Wick materials. Safe vs dangerous.

[perlionsmitnick]

A long time ago Dan was just starting his 1st DSU and it wasn't going so well so he sent it to me to play with. For those that don't know a V3 has the tank under the coil and uses a horse shoe ss wick and the DSUs have the tank above the coil with a vertical SS wick. (DSU= down side upper) Anyway, we didn't have the idea of a vacuum type tank yet and with a vent it leaked to bad. So I took the tank off and made a 3/4" tall scuba dripper, it was great for taste testing juice. I put a tube in the side that stopped just below the coil/ss wick and it doubled as the air hole to drip a few drops right onto the coil. That was fun for a while but I got tired of dripping and just stuffed the whole coil tube full of loose gauze pads. It held about 3 or 4 ml and vaped rather good, I took the ss wick out and it made a big difference in the taste. The point to this long post is that you can vape through the liquid held in the gauze. It was kinda messy when it was time to change the coil though. when it would crud up around the coil you just pull it out and wash/dry it and put it back where the burnt part was not around the coil.

What was it that Dan was using in his earlier 'pill fob' units?

I went to Michaels last week and got the cotton yarn and have been going between that and the ss mesh, ss mesh with a little cotton wrapped under the coil, yarn only, etc. The yarn that I got has two opposing threads that are wrapped around it in order to hold the cotton together. I have removed those threads to allow for expansion of the yarn, hopefully for better wicking.

I have come to the previous conclusion that the cotton wants to hold the juice. I have to vacuum suck flood the top chamber (ScubaV3) in order for the yard to wick good. In the GTUS the yarn works pretty well but requires some refresh time. In the vid I made on the bunny balls, they seemed to work good at first but refresh is slow. Great taste though.

I'm rambling now as to which tact to take. I might try to use the ss mesh with a little cotton wrapped around the tank hole area on my GTUS and see how that goes. I was have flooding issues with SS only, as well as lots of condensation. Maybe a little cotton film around the coil area as well to make atomisation a little finer in the particle department.

 

[johnlacie]

The simple test is to take a piece and burn it. If it burns cleanly leaving nothing but ash, it's cotton. If it leaves some black gloppy stuff there's something elst there.

Yup, the piece burned well with no other residue but ash. I also went out and bought some yarn. Did the same test and verified it was indeed cotton. Thanks and now I have a supply of wick material other than the silica rope I got from McMaster.

 

[plerskine]

Hi guys! I've followed this thread from the beginning but never posted as I didn't have an RBA. I'm now using the DID genesis type RBAs and made my first cotton wicks today- all I can say is WOW!!! Never had such fantastic flavor and TH and vapor are great too! Thank You for this AWESOME thread!

 

[KickServe]

Hi guys! I've followed this thread from the beginning but never posted as I didn't have an RBA. I'm now using the DID genesis type RBAs and made my first cotton wicks today- all I can say is WOW!!! Never had such fantastic flavor and TH and vapor are great too! Thank You for this AWESOME thread!

I saw your post in the DID rhread as well. I am very much interested in seeing some close up pics of fresh wick and used ones, if you could post some.

Also, how long do you use one of these wicks before you change them. I have 4 DIDs and I am a chain vaper.

 

[Gummy Bear]

I was looking at the wick/coils that had went south and noticed that I was replacing the wick/coil about ever 3 or 4 weeks because the wick gets burnt. It will give about one day's warning with a funky taste then the next day it is just plain bad. Taking the wick out is easy it is burnt in half. So today I got the bright idea to leave the coil in place and just thread a new wick through it. I got one of my wife's cross stitch needles and just pulled a new wick right through the in place coil. worked like a charm. now to test to see how many new wicks before the wire coil goes bad. I have also started making the wick real long on one side and will pull it to a new spot every couple days so it doesn't burn on the same spot so long as to get all cruded up or burnt if I can get it to 2 months per wick and say 3 or 4 months per coil I'd be a happy Gummy.

