Which wick is better???
- Thread starter Lonewonderer
- Start date
- th_trl_thread_readers 0
-
- Tags
- kayfun
- Status
There are tons of wicking systems out there:
- Stainless steel mesh
- Silica (twisted or braided "ekowool")
- Coton
- Ceramic
- Hemp (rarely used)
- Wire rope (cable)
Kanthal or nichrome wire is the resistance wire that builds up your coil and is used with all different wicks... Kanthal is not a wicking material but a coil material.
As to which one wicks (or tastes for that matter) better... It is a matter of personal opinion and technique.
- Stainless steel mesh
- Silica (twisted or braided "ekowool")
- Coton
- Ceramic
- Hemp (rarely used)
- Wire rope (cable)
Kanthal or nichrome wire is the resistance wire that builds up your coil and is used with all different wicks... Kanthal is not a wicking material but a coil material.
As to which one wicks (or tastes for that matter) better... It is a matter of personal opinion and technique.
Last edited:
Again, thats a matter of taste and usage.
Cotton will burn if fired dry where silica will not... But cotton has better capillary properties.
Depends on the application, the device, and your own personal preference. Mesh is considered an evolution "beyond" silica/cotton (whatever), but I sure enjoy it in some of my rba's. Cable with a mesh sleeve seems all the rage these days. I just got the cable but haven't needed to rewick yet, and I cannot bear to tear down a perfectly working wick. I assume you're probably talking about Genesys RBA's, when you ask that question. There are several high-end devices that use silica or cotton (Ithaka and kayfun come to mind) where there's not really a choice. What is your application? Also, you can go to the dark side and mesh a clearo even. Bit too much work for the vape, imho, but GB the vapers who love this design. Maybe a bit more info, so we can be a bit more specific. Also, a lot of New Members probably don't have much experience with the RBA's yet. I'm very new to it myself....the Journey only just began in this niche....and really lovin' it, personally.
Another vote here for cotton.
I've used:
silica - better results than standard coils.
ss mesh - could never get this to taste quite right no matter what I did.
mesh over silica - better than mesh alone, but still not quite there.
hemp - good results, but I found the flavour slightly muted.
ecowool - just ordered some, so not tried it yet.
cotton - when done right, great flavour, massive vapour.
These are just my own personal results though
I've used:
silica - better results than standard coils.
ss mesh - could never get this to taste quite right no matter what I did.
mesh over silica - better than mesh alone, but still not quite there.
hemp - good results, but I found the flavour slightly muted.
ecowool - just ordered some, so not tried it yet.
cotton - when done right, great flavour, massive vapour.
These are just my own personal results though
I just got my Phoenix V5 RBA. So it's my first time to use it. Been youtubing it and looks not that hard to build. I have a RBA with a tank that uses SS wick. Does not give that much vapor and taste. My friend has a dripper style RBA. taste good and vapors a lot.
I use cotton, cheesecloth specifically. The Silica (Ekowool) and mesh taste odd to me, hemp and bamboo just aren't easy come by around here and I am not ordering 50 ft of roper to tear up for wicks. Cotton yarn needs boiled first, cotton balls are just a pain to get a nice, uniform wick out of. Flour sack towels do okay but still harger to get a good wick from than cheese cloth. Butcher's twine, again, needs boiled first.
Unbleached, food safe cheesecloth, rinse (and probably don't need to do that but I rinse it before using it for wine making or canning too so, just rinse the whole piece of it at once.) Pull off 28 - 30 strands, use one to spiral around the rest to make the wick easy to work with.
Only down side is that you can't fire the coils with a dry wick, or even a dry flavor wick or you will burn the wick and, have to replace it and, you have to remove it to wash it and ever get all of the flavor out. SO just as easy (and cheap) to make a new wick every time you clean the device.
Unbleached, food safe cheesecloth, rinse (and probably don't need to do that but I rinse it before using it for wine making or canning too so, just rinse the whole piece of it at once.) Pull off 28 - 30 strands, use one to spiral around the rest to make the wick easy to work with.
Only down side is that you can't fire the coils with a dry wick, or even a dry flavor wick or you will burn the wick and, have to replace it and, you have to remove it to wash it and ever get all of the flavor out. SO just as easy (and cheap) to make a new wick every time you clean the device.
RBA are not hard at all... they just require some safety knowledge.. especially if used on mechs... You need to understand ohms law and it relation to amperage and battery amp limit. Do some research, dont bust your battery amp limit and youll be fine.
I have vaped off:
Cotton - Tried several varieties, best wicks I could ever come up with were with braided strips of dental gauze. Also used 100% cotton string about 1.5mm. Good flavor and vapor, but short lifespan. Had to always be rebuilding atty heads to keep it fresh and clean tasting. Mostly did this in Vivis and Kanger T3s.
Silica - Comes with most standard heads out of the box.
Eckowool - Long lasting, clean tasting and good wicking action. I tend to use more smaller diameter (1mm) strings instead of a single larger strand (3mm) to rebuild atty heads. Currently my second choice wick.
SS Mesh - Only have tried the 400 and have had good results. Only had one good, long lasting vivi head that wasn't plagued with problems. On my RSST tank it sings though. Currently have a 2mm solid rolled wick with 8 wraps of 32ga wire.
These are the only setups I've messed with. Currently waiting on my 7x7 cable and ribbon wire to get here. I have high hopes for that setup!
Cotton - Tried several varieties, best wicks I could ever come up with were with braided strips of dental gauze. Also used 100% cotton string about 1.5mm. Good flavor and vapor, but short lifespan. Had to always be rebuilding atty heads to keep it fresh and clean tasting. Mostly did this in Vivis and Kanger T3s.
Silica - Comes with most standard heads out of the box.
Eckowool - Long lasting, clean tasting and good wicking action. I tend to use more smaller diameter (1mm) strings instead of a single larger strand (3mm) to rebuild atty heads. Currently my second choice wick.
SS Mesh - Only have tried the 400 and have had good results. Only had one good, long lasting vivi head that wasn't plagued with problems. On my RSST tank it sings though. Currently have a 2mm solid rolled wick with 8 wraps of 32ga wire.
These are the only setups I've messed with. Currently waiting on my 7x7 cable and ribbon wire to get here. I have high hopes for that setup!
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
