# Silica Vs Cotton



## vaalboy (5/3/14)

Morning all,

My next questions relate to wicking (I am using cotton at the moment):


What are the pro's and con's between cotton and silica?
How much wicking material is required and why? Ive see micro coils with just the ends of the wick visible and then some with a much longer wick snaked around the atty.
Again not sure if this topic is purely a subjective choice?


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## Gizmo (5/3/14)

Cotton wicks faster and has more flavour, however you have to replace it every 2nd day.. 

Silica lasts longer, but wicks slower.


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## Gizmo (5/3/14)

Personally I prefer cotton, where others get a funny taste from cotton I do not at all.


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## BhavZ (5/3/14)

How often you change the cotton wick I think depends on the ohms. I have noticed that if I use the 1.3ohm setup then I change every 2 tanks (5ml), if I go with the 1.5-1.7ohm setup I need to change wick every 3 tanks (7.5ml)

What works for me on average is that I change wicks every 5ml of vaping.


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## BhavZ (5/3/14)

Gizmo said:


> Personally I prefer cotton, where others get a funny taste from cotton I do not at all.


I too prefer cotton over silica and have not gotten a bad after taste as some have experienced.


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## ET (5/3/14)

i like that fresh unboiled cotton taste, a little different and not as good as the juice should be but with more of a kick than the juice normally has. i think of it as my cheapie stinkie homage. plus it normalises very quickly


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## Gizmo (5/3/14)

I have also tried ekowool, which I find even worse then silica. Wicks terribly slowly.


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## BhavZ (5/3/14)

Has anyone tried ekowool? 

Does it swell like cotton or is it more like silica?


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## BhavZ (5/3/14)

Gizmo said:


> I have also tried ekowool, which I find even worse then silica. Wicks terribly slowly.





BhavZ said:


> Has anyone tried ekowool?
> 
> Does it swell like cotton or is it more like silica?



Please ignore my previous questions, made the post before my screen updated with your post..


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## vaalboy (5/3/14)

Any answers on quest 2 about the length?


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## Andre (5/3/14)

vaalboy said:


> Any answers on quest 2 about the length?


On the Reo ECF forum there is almost absolute consensus that a shorter wick is far better. Looking at your coil from the front, the left tail of the wick must just reach over the juice hole and just touch the deck. Some do tuck it onto the left side of the left post. The right tail does not have to touch the deck at all, depending on your coil height, like in about 3 mm sticking out from the coil. A very small minority use nano coils on a bed of cotton, well away from the juice hole. About 20 % (just a guesstimate) still prefer silica over cotton. I use both, depending on the juice.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## vaalboy (5/3/14)

Thanks again, I also have just picked up an earlier thread of yours from Gizmo's reo thread which has helped too. I just changed wicks for the first time this morning so feel like I've climbed Everest. 

Waiting for my ohm meter from Vapemob before I try build my first coil.


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## Andre (5/3/14)

What I have only recently found out (@BhavZ's review on boiled vs not made me think) is that it is important to have the grain of the cotton correct. Saw it somewhere on a video subsequently. The wrong way - if you pull the length of cotton it comes apart very easily. The correct way - if you pull the cotton it has much more hold. With my rolled cotton that is very easily verifiable, but don't know about cotton balls. If correctly "grained" it inserts more easily and lasts longer.
Does your electronic mod not have an ohm meter?


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## vaalboy (5/3/14)

Matthee said:


> What I have only recently found out (@BhavZ's review on boiled vs not made me think) is that it is important to have the grain of the cotton correct. Saw it somewhere on a video subsequently. The wrong way - if you pull the length of cotton it comes apart very easily. The correct way - if you pull the cotton it has much more hold. With my rolled cotton that is very easily verifiable, but don't know about cotton balls. If correctly "grained" it inserts more easily and lasts longer.
> Does your electronic mod not have an ohm meter?



Yes I have one on the Zmax and MVP - Thanks for reminding me!


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## Reinhardt (5/3/14)

Sup guys

A little off topic but do you know what the diff is between 100% cotton and organic cotton? 
I also favor my cotton! Have not had any dry hits or gurgling.


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## Andre (5/3/14)

Reinhardt said:


> Sup guys
> 
> A little off topic but do you know what the diff is between 100% cotton and organic cotton?
> I also favor my cotton! Have not had any dry hits or gurgling.


Same thing imo except that the 100% cotton is probably not organic.


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## Reinhardt (5/3/14)

H


Matthee said:


> Same thing imo except that the 100% cotton is probably not organic.


Hahaha. Really? You won't say. Lol
Ive been using 100% Cotton for quite some time now and have no issues but my one friend asked me if it's not toxic because of it not being organic?


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## Andre (5/3/14)

Reinhardt said:


> H
> 
> Hahaha. Really? You won't say. Lol
> Ive been using 100% Cotton for quite some time now and have no issues but my one friend asked me if it's not toxic because of it not being organic?


