Good day!
I have been seeing quite a few questions here lately as to wicking methods, so being new here I thought perhaps it would benefit some folks who are having problems with this necessary aspect of dripping and contribute to this forum which i like so much. I feel that there are a couple points that i often see overlooked that i believe are important. I hope it helps, because i pulled a perfectly good wick to make the illustration haha. Enjoy!!
1. Cut a strip of japanese cotton ALONG it's natural "grain". I generally cut about 3 times wider than whatever tool i wrapped the coil around. If i need to i'll trim it a little later on. It's of utmost importance to cut along the grain, or it will fall apart when inserting through the coil. And even if you managed to get it through the coil-the juice wouldn't really go anywhere.
2. Roll the end between your fingers tightly, make a section a little longer than the coil. You may have to do it a few times as the cotton will probably puff back out after you let it go. It doesn't hate you-I promise.
3. Gently slide the rolled out end through the coil. It should have a tiny bit of friction, but you shouldn't have to fight this too hard.
4. Pull your wick through straight. By that i mean do NOT twist the wick as you're pulling it through, take care to leave the grain of the cotton as parallel to the coil as possible. Just pretend that the wick is a bundle of drinking straws, if you want the juice to travel through it, you're gonna want them as straight as possible. Trim the ends. Generally i trim at a slight angle, so the part that lays against the post is a little shorter than the part that touches the front of the juice well.
5. I find this step to make a HUGE difference in wick performance. Juice the coil and the adjacent wick BEFORE tucking the tails under. This keeps the cotton fibers from kinking and collapsing-thus allowing them to cheerfully pull your juice from the deck to the coil. It's much harder to kink a garden hose while the water is running, same principle. It will keep the tiny channels in the cotton open during the next step.
6. The biggest reason (IMO) that a wick fails to perform is because of an obstruction in it's path from deck to coil. Hold a tiny tool of your choice under the cotton next to the coil and support it while you tuck the tails under. If your cotton is kinked where it touches the coil, the juice will come to a dead stop right before it reaches the finish line. This has been associated with dry/burnt hits, anxiety, depression, loss of enthusiasm etc. Your significant other/dog/cat/therapist will appreciate the care taken during this crucial step. Leave a nice smooth path for the juice to travel, and let physics handle the rest. If your tails touch one another then you need to trim them. Leave enough cotton for it to sit on the deck, but not so much that they are touching. You want the juice to creep as evenly up the wick as possible, this cannot happen if the tails are laying on top/under/in front/behind one another.
7. Fire that sucker up and admire the ease with which your device will perform!
When this is all done properly you should be able to drip ANYWHERE through the top and wick will instantly soak up all the juice and bring it straight to the coil by the time you set your juice down. I am well aware of the various schools of thought on the subject of wicking, and this is what happens to work best for me, so i thought it would be nice to share it with the community. Cheers!
Ps-i used the Dotmod Petri RDA for this demo, with a parallel fused/stapled clapton coil. It's not my prettiest coil, but it vapes all kinds of heavenly. Just look at the wick
I have been seeing quite a few questions here lately as to wicking methods, so being new here I thought perhaps it would benefit some folks who are having problems with this necessary aspect of dripping and contribute to this forum which i like so much. I feel that there are a couple points that i often see overlooked that i believe are important. I hope it helps, because i pulled a perfectly good wick to make the illustration haha. Enjoy!!
1. Cut a strip of japanese cotton ALONG it's natural "grain". I generally cut about 3 times wider than whatever tool i wrapped the coil around. If i need to i'll trim it a little later on. It's of utmost importance to cut along the grain, or it will fall apart when inserting through the coil. And even if you managed to get it through the coil-the juice wouldn't really go anywhere.
2. Roll the end between your fingers tightly, make a section a little longer than the coil. You may have to do it a few times as the cotton will probably puff back out after you let it go. It doesn't hate you-I promise.
3. Gently slide the rolled out end through the coil. It should have a tiny bit of friction, but you shouldn't have to fight this too hard.
4. Pull your wick through straight. By that i mean do NOT twist the wick as you're pulling it through, take care to leave the grain of the cotton as parallel to the coil as possible. Just pretend that the wick is a bundle of drinking straws, if you want the juice to travel through it, you're gonna want them as straight as possible. Trim the ends. Generally i trim at a slight angle, so the part that lays against the post is a little shorter than the part that touches the front of the juice well.
5. I find this step to make a HUGE difference in wick performance. Juice the coil and the adjacent wick BEFORE tucking the tails under. This keeps the cotton fibers from kinking and collapsing-thus allowing them to cheerfully pull your juice from the deck to the coil. It's much harder to kink a garden hose while the water is running, same principle. It will keep the tiny channels in the cotton open during the next step.
6. The biggest reason (IMO) that a wick fails to perform is because of an obstruction in it's path from deck to coil. Hold a tiny tool of your choice under the cotton next to the coil and support it while you tuck the tails under. If your cotton is kinked where it touches the coil, the juice will come to a dead stop right before it reaches the finish line. This has been associated with dry/burnt hits, anxiety, depression, loss of enthusiasm etc. Your significant other/dog/cat/therapist will appreciate the care taken during this crucial step. Leave a nice smooth path for the juice to travel, and let physics handle the rest. If your tails touch one another then you need to trim them. Leave enough cotton for it to sit on the deck, but not so much that they are touching. You want the juice to creep as evenly up the wick as possible, this cannot happen if the tails are laying on top/under/in front/behind one another.
7. Fire that sucker up and admire the ease with which your device will perform!
When this is all done properly you should be able to drip ANYWHERE through the top and wick will instantly soak up all the juice and bring it straight to the coil by the time you set your juice down. I am well aware of the various schools of thought on the subject of wicking, and this is what happens to work best for me, so i thought it would be nice to share it with the community. Cheers!
Ps-i used the Dotmod Petri RDA for this demo, with a parallel fused/stapled clapton coil. It's not my prettiest coil, but it vapes all kinds of heavenly. Just look at the wick
