I don't drip, but with a saturated coil you should be able to get at least 3 or 4 good hits before you have to wet the wick again. You will have to get used to it and that takes a little time. Other people on here drip maybe one of them can tell you more than I can about how often you have to wet the wick, a lot of it probably depends on how deep your well is, and how much juice is available to be wicked before you pump it again. The popping is no big deal, my subtanks do it quite often.