Dripper/RDA question

[x0xhazardx0x]

hi just wondering how often do you drip the coil and wick? I've followed scarecrowjenkings muji pad wicking guide and it has saved me from keep getting burning taste as I was wicking with cotton bacon and couldn't seem to get it right and kept getting a real bad burning taste after like 3 drags, switched to muji pads cotton and I can now take long drags without any burning taste for like I dunno 10-13 drags, then I get a real dry taste, not like burning but almost like dragging on a half lit cigarette , is that this "dry hit" I hear people talking about? Or something else? If it is was just wondering how often you guys and gals redrip the wick and coil?

From a newbie RDA user

Many thanks in advance!

 

[IMFire3605]

hi just wondering how often do you drip the coil and wick? I've followed scarecrowjenkings muji pad wicking guide and it has saved me from keep getting burning taste as I was wicking with cotton bacon and couldn't seem to get it right and kept getting a real bad burning taste after like 3 drags, switched to muji pads cotton and I can now take long drags without any burning taste for like I dunno 10-13 drags, then I get a real dry taste, not like burning but almost like dragging on a half lit cigarette , is that this "dry hit" I hear people talking about? Or something else? If it is was just wondering how often you guys and gals redrip the wick and coil?

From a newbie RDA user

Many thanks in advance!

There are many variables, including diameter of the coil which can affect wicking speed just like how tight the wicking is in the coil, air flow, depth of the juice well, type of coil (simple spaced, tightly wound contact coil, twisted wire, parallel, clapton, fused clapton, etc), which affects your resistance (Ohms) and how high in power you have to run. Generally higher the wattage, faster the liquid needs to wick and thus wicking type can play a major factor here, standard cotton balls as wicking the fibers kinda over lap and criss cross, and generally shorter, basically a tangled mess which can cause bottle necks, where as you are seeing with Ko Gen Do or Muji cotton that come in pads, the fibers are longer and straighter, allowing for effortless and quick wicking. Airflow plays a good portion to the harsh or not harsh hit, airflow is their to move air, vortex it properly, and key, it moving across hot metal that is evaporating a liquid, thermo-dynamics it cools things down. There are a lot of physics not seen going on inside that tank/dripper/rda/atomizer, essentially creating the perfect ultimate flavorful storm cloud we enjoy.

Depth of the juice well, more liquid that can rest in the bottom and be pulled up by the wicks, the longer between drips, just enough wicking needs to touch and rest on the bottom to pull the excess juice up, but not be to much to restrict airflow and proper air vortexing of cool air and warm/hot humid air.

Dry hits, ughhhh, if you've ever had a dry hit, closest analogy I can give is someone punching you in the throat hard and after used an air compressor to shoot a blast of hot, dry air down your throat. Anyone and everyone has or eventually will have a dry hit, get careless while drunk forgetting to drip, put out mod to our lips, fire on almost dry wicking and coil, bang, down we go to the floor coughing and weezing while our buddies all laugh their arses off at our stupidity, wake up in the morning forgetting we left the mod dry, bang, same comical weezing scene. Over time, veterans learn the feel and flavor of wicking getting to be not fully dry but close, flavor drops, vape isn't as moist and damp as it should be, gives kind of a "Scratchy" desert summer air feeling. One step closer to a dry hit, which is basically what you are kind of describing what you are "Now" experiencing. Trust me, first actual dry hit you'll never forget it.

Depending on my RDA used, and type of coil, most of mine are lowered powered flavor chasing setups, I can get about 8 to 20 hits deeply dependent on the juice well of the RDA and my wattage. My Velocity RDA with a pair of parallel 26awg 3.5mm contact 0.25 to 0.3ohm coils at about 35watts I can get around 18 or so hits before a redrip, where with Helios with 28awg 2mm spaced 0.5ohm coils at about 20watts I get about 10hits before needing a redrip.

