Ideal stardust wicking

[2risky]

So I'm going to re-fit my Ego Vision Starwotsits (henceforth EVS, though I'm tempted to call them Alvins) at some point.
I've got some decent wire (thanks Dee), but I'd like to know more about wick, so I'd appreciate any help.

The variables seem to be a) material and b) form factor

a) material
The choices appear to be glass fibre and stainles steel, maybe kevlar fibre too.

I'm doubting if ss is suitable for the EVS because it seems to me that part of the function of its wick is to seal the inner chamber from the tank, and I fear that ss may not compress well enough to prevent juice leaks. Is that sensible?

Glass fibre seems to be standard, but if it gets too chopped up into dust it's quite nasty stuff I understand, and it's not that hardwearing. For a fumbler like myself this could be a problem.

Another possibility I've seen mentioned is kevlar. You can get this in clown shops for fire-eating wicks etc. What are its relative merits compared to glass fibre, anyone know? It looks cheap enough and it could also serve as body armour should I happen to enter a combat situation.

b) form factor
I haven't measured the wick in my original EVS, but it looks to be somewhere between 1 and 2mm in diameter, also not sure if it's woven. My eyesight is imperfect. Is it the same as CE2 wick?

So if you could specify a perfect wick for Alvins, what would it be made of, what would it measure, and would it be woven or just strands?
I'd appreciate any facts or opinions because I'm in the dark on this. Please be as techy as you like.

[maccafan]

The wick sits way down in the slot so should not prevent the metal grommet and the silicone cap from fitting perfectly if you use a SS wick.

Only thing you have to do is to completely oxidize the surface of the SS wick and make it non-conductive. You do that by repeated heating to red heat and quenching as SS does not oxidize easily.

You can use a 1mm GF wick and double it up..

I do not have any experience of Kevlar as a wicking material..

[Gordy]

for the time being i would stick to glass fibre ...they work pretty well in this configuration

heaven gifts but out of stock at the moment
CE2 wick from e-cigz also out of stock but the best stuff by far
wick from cloud9 wick from cloud9
pre coiled wick wick and wire pre coiled from cloud9... quite expensive but at the amount you would use per EVS its not too bad for the ease of use

[Deleted]

I have just made one up with a stainless steel wick, it's performing great and no funky taste that I had yesterday with glass fibre (should of boiled it first).

[2risky]

Thanks for the responses.

So how do I go about fashioning a ss wick, if I go for that? Roll it up? I suppose you need a certain gauge of mesh, but how much do you use per wick and how do you prepare it (I can do the oxidising bit I think)? Completely new to this stuff.

I only really want to shell out once for exactly the right stuff. Most of this seems to be sold in lifetime supply quantities.

[Gordy]

its best to use stainless steel mesh #400 gauge
take a thin wire and roll some ss mesh around it... you wont need much maybe 10mm square... roll it nice and tight and see if it fits down the slot... if not then reduce the amount of mesh

once you have the correct size
hold it with tweezers and heat up with blow torch or lighter till red hot, then drop it in a tub of water.
pull out and dry then repeat at least 4-5 times

take a length of wire and heat slightly with the lighter flame to make it a little more malleable so you get a nice tight coil... the coil must be as tight as you can get it

place in the AVS trying not to handle the ss mesh too much and scratch it

screw onto the battery and fire up to check that the coil glows red and none of the mesh does (if the mesh does then the oxidisation wasnt done correctly)... once you are happy reassemble

[Gordy]

if there are a number of people that want stainless steel mesh i could make an order and sell it in smaller sizes

[2risky]

Thanks for the explain Gordy.

I'll have some if you get enough people. I'm trying to avoid spending like thirty quid on experimental wicks when the project is to save on money and wastage.

[maccafan]

You can get two sheets A4 size 400 mesh for about £8.00..I am sure I have seen 'em somewhere..

Cloud9vaping do a small 5x 10 cm sheet for about £2.00 if you want it quickly..

[Gordy]

could you find out where Macca as the only place i know of is the mesh company
who sell one A4 size #400 stainless steel mesh for £9.60 delivered
they give you a free sheet of the following too

Stainless Steel Super Fine Mesh A4 Sheet
As our stock of #400 and #325 mesh is not always available to be used for A4 sheets, we've created this Super Fine listing.
Price: £3.99

[maccafan]

Can't remember but I'll post link when I find it..May have been on ebay..

Couple of other options...

The mesh company that you linked to also does A3 sheets for approx £16.00 delivered..That's 4 x A4 sheets and ideal for bulk buy for up to 8 people @£2.00 a piece.

Wires.co.uk also do 400 SS mesh in varying sizes..

www.wires.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwires%2eco%2euk%2f&WD=mesh&PN=ss_fabric%2ehtml%23aSS_2dCL00300400A4#aSS_2dCL00300400A4

[2risky]

This is the cloud9 page, couldn't find any obvious postage details.
www.cloud9vaping.co.uk/epages/yxve46fvrnud.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/yxve46fvrnud/Products/MarkT-MESH-5x10

but it's not too expensive.

[Gordy]

cloud9 standard delivery is £2.50

[2risky]

Yuk.
wires.co.uk looks good, four quid ish for 14 x 25 cm.
I'll probably go for that unless there's a group buy going. No rush at the moment.

[dave]

I'm in no rush either, but would like to try SS wicks, so I'd be happy to join a group buy if it helps. By the way I have seen another option on UKV in the context of the RDA, which is to wrap a SS wick round a fibre wick. Not sure if it would work in an EVS, but it looks like a promising approach.