Rewick or recoil and rewick - which to coose and how often?

[Icurrie44]

Hiya
Still a relative newbie but often face this dillema ?

Several times I experience dry hits (squonking). Yesterday another dry hit. Squonked a couple of times between vapes to get things going...

Still not great. A couple of weeks ago I had same issue so I quickly rewicked ( kanthal 26 gauge). Twin coils about 6 full winds on each. Job done. Vape was wonderful again.
This time I thought I'd up my wattage from 30 to 40 before I wrote my wicks off and rewick again. It was very nice and lasted me all last night.
I'm confused firstly how the dry hit was resolved but also not sure how often to rebuild and how often to re-wick ?
Sorry to be a pain but it really is my current stumbling block !!

 

[AndriaD]

A dry hit, especially if you're squonking, usually indicates there's just too much wick. Cotton should slide very easily thru the coil without any bunching, because cotton swells when it's wet. With squonking, there's plenty of liquid available, so it's just not getting all the way thru the whole wick inside the coil(s).

The only time you really need to replace the coil is a) when the flavor has fallen off, or b) when you've already dry-burned the current coil(s) several times and now you start to see darkening/gunking very quickly after re-wicking, like, in less than half the time it normally takes to see the darkening/gunking.

It doesn't really pay to replace the coils more often, because breaking in a new wick is fairly quick, but breaking in a new coil+wick takes a good bit longer, before it's vaping well.

Andria

 

[Icurrie44]

A dry hit, especially if you're squonking, usually indicates there's just too much wick. Cotton should slide very easily thru the coil without any bunching, because cotton swells when it's wet. With squonking, there's plenty of liquid available, so it's just not getting all the way thru the whole wick inside the coil(s).

The only time you really need to replace the coil is a) when the flavor has fallen off, or b) when you've already dry-burned the current coil(s) several times and now you start to see darkening/gunking very quickly after re-wicking, like, in less than half the time it normally takes to see the darkening/gunking.

It doesn't really pay to replace the coils more often, because breaking in a new wick is fairly quick, but breaking in a new coil+wick takes a good bit longer, before it's vaping well.

Andria

God thank you.
There was soo much no-how I don't yet have.
Yes, I had quite tightly wicked this build.
I thought you must have to re-coil about one a week but last time I just re-wicked as an experiment and that had done the trick.

Part of me thinks because I've discovered stainless steell, part of me just wants to pull out the kanthal as I've got 3 rdas on the go, but unfortunately this is the last kantal and it's my favourite rda. I have 3.

 

[Icurrie44]

How long for a new coil to 'sit' in out of interest. Obviously the wire type will influence this ?

 

[AndriaD]

How long for a new coil to 'sit' in out of interest. Obviously the wire type will influence this ?

Not sure what you mean... you mean, how long it takes to break in? That really can vary pretty widely, depending on the type of metal, and even the user's tastebuds. If it's just a new wick, to me it tastes "broken in" within about an hour, 90 minutes; for a new coil+wick... that can take half a day or more. And it can vary a lot depending on the type of atty, too -- with my Achilles RDA, the breakin is pretty damn fast; with a Kayfun, it takes 3-4 times longer.

Andria

 

[Icurrie44]

That is brilliant.
One more question. How does the number of winds in a coil affect the vape experience ?

I'm starting to put the maximum number of winds I can possibly fit into my atys !!!

 

[AndriaD]

That is brilliant.
One more question. How does the number of winds in a coil affect the vape experience ?

I'm starting to put the maximum number of winds I can possibly fit into my atys !!!

Hmm... well, it's a trade-off situation; the more mass, or more metal, the more vapor it can produce, but, the more power it requires in order to work properly -- the ramp-up time is the usual place that the vape suffers, if the coil has more mass (metal) than the supplied power can efficiently ramp-up to vape temp. Also, the more metal, the higher the resistance, which is another reason why it needs more power to work correctly and ramp-up fast enough.

I'm a low-wattage, high-resistance vaper, because I don't want a lot of vapor, and don't really want to feel "heat" other than perhaps a very slight warmth, AND, I use a VERY tight-draw atty, because I want it as close to the experience of drawing on a cigarette as I can get, which means, very little airflow. All those factors work together to produce the vape I want -- tight draw, low heat, low vapor. I use 29ga kanthal, usually either 8 or 9 wraps, around a 3/32 drillbit (about 2.38mm), which gives me right around 2 ohms. So it's a small coil, using rather fine wire, which has fairly high resistance; it works great with anything from 9 to 10 watts, to provide the low-intensity vape I want.

