Rebuildable Dripping Attie - "open" design

[ian]

O.k my results so far I boiled 7 strands of the 3mm wick and four strands of the 1mm wick in a pan for approximately 10 minutes.Took the pan off the boil and rinsed the wick with cold water.I then took a small cup and started to squeeze the excess water from the wick into the cup.My water was also a slightly cloudy/milky colour.I set out the wick on a radiator and left for half an hour to dry.I took the wick off the radiator and it was quite brittle due to the heat, but easily fluffed out again in seconds by rolling it about in my hands :)Ive always struggled most getting rid of the wick taste with the 3mm wick, so i made a coil up for my RTA with one strand of 3mm wick using 5 turns of 0.20mm wire.Primed the coil and wick and set my VV to 3.9v,WOW,instant flavour and no wick taste whatsoever.Ive been using this coil for around half an hour now and emptied half the tank.Its going very well and i can taste pure Golden Burginia and no wick taste whatsoever.I will try the 1mm wick out on the RDA tomorrow and see how that goes but it seems to me that boilng/washing this wick does indeed help it to work and wick alot better.A big thanks to Blakey as i wouldnt have considered washing the wick to be honest,its most definately helped the group buy wick to work even better which is great.I will try burning this wick tomorrow and see if that has any positive effects on its performance

[blakey]

Everything pointed to the wick to honest mate, I'm going to boil the lot of the group buy stuff and the bulli wick then leave it to soak before it goes in the airing cupboard to dry. Many thanks for doing the boil test mate, I was at work when this was going on or I probably would have done it myself. It'll be interesting to see the results of the dry burn when you do it.

[clockworks]

Thanks for that, Ian. So the boiling is definitely having some effect, and something is coming out of the wick.

The next question is, is it some chemical that's being dissolved by the water, or is it an emulsion of tiny glass strands?

[blakey]

Nov 8, 2011 7:38:59 GMT clockworks said:

or is it an emulsion of tiny glass strands?

That's actually quite worrying, what's in the vapour that we inhale? I don't like the idea of hundreds of tiny glass shards heading for my lungs! The poor buggas are only just getting over the layers of tar they've been covered in
I think to be safe, it should all be boiled regardless of taste issues.

[ian]

I have to admit that i did notice the water went slightly cloudy and i could indeed see loads of small pieces of fibreglass in the cup.Im not sure whether boiling disturbed the fibreglass more than simply washing but its most certainly a worry.Fibreglass is not nice,i remember putting our loft insulation in and i had a severe reaction to it.I think the best wick is Bulli and CE2 wick to be honest as its smooth and no actual strands of fibreglass come loose from it like the other stuff.If bits of this fibreglass are coming off into our juice then we must be inhaling some of it.Maybe the answer is to ask if the wick could be finished like the Bulli or CE2 wick?Atleast then no tiny pieces of fibreglass could seperate from the wick into the juice.Im not knocking this wick in any way as its such a massive lifeline, and boiling has made it work so well.I think boiling it is the way to go as Blakey said because it makes it work better and also removes alot of the tiny strands of fibreglass.I think pre burning the wick will help to bind it to a similar finish to the Bulli stuff,will try and add my findings later.

[blakey]

Iv'e boiled some of the pre soaked wick that I had in filtered water for 10mins, and wrung it out and rinsed and This time there was no cloudy water, so I boiled some wick that I hadn't pre-soaked and the water got quite cloudy. For good measure I boiled my bulli wick supply too (all in filtered water) and noticed that there was a slight clouding from that too but to a much lesser extent so I gave it a second boil and rinse and the water was clear. It's all on the line now drying. If it was a glass emulsion then in theory as the pre-soaked wick was soaked weeks ago then it would have become more brittle again upon drying and handling (I made sure that I really ruffled it up first) and emitted more fragments into the water. It all seems to point to something in or on these wicks at manufacture. I'm going to let the whole lot dry naturally and then try it in the RTA, Judging by Ians results it would seem that whatever is clouding the water is causing the fuzzy taste issue. Maybe it's a residue of whatever detergents they use to clean the wick when they make it. Have you tried the dry burn yet Ian?

