So I was rebuilding some PT coils today....

[Bebop]

I rebuilt a few coils this morning most of them with silica wicks. All good results and performing nicely. I build them in the 1.6 - 1.8 range using my ohmmeter of course...

Started feeling a little adventurous. A few days ago I grabbed some standard garden variety cotton, boiled the heck out of it a couple times, drained and air dried it. I decided to build a couple coils up with cotton for the first time.

I don't know, maybe it's the cotton. There's definitely a difference. But I can taste something I don't like. It's not awful. In fact there is a cleaner kind of taste to it. Definitely different than silica. But I don't know, there something about it not quite right. Do I try a different cotton?

Just realized maybe I should have posted this in technical. Ok to move.

[VaporTron]

Try organic cotton. I boil it once then let it air dry. I even stuck it in the dryer once, safely inside of a sock. Tastes great. I have only baited with silica wick in the kpt3 minis. Side I found out its silica I don't use them. Going to try to rebuild them using cotton. I have seen the cvs brand sterile cotton being used without boiling. I may try that next, also, I want to try hemp and cotton yarn.

[Compenstine]

Garden verity? You mean like grown in a home garden? Or just standard cotton balls in a bag. I tried that once and boiled it 4 times and still had a strange flavor. When I switched to organic no more bad taste. It had a slight after taste the first few draws but it went away quickly. I would say go with some organic cotton, boil it once and dry, you should be fine.

[hookahhighness]

i only will use organic but i dont bother to boil them i feel it kills flavor and doesnt wick as well also boil it water would put minerals into it and such also all that junk just floats to the top and gets back over the cotton during draining. Fresh outta the bag and i find that to be enough plus whatever is in it if much is a hell of alot better than whats in cigarettes. imo.

[Bebop]

Cool, guys. I'll go organic.

I also think I may be building them too tight. But not sure. I am basically twisting the coil around a compressed tuft about 3mm in dia and then assembling and trimming but I am coiling them a little tight. What is the symptom of coiling too tight?

[Compenstine]

i only will use organic but i dont bother to boil them i feel it kills flavor and doesnt wick as well also boil it water would put minerals into it and such also all that junk just floats to the top and gets back over the cotton during draining. Fresh outta the bag and i find that to be enough plus whatever is in it if much is a hell of alot better than whats in cigarettes. imo.

I used distilled water to boil it. I know others that don't boil it, but I haven't noticed a difference. For me that was one reason I choose Organic. It is whitened only with peroxide and not bleach and other chems.

[Bebop]

So after vaping my cotton coil for a little while i noticed the coil doesn't appear to be firing evenly. It appears to be hot toward one side.

Think I'll rebuild one afyer I get some organic cotton

[VaporTron]

You should wrap your coil around a paperclip 6 times ~ .6-.8 ohms (28ga kanthol)...then feed a small amount if cotton through your coil. It should be loose enough to slide back and forth through the coil, but tight enough to touch all sides (360 degrees) of the inside of the coil

[VaporTron]

I boil my organic cotton with purified alkaline water and there has never been debris or anything in the water

[BigClouds1021]

I use organic cotton myself, I've tried boiling it and using it straight out of the bag. I personally can't taste any difference. Boiling didn't change the wicking or flavor ability of the cotton, IMHO. So I usually just use it straight out of the bag now. I've also used silica and ekowool. The ekowool is much better than reg silica, it has a much better cleaner flavor. I actually prefer ekowool over cotton in some of my RDAs.

[Bebop]

All good stuff....

Remember, I'm not sub ohming.

So when I wrap the cotton the wire is getting buried in the cotton a little bit. I'm basically free handing it. I might try pre forming the coil and pulling cotton through.

[Tam]

For me, when using cotton as a wick, it helps to prebuild the coil and then thread the cotton through.

[Bebop]

Duzz that mean I need dainty fingers and eagle eyes?

[Tam]

Duzz that mean I need dainty fingers and eagle eyes?

If it did I'd be in trouble! lol Maybe just some tweezers and a magnifying glass. It works for me.

[Bebop]

Ahhh....tools......I know I left some around here somewhere......