Wick materials. Safe vs dangerous.

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JazzyTech

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Just got my bamboo wick in yesterday. So far it wicks very good, but I was getting dry hits using 8 strands with my coils (2.2mm inside diameter) at 3.2 ohms.. (5 wraps kanthal a-1 32awg) I took a strand out. It's better, but still dry hits but not as bad.. time to pull another strand and test... but that will have to wait until tomorrow methinks (Thanksgiving and family). When it's not dry, the taste is nice :)
 
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Quigsworth

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is cotton wick really safer than silica? has anyone tested it like the way on the first page to see if it makes micro fragments too?

I'm at the point where I don't really even care what's safer any more, the organics like cotton and bamboo just taste better...I sold my Spheroid because I just can't do the taste off silica now.
 

bydus

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Hi there :) I was wondering if anyone could help me out in finding cotton/ bamboo 2mm or 3mm wick on ebay with international shipping for a Hornet bottom fed atomizer which I'll use on Reo. I don't really have time to go through 370 pages so had to ask :( Also what are your thoughts on fibreglass wick, is it on same side with silica wick or more like cotton wick? Thanks in advance :)
 

roadrash

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Just got my bamboo wick in yesterday. So far it wicks very good, but I was getting dry hits using 8 strands with my coils (2.2mm inside diameter) at 3.2 ohms.. (5 wraps kanthal a-1 32awg) I took a strand out. It's better, but still dry hits but not as bad.. time to pull another strand and test... but that will have to wait until tomorrow methinks (Thanksgiving and family). When it's not dry, the taste is nice :)
You can always drape some bamboo/cotton over the top of the coil to get rid of dry hits. :>)
 

JazzyTech

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You can always drape some bamboo/cotton over the top of the coil to get rid of dry hits. :>)

That was my first foray into bamboo. the inside diameter of my coil is 2.1mm (5 wraps Kanthal A-1 32awg 3.2 ohms). The bamboo kept getting fatter and fatter :) I've since settled on 6 strands in the coil and an additional 3 strands on top. I found a similiar method worked very well for square-braided cotton that I posted a few days ago in this thread. So far my experience has been pretty good with bamboo, but I think I prefer the pure clean taste of cotton. I see the potential of bamboo; but I've opted to wait on my provari (not a fanboy, just someone who wants a regulated VV) for further testing.
 

Cool_Breeze

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That was my first foray into bamboo. the inside diameter of my coil is 2.1mm (5 wraps Kanthal A-1 32awg 3.2 ohms). The bamboo kept getting fatter and fatter :) I've since settled on 6 strands in the coil and an additional 3 strands on top. I found a similiar method worked very well for square-braided cotton that I posted a few days ago in this thread. So far my experience has been pretty good with bamboo, but I think I prefer the pure clean taste of cotton. I see the potential of bamboo; but I've opted to wait on my provari (not a fanboy, just someone who wants a regulated VV) for further testing.

There's a little taste to the bamboo, but it goes before too long.

The original bamboo I have came from ECF's supervape. It was a bit larger than the Aunt Lydias...about 2x. I don't know what brand/type it is.
 

JazzyTech

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There's a little taste to the bamboo, but it goes before too long.

The original bamboo I have came from ECF's supervape. It was a bit larger than the Aunt Lydias...about 2x. I don't know what brand/type it is.

I have noticed that once the "woody" tastes subsides it is truly a silky smooth vape. Also the dry hits are not as harsh as cotton. My father (vaping at least 2 years) tried it and has no interest in pursuing bamboo further. He prefers the square braid due to "ease of use" as he put it.
 

JazzyTech

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I like the cotton square braid also. It fits perfectly in my Penny. The only thing I don't like is it burns in half in just a few days and darkens my juice in 1 tankful. Does bamboo hold up longer?

Interesting. So many variables affect the lifespan of the braid; Mine have lasted 8 days and counting. They've started to fade a bit when I first vape in the morning but once they warm up they are still nice and smooth. Not so much vapor though. Cotton swells a lot more than silica so maybe that's the reason you're getting burns so quickly?
I haven't used bamboo long enough to comment. Just been vaping 2 days on it so far.
 
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Cool_Breeze

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I like the cotton square braid also. It fits perfectly in my Penny. The only thing I don't like is it burns in half in just a few days and darkens my juice in 1 tankful. Does bamboo hold up longer?

As JazzyTech said, 'many variables,' including

*clarity/color of e-liquid (lack of particulates)
*heat/wattage
*e-liquid additives...tobacco absolute, etc.

My 'feel' is that bamboo lasts a little longer than cotton. I've done no direct comparisons.

Maybe nanotech will bring us new materials that hopefully won't harm us, will vape like the natural materials and will be dry-burnable.
 

Cyrus Vap

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I too feel that bamboo lasts a bit longer but I haven't been inspired to run any "controlled" tests

Whatever the life span of your chosen wick material you can save yourself lots of trouble by taking care to set up strong, symmetric and stable coils so you can easily slide your old wick out and new wick in within a few seconds.

I really detest building coils on wicks because I can't get them neat enough to not explode when I try such exchanges.

Also building identical diameter coils with a tool ( drill bit, needle etc) will make figuring out your optimal wick density easier by eliminating one variable
 

tmcase

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I tried wrapping my coil first around a drill bit so that I could slide the cotton braid through and allow for the wick to expand but I got hot spots immediately. No matter what I did I couldn't get rid of them. I guess my coils were too big. I went back to wrapping the coils around the cotton wick and a thick paper and hot spots are gone but that's what I've been doing all along and the wick expands and the coils burn into the wick which is why it only lasts a few days. I guess I'll try a small drill bit next time. :(
 

Quigsworth

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I too feel that bamboo lasts a bit longer but I haven't been inspired to run any "controlled" tests

Whatever the life span of your chosen wick material you can save yourself lots of trouble by taking care to set up strong, symmetric and stable coils so you can easily slide your old wick out and new wick in within a few seconds.

I really detest building coils on wicks because I can't get them neat enough to not explode when I try such exchanges.

Also building identical diameter coils with a tool ( drill bit, needle etc) will make figuring out your optimal wick density easier by eliminating one variable

That's about the only way to build the BJ oval...which I use in every device now except my Ody
 

Cool_Breeze

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I too feel that bamboo lasts a bit longer but I haven't been inspired to run any "controlled" tests

Whatever the life span of your chosen wick material you can save yourself lots of trouble by taking care to set up strong, symmetric and stable coils so you can easily slide your old wick out and new wick in within a few seconds.

I really detest building coils on wicks because I can't get them neat enough to not explode when I try such exchanges.

Also building identical diameter coils with a tool ( drill bit, needle etc) will make figuring out your optimal wick density easier by eliminating one variable

Bamboo Thread: I hope to come across supervape and find out the brand and size he so thoughtfully sent out. It is about 2x the size of Aunt Lydia's and I think I prefer that, though I haven't given our ol' Auntie that much of a go. Just one so far.

You are fortunate to have devices where you can replace the wicks in situ. Mostly I've used 34 ga. Kanthal and that doesn't allow for much play. As well, the cartos I use are really not conducive to that. If any mechanical engineering projects are taken on during the holiday season, they won't likely be e-cig related, though one can only forecast the future with a limited degree of certainty. I 'do' now have some 28 and 30 ga. Kanthal and the Smoktech Gen-Style, so can do some wick replacement there. ...looking forward to the BO8's and their convenience per pop-top. OT 6 ml is more juice than I know what to do with. I'll be interested if a chop job can be done on the BO8's...3 ml would be just fine for me and more (shirt) pocket friendly.
 
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