Removing flavor wicks problem

[bcartervol98]

I have a question I probably could find but wanted to ask about anyway. Everyone that knows me here knows my woes with my favorite liquid supplier switching to an all VG base and it changing the flavor. First draw is heaven, second less tasteful, third burned. I have to let it sit for a while before I do not get a dry hit or take several non powered pulls to prime it before I heat the coil. Either way it was getting old so I tried what was suggested by a few people of removing flavor wicks from my KPT2 coils.

Here is my question. When I did this last night I was like HOLY CRAP this is awesome. All night long it wicked great, tasted like the liquid I used to love, everything worked fine. In comes the problem. This morning my tank had flooded to the point I couldn't hit it. I blew it out holding it upside down and it would hit a few times then just flood again. Long story short, I did something wrong lol.

On the top of the coil when I remove the rubber cap there are two distinctly smaller wicks on top of a larger wick. I removed both of the smaller wicks and slid the cap back down. What did I do wrong? Should I only remove one? Did I miss a step or is this just the risk you take when you mess with these things?

[Proetus]

Yea just pull one of those flavor wicks out. That should do it. Another thing you can do is replace both of them with a small piece of cotton. This will take some experimentation to get the right size that allows wicking without flooding or dry hits.

[bcartervol98]

Yea just pull one of those flavor wicks out. That should do it. Another thing you can do is replace both of them with a small piece of cotton. This will take some experimentation to get the right size that allows wicking without flooding or dry hits.

May be dumb question but cotton like from the end of a Q-Tip or a standard cotton ball like my wife uses for nail polish and such?

[vaporraper]

Tampax cotton!

[Aquatroy]

May be dumb question but cotton like from the end of a Q-Tip or a standard cotton ball like my wife uses for nail polish and such?

Best is organic cotton balls that have been boiled for a few minutes and then dried....

[DragonGunner]

I use organic cotton (bought from Walgreens) for all of my builds in my KPT2. Personally I find that a tight and slightly larger (larger than the original flavor wicks) strand of cotton works best. I can tell when I don't get it right because after a quarter tank I start to get the gurgles. I Immediately remove the flavor wick, blow out all excess juice and then replace the flavor wick. This normally works wonders for me.

Note: I have read that some folks do use the end of Q-tips. I would personally avoid regular cotton that our women use for their nails as it is bleached and stuff. If you do use this then make sure to boil it properly. Like I said above I use organic cotton and I have never boiled it before I use it, I guess I'm just to lazy and like to live a little dangerously. I would always suggest boiling the organic cotton to anyone else.

Oh and dont forget to saturate the cotton flavor wick or it will burn immediately and give you a mouthful of the most awful tasting crap in your mouth. Been there done that and it only takes once to forget.

Edited December 31, 2013 by dragongunner

[bcartervol98]

Ok getting too detailed for me lol. First thing I am going to try is removing one flavor wick instead of both. If it still floods I just will not order any more liquid from the source that changed their formula to not add any PG and now it is too thick to wick. I am not going to get into re-wicking, cotton boiling, drying and all that. I barely found time to eat lunch and dinner yesterday.

[IMEDICx90]

I would replace one and see if that doesn't fix your issue. Another way I have fixed it is to remove the silica wicks and take some cotton from a cotton ball and use that in place of the flavor wicks. It's a more aggressive wicking material so it seems to help keep the coil pumped with juice but doesn't allow it to flood. but you could just try and add the second flavor wick back in if you don't like the cotton idea.

And I use plain cotton balls and never boil them. For Christ sake we are inhaling worse stuff into our lungs when you walk outside. Give me a freaking break about all this "only use boiled cotton" crap. So b just grab a fresh cotton ball out of the package and pull it apart to about the same size as the flavor wicks and lay them on top like your flavor wicks, replace the pressure fit stem, and then put it in the tank. Works like a charm.

[bcartervol98]

I had actually done it on two tanks, and one I removed both and the other I only removed one. The one I removed one on did not flood and sat overnight but was full and had not been heated or used since putting in the coil with the one flavor wick removed.

I am just over the tweaking and tinkering and just want my stuff to work. If I didn't have over 200ml of this liquid and didnt like it so much I would just give it away. Working on options to replace it with something else I can vape all day. I think I found that.

[bcartervol98]

I would replace one and see if that doesn't fix your issue. Another way I have fixed it is to remove the silica wicks and take some cotton from a cotton ball and use that in place of the flavor wicks. It's a more aggressive wicking material so it seems to help keep the coil pumped with juice but doesn't allow it to flood. but you could just try and add the second flavor wick back in if you don't like the cotton idea.

And I use plain cotton balls and never boil them. For Christ sake we are inhaling worse stuff into our lungs when you walk outside. Give me a freaking break about all this "only use boiled cotton" crap. So b just grab a fresh cotton ball out of the package and pull it apart to about the same size as the flavor wicks and lay them on top like your flavor wicks, replace the pressure fit stem, and then put it in the tank. Works like a charm.