 

[TomCatt]

I've been re-wicking my CE2 for a while now. Just cut out the silica wick and thread a cotton wick through the coil. I've actually had the current wick in for ~1.5 weeks. I usually pop the tube off the clearo and rinse under water every few days; but haven't with this one and it's looking rather cruddy. I'll rinse it off tomorrow and see if any of the crud washes off.


Just doing this until I get my SVG3 Mini.

 

[kwalka]

I've been re-wicking my CE2 for a while now. Just cut out the silica wick and thread a cotton wick through the coil. I've actually had the current wick in for ~1.5 weeks. I usually pop the tube off the clearo and rinse under water every few days; but haven't with this one and it's looking rather cruddy. I'll rinse it off tomorrow and see if any of the crud washes off.


Just doing this until I get my SVG3 Mini.

I have been successfully rebuilding my Vivis from scratch, well versed at mesh activities, also Ody rebuilding. I have a new Torpedo Tank which has the XL CE2s that I assume are what you are referring to. How do you fasten the two leads when rebuilding a CE2?

 

[TomCatt]

I've made a couple of rebuildable CE2s (clearos) - http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/atomizer-mods/213659-repairable-ce2.html. But with the cotton, the only thing I'm doing is removing the silica wick and replacing with cotton, keeping the stock coil in place.

 

[roadrash]

I used to try vapin my new E-? first with the silica wick. Hoping for a miracle that it would vape without burning. Now I just rip out the silica wick right away and use cotton. No sense wasting joose.

Ive put 60 mil through a E-2 with a gauze wick. If you look at it, it's really black and chunky but still vapes good. I don't know if I should replace it or not.

I know when my cartos used to get like that I used to toss em cause the airflow was restricted. But with these cotton E-2's they just keeps chugging along no problem.

Guess it all comes down to how you like your marshmallows. light brown and toasty or burnt black.

 

[Flyer]

Any opinions on 70% bamboo / 30% silk yarn for wick material?

 

[Quigsworth]

Silk?, you want to vape on the stuff that comes out of a worms bum?, ewwww...

So can I change horses mid race...starting to really embrace cheese cloth...the end product is not as aesthetically pleasing as rolled but in regards to being able to reproduce a wick again and again is proving to be most helpful. Here's a pic of the piece of cheese cloth I install in my V3:



In reference to the above pic, there are aprox. 65 vertical threads in an 85mm wide cut. The horizontal threads prove to be too arbitrarily spaced and simply can't be relied upon for anything approaching scientific methodology so I have dismissed them (note to self, send a stern letter of condemnation to the cheese cloth manufacturer re: QC)...I have taken 20 random 85mm cuttings with the same weave bias and counted the vertical threads...65 +/- 3, 19 times out of 20, for the purpose of rewicking my V3, I'm good with that...next, find the "best vert. thread count" for my Line.

I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested

Add: the 85mm (65 thread) cutting also performs very well in my Ody

 

[BigPoppa17211]

How big of a piece for the ody? I'm assuming just rolling it up?

Edit: just read your add

 

[ratpack7]

Any opinions on 70% bamboo / 30% silk yarn for wick material?

I have been wanting to try that myself.

 

[ratpack7]

Silk?, you want to vape on the stuff that comes out of a worms bum?, ewwww...

So can I change horses mid race...starting to really embrace cheese cloth...the end product is not as aesthetically pleasing as rolled but in regards to being able to reproduce a wick again and again is proving to be most helpful. Here's a pic of the piece of cheese cloth I install in my V3:

View attachment 115684

In reference to the above pic, there are aprox. 65 vertical threads in an 85mm wide cut. The horizontal threads prove to be too arbitrarily spaced and simply can't be relied upon for anything approaching scientific methodology so I have dismissed them (note to self, send a stern letter of condemnation to the cheese cloth manufacturer re: QC)...I have taken 20 random 85mm cuttings with the same weave bias and counted the vertical threads...65 +/- 3, 19 times out of 20, for the purpose of rewicking my V3, I'm good with that...next, find the "best vert. thread count" for my Line.