If you use a large number of wraps, or thicker wire, then you'll need to give it more power (wattage) or more heat, to keep the ramp-up time reasonable. Another factor to consider is HOW you hit it -- do you want quick blasts, or long slow draws? My low-intensity vape style works great with the long slow draws I prefer; those who use high power, low ohms, etc, generally go for the quick blast type of hit.

If you're not using steam-engine.org to figure out your coils, you should be! It's a godsend, both for figuring how to wrap your coils, and figuring safe battery loads, because low resistance REQUIRES batteries capable of supplying high-amperage as the CDR, not just pulse amperage. This is the single most important thing to know about coils and vaping: USE THE RIGHT BATTERIES, or become the next "vaping is evil" headline.

Andria

 

[Khassy]

Ok, I have a related query. How do I know how much cotton to put in it? What about the wicks that look like little ropes? Do those work well and, if so, what size do I get for a Baby Beast RBA? They come in different mm sizes.

 

[AndriaD]

Ok, I have a related query. How do I know how much cotton to put in it? What about the wicks that look like little ropes? Do those work well and, if so, what size do I get for a Baby Beast RBA? They come in different mm sizes.

Unfortunately, the only way to know is to actually do it, because it depends on a) the inner diameter of the coil; and b) the type of material used for the wick. I don't know anything about "little ropes", but if they're cotton, then the same applies as with any other cotton: they need to slide very easily thru the coil, while still touching it all the way around, with no bunching at all, because cotton expands when it's wet. (If it's rayon, then it should almost seem like too much to fit thru the coil, because rayon compresses when it's wet.)

If you use too much (cotton), you'll see a little bunching, and you may get dry hits. If you use too little, you'll get a different kind of "dry hit," which will taste like hot metal rather than burnt cotton. The best advice I can offer is, once you figure out the right amount for a given size (inner diameter) of coil... STICK WITH THAT SIZE COIL, no matter what weirdnesses you may introduce like different metal, number of wraps, etc -- if the inner diameter stays the same, the amount of wick will too.

Wicking is the true art form -- anybody can wrap a bit of wire around something and get it attached to posts or screws, but knowing the right around of wicking to use takes trial and error, till you "just know."

Andria

 

[Carambrda]

 

[Whiskeywarrior]

When to rewick and how to also depends on the type of juice you are using. I diy for the most part but sometimes I get some store bought stuff. For my diy it's usually very high VG and no sweeteners like around 96/4 the 4% being the pg in the flavors. With this I don't need to change anything for a long time because it doesn't gunk up at all. When using this high of a VG the wicks need to be a little looser than what you need for something like a 60/40 or 70/30 to allow the juice to flow better. The more sweeteners and flavors in it the faster you will need to change the cotton and clean the coils.

 

[Khassy]

Thank you, that was extremely helpful! Especially since I was looking at ordering some Cotton Bacon from MyFreedomSmokes.

I don't know anything about "little ropes"

Thanks! I guess it's just a trial and error kind of thing, eh?

These are the "ropes" that I was referring to.

 

[AndriaD]

Thank you, that was extremely helpful! Especially since I was looking at ordering some Cotton Bacon from MyFreedomSmokes.



Thanks! I guess it's just a trial and error kind of thing, eh?

These are the "ropes" that I was referring to.

That's silica. I got off that shit within WEEKS of starting to vape, because it just doesn't offer any flavor at all.

Andria

 

[Icurrie44]

God... Andria and fellow vapers...

Thankyou so much for this invaluable advice.
I've copied and pasted everything into memo documents for future reference !!!

Top people.

Andria - you should write a vapers guide. You'd make a fortune !

 

[AndriaD]

God... Andria and fellow vapers...

Thankyou so much for this invaluable advice.
I've copied and pasted everything into memo documents for future reference !!!

Top people.

Andria - you should write a vapers guide. You'd make a fortune !

Nah. It's just what I've learned from a) my own experience, and b) all the other vapers, thru the years on forums. Anyone can do that.

Andria

 

[Khassy]

That's silica. I got off that shit within WEEKS of starting to vape, because it just doesn't offer any flavor at all.

Andria

Ahh, thanks again!