 

[x0xhazardx0x]

There are many variables, including diameter of the coil which can affect wicking speed just like how tight the wicking is in the coil, air flow, depth of the juice well, type of coil (simple spaced, tightly wound contact coil, twisted wire, parallel, clapton, fused clapton, etc), which affects your resistance (Ohms) and how high in power you have to run. Generally higher the wattage, faster the liquid needs to wick and thus wicking type can play a major factor here, standard cotton balls as wicking the fibers kinda over lap and criss cross, and generally shorter, basically a tangled mess which can cause bottle necks, where as you are seeing with Ko Gen Do or Muji cotton that come in pads, the fibers are longer and straighter, allowing for effortless and quick wicking. Airflow plays a good portion to the harsh or not harsh hit, airflow is their to move air, vortex it properly, and key, it moving across hot metal that is evaporating a liquid, thermo-dynamics it cools things down. There are a lot of physics not seen going on inside that tank/dripper/rda/atomizer, essentially creating the perfect ultimate flavorful storm cloud we enjoy.

Depth of the juice well, more liquid that can rest in the bottom and be pulled up by the wicks, the longer between drips, just enough wicking needs to touch and rest on the bottom to pull the excess juice up, but not be to much to restrict airflow and proper air vortexing of cool air and warm/hot humid air.

Dry hits, ughhhh, if you've ever had a dry hit, closest analogy I can give is someone punching you in the throat hard and after used an air compressor to shoot a blast of hot, dry air down your throat. Anyone and everyone has or eventually will have a dry hit, get careless while drunk forgetting to drip, put out mod to our lips, fire on almost dry wicking and coil, bang, down we go to the floor coughing and weezing while our buddies all laugh their arses off at our stupidity, wake up in the morning forgetting we left the mod dry, bang, same comical weezing scene. Over time, veterans learn the feel and flavor of wicking getting to be not fully dry but close, flavor drops, vape isn't as moist and damp as it should be, gives kind of a "Scratchy" desert summer air feeling. One step closer to a dry hit, which is basically what you are kind of describing what you are "Now" experiencing. Trust me, first actual dry hit you'll never forget it.

Depending on my RDA used, and type of coil, most of mine are lowered powered flavor chasing setups, I can get about 8 to 20 hits deeply dependent on the juice well of the RDA and my wattage. My Velocity RDA with a pair of parallel 26awg 3.5mm contact 0.25 to 0.3ohm coils at about 35watts I can get around 18 or so hits before a redrip, where with Helios with 28awg 2mm spaced 0.5ohm coils at about 20watts I get about 10hits before needing a redrip.

Thank you for the detailed reply, the way you describe dry hit is what I seem to be getting yes, I'll have to just browse the forum and experiment myself with different wicking methods and coil builds until I get it just right I suppose , because I'm new to RDA's I suppose I'm just not used to having to use liquid as much, as I before this I had been using smok TFV8s , which have their own amount of wick and hold liquid.

 

[gbalkam]

Your power or wattage is your biggest factor. Everything else depends on the amount of power you use. High power = more heat, which requires more air flow to cool the vape and also vaporizes juice faster.
Generally, I do cloud builds, so high power, but I might not always want to pull huge clouds, like when I watch tv or forums etc, so it is a simple matter of turning the power down and cutting airflow a bit to get better flavor. There is quite a big difference in the amount I need to refill the wick. At full power, I have to drip about every 3rd pull, at 70% I get 6 to 9 pulls. The best way, is check your wick every couple pulls until you get used to it and know when it is time to drip. For me, when I get thin favor and vapor and a slight cotton taste, its time to drip. At high power, you don't have that warning, so it is pretty much check every couple pulls. Besides, on a high power build, you pretty much want to drip every pull, to max your cloud. Lower power you dont have to. (clouds are really the only reason to use max power anyway).

So for new drippers.. check your wick by taking off the cap every few pulls until you get used to it, then you can tell by the amount of flavor and clouds and taste.

I describe a dry hit as being similar to trying to smoke a dirty cotton sweat sock... although I think the sock might be better. lol.