The Vertex is one of the most friendly RTA’s for a first time builder but it’s relative to the fact pretty much all rebuildables are trial and error until you get the knack!
The problem with listening to advice is what is tight to one person the next wouldn’t consider it the same and like wise what is short in regard cutting your cotton length varies depending on point of view and what they are comparing short to.
Also looking at photos and even watching videos of builds only goes so far as they are magnified and don’t really give an accurate picture of exactly how much cotton is being used and how dense it’s packed into the wicking channels so as I told @anon79121637 privately and @yodaofborg eluded to it is just a case of tinkering but like learning to ride a bike it just suddenly clicks into place! (some are lucky and from the off they find wicking a doddle while some can struggle for a long time). Also most RTA’s in regard cotton length, tightness through the coil style of wicking etc will just slightly change RTA to RTA but again once how to wick and that feel for it falls into place you can basically just look at the design and automatically know how it should be done, just experience but as stated you could of bought many RTA’s that are not suitable for newer builders so at least you bought one that you should get spot on sooner rather than later!
As explained when someone describes how an RTA should be wicked it’s based on the other person having the same understanding of tightness through the coil etc but here is the best I can do explaining how I would wick the Vertex!
You want the cotton going through the coil so there is some definite friction but not enough so it is trying to pull the coil out of position as you move it through the coil, just a definite bite!
Then cut your cotton ends leaving enough to fill the wicking channels, you then want to fluff those ends up before placing in the channels. The channels do need filling with cotton (else you will get flooding that will also lead to leaking out the airflow) but not densely packed as this will suffocate the flow of e-juice which will cause dry hits!
Only when it was used in clearomisers back in the day when the coil would be about 2.0ohm or higher and giving out 5 to 6w max. never tried in a modern RTA so wouldn’t like to comment!
Note the slight smile peeps, he was being sarcastic as he seems to be blaming me for not hitting the ground running when not actually buying what I advised!
Modern MTL RTA’s have improved immensely where it comes to both flavour and smoothness of draw but the downside is almost all are very thirsty compared to older tanks from 5 or so years ago and compared to what you were using! When I recommended products I did so based on what you said you were looking for and as you were using 20mg nic salts this was another shout for the Bishop as it’s a true MTL rather than Vertex which is more versatile but didn’t really fit what you were saying you wanted, with the Bishop the juice flow from the tank to the wicking is micro managed, it’s a superb design and very economic with juice. I know you were not keen on anything other than top fill but the Bishop also get’s wicked completely differently to other RTA’s which means you really can’t get it wrong and both that micro managed juice flow to the deck and angled funnel airflow means Zero leaking, even better than a top to bottom airflow design in this regard.
But then you did message me telling me how much better the Vertex was in design in just about every regard (not bad for someone who has only been vaping for 7 weeks) so surprised we are having this thread which after the previous rant you had messaged me when first receiving the Vertex I am reluctant to give you any advice as you have a tendency of throwing it back into my face!
The real benefits of the Vertex is it’s versatility between MTL and RDL draws but I advised based not on a general review perspective but more tailored to what I felt would be the best option for you! On that basis I recommended firstly two options and later a third but the Vertex was not one of them. You don’t have to take someone’s advice when asked for it but if you don’t then you have a nerve sending a rant blaming me!