I can taste the cotton in my RDA - A couple questions.

[Tirouu]

Oh wow. Now I think you've picked the most sweet make on the market. I bought two bottles when they first appeared and even though I like sweet these were overload.

IVG seems to be the most popular, leading brand for juice where I am in Ireland. Any brand recommendations? I haven't explored many brands, I found one local company I loved Gorilla Shaker and stuck with them, but I moved away and am too lazy to order online. Would like to try some more stuff out, always stuck with the sweet fruity stuff.

 

[conanthewarrior]

From the photo it looks like you are running dual claptons- this type of coil has two thinner wires inside and is then wrapped on the outside with even thinner wire.

Because of their mass, they need a bit more power than 45W.

Regarding your cotton, it looks OK to me, but it could be possible you are packing it too tightly. When you rewick your coils and push the cotton through, you want there to be the tiniest bit of resistance on the cotton as you pull it- not so much it is hard to pull through, but not so easy it just slides straight through.

It will probably take a few attempts but then you will get wicking down easily.

Regarding the spitting, this can happen when the cotton and coils are over saturated, meaning you have dripped too much juice into the RDA. Also some coils do spit more than others.

Tasting the cotton can happen when you first rewick, but should go away quickly after using the RDA a few times after rewicking.

 

[MTB Vaper]

I'd say you need to cut the cotton shorter, so the ends are just touching the bottom of each side.
I've not got the drop dead 2, but I'd say coils have been pulled into the centre, I'd try putting a 3mm coiling rod or 3mm screw driver in them and try pulling them outwards so more centred with the grub screws, this will help with spit back and get the coils closer to the airflow.
Spit back can sometimes be to low wattage for the coils, upping the wattage means the coils vaporise the liquid quicker stopping spitting.

 

[MTB Vaper]

After moving the coils you'll need to gently glow them and recheck for hotspots.

 

[conanthewarrior]

I'd say you need to cut the cotton shorter, so the ends are just touching the bottom of each side.
I've not got the drop dead 2, but I'd say coils have been pulled into the centre, I'd try putting a 3mm coiling rod or 3mm screw driver in them and try pulling them outwards so more centred with the grub screws, this will help with spit back and get the coils closer to the airflow.
Spit back can sometimes be to low wattage for the coils, upping the wattage means the coils vaporise the liquid quicker stopping spitting.

I didn't notice this on first glance but think you are right, in the first photo the cotton looks kind of tucked under like there is too much length, vs just touching the bottom as you suggested.

I also didn't notice the coils may be pulled into the centre, this can indeed cause problems of its own so that is a great suggestion.

I believe you are bang on when you mention the low wattage causing spitback, I did advise that 45W is very low for what appears to be thick dual claptons- to get them firing nicely depending on the gauge of wire used and wire type it could even need double the power to actually work properly.

 

[animal.]

One tip I would give.

I didn't notice this on first glance but think you are right, in the first photo the cotton looks kind of tucked under like there is too much length, vs just touching the bottom as you suggested.

I also didn't notice the coils may be pulled into the centre, this can indeed cause problems of its own so that is a great suggestion.

I believe you are bang on when you mention the low wattage causing spitback, I did advise that 45W is very low for what appears to be thick dual claptons- to get them firing nicely depending on the gauge of wire used and wire type it could even need double the power to actually work properly.

Try hitting it around 65 watts. Might be a better vape on the spit back. 2nd thought. Did you fully dry your atty before firing it? Water in the juice almost always causes it to spit.

But I agree. The cotton looks too long. You want it to just sit in the deck.. is it a nice snug fit when you pull the wick through? If you have to pull it through and it moves the mod. Too much. You want a little space in the coil. Not too much though. Remember cotton will swell with juice too much and you'll dry hit and accelerate that brown burnt condition. And try combing the wicks out. So get a screw driver or something. Gently brush the wicks from coil to bottom. You'll end up with a load of loose cotton. Discard trim and fluff the ends up. Then gently tuck in the deck. Try to not squash what you spent ages fluffing out and you'll be chucking clouds in no time.

 

[Crispycritters]

I think others have accurately answered your 'spitting' problem, but on a different note...

