What's more important, coil build or wicking tricks, for flavor?

[falcor]

My go-to build is wrapping SS 316L, 24g, staggered fused claptons. Oh, such flavor.

I always build dual coil builds, very low ohm (around 0.11). I get tremendous flavor this way, and they say SS is the most health-conscious wire.

So, do you guys think it's more important to make the perfect coil (and is there really that much difference in the various types of claptons, vs alien coils, etc), or is a good/great coil "good enough"? How much difference is there in your experience?

And on the flip side, do you think these subtle coil differences make more of an impact on flavor than expert wicking?

I've been thinking of trying the Scottish Roll... I think it's a bit more orientated towards RDAs than RTAs, but many say it's superior wicking. Do you think differences in wicking contribute as much, or more, to flavor, than differences in coil builds?

Lastly, bonus question: spaced, or contact coils, for flavor?

 

[HondaDavidson]

KISS...... this is what is important.



If getting a good vape is difficult or takes more thought than deciding which flavor juice to use .......

The answer to each of you questions is Yes No AND Maybe... all would be both the best and worst way.

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[KarmicRage]

My go to wick method is Scottish roll. I think it works well as long as it's not too compacted. As for getting the best flavour I think everything has to be in tune to get the absolute best from a juice. You can't be slacking in your wicking if you've got a good coil and vice versa. Just personal opinion like and as always it's subjective.

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[falcor]

KISS...... this is what is important.



If getting a good vape is difficult or takes more thought than deciding which flavor juice to use .......

The answer to each of you questions is Yes No AND Maybe... all would be both the best and worst way.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

I wouldn't say it's difficult. I continue to get better and better flavor as I get better flavor chasing RDAs/RTAs, improve coils, and improve wicking.

I was just wondering if I should spend more time on one area than the others.

 

[pulsevape]

yeah..my go to wick for flavor is mesh.

 

[KarmicRage]

I've never tried mesh wicking. Watched some videos on it but never dived in.

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[falcor]

yeah..my go to wick for flavor is mesh.

Interesting advice. I have not tried mesh either. Always heard good things. Is it difficult to wick with?

What Mesh do you recommend? Any types, brands? What's the best?

Is it more difficult than wicking with cotton? Harder to build on?

I really wanna try mesh now.

 

[Eggen]

I find coils to make a huge difference. It's not always the most advanced coil that you can build that vapes the best though. You just have to play around to find your favorite. Some tanks seem to do better with different coils. I love aliens in my rdas but a simple staggered fused Clapton is probably my favorite for most of my rtas. As karmic said, everything works together. I found a good baseline coil to test atomizers out with is a 2 or 3 core fused Clapton with 36 or 40g wrap. They do not take long to perfect and if a pair of those does not taste awesome in an atomizer you can figure that the tank itself probably is not for you. After you find the tank that you like the best with the fused Claptons then you can move on to making some more exotic coils for that specific atomizer. Wicking is as important as anything but I think the coils have the largest effect on flavor.

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[Carambrda]

It's all largely subjective in the end. I can't enjoy flavor without a warm, dense vape and big enough clouds. The ideal amount of warmth also varies depending on the juice I vape. RTAs/RDTAs are a major no no for me when it comes to flavor. So yes, the wicking matters a great deal, for reasons that are obvious IMO. But it's only one of several many variables. So the coils and the airflow are equally as important too... everything matters as long as it matters to you. It's all kind of comparable to putting together an audiophile system. It doesn't necessarily have to be super expensive to give great tasting sound, but also it doesn't get better than the weakest link. Remember music is art so the subtlest details can either make it or break it. Garbarge in, garbage out, and, if you're worried that bigger clouds will necessarily always just kill the flavor, then think about what John Peel has said about the surface noise of vinyl records:

Listen, mate. LIFE has surface noise.

 

[Synphul]

I don't notice wicks making a flavor difference unless talking about wick material. If it's too tight it chokes the juice and leads to shitty dry tasting hits, if it's too loose it can lead to popping or leaking rta's. Flavor seems to depend on the coil, size, how it's positioned and in what atomizer. The chamber and airflow along with coil position can affect the flavor it seems like but it's all a balancing act.

Scottish roll seems to work well but again depends on the atomizer. I didn't run into any dry hit issues or wicking issues in my bachelor rta but the wick laid horizontally from juice port, through the coil to the other juice port. It didn't hang down like most rta/rda. On the ammit scottish roll seems to work better but it's kind of a pain in the ass. Too little wick and it leaks, too much and it stuffs up and won't wick. Pretty shoddy design for the juice feed really between the tight clearance between glass and chamber and pinholes in the deck where the juice has to drop down to the bottom, rise up to the little holes above it and then wick.

Drives me nuts when changing flavors by just adding a different juice to the tank. The last of the old juice never gets used up because of the juice port circus act. Taste and builds are ultimately subjective though, ask 3 different people which coil build, type of wick material and what type of atomizer they like best for flavor, probably get 4 different answers lol.

 

[splucked]

It's all kind of comparable to putting together an audiophile system.

Perfect analogy.

 

[Eggen]

I agree that as long as your coil is wicked so it is not dry hitting, and is providing the coil with juice around the inside diameter of the coil, it does not affect flavor imo. The wicking MATERIAL will but special methods of wicking are generaly just to make sure the coil is getting juice fast enough.

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[Carambrda]

I agree that as long as your coil is wicked so it is not dry hitting, and is providing the coil with juice around the inside diameter of the coil, it does not affect flavor imo. The wicking MATERIAL will but special methods of wicking are generaly just to make sure the coil is getting juice fast enough.

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It depends. If you prefer to vape at low or medium-low power for small-ish clouds and or long slow draws, then the wicking material generally has less trouble keeping up (especially with short coils and big inner diameter coils) so IMO the old "bigger clouds mean less flavor" mantra also comes from people simply not knowing how to properly wick an RDA.