You do understand that "organic" is meant in the sense of grown and made without the use of pesticides and other harmful chemicals. If you want to make 100 % sure it does not contain anything toxic, sterile cotton is the best, but imho the 100 % cotton has been so much processed that it is highly unlikely to contain any toxins. You are more likely to get a bug or something from the organic cotton.


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## Reinhardt (5/3/14)

Matthee said:


> You do understand that "organic" is meant in the sense of grown and made without the use of pesticides and other harmful chemicals. If you want to make 100 % sure it does not contain anything toxic, sterile cotton is the best, but imho the 100 % cotton has been so much processed that it is highly unlikely to contain any toxins. You are more likely to get a bug or something from the organic cotton.


Haha. Yea I do understand the organic part of it. Thanks. It was just when he asked I did not know.


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## Riaz (5/3/14)

so what does it mean if you get dry hits when using cotton?


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## Reinhardt (5/3/14)

Riaz said:


> so what does it mean if you get dry hits when using cotton?


Not with Cotton. Got dry hits with silica. Its when your coil burns up the juice before it can replenish the wick. In my experience Cotton absorbs the juice much much faster so no dry hits. Ever! So in other words. When you busy vaping and all of a sudden your vape tastes like burn, you leave it for some time and it vapes nice again. Happened to me to often. Iclear 16(BAD) and Iclear 30B, have had none of that with the cotton setup and my KayFun!


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## Riaz (5/3/14)

Reinhardt said:


> Not with Cotton. Got dry hits with silica. Its when your coil burns up the juice before it can replenish the wick. In my experience Cotton absorbs the juice much much faster so no dry hits. Ever! So in other words. When you busy vaping and all of a sudden your vape tastes like burn, you leave it for some time and it vapes nice again. Happened to me to often. Iclear 16(BAD) and Iclear 30B, have had none of that with the cotton setup and my KayFun!



reason im asking is cos ive been getting a lot of dry hits recently.

i changed the cotton last night and same thing.


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## Reinhardt (5/3/14)

Riaz said:


> reason im asking is cos ive been getting a lot of dry hits recently.
> 
> i changed the cotton last night and same thing.


Really? Are you getting dry hits with your cotton? Hmmm. I did see a guy mention that you must het the weave correct. Almost like when sanding wood. With the grain. What coil setup are you running? Maybe your coil is running to hot with to little airflow? What are you vaping with again?


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## Andre (5/3/14)

Riaz said:


> reason im asking is cos ive been getting a lot of dry hits recently.
> 
> i changed the cotton last night and same thing.


Make sure the cotton is not too tight in the coil. When you wick the cotton must be able to be moved side to side by hand through the coil, with just a little friction - remember it will swell when wicked. Test by putting some juice on one side of the wick only - if it wicks through to the other side you should be ok.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Riaz (5/3/14)

Reinhardt said:


> Really? Are you getting dry hits with your cotton? Hmmm. I did see a guy mention that you must het the weave correct. Almost like when sanding wood. With the grain. What coil setup are you running? Maybe your coil is running to hot with to little airflow? What are you vaping with again?



i havent changed my coil since i got the russian- which is a few weeks now.

ive just been loving the setup, at 1.8ohms on the svd that i didnt want to fiddle and build a new coil just yet.



Matthee said:


> Make sure the cotton is not too tight in the coil. When you wick the cotton must be able to be moved side to side by hand through the coil, with just a little friction - remember it will swell when wicked. Test by putting some juice on one side of the wick only - if it wicks through to the other side you should be ok.



hmmm, i did that the previous time, but last night was in a hurry to replace the cotton so it might be that its too tight. will check it out later, thanks @Matthee


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## Reinhardt (5/3/14)

Riaz said:


> i havent changed my coil since i got the russian- which is a few weeks now.
> 
> ive just been loving the setup, at 1.8ohms on the svd that i didnt want to fiddle and build a new coil just yet.
> 
> ...


Sounds exactly like the setup I have running. Exactly! Lol. Good good goood Vape!


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## JB1987 (5/3/14)

Just tried a cotton wick again in the Igo-L, my first few attempts with cotton some time ago left much to be desired, really didn't like it and went back to silica. But this time, wow, I must have done something right! Really impressive vape, big clouds and good flavour. Think I'm starting to get the cotton hype... 


Sent from the TARDIS

Reactions: Like 1


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## Tom (5/3/14)

Riaz said:


> i havent changed my coil since i got the russian- which is a few weeks now.
> 
> ive just been loving the setup, at 1.8ohms on the svd that i didnt want to fiddle and build a new coil just yet.
> 
> ...



i remember that feeling, but u gotta do it sometime anyway. And then it might be at an inconvient time.... 

in my case, if i have ample time to spend I would go for some recoiling. and if the result of the first coil is not what i was looking for, well, i make another one


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## JB1987 (5/3/14)

Just to add, thanks @Matthee I have your helpful tips to thank for this great vape 


Sent from the TARDIS

Reactions: Like 2


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## Andre (5/3/14)

JB1987 said:


> Just to add, thanks @Matthee I have your helpful tips to thank for this great vape Sent from the TARDIS


The pleasure is all mine. Thank you for the acknowledgement.

Reactions: Like 2


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