As the juice you are using is very sweet the residue from the sweeteners can cause the cotton to discolour quickly and for black/grey deposits to form on the coils - - this can be an expensive problem if you're using stock coils as you'll have to replace them regularly because of bad flavour or burnout. With rebuildables generally a cotton change and coil clean is all that is needed so the cost is pennies so if you like sweet juices then stick with them as the cost is minimal. You'll have to rewick and clean the coils more often but after you've done it a few times it is easy and it will only take a few minutes.

One method that I've found to work well is to fill a cup with water, leave the RDA on the mod with the top cap and old cotton removed, glow the coils then immediately dunk the hot coils in the water - just immerse the RDA 'coils deep' , remove, shake off the excess water and repeat a couple of times. Normally the crud from the coils falls off and the crud will settle at the bottom of the cup..

If the coils are really dirty the cack on the coils will actually burst into flames when you remove the cotton and glow them lol. Nothing spectacular - just a mini fire on the coils. Nothing to be alarmed about, but it can be a surprise the first time you see it. Hold your mod at an angle over the sink or outdoors, let the flames burn out then LIGHTLY scrape the coils with the edge of a small screwdriver and the worst of the gunk will drop off - as this baked on shite can be hot don't do it in your living room lol, and remember to hold the mod at an angle so you don't shower your hand with specs of hot crap. After you've scraped off the worst of it give the coils the heat and dunk in a cup of water treatment and they should be squeaky clean.

Generally coils will last ages if they are cleaned regularly, if you suspect the flavour isn't quite right after cleaning and changing cotton - and they are glowing evenly without hot spots - then the coils may be past their best and need replacing, but generally they'll last at least a month even if you're using generic Chinese coils so replacing them is pretty easy..

 

[conanthewarrior]

I've just realised something- I don't think anyone has asked what cotton OP is using!

If you are grabbing cotton balls from your missus make up collection, I always found these had a nasty cotton aftertaste too.

I am using Koh Gen Do organic cotton, you used to be able to buy a pack of 80 Sheets for about a fiver, but for some reason they have shot up in price.

Any brand of natural organic cotton will do, you want the sort that isn't bleached and has a few darker specks here and there, this will not impact the vape.

If not there used to be a brand called cotton bacon, specifically designed for vaping. It comes in a foil sealed bag with about 8 large fat strips of cotton, you just tear it off to size.

It was more expensive than the Koh Gen Do at the time, but I did have some and also didn't notice a cotton taste with this type of cotton.

 

[animal.]

I've just realised something- I don't think anyone has asked what cotton OP is using!

If you are grabbing cotton balls from your missus make up collection, I always found these had a nasty cotton aftertaste too.

I am using Koh Gen Do organic cotton, you used to be able to buy a pack of 80 Sheets for about a fiver, but for some reason they have shot up in price.

Any brand of natural organic cotton will do, you want the sort that isn't bleached and has a few darker specks here and there, this will not impact the vape.

If not there used to be a brand called cotton bacon, specifically designed for vaping. It comes in a foil sealed bag with about 8 large fat strips of cotton, you just tear it off to size.

It was more expensive than the Koh Gen Do at the time, but I did have some and also didn't notice a cotton taste with this type of cotton.

Now that's a very good question. I always and only use bacon prime. Costs around £6 a pack but lasts for ages. Have tried others but always return to that.

 

[conanthewarrior]

Now that's a very good question. I always and only use bacon prime. Costs around £6 a pack but lasts for ages. Have tried others but always return to that.

I don't think I have tried the prime, just the original cotton bacon, and it worked perfectly.

I just found for a quid cheaper the Koh Gen Do was just as good so stuck with that, I believe I still have the pack of cotton bacon somewhere. I used it for quite a few builds and rewicks and am sure there is still about half a pack left somewhere.

There is a brand similar to Koh Gen Do that I bought in the past but I can't remember its name, it was just as good all natural cotton sheets for about £3.95 for 120 sheets. I will have to try and find this brand again as I am running low on my Koh Gen Do, and for some reason it is nearly £20 a pack now! It looks like you can't buy it direct from Koh Gen Do anymore so it could be old stock being sold at an inflated price.