Dry burning a clearo, why?

[rj9923]

So I see all of the tutorials on how to lengthen the life of your atomizer head by dry burning it. Just watched this one too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=380&v=bsXkEhNufMs

What I don't understand, is that how can you dry burn coils like this without burning the wick? Does the wick have to be wet? In a lot of these videos they leave the wick dry too.

I want to try to dry burn my builds after a while of use, but I don't want to risk burning the wick and making it taste bad again anyways.

Somebody please make sense of this. Thanks

 

[Time]

I don't do it for the reason stated. Burnt wick tastes nasty and doesn't wick very well.

Lots of people do though.

 

[UncleRJ]

Never did it myself until I started using RBAs and replace the wick at the same time.

 

[madmonkey]

So I see all of the tutorials on how to lengthen the life of your atomizer head by dry burning it. Just watched this one too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=380&v=bsXkEhNufMs

What I don't understand, is that how can you dry burn coils like this without burning the wick? Does the wick have to be wet? In a lot of these videos they leave the wick dry too.

I want to try to dry burn my builds after a while of use, but I don't want to risk burning the wick and making it taste bad again anyways.

Somebody please make sense of this. Thanks

Ok...back when silica fiber wick was the main wicking material for factory made heads like the ones for the old Vivi Novas and protank 1 and 2's and even the Protank 3's and Aerotank coils or even some of our early RDA's and Geni's you could dry burn the wick to clean the gunk build up that would be caused by partially vaporized juice and the sugars in the flavorings and this would clean the coil and the wick and extend the life of the coil. Some people just dry burned...some dry burned and scraped, and other's dry burned and rinsed and sat out to dry overnight...The key thing to remember is Silica doesn't burn like cotton so it is safe to burn the wick dry and reuse it without damaging it and you can do it a couple times before the wick degrades to an unusable state.

Cotton wicks on the other hand catch fire and burn right threw if they aren't saturated with liquid...so rebuilders remove the old cotton wick, then dry burn just the coil and sometimes rinse and dry off then rewick with fresh cotton to prolong the life of their coils without having to make a new coil everytime it got gunked up.

You have to re wick every time your coil gets to the point it needs to be dry burned...but the advantage of dry burning and cleaning your coil is you can do this a couple times extending the life of your awesome coil and saving you the hassle of wrapping a new one everytime it gets gunked up. Eventually, even if your coil doesn't "pop" it will oxidize and degrade to a point where the coil is going to taste yucky and you will have to rebuild regardless...but you can extend your coil life considerably by just removing the wick, dry burning it clean, and rewicking.

 

[DevAuto]

Until about a week ago, when I switched to Rayon, I wicked with Ekowool because I could dry burn it clean and not have to rebuild the coil. I could get 4-5 months out of a single build this way, it was pretty awesome. When the coil started gunking up, I just dry burned it, primed it, filled the tank back up. I still use Ekowool in my dripper, but only because I can dry burn and try different flavors at the local shops that way.

 

[madmonkey]

Until about a week ago, when I switched to Rayon, I wicked with Ekowool because I could dry burn it clean and not have to rebuild the coil. I could get 4-5 months out of a single build this way, it was pretty awesome. When the coil started gunking up, I just dry burned it, primed it, filled the tank back up. I still use Ekowool in my dripper, but only because I can dry burn and try different flavors at the local shops that way.

How do you like Rayon? It seems like people either love it or hate it....personally I am up to my eyeballs in cotton and have several feet of ekowool and a good foot of Ready X Wick to go threw before I buy more wicking. It seems like people think of it as a gimmick but I love Cotton Bacon myself. I have organic cotton balls, organic cheesecloth, and a huge box of Go Ken Do cotton that just sits there. I love Cotton Bacon, the stuff is so easy to work with hassle free. Just peel and go. And that little bag lasts forever. I keep one pack in my backpack in case I have to rewick on the fly (I have a mini leatherman that has scissors instead of a knife, it's like a pocket building kit in a two inch fold up, I love it,) that I might have used two pieces out of, one on my desk that still has two or three stripps left and one pack I haven't opened yet. I bought all three in July last year and it's all I use...stuff is worth every penny IMHO.

I used ekowool and Ready X wick in everything for the longest time myself because I was scared of burning up my cotton with dry hits. I still use it in my old protank and evod builds and once in awhile in a dripper if I am going flavor testing for that exact reason of being able to dry burn it clean...also when I got hurt at work a couple years ago I ended up with nerve damage in my right arm at the elbow and my entire arm from the elbow down to my fingertips except for two fingers was completely numb. It did heal right and my arm still goes numb on occasion and falls asleep easily....my point of saying this you ask? Well,,,,have you ever tried to wrap a coil with shaky numb hands? It makes a simple coil build a nightmare. And wicking it once you wrapped it isn't a picnic either...

