my favorite.
If you want to try Japanese cotton, go for it but also try out other wicks and choose what suits you the most
Regards
Tony
Sent from my keyboard through my phone or something like that.
Thank you for the advice!
I'm not going to argue in favor of rayon as I would sound like a fanboy but I'll tell you this:
I choose rayon because I'm lazy. A cotton wick will last a day if that much. Silica will last weeks but the flavor is muted compared to any cotton or rayon.
A Rayon wick lasts me 2 weeks and I taste just my juice.
Even if Japanese cotton is just as good, will it last two weeks?
In the end, you will have to find out by yourself if it's worth it.
I tried tons of wicks (Ekowool, silica , muji pads and cotton) before finding my favorite.
If you want to try Japanese cotton, go for it but also try out other wicks and choose what suits you the most
Regards
Tony
Sent from my keyboard through my phone or something like that.
I appreciate how straight you are being with me, I'm really loving a lot of the vaping community so far. I'm active on /r/ecr as well on Reddit and I've seen nothing but great people here and there so far. I may end up giving the Rayon a try since there is a sally's only a few miles from my house and I can guarantee I'll have it by the time that my Lemo and my 50w iStick get here. Thank you!
I've been using Japanese cotton for over a year after transcending from plain old organic cotton balls that come in a bag. The major difference I see with Koh Gen Do Japanese cotton is that it's combed very well and most of the fibers are parallel. Once I find Cellucotton in stock at the local Sally Beauty Supply I'll buy a box.
I recently stopped into a Sally's Beauty Supply to get some Cellucotton and they were out. All they had was the salon coil that's entirely made of cotton. A box of it that will last me a year is $3.49 and it vapes well. It's coarser than medical cotton and wicks really well. I bought the red box below.
The Cellucotton salon coil is about $14 for what looks to be the same size box as the standard salon coil cotton. I change cotton wicks every two or three days, when I sense a change in the vape. It would be nice to be able to change it at the two week point.
The lady at Sally didn't know what I was looking for until she asked me what I needed it for. When I mentioned ecigs a light went on and she took me to the shelf and showed me what "those people with the electronic cigarettes buy". It helps if you know what to look for. Print it and show them and they will recognize it.
This is the Cellucotton at Sally Beauty Supply
This one is the regular cotton from Sally
I recently stopped into a Sally's Beauty Supply to get some Cellucotton and they were out. All they had was the salon coil that's entirely made of cotton. A box of it that will last me a year is $3.49 and it vapes well. It's coarser than medical cotton and wicks really well. I bought the red box below.
The Cellucotton salon coil is about $14 for what looks to be the same size box as the standard salon coil cotton. I change cotton wicks every two or three days, when I sense a change in the vape. It would be nice to be able to change it at the two week point.
The lady at Sally didn't know what I was looking for until she asked me what I needed it for. When I mentioned ecigs a light went on and she took me to the shelf and showed me what "those people with the electronic cigarettes buy". It helps if you know what to look for. Print it and show them and they will recognize it.
This is the Cellucotton at Sally Beauty Supply
This one is the regular cotton from Sally
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I've been using Japanese cotton for over a year after transcending from plain old organic cotton balls that come in a bag. The major difference I see with Koh Gen Do Japanese cotton is that it's combed very well and most of the fibers are parallel. Once I find Cellucotton in stock at the local Sally Beauty Supply I'll buy a box.
I recently stopped into a Sally's Beauty Supply to get some Cellucotton and they were out. All they had was the salon coil that's entirely made of cotton. A box of it that will last me a year is $3.49 and it vapes well. It's coarser than medical cotton and wicks really well. I bought the red box below.
The Cellucotton salon coil is about $14 for what looks to be the same size box as the standard salon coil cotton. I change cotton wicks every two or three days, when I sense a change in the vape. It would be nice to be able to change it at the two week point.
The lady at Sally didn't know what I was looking for until she asked me what I needed it for. When I mentioned ecigs a light went on and she took me to the shelf and showed me what "those people with the electronic cigarettes buy". It helps if you know what to look for. Print it and show them and they will recognize it.