 

[Eggen]

It depends. If you prefer to vape at low or medium-low power for small-ish clouds and or long slow draws, then the wicking material generally has less trouble keeping up (especially with short coils and big inner diameter coils) so IMO the old "bigger clouds mean less flavor" mantra also comes from people simply not knowing how to properly wick an RDA.

I hear you, I was not at all saying that bigger clouds mean less flavor. I was just saying that special wicking methods are normally just to make sure that your coils are getting enough juice fast enough so they do not dry hit. Methods like the Scottish roll are great for juice hungry builds and I use it all the time, but if your coils are already getting enough juice the wicking should not affect flavor. If you use a different material however, that is a way that wicking can affect the flavor. If all that you are using is cotton and you wick it correctly, using a different method is not going to change the flavor.

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[Carambrda]

I hear you, I was not at all saying that bigger clouds mean less flavor. I was just saying that special wicking methods are normally just to make sure that your coils are getting enough juice fast enough so they do not dry hit. Methods like the Scottish roll are great for juice hungry builds and I use it all the time, but if your coils are already getting enough juice the wicking should not affect flavor. If you use a different material however, that is a way that wicking can affect the flavor. If all that you are using is cotton and you wick it correctly, using a different method is not going to change the flavor.

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Well IME wicking can, and often does affect flavor even if the coils are getting enough juice. It depends. For example, wicks can interfere with airflow (for better or worse) thereby also affecting flavor. I don't use the Scottish roll. Instead, I usually prefer my own little adaptation of the Sushi roll:

 

[Eggen]

Well IME wicking can, and often does affect flavor even if the coils are getting enough juice. It depends. For example, wicks can interfere with airflow (for better or worse) thereby also affecting flavor. I don't use the Scottish roll. Instead, I usually prefer my own little adaptation of the Sushi roll:

Yes, if you block the airflow with the wick it will defiantly affect flavor. That is precisely why I used the term "wicked correctly". There is a difference between good wicking and poor wicking but I would not call blocking airflow with cotton a wicking method or trick. I do not do the Scottish roll on anything but RTAs and some RDTAs that have tight juice channels. RDAs are generaly less picky about how you wick them. I think that if you wicked up an identical rda and coil setup with the sushi Roll in one and the Scottish roll in the other and then vaped them side by side they would taste exactly the same provided you wicked them correctly. I would be interested to try your method in one of my RDAs if you want to post how you do it or pm me with instructions.

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[aeon]

In my experience, coil position relative to airflow source as well as chamber size make the most difference as it concerns flavor.

Coil type and wicking don’t seem to play a major role, assuming they are performing normatively.

Cheers,
Ian

 

[Carambrda]

Yes, if you block the airflow with the wick it will defiantly affect flavor. That is precisely why I used the term "wicked correctly". There is a difference between good wicking and poor wicking but I would not call blocking airflow with cotton a wicking method or trick. I do not do the Scottish roll on anything but RTAs and some RDTAs that have tight juice channels. RDAs are generaly less picky about how you wick them. I think that if you wicked up an identical rda and coil setup with the sushi Roll in one and the Scottish roll in the other and then vaped them side by side they would taste exactly the same provided you wicked them correctly. I would be interested to try your method in one of my RDAs if you want to post how you do it or pm me with instructions.

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On some RDAs there simply is no other way to adjust airflow. For example, the Head Shot RDA by Purge Mods provides no other option but to turn the cap such a way that part of the cotton directs airflow onto the coils from an angled position as well as adds some restrictiveness. (This RDA actually even whistles if you try to vape on it without doing it that way so... here's another reference to building an audiophile system. lol) Cutting the ends of the wicks long enough to be able to (partially) fill up the juice wells with cotton also has some impact on the vape experience as a whole, which also includes the flavor IMO to some certain degree. Apart from fluffing up and combing the ends of the wicks by using the sharp tip of a cotton hook tool, and then re-trimming them to tidy them up, another thing IMO is to not let the ends of the wicks fall straight down, but instead, lift them slightly back up after tucking them under the coils. The sharp tip of a cotton hook tool can then also be used to work in the space under the coils, and to re-comb the ends of the wicks from within that space as well as to re-fluff everything outside of that space (where necessary).

The juicing up part also takes some extra time and patience to get it right. The trick IMO is to not start by spilling juice onto the ends of the wicks, but instead, let the coils (and only the part of the wicks that's inside them) initially soak up the juice by giving it time and patience. Just a quick pulse at low wattage lasting only a fraction of a second will help to accelerate the whole process somewhat. (Watching videos on YouTube where people seem to always be baptising their entire mod with juice just makes me want to laugh hard.) Finally, the ends of the wicks will be almost saturated with juice instead of completely saturated. You'll notice you're there when the wicks look saturated on the inside of the cotton, but are surrounded by a very thin layer of still dry fibers that you can then swipe and bud, gently, without actually pushing against the cotton, until it all looks highly smooth and aerodynamical to boot. lol The rest of my technique is practically identical to the Sushi roll so I just tend to get enough cotton on the inside of my coils to avoid violent spitback. But obviously the ends of my wicks are much less compressed by comparison... so that's also part of my "trick".

 

[falcor]

I've definitely gotten into the Scottish Roll for wicking. I wasn't sure how it would work in an RTA (the Kylin v2 in this case), but it's great; just wicks faster and more consistently. I think it improves flavor marginally since it seems to hold more juice; but yeah, the coil and the RTA/RDA itself are really the most important.

On that note I never thought I'd go back to Japanese cotton after getting on to Cotton Bacon, but when you make it into a Scottish Roll it's really worth it. And so easy to do and get the size right.