So I would get hollow ekowool and Ready ex and I took some 18 gauge 2 inch needles and broke the luer cap off the top and I would thread the needles threw the center of the wick so I could wrap a coil to form on directly on the wick and then pull the needle out when I was done making a perfectly wicked coil to form to assure it was good to go. If you're just getting into rebuilding this is a great cheater way to get the hang of simple microcoils. I got to the point where I could wrap the coils perfectly touching and would barely have to pinch them to form. And for how long it last's it's fairly inexpensive and you will get your money's worth from it.

I also think that ekowool and ready x wick highlights different parts of a complex e-liquid's flavor profile...some say that it's the flavor being muted but I disagree...I think that it just wicks it differently and highlights and hides different aspects of the flavor profile than cotton...it's like having two e-liquids in one...I actually think that even though cotton has a better flavor that eko and ready x have a cleaner taste and last so much longer.

 

[Jaaxx]

Don't dry burn anything with a wick in it. Period. Silica included just for the fun of it.. Don't and you will be OK.
5000 words to tell you not to do it is ridiculous.

 

[madmonkey]

Don't dry burn anything with a wick in it. Period. Silica included just for the fun of it.. Don't and you will be OK.
5000 words to tell you not to do it is ridiculous.

Why wouldn't/couldn't you dry burn silica? Please (in 5000 words or more/less) explain? What's wrong with offering up some extra information when answering a question? The more a vapor knows about vaping the better...knowledge is power and education is key...especially with all the legislation and regulations constantly looming around us as vapors these days...the more informed everyone else on things the better to defuse the anti-vaping propaganda war machine

 

[DevAuto]

How do you like Rayon? It seems like people either love it or hate it....personally I am up to my eyeballs in cotton and have several feet of ekowool and a good foot of Ready X Wick to go threw before I buy more wicking. It seems like people think of it as a gimmick but I love Cotton Bacon myself. I have organic cotton balls, organic cheesecloth, and a huge box of Go Ken Do cotton that just sits there. I love Cotton Bacon, the stuff is so easy to work with hassle free. Just peel and go. And that little bag lasts forever. I keep one pack in my backpack in case I have to rewick on the fly (I have a mini leatherman that has scissors instead of a knife, it's like a pocket building kit in a two inch fold up, I love it,) that I might have used two pieces out of, one on my desk that still has two or three stripps left and one pack I haven't opened yet. I bought all three in July last year and it's all I use...stuff is worth every penny IMHO.

I used ekowool and Ready X wick in everything for the longest time myself because I was scared of burning up my cotton with dry hits. I still use it in my old protank and evod builds and once in awhile in a dripper if I am going flavor testing for that exact reason of being able to dry burn it clean...also when I got hurt at work a couple years ago I ended up with nerve damage in my right arm at the elbow and my entire arm from the elbow down to my fingertips except for two fingers was completely numb. It did heal right and my arm still goes numb on occasion and falls asleep easily....my point of saying this you ask? Well,,,,have you ever tried to wrap a coil with shaky numb hands? It makes a simple coil build a nightmare. And wicking it once you wrapped it isn't a picnic either...

So I would get hollow ekowool and Ready ex and I took some 18 gauge 2 inch needles and broke the luer cap off the top and I would thread the needles threw the center of the wick so I could wrap a coil to form on directly on the wick and then pull the needle out when I was done making a perfectly wicked coil to form to assure it was good to go. If you're just getting into rebuilding this is a great cheater way to get the hang of simple microcoils. I got to the point where I could wrap the coils perfectly touching and would barely have to pinch them to form. And for how long it last's it's fairly inexpensive and you will get your money's worth from it.

I also think that ekowool and ready x wick highlights different parts of a complex e-liquid's flavor profile...some say that it's the flavor being muted but I disagree...I think that it just wicks it differently and highlights and hides different aspects of the flavor profile than cotton...it's like having two e-liquids in one...I actually think that even though cotton has a better flavor that eko and ready x have a cleaner taste and last so much longer.

@madmonkey so far I LOVE Rayon! It is the BEST flavor producer I've ever seen. I tried cotton, but was not happy with it. Lots of re-wicking and only a minor flavor difference, albeit better, than Ekowool. Since I'm lazy at heart, I stayed with Ekowool because it lasts forever in my builds with proper care and occasional dry burning. Rayon is far better in my opinion than cotton and Ekowool for the flavor. It can't be dry burned either, but unlike cotton, it wicks like no other and has little gunk buildup on the coils. I'm still using my first builds, so I will see over time how it works out, but so far, after the first 2 weeks (I never got more than 4 days from cotton), I am very impressed and happy with the results. I have never tried the Ready X Wick, I heard good things about it but was put off by the health concerns it generated if not properly prepped.

