Wicking: symptoms of not enough and too much wick.

[numsquat]

I'm going to start wicking (and soon building coils) this week, have two Exo RTAs and my Axioms to work on. Using the coils that came with the Exos and some 0.5oHm coils I got from Vaoporbeast for the Axioms, my Coilmaster v4 kit from Amazon (early birthday present) along with some Cotton Bacon v2 (again birthday) I think I'm ready to go (though I may need some Emmett Brown magnifying glasses). Have plenty of links here to review and YouTube videos bookmarked to help me out.

My question is what are the symptoms/results of not using enough wicking and using too much. Again, I have read a lot but sometimes it appears answers seem to contradict each other. A result of not enough wick (I hate to use cotton in place of wick because some use rayon and don't want this a cotton vs rayon thread and I have plenty of cotton to start with, maybe check out rayon in the future) will also appear in another thread about using too much wick. Now, it maybe be a symptom of both but I'm just looking at some general "here is a wicking result which means you need to add/subtract wicking next time to solve" answers, that this thread will be my place to go too when I screw things up for a while (which I know I will) and have my fixes.

Any help will be appreciated

 

[SteveS45]

Simple answer is Dry Hits and you will know right away something isn't just right.

 

[ChelsB]

For me too much wick is a dry hit and not enough, very gurgly hits and it may leak


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[numsquat]

Okay, dry hit is too much wick. Is this because too much material in the coil, the tails bunched up not allowing good juice flow, or something else?

My understanding is having a little wick tension, not too much though (kind of what does that really mean???) in the coil is what you want.

 

[Alter]

My go at dryhits with cotton is too much wicking in the coil along with tails being too thick. The juice absorbs into the cotton and runs inside the fiber so too much will choke the coil and in the tail will obstruct and not flow freely to the coil. Rayon on the other hand doesn't absorb the juice and the juice flows outside the fiber so tightness in the coil cause rayon settles on itself causing it to shrink some. Thinning the rayon tails by scraping sharp tweezers through(removing 1/3-1/2 the bulk) is crucial for smooth juice flow to the coil, too thick and bulky tail and it chokes juice from getting to the coil. You don't need to remove as much bulk out of the cotton as you do with the rayon.
I take special care to make sure all the fibers are combed nice and straight from the coil right into the juice area. I've never believed in the stuffing the wick then hoping for the best method.

 

[Nick N]

Don't forget about vacuum lock in tanks. I have the infamously finicky Griffin 25 Plus and if I over tighten the chimney and/or the top cap I will get dry hits, even if my wicking (rayon of course) is perfect.

 

[numsquat]

Don't forget about vacuum lock in tanks. I have the infamously finicky Griffin 25 Plus and if I over tighten the chimney and/or the top cap I will get dry hits, even if my wicking (rayon of course) is perfect.

I've seen this issue with my Axioms with factory coils, if I get the slightest hint of a dry hit, I loosen the top and it has fixed things, at least for a awhile (the next top loosening).

 

[mountaingal]

Thanks for starting this. I look forward to the results. I have mixed success with my wicking, some good and some bad. I had some wicks and coils last a month, and others a day or two. Please post pics.

 

[numsquat]

Thanks for starting this. I look forward to the results. I have mixed success with my wicking, some good and some bad. I had some wicks and coils last a month, and others a day or two. Please post pics.

I hope to start wicking Thursday night, evenings booked until then. There's another thead (ay least) one on wicking pics here but usually ene results. Would be nice to see more of the total process.

 

[Opinionated]

I hope to start wicking Thursday night, evenings booked until then. There's another thead (ay least) one on wicking pics here but usually ene results. Would be nice to see more of the total process.

It's easier than you can now imagine, to determine if you have the right amount of cotton through the coil itself..

You need to be able to slide your cotton back and forth in your coil and feel some tension there, but not so much that the cotton moving back and forth in your coil will cause your coil to move..

It seems now like this tension will be hard to gauge, but oddly with cotton and coil in hand, its not.. as you are actually doing it, you should easily be able to gauge this.. I was surprised myself, how easy that ended up being as I was worried about that..

I don't know what kind of a tank you have, (I've never used it) but the problems i have experienced is in getting the wicking tails cut to the correct length. For that, watching instructional build videos for your precise tank, from a couple different people is important..

You might not get it the first time.. but don't worry usually the second or third try you will have it down pat. Remember, everything looks bigger on video than it does in person.

As for the dry hits for too much cotton verses the gurgling leaking for not enough cotton already mentioned... I concur with the above posters.

 

[93gc40]

Dry hit can be from both too much and too little wick.. too much blocks fluid from entering coil... dry hit... too little doesn't move enough juice to the coil dry hit. Too much and too little could also be due to the coil id being to small or too big also.

Fwiw there is no standard way to wick as it varies by atty and build.


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