 

[Carambrda]

When to rewick and how to also depends on the type of juice you are using. I diy for the most part but sometimes I get some store bought stuff. For my diy it's usually very high VG and no sweeteners like around 96/4 the 4% being the pg in the flavors. With this I don't need to change anything for a long time because it doesn't gunk up at all. When using this high of a VG the wicks need to be a little looser than what you need for something like a 60/40 or 70/30 to allow the juice to flow better. The more sweeteners and flavors in it the faster you will need to change the cotton and clean the coils.

Yeah, for me it's usually 80/20 often also with a lot of sweeteners so this is part of the reason why I had decided my first coil build had to be a pair of staple staggered fused claptons. These types of coils really do help protect the cotton, and they don't gunk up as fast as the vast majority of other types, but they can give violent spitback (similar to twisted wire coils)... which I found to be easily remedied by putting in more cotton so that it pulls on the coil as I pull the cotton through my coil whilst using my fingernail to keep the coil from snapping. My coils are coiled up such a way that their first and last wraps have a slightly bigger inner diameter than the other wraps. Also, because the distance between the upper part of the coil and the juice well is slightly longer than between the bottom part of the coil and the juice well, I cut the ends of the wicks at an angle instead of holding my scissors vertical. After that, I fluff up only the upper portions of the ends of the wicks. Next, I use my fingers to very gently remove a very small amount of loose cotton fibers from the ends of the wicks everywhere, and I use my scissors again to trim those individual fibers that are sticking out too far for my liking. After tucking the ends of the wicks underneath the coils I lift the ends back up a little to allow juice to flow slightly down onto the coils.

Next, I loosen up the cotton fibers in and around the first and last wraps of my coils some more by using the sharp tip of my cotton hook tool. I then use the blunt end of my cotton hook to push the pointy ends of the wicks tightly against the binding posts and against the edge of the deck so not only is there no cotton underneath the coils, but also there is extra breathing space around that particular area, with almost no cotton touching the bottom of the juice wells, i.e., just those same pointy tips. Finally, instead of carelessly pouring juice spilling it all over my mod I give my coils the time they need to soak up the juice, and each time when I see a drop about to fall off of one of the coils I very shortly pulse at low wattage to keep that from happening, and I gently "bud" the wet cotton without actually pushing it around, until the entire surface area of my wicks looks just a little bit smoother than a Formula One race track. lol

 

[Icurrie44]

Yeah, for me it's usually 80/20 often also with a lot of sweeteners so this is part of the reason why I had decided my first coil build had to be a pair of staple staggered fused claptons. These types of coils really do help protect the cotton, and they don't gunk up as fast as the vast majority of other types, but they can give violent spitback (similar to twisted wire coils)... which I found to be easily remedied by putting in more cotton so that it pulls on the coil as I pull the cotton through my coil whilst using my fingernail to keep the coil from snapping. My coils are coiled up such a way that their first and last wraps have a slightly bigger inner diameter than the other wraps. Also, because the distance between the upper part of the coil and the juice well is slightly longer than between the bottom part of the coil and the juice well, I cut the ends of the wicks at an angle instead of holding my scissors vertical. After that, I fluff up only the upper portions of the ends of the wicks. Next, I use my fingers to very gently remove a very small amount of loose cotton fibers from the ends of the wicks everywhere, and I use my scissors again to trim those individual fibers that are sticking out too far for my liking. After tucking the ends of the wicks underneath the coils I lift the ends back up a little to allow juice to flow slightly down onto the coils.

Next, I loosen up the cotton fibers in and around the first and last wraps of my coils some more by using the sharp tip of my cotton hook tool. I then use the blunt end of my cotton hook to push the pointy ends of the wicks tightly against the binding posts and against the edge of the deck so not only is there no cotton underneath the coils, but also there is extra breathing space around that particular area, with almost no cotton touching the bottom of the juice wells, i.e., just those same pointy tips. Finally, instead of carelessly pouring juice spilling it all over my mod I give my coils the time they need to soak up the juice, and each time when I see a drop about to fall off of one of the coils I very shortly pulse at low wattage to keep that from happening, and I gently "bud" the wet cotton without actually pushing it around, until the entire surface area of my wicks looks just a little bit smoother than a Formula One race track. lol

Jesus. This forum is the TOPS !

Carambrda - that coil wire sounds incredible...
Am on simple stainless (twin coils) at 24 gauge at the moment. Only a newbie but might check this out.

Squonking too