Cotton splitting in the coils in RDA...

[VogonPT]

Hi all,

So I have recently started using RDA's and RTA's, more exactly I am using a Blotto Mini in my main mod, and a Capstone in my Squonk...

I have had several occurrences where the cotton breaks up in the middle of the coil... I have read somewhere this could be due to the wicking (still noob at it and getting the "eye" to what is the size of cotton you need to take to make it ok at 3mm...).

I am using Kanthal alien coils at the moment, and it has happened to me several times...

My question is, would this be due to too much cotton or not enough? I have not yet got that correct and always seem to struggle a bit to get it "perfect"... I guess its something of a learning curve...

Also I am using Cotton Bacon V2.

Thanks everyone!

 

[rew]

Pretty sure it would be too little cotton for it to break.

Of course it doesn't want to be so tight through the coil that it gets deformed when pulled through. Then if necessary thin out the wick tails.

 

[oORobOo]

This seems to happen pretty often with cotton bacon V2, if you're just pulling the cotton straight through instead twist as you pull it through, there should be a good amount of resistance but not so tight as to move the coil legs.
Another cause could be the cotton not being saturated enough/being allowed to get a little too dry too often, if you're using unspaced coils spacing them will help as will slightly brushing out the ends of the cotton and not allowing the coil to get too hot if it's one that retains heat for a long time.
And lastly this sometimes happens more often with certain juices, if the above fails try a switch and see if it helps.

Might be worth picking up some cotton laces if you're struggling with the judgement, Vapefly Firebolt cotton is pretty good.

 

[VogonPT]

Pretty sure it would be too little cotton for it to break.

Of course it doesn't want to be so tight through the coil that it gets deformed when pulled through. Then if necessary thin out the wick tails.

Cheers man... Yeah I have been struggling somewhat with the size of the cotton, but as I said... its all about experiencing... I do thin out the tails as I know its able to suck up more juice (as I am using the squonk and RTA).

This seems to happen pretty often with cotton bacon V2, if you're just pulling the cotton straight through instead twist as you pull it through, there should be a good amount of resistance but not so tight as to move the coil legs.
Another cause could be the cotton not being saturated enough/being allowed to get a little too dry too often, if you're using unspaced coils spacing them will help as will slightly brushing out the ends of the cotton and not allowing the coil to get too hot if it's one that retains heat for a long time.
And lastly this sometimes happens more often with certain juices, if the above fails try a switch and see if it helps.

Might be worth picking up some cotton laces if you're struggling with the judgement, Vapefly Firebolt cotton is pretty good.

Thanks! I have started twisting it while putting the cotton in as I noticed that its the best method not to have it stick or move the coils... The coils are actually not that joined but yeah, it makes sense... not much juice in the cotton inside it...

The juices I am using are dessert ones so a lot of sweet in them, I notice the cottom becomes very caramelized very fast... so that could also be an issue... I have some firebolt ones on the way as well as some Muji (yes I know, not the best but cheap as dirt for a ton... and given that I am starting I tend to waste a lot of it...), for the Muji I saw a video on the Scottish roll technique for it so yeah...

 

[VogonPT]

Also brand new cotton after 3 hours of using it...

 

[Vapaneezer Scrooge]

Cotton breaking in the coil can be caused by a few things but more often than not it is down to either wicking not keeping up or too much power, obviously the two are related.

One of the mistakes I was making when I had this problem was the legs into the wicking ports were too tight or too long even though I was convinced I had done it right, less is more when it comes to leg length, the sweet spot is short and loose enough to feed the coil quickly but not too loose as to leak, you can't really teach wicking as it comes with practice until you instinctively feel it's right.

I learned much more when I used Temp Control as that really highlights how tiny differences in wicking can affect how fast the wicking can keep up, I honed my skills on single coil setups until I was comfortable, TC isn't as big a mystery as people think and it's perfect for honing wicking skills.

For example a build which doesn't wick fast enough will simply limit the power as the coil gets too hot and prevents any burning.

 

[Vapaneezer Scrooge]

The Blotto is a great tank to learn on, especially when it comes to the wicking channels, the legs shouldn't reach all the way to the base and should feel fairly loose in the channels prior to saturating them, in dual coil mode I had to thin the legs quite a bit before I was happy, once I had it right I was impressed with this tanks wicking speed, I use thicker desert juices and it kept up nicely without any burn.

The first build is only single coil and there was just enough cotton to fill the ports, you can probably see that it's not packed in tightly and this wicked really fast.

The second dual coil build is prior to trimming, I didn't photograph it after I trimmed it but I snipped the top corners off a little at 45 degrees and thinned it until it felt reasonably snug in the ports.

Have another go paying attention more to the wick legs, hopefully that should do the trick.

If you are really stuck you could always play around with a single coil build as it's far easier to wick until you suss out the dual coil.

 

[SirLugg]

Pretty much what @Vapaneezer Scrooge said - too much power and not enough wicking. Chain vaping can also cause it.

If you’re gonna go big power and are building using low resistance wire get a bigger diameter atty and build bigger diameter coils rather than more wraps- that way you can physically fit a bigger wedge of cotton in there. But too much power and too little wicking equals cotton drying out inside the coil faster than it can wick and it’ll split.

 

[OzoreXS]

All said.

 

[VogonPT]

Cheers guys... it makes sense it may be have been indeed too much power, not enough wicking and chain vaping as I do tend to vape a lot...

I love the Blotto and until now have had no issues with it apart from once... I am using single coil as I find 3mm to be too tight inside...

It mostly happened on the Capstone but again I think it was due to the wick not getting enough juice and burning inside the coil...

@Vapaneezer Scrooge thank you so much for the care in posting the pics too, and to all that took the time to answer