[ian]

Ive just finished doing it and im very pleased with the results.Rite,basically when you look at a strand of the group buy wick its fluffy looking and you can see little strands of the glassfibre which come off easily when handling the wick or making a coil.What i did was to wrap a 5 turn coil of 0.20mm wire around two strands of the 1mm wick,i havent boiled or washed this wick at all.I then took my fag lighter and burnt the wick on all sides evenly for a few minutes until pure white.All of the small strands which easily come off when handling were instantly burnt away and im left with a smooth wick similar to the Bulli stuff.While burning the wick held up very well and didnt set fire or charr at all which is good.I added the coil to my RTA and primed the wick and coil in the usual manner ensuring the full length of wick was wet and ready to vape.I did notice that the juice absorbed ALOT quicker into the wick which i can only assume is due to its new smoother consistancy.All i can tell you so far is that the juice is flowing perfectly and im getting full flavour the same as Bulli and CE2 wick which is a massive bonus,no funky wick taste whatsoever and worked perfect from the off.From my basic experimentations what i think is that the Bulli and CE2 wick is pre burned and this stuff is not.It makes sense to me now why the Bulli and CE2 wick give great flavour from the off as im getting identical results from this groupbuy wick after pre burning it.I love the Bulli and CE2 stuff as it dry burns and cleans so well,after pre burning the groupbuy wick its also now dry burning clean which is a massive bonus as i was finding it charred easily and would not clean well.I will carry on with this coil now and see how it goes and how long it lasts and report back.For me personally pre burning the wick has improved its performance tenfold,hope others find the same as me.

[blakey]

Ok, i got home from work and the wick that I had boiled was dry so I did the dry burn and fitted it, It seems to have done the trick, the funky taste was gone, I have never had a problem with juice getting to the coil in this RTA so I have no idea whether or not it wicked any faster than before. I did however notice that before the burn the wick was moulting little particles, when I shook it in direct sunlight a dust cloud erupted from it. I shook it again after the dry burn and it was clean.
Also that CE2 wick came today and I've just made a coil of 2ohms and fitted it, It's good stuff -Thanks for the heads up Ian. It even works well in the bulli.

[ian]

Great stuff Blakey,im glad you also like the CE2 wick.I must admit im tempted to buy another 10m or so but to be honest ive got the groupbuy stuff working spot on now.I love the pre burn of the wick as it gets rid of all those little straggler strands and makes the wick alot better to work with.I think the biggest bonus is that it improves flavour and gets rid of the funky taste from the off.Ive just put a new coil in my RDA and its vaping to perfection.

[Gordy]

in regards to the RTA wick a soak and a pre burn is a plus then
whats is the consensus on prefered wick Tim's bulk buy (which thickness?) vs CE2 then guys ?

[blakey]

Nov 9, 2011 15:24:33 GMT Gordy said:

in regards to the RTA wick a soak and a pre burn is a plus then
whats is the consensus on prefered wick Tim's bulk buy (which thickness?) vs CE2 then guys ?

Once burned in the group buy wick is excellent to be honest but with the CE2 you only need one strand which makes fitting it through the holes in the RTA a breeze and it performs every bit as well as the bulli wick from the off.

[Deleted]

Ah nice going Ian. Glad to know the Group Buy wick is improved as I have some coming.

Gotta say the RTA is simply brilliant.

[clockworks]

Nov 9, 2011 15:28:36 GMT blakey said:

Nov 9, 2011 15:24:33 GMT Gordy said:

in regards to the RTA wick a soak and a pre burn is a plus then
whats is the consensus on prefered wick Tim's bulk buy (which thickness?) vs CE2 then guys ?

Once burned in the group buy wick is excellent to be honest but with the CE2 you only need one strand which makes fitting it through the holes in the RTA a breeze and it performs every bit as well as the bulli wick from the off.

Are you just using a single strand of the CE2 wick through the 2 main holes?
What are you doing with the third hole?

[blakey]

Nov 9, 2011 19:22:07 GMT clockworks said:

Nov 9, 2011 15:28:36 GMT blakey said:

Once burned in the group buy wick is excellent to be honest but with the CE2 you only need one strand which makes fitting it through the holes in the RTA a breeze and it performs every bit as well as the bulli wick from the off.

Are you just using a single strand of the CE2 wick through the 2 main holes?
What are you doing with the third hole?

Yep, single strand through the two main holes and I just put a single piece in the third hole and let the end rest on the coill, similar idea to the loop made with the bulli wick. Alternatively I could put some of the bulli or group buy wick in there and make a loop.

[ian]

Im doing exactly the same as Blakey.Its the new,thicker Royal Smoker wick Steve.A few of the clearos i sent you have the thicker CE2 wick on,thats what we are using.Its my favourite wick for the RTA as it gives the same flavour as the Bulli stuff,works from the off and fills the holes so very well which slows the flow of the juice down a bit.It also cleans and dry burns snowy white which obviously prolongs the life of each coil.Sod it,im off to check if any more is left on Cams site