This is the Cellucotton at Sally Beauty Supply
This one is the regular cotton from Sally
Thank you Dave! I have a Sally's nearby so they should have at least one of those things in stock for me!
The salon coil is a rope of cotton that has reinforcing paper attached along its length. You just cut a length and pull the paper off, then lightly press the cotton (or cellucotton) into the shape for a wick like you'd do with cotton balls. Either type will do fine. Cellucotton is a longer lasting wick material, but the red box cotton is still better than cotton balls since it's coarser and wicks better and it's a fraction of the price of cellucotton. I find myself noticing a drop off in vapor and flavor after 3 days or so. It only takes 5 minutes to replace the wick and refill my Kayfun.
I plan to check back with the local Sally store for cellucotton in a few days. They were out but normally stock it.
Here is a very good video review which helped me decide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcZjaG9RPZ4
Cheers!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcZjaG9RPZ4
Cheers!
Thank you! In your opinion is there a difference in flavor from the red box salon coil vs. Japanese cotton? I can pick up some Shiseido from a local sephora for 9.50 but if the 3 dollar coil shows no appreciable difference I'd rather get that.
Be careful to look at the box when buying cellucotton. For example, Sallys sells a 40-foot package of Cellucotton which is cotton, not rayon (it says on the front, 100% cotton). They only carry the Rayon in the 500-foot and 3 pound sizes (at least last I checked). These both say "100% Rayon Fibers". The number on the box (Big black number on the URH side) should be 44060 for the 500-foot, and 44043 for the 3-lb box (about 900 feet). The packages look the same, and they're all called cellucotton, which can be confusing!
I would also recommend the rayon, but I haven't tried the Japanese cotton!
I would also recommend the rayon, but I haven't tried the Japanese cotton!
Thanks! I'm considering rayon as well but I really don't need a gigantic box of it lol. I may pick up the red coil that Dave suggested if it isn't very different from Japanese cotton which is more expensive.
My 5 cents: tried rayon and Japanese cotton.
I prefer the Japanese stuff for my subtank, and rayon for the dripper.
The rayon seems to take the higher temperature I run the dripper at better.
Flavour wise, the Japanese lasts me well for a couple of days with the same liquid (DIY banana stuff that's not dark by any means)whereas the. rayon lasts me a week or so before I change itin the dripper usimg a fairly dark and heavy liquid.
I would try both - it's not like it costs a fortune
I prefer the Japanese stuff for my subtank, and rayon for the dripper.
The rayon seems to take the higher temperature I run the dripper at better.
Flavour wise, the Japanese lasts me well for a couple of days with the same liquid (DIY banana stuff that's not dark by any means)whereas the. rayon lasts me a week or so before I change itin the dripper usimg a fairly dark and heavy liquid.
I would try both - it's not like it costs a fortune
It's not just a good video/review, it's a great one from Pete B!
I watched this video last week, and the test methods and results were amazing... personally after seeing it, I doubt I'll use anything but ... cotton!
I haven't tried any Japanese cotton, but would like to at some point.
Organic cotton didn't do it for me. Would get occasional dry hits with thicker juices, & way too easy to burn when a tank was running dry.
Got a box of rayon from Sallys, no more issues. And it will last 5 lifetimes, I can pass it down to my great great grandkids. As a bonus, my 2 daughters & wife have found it, using it for things I just don't know or care about.
Organic cotton didn't do it for me. Would get occasional dry hits with thicker juices, & way too easy to burn when a tank was running dry.
Got a box of rayon from Sallys, no more issues. And it will last 5 lifetimes, I can pass it down to my great great grandkids. As a bonus, my 2 daughters & wife have found it, using it for things I just don't know or care about.
I know it's inexpensive, but if you just want to try rayon, you can get a bit of it for free. Go to a hair salon and politely ask for a foot or so. Just be sure that the box says cellucotton and not cotton.
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