BAzz
Initiate
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2012
- Messages
- 31
I've been using some Porous Ceramic Wicks in a couple of my genesis atomisers recently, and I thought I'd share a few thoughts.
I bought these from the US at a cost of $19 plus shipping for 3 wicks, 1/8" diameter. (That's around 3mm)
The first one I tried is in a Temon DID (D16) and I've just put another in the DID (D20).
The wicks themselves are very fragile. If you put any sideways force on them or drop them, they WILL break.
So how do they vape?
The D16 one has been in for around 3 weeks and I can honestly say the vape is now pretty much as good as a mesh wick. The flavour comes through cleanly and vapour production and throat hit is on-par.
The vape experience is a little different, though. They definitely need a short pre-heat before the first puff, but they do retain heat much longer than mesh does so further pre-heating generally isn't necessary.
That heat retention brings me to another point. Using a steel driptip is not recommended. The top cap, and consequently the driptip, will get quite hot.
As for coiling, it's a little different because the wicks are very rough so you can't easily adjust the coil after wrapping.
It's also essential to get the coil touching the wick all the way round. If isn't touching the wire will get hot without heating juice and it will taste horrible.
This also means you won't be removing the wick and leaving the coil behind for cleaning.
Some things I read recommended wrapping the coil with the wick out, but I found that there is still enough tension in the wire to spring it away from the coil even with annealing beforehand.
If you can wrap the coil tightly, and hang onto it, then flame it a few times without burning your fingers, that might keep it in place, but I just wrapped it with the wick in the atomiser like usual.
I'm using .25 Kanthal, the D16 has 4/3 wraps for 1.9 ohm, the D20 has 3/2 wraps for 1.0 ohms.
Of course there's no issue with shorting and the wick can rest on the bottom of the tank without problems.
Conclusion.
These wicks offer a viable alternative for someone who cannot use mesh for whatever reason.
They are a little expensive, but shouldn't need replacing very often, if at all. When they stop working well, just remove them and boil them for 2 minutes. Flame them to get rid of all the water and rebuild.
I'll have to wait till there are some smaller diameter wicks available so I can do a direct comparison between the awesome Mini DID(D14) with mesh and ceramic.
I bought these from the US at a cost of $19 plus shipping for 3 wicks, 1/8" diameter. (That's around 3mm)
The first one I tried is in a Temon DID (D16) and I've just put another in the DID (D20).
The wicks themselves are very fragile. If you put any sideways force on them or drop them, they WILL break.
So how do they vape?
The D16 one has been in for around 3 weeks and I can honestly say the vape is now pretty much as good as a mesh wick. The flavour comes through cleanly and vapour production and throat hit is on-par.
The vape experience is a little different, though. They definitely need a short pre-heat before the first puff, but they do retain heat much longer than mesh does so further pre-heating generally isn't necessary.
That heat retention brings me to another point. Using a steel driptip is not recommended. The top cap, and consequently the driptip, will get quite hot.
As for coiling, it's a little different because the wicks are very rough so you can't easily adjust the coil after wrapping.
It's also essential to get the coil touching the wick all the way round. If isn't touching the wire will get hot without heating juice and it will taste horrible.
This also means you won't be removing the wick and leaving the coil behind for cleaning.
Some things I read recommended wrapping the coil with the wick out, but I found that there is still enough tension in the wire to spring it away from the coil even with annealing beforehand.
If you can wrap the coil tightly, and hang onto it, then flame it a few times without burning your fingers, that might keep it in place, but I just wrapped it with the wick in the atomiser like usual.
I'm using .25 Kanthal, the D16 has 4/3 wraps for 1.9 ohm, the D20 has 3/2 wraps for 1.0 ohms.
Of course there's no issue with shorting and the wick can rest on the bottom of the tank without problems.
Conclusion.
These wicks offer a viable alternative for someone who cannot use mesh for whatever reason.
They are a little expensive, but shouldn't need replacing very often, if at all. When they stop working well, just remove them and boil them for 2 minutes. Flame them to get rid of all the water and rebuild.
I'll have to wait till there are some smaller diameter wicks available so I can do a direct comparison between the awesome Mini DID(D14) with mesh and ceramic.