I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested

Add: the 85mm (65 thread) cutting also performs very well in my Ody

100% cotton yarn this is what I have been using and it works great no rolling or doubling just cut of a length wrap your coil and vape.

 

[Quigsworth]

How big of a piece for the ody? I'm assuming just rolling it up?

Edit: just read your add

Yup, fold the edges into the center so you don't get any end frays sticking out and then roll it up as tight as you can, wrap your coil around it and a pin...snug but don't choke it...

 

[BigPoppa17211]

Yup, fold the edges into the center so you don't get any end frays sticking out and then roll it up as tight as you can, wrap your coil around it and a pin...snug but don't choke it...

Ody still in the mail, so will have to wait to try this. Already picked up a roll of cotton from Shoppers the other day. Been playing around with it trying to get a handle on making wicks before the Ody arrives. Noticed it is a little tricky to get the consistency even across the length of an entire wick. Cheese cloth might be a bit more user friendly.

 

[Quigsworth]

Ody still in the mail, so will have to wait to try this. Already picked up a roll of cotton from Shoppers the other day. Been playing around with it trying to get a handle on making wicks before the Ody arrives. Noticed it is a little tricky to get the consistency even across the length of an entire wick. Cheese cloth might be a bit more user friendly.

Congrats for getting one, you're gonna love the Ody, still my favourite RBA (though the SS lines are a close 2nd)...the cheese cloth is more user friendly...I got mine at Safeway, and you get a huge piece, like a square yard...I like the rolled, but ya, because of the thread count, cheese cloth is so much easier to get an exact repeat performance once you find a sweet spot and it's food grade un-dyed, no sizing, no boiling, no bounce dryer sheet taste and it wicks as good, if not better than rolled cotton but I notice that it does seem to crud up faster...maybe cause there's more nooks and crannies for goop to collect who knows?

 

[BigPoppa17211]

Yeah, first venture into the RBA world. I'm sure there will be many more added to the collection over time. Thanks for posting all your tips and tricks. Im sure it will make the learning curve not so steep for us noobs, lol. Picked up a roll of kanthal and a roll of silver, was kinda worried that I wouldn't be able to locate a good source for wicks. Nice to see some readily available materials working well!

 

[Quigsworth]

Yeah, first venture into the RBA world. I'm sure there will be many more added to the collection over time. Thanks for posting all your tips and tricks. Im sure it will make the learning curve not so steep for us noobs, lol. Picked up a roll of kanthal and a roll of silver, was kinda worried that I wouldn't be able to locate a good source for wicks. Nice to see some readily available materials working well!

I never used the silver wire fro my NR...I just had a 50' or so roll of this 10 awg stranded wire left over from something, when I stripped one of the wires I got 20 or so nickel plated copper strands, works great and use it still today...I got stuck once down at the cottage and cut a 6" chunk off a lamp cord, same thing just not as many strands...the NR/kanthal/NR thing isn't all that fussy, and that type of wire isn't in there long enough for any corrosion concerns...but ya, with these RBA's on cotton, once you get your kanthal and juice everything else is a Safeway and Canadian Tire away and it's so cheap it may as well be free.

 

[kwalka]

Congrats for getting one, you're gonna love the Ody, still my favourite RBA (though the SS lines are a close 2nd)...the cheese cloth is more user friendly...I got mine at Safeway, and you get a huge piece, like a square yard...I like the rolled, but ya, because of the thread count, cheese cloth is so much easier to get an exact repeat performance once you find a sweet spot and it's food grade un-dyed, no sizing, no boiling, no bounce dryer sheet taste and it wicks as good, if not better than rolled cotton but I notice that it does seem to crud up faster...maybe cause there's more nooks and crannies for goop to collect who knows?

Whats the difference between the cheesecloth and the gauze sponges? Besides that the gauze is multi ply cheesecloth.