I agree 100% with your 2nd paragraph. I may try it, not sure. Hoping the removing of 1 wick vs 2 will solve the issue. If not I will probably just use a little cotton off a Q-Tip to see if that helps or just say eff it and order 125ml of this Bahama Mama from ECBlends which is sure to take a solid place in the daily rotation lol.

[IMEDICx90]

There you go b. that's the spirit! And usually just removing 1 does the trick for me. If they use distilled water in their mix though it still might be too much space in between the stem and the coil. That's why I usually just replace them with cotton.

[bcartervol98]

There you go b. that's the spirit! And usually just removing 1 does the trick for me. If they use distilled water in their mix though it still might be too much space in between the stem and the coil. That's why I usually just replace them with cotton.

To do this I have to remove the rubber ring over the wicks and pull out the post to expose the wicks? I remember Rixter posting a step by step rebuild pictures added thread but it starts with a disassembled coil.

I would

1. Remove the rubber thing that sits atop the wick

2. Pull out the post

3 Replace flavor wicks with a little cotton

4. Reassemble and vape away?

Am I on the right track there Medic?

[IMEDICx90]

 

 

To do this I have to remove the rubber ring over the wicks and pull out the post to expose the wicks? I remember Rixter posting a step by step rebuild pictures added thread but it starts with a disassembled coil.

 

I would

 

1. Remove the rubber thing that sits atop the wick

2. Pull out the post

3 Replace flavor wicks with a little cotton

4. Reassemble and vape away?

 

Am I on the right track there Medic?

Yeah! I would add one small step though between three and four.

3.5.) place a few drops of liquid on the cotton

Or you can reassemble and make sure you do a few unpowered draws just to soak the cotton. Unlike silica it will burn really quick, so make sure you get it saturated before vaping it whole hog.

[spydre]

Okay, how, exactly, do you take the post off? I went to dry burn one of my previously cleaned and air dried wicks, and took the rubber piece off, but saw no way of getting to the wicks, and couldn't figure out how to get the top part off. So I very, very carefully did a couple short hits of dry burn, hoping not to burn the wicks. I now have that coil MARKED, so if it tastes all burn-y, I know why, lol. But I won't be trying to use that coil again until after I have ordered and hopefully received new coils.

[Bebop]

The post is just a press fit. Grab it and rock it off.

The flavor wicks will come right out.

Dry burn until coils glow red evenly.

The wick wont burn. The burning is old juice carmelization.

[IMEDICx90]

You can't burn silica. Well you can but I highly doubt you would be able to heat it to 1600 degrees Celsius with your PV.

[bcartervol98]

Yeah! I would add one small step though between three and four.

3.5.) place a few drops of liquid on the cotton

Or you can reassemble and make sure you do a few unpowered draws just to soak the cotton. Unlike silica it will burn really quick, so make sure you get it saturated before vaping it whole hog.

Gonna try this tonight I have decided to tinker as I practice being a drinker!

[Aquatroy]

Practice makes perfect!!

[bcartervol98]

Ok that was way easier than I had envisioned. Didn't realize how easily the coils come apart. Used cotton off Qtips I figure if they are sterile enough to stick in my ear they are good enough for a coil. Still early on just started using one but taste is unbelievable and no leaking or dry hits so far and I used a good size piece of cotton.

That's the first time I have ever seen the inside of a KPT coil lol.

[Vispera]

I think I might try this tonight

[bcartervol98]

It was so easy if it works for me long term I might start doing it on all my coils lol.

[Aquatroy]

Okay, but I wear trifocals, and my hands aren't what they used to be, somebody should have a business doing this, kinda like Avid does on HH357s, send in dead coils and get new ones custom set up to your ohm and "flow" rate? Like you could have 3-4 rebuild options, std, one wick, cloud chaser, sub crazy... I have a few for you to start on lol!!

[wizard46304]

I'd buy custom coils also. I don't have trifocals yet but probably real close.

[Rixter]

It was so easy if it works for me long term I might start doing it on all my coils lol.

The next step is on 3.5mm silica so no flavor wicks are necessary. 3.5mm silica wick fills the slots on your KPT coil bodies just enough to prevent juice from flooding the air passage, but not enough to impede flow into the wick. I've never used a factory-prepared coil that comes anywhere close to DIY.

BTW, DIY coil rebuilding is super-simple and saves you money all the way around, too. Your hand rolled coils will last longer than packaged coils, and you can buy everything you need to get started (other than a multimeter) for the price of a McRib combo meal.

[bcartervol98]

I have several multimeters. Kept buying them when I wouldn't be able to find one. They always end up on the boat 25 miles from our house and when we cleaned it out for the winter I found 4. Just not sure how to use one beyond checking to make sure something is getting power or is grounded.

Mcrib is the bomb too lol. I'm southern and will eat almost anything.