Source
r/electronic_cigarette•
DigUpStupid

[PSA] Noobs, Don't Be Like Me, Cotton Grain Matters When Wicking

You guys are going to laugh at me, but it happens. I'm fairly new to this, and I fucked up something fierce.

I got a subtank mini, which came with pre-built coils and cotton. I watched some videos to cut my wick to the right width, and tried re-wicking. My first wick fell apart as I pulled through, then with great care I got a second in. It worked fine for a few days, and I felt good.

Then I tried again, and ended up burning through my whole pad trying to get my wick threaded in. I was frustrated, and knowing that I had a large order of cotton coming my way, I was concerned about my ability to re-wick.

Then I watched a bunch of videos to see why I was having so much trouble. It finally clicked when someone was talking about grain with a close up of the cotton. Cotton has a grain guys (hold your laughter until the end). I picked up the remnants of my pad, and realized the entire time I was cutting against the grain. So the nice threads composing my pad were being bisected, and they were falling apart as I tried to thread them.

I'm still amazed I managed a single proper wick. Don't be like me, check your grain.

Posted Jun 2, 2015, 1:34 AM UTC

4938
RangerSixMBV Black Ice, Smokeless Image Volt, Nano Clearo•

He's cutting against the grain... it's a bold move, Cotton, let's see if it pays off for him.

54
BEAVER_ATTACKSKanger Subtank•

That was beautiful.

2
SpeshulSnoflakeSmok M80+ & Lemo 2•

Spoiler : it didn't.

1
SPNCER•

bold strategy*

1
VapingSmooth¤HCigar HBDNA40 & Subtank Mini¤•

Lol. Dodgeball??

-2†
cuckooforcoconut•

i guess i got lucky. i used to use regular old cotton balls, and they wont pull apart if you dont go with the grain.

12
asiangun•

Any advice how you do it or any videos. I keep fucking up, sometimes it's good, most of the time I end up wasting juice because I get burnt tastes.

3
niandra3SMPL + Hobo v3•

This works really well, and no dry hits. It's easier with sheets, but even if you use cotton balls you can still pull the wick through and trim the tips a bit like in the pic: http://imgur.com/a/dyvOU

3
blivey•

Great pictoral of the wicking process. Hard to mess up now.

2
jacoman74•

Clean your damn hands. The burnt metal taste is the oil and dirt from your fingers.

2†
cuckooforcoconut•

I like Cloud50's videos since he is very very very particular about the details. This is for a cottonball for wick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yEN-VbXbwk

2
JustSayNoToDiacetyl•

You use cotton balls? You're doing it wrong, noob.

-73
jackfairy80•

Noob? I'm a 3+ year vape vet and still use organic cottonballs. I've tried the japanese cotton pads and to be honest i really don't like them. To each his own man.

20
JustSayNoToDiacetyl•

Chill your tits. I was only winding you up.

-56
TwoFingerDiscount•

For real, just stop vaping

4†
Bluman56iPV4/Mini Freakshow (TC)•

There's no wrong if he's enjoying his setup.

6
TSpectacular•

You're the worst

2
bae666•

I use cotton balls too, they roll out into a 4' strip you fool. I've tried Japanese organic, reyon, cottonman and numorous different brands of each. I prefer cotton man's angel hair but I don't want to pay that much and CVS sterile cotton is almost as good imo.

0
TwoFingerDiscount•

Please stop vaping.

-6
Jynx104•

When you cut against the grain of the cotton, you lose!

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/trailerpark/images/f/f5/Lahey.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20091104161132

7
BEAVER_ATTACKSKanger Subtank•

Frig off, Lahey.

8
GandydancerMVP 3.0 Pro|Kanger STP|iSub G•

You’re not alone, I’ve done it too. Couldn’t figure out to save my ass why when I used tweezers to pull (what I thought was) a correctly prepped slice through my first janky-jank coil it’d fall apart, and work nowhere near as well as when PBusardo did it on his videos. It was only after about a good five attempts or so that I decided to actually, y’know, look at the fucking cotton.

My desk has a remarkably large crater in it, for some reason, and my forehead is noticeably flatter than I remember…

7
xllostlxSigelei 150W and SubTank Plus.•

Don't feel bad when I first started building, I did the same thing.

Still^do^it^occasionally^while^drunk.

4
Bovine_University•

Ive tried rewicking the OCCs a few times and evvvvvery time I was getting dry/burnt hits even at 20w. I tried more cotton, less cotton.. Not sure what the issue is. Any help?

3
paingawdCovered Bridge in a SubTank mini•

I don't have an answer, I'm just hoping on your question because I'm having the exact same problem. I finally got the positive lead of the kanthal to stop shorting on the coil body, but I'll be damned if I can get the buggers to wick right...

2
Winter_knights•

Search YouTube for the pancake wicking method by riptrippers

1
Bovine_University•

Yeah I've actually seen that video but that's for the RBA deck. I tried it and it wasn't bad but the airflow was terrible. I'll have to modify the piece or wait until the new unit is available..

1
Winter_knights•

Yeah the new RBA should help a lot probably a couple weeks till FastTech has it

1
NomNomMeatballBanned•

Are you priming the wicks by hitting without firing to draw the liquid in?

1
Bovine_University•

Yup, sure am. Thanks for the suggestion tho

1
paingawdCovered Bridge in a SubTank mini•

According to Graffin, it's the right way

I did the exact same thing. Man, I was peeved when I realized what I was doing wrong-d'OH!!

2
v3xxIpv3, Doge v2•

The cotton works in a series of tubes much like the internet.

2
NightofTheLivingZedKamry 20 / Subtank Mini .5 ohm RBA / Royal Hunter RDA .8 dual•

I did this my first time. Cut it the wrong way and immediately realized where I fucked up... After getting down to the last bit of that pad that came with it, I think I finally got the technique down. Good thing cotton is cheap... I got a nice sized bag of Japanese organic cotton for $1.25 to fool around with. Today I try my first coil wrap.

I noticed that if I put too little cotton or too much, it spits at me... if it's too little, then I get too much juice in the RBA and it spit HOT at me. Burned the back of my throat a little.

Basically I try to get enough that when I thread it through the coil that it gives a little tension. Too much, and you might bend your coil... Too little and it goes through too easily.

2
chipmunk7000Sigelei 100W+ and Patriot Clone•

Nice work getting it to work at all like that, that displays tremendous patience!

2
simpleone234•

That's how you cut a steak, against the grain. It will fall apart in your mouth just like OP described his cotton falling apart.

2
b_fnkiPV4 + Subtank Mini•

Yeah, that's how my first few wicks went down... Went against the grain. :S

Vape life really changed for me when I realized this.

-1†