Rayon also wicks like no other, presumably that is why the flavor seems so much clearer and better. I am going through almost triple the amount of juice I went through with Ekowool. Part of that is because I have realized how much better my juice tastes, so I am hitting it more, and part of that is because it wicks so well. Not a single dry hit yet, not even close. I generally tend to vape to the bottom of the tank, Ekowool and Cotton don't really like to wick well when it gets so low, but no issues with Rayon.

I am a flavor junkie, not a cloud chaser, so for me Rayon is a clear win, and it's CHEAP! $15 or so for a 1000' roll, doesn't get much cheaper than that!

 

[Time]

Why wouldn't/couldn't you dry burn silica? Please (in 5000 words or more/less) explain? What's wrong with offering up some extra information when answering a question? The more a vapor knows about vaping the better...knowledge is power and education is key...especially with all the legislation and regulations constantly looming around us as vapors these days...the more informed everyone else on things the better to defuse the anti-vaping propaganda war machine

Because the first ten or so hits after dry burning taste nasty. Been there, done that.

If I can't re-wick, I don't dry burn.

 

[madmonkey]

Because the first ten or so hits after dry burning taste nasty. Been there, done that.

If I can't re-wick, I don't dry burn.

I disagree...but that's just my opinion. Not saying you're wrong, I just don't have that problem with it....especially with Ready X Wick even more so than Ekowool. Torch that stuff white again and it tastes like a new wick...I'll agree that every time I dry burned it seemed to loose a little more of it's wicking power than before but flavor wise if you burn it white and make it look new then it tastes new for me...I don't know what else to say about that. Sorry it didn't work for you...I really am

@madmonkey so far I LOVE Rayon! It is the BEST flavor producer I've ever seen. I tried cotton, but was not happy with it. Lots of re-wicking and only a minor flavor difference, albeit better, than Ekowool. Since I'm lazy at heart, I stayed with Ekowool because it lasts forever in my builds with proper care and occasional dry burning. Rayon is far better in my opinion than cotton and Ekowool for the flavor. It can't be dry burned either, but unlike cotton, it wicks like no other and has little gunk buildup on the coils. I'm still using my first builds, so I will see over time how it works out, but so far, after the first 2 weeks (I never got more than 4 days from cotton), I am very impressed and happy with the results. I have never tried the Ready X Wick, I heard good things about it but was put off by the health concerns it generated if not properly prepped.

Rayon also wicks like no other, presumably that is why the flavor seems so much clearer and better. I am going through almost triple the amount of juice I went through with Ekowool. Part of that is because I have realized how much better my juice tastes, so I am hitting it more, and part of that is because it wicks so well. Not a single dry hit yet, not even close. I generally tend to vape to the bottom of the tank, Ekowool and Cotton don't really like to wick well when it gets so low, but no issues with Rayon.

I am a flavor junkie, not a cloud chaser, so for me Rayon is a clear win, and it's CHEAP! $15 or so for a 1000' roll, doesn't get much cheaper than that!

That's awesome that it works good for you...like I said, maybe when I get out from under this mountain of cotton I'll give it a try but I am happy for now. I have 5 main drippers I rotate threw out the day because I can't vape just one flavor all day and with Cotton Bacon I get a good week out of them between wickings...well more like 5 days and I make it last another two out of lazyness

 

[DevAuto]

I disagree...but that's just my opinion. Not saying you're wrong, I just don't have that problem with it....especially with Ready X Wick even more so than Ekowool. Torch that stuff white again and it tastes like a new wick...I'll agree that every time I dry burned it seemed to loose a little more of it's wicking power than before but flavor wise if you burn it white and make it look new then it tastes new for me...I don't know what else to say about that. Sorry it didn't work for you...I really am



That's awesome that it works good for you...like I said, maybe when I get out from under this mountain of cotton I'll give it a try but I am happy for now. I have 5 main drippers I rotate threw out the day because I can't vape just one flavor all day and with Cotton Bacon I get a good week out of them between wickings...well more like 5 days and I make it last another two out of lazyness

Yeah, give it a try when you get a chance, it just might surprise you. Or not, if you found something that works for you then stick with it, vaping is all about what works best for someone, cotton didn't make MY list, but that doesn't mean it isn't good ... only that it didn't work for me ...