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What to do if mesh isn't wicking well?

Crewella

Olympian
Joined
Aug 4, 2015
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I've had a 300 mesh wick running in my Kraken for few days now, but it's still prone to dry hits if I chain vape on it. I've thinned out the roll of mesh so it's not so tight in the coil and there is a definite 'straw' there, the coil is glowing nicely with no hot spots, but if I watch it it's very slow to wick up the juice and almost relying on me to tip it and soak it rather than actually sucking up much juice. The juice is either 50/50 or 60/40.

Is there any more 'fettling' I can do, or is it just a matter of trying again with a different grade, and should I go 200 or 400 - I'm still not really understanding what actually makes mesh wick or which grades work better in which situations?

Again, sorry for the noob questions, thank you for your time.
 
Generally, higher gauge meshs for thinner e-liquids is the rule.

For thicker e-liquid I use #200superfine. For thinner e-liquid I use #500.

300 guage has always been a bit useless for me. It really is dependant on the eliquid you use.

The other thing I would recommend is to make sure your wick doesn't take up the entire wick hole. If it does, then there needs to be another unobstructed opening (second wickhole or fill hole) to the tank. Otherwise your tank will not wick due to a pressure difference which will build up as you vape.
 
Generally, higher gauge meshs for thinner e-liquids is the rule.

For thicker e-liquid I use #200superfine. For thinner e-liquid I use #500.

300 guage has always been a bit useless for me. It really is dependant on the eliquid you use.

The other thing I would recommend is to make sure your wick doesn't take up the entire wick hole. If it does, then there needs to be another unobstructed opening (second wickhole or fill hole) to the tank. Otherwise your tank will not wick due to a pressure difference which will build up as you vape.

That's a huge help, thank you. I've got some 400 mesh so I'll try that to see if it's any better. On the whole, should mesh wick best if there are more or less layers in the roll? I now understand not to stuff it too tight.

There definitely isn't an issue with an air-lock in the tank as this was a second-hand tank and I'm missing the screws for the second wick hole and the fill hole - as I'm just using a single coil I'm just having to be careful not to tip it too much! That's another question, I guess - does anyone know what size screws I need (it's an HCigar Kraken clone) and where to get them, please?
 
That's a huge help, thank you. I've got some 400 mesh so I'll try that to see if it's any better. On the whole, should mesh wick best if there are more or less layers in the roll? I now understand not to stuff it too tight.

There definitely isn't an issue with an air-lock in the tank as this was a second-hand tank and I'm missing the screws for the second wick hole and the fill hole - as I'm just using a single coil I'm just having to be careful not to tip it too much! That's another question, I guess - does anyone know what size screws I need (it's an HCigar Kraken clone) and where to get them, please?
The juice gets sucked up between each layer via capillary action, so I'd guess the more layers the better. However, it is a balancing act. Too many layers and your wick becomes too big/thick! Experiment is all I can suggest.
 
The juice gets sucked up between each layer via capillary action, so I'd guess the more layers the better. However, it is a balancing act. Too many layers and your wick becomes too big/thick! Experiment is all I can suggest.
That's great, thank you. I'm happy to keep trying, but it helps to have an understanding of the basics whilst you try! :D
 
That's great, thank you. I'm happy to keep trying, but it helps to have an understanding of the basics whilst you try! :D
Thanks crewella,all questions I needed answered. I am hoping the end result is worth the time. So far I'm still,dreaming about cotton builds. Can't wait till,you get the new kayfun it's a cracker.
 
I've had a 300 mesh wick running in my Kraken for few days now, but it's still prone to dry hits if I chain vape on it. I've thinned out the roll of mesh so it's not so tight in the coil and there is a definite 'straw' there, the coil is glowing nicely with no hot spots, but if I watch it it's very slow to wick up the juice and almost relying on me to tip it and soak it rather than actually sucking up much juice. The juice is either 50/50 or 60/40.

Is there any more 'fettling' I can do, or is it just a matter of trying again with a different grade, and should I go 200 or 400 - I'm still not really understanding what actually makes mesh wick or which grades work better in which situations?

Again, sorry for the noob questions, thank you for your time.
Short answer, stick 2.5mm dia wire rope with a 400 mesh topper in :)
 
I've had a 300 mesh wick running in my Kraken for few days now, but it's still prone to dry hits if I chain vape on it. I've thinned out the roll of mesh so it's not so tight in the coil and there is a definite 'straw' there, the coil is glowing nicely with no hot spots, but if I watch it it's very slow to wick up the juice and almost relying on me to tip it and soak it rather than actually sucking up much juice. The juice is either 50/50 or 60/40.

Is there any more 'fettling' I can do, or is it just a matter of trying again with a different grade, and should I go 200 or 400 - I'm still not really understanding what actually makes mesh wick or which grades work better in which situations?

Again, sorry for the noob questions, thank you for your time.
Oh, aside from rope, a straw in straw build may assist in wicking (thin outer straw just into tank, thinner inner straw inside to bottom of tank (less 1mm))
 
Quite a few builds on, and I now have a Smok RSST to play with as well as the Kraken, but I'm still finding it hard to get the wicking right ..... or am I ........? :30:

It's a bit better with the RSST, but I'm still finding that I'm heavily dependent on the 'genny tilt' to keep them wicking properly and avoid dry hits, even though I mainly vape 50/50 juice. As the 'genny tilt' is such a well-known feature, I'm starting to wonder if perhaps I'm just expecting a bit too much from the mesh if I'm expecting it to wick like cotton?

Advice or encouragement would be much appreciated, thanks. :)
 
Straw-in-straw is the only thing that works for me. Currently #200 outer, #200sf inner. I like to leave the inner proud at the bottom by about 1-2mm. Currently using this in 3 Origens and 1 Le Zephr, with particularly gloopy 70/30 Dripworx.

I also find that the outer acts as a reservoir for a fair bit of juice, so it pays to have a few revolutions...
 
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