Microcoil Pictorial - Simple

[Bronze]

Because rebuildables are so popular these days I thought I would include a simple microcoil build on the HHV subforum that can be used on most any rebuildable including the kayfun. It is a simple microcoil and represents the most common microcoils you will find on rebuildables. There are countless variants to be sure but this build will work wonderfully in most cases. It yields aprox 2.0 ohms. You can adjust your resistance by substituting with 28ga wire, using less wraps, or making it a smaller/larger diameter. The majority of microcoils are made from 28 and 30ga wire. 32+ gauge is too thin. 26- gauge takes a long time to heat up. This build is designed for regulated mods (not subohming).

30ga, 10 wraps, 2mm ID ='s aprox 2.0 ohms
28ga, 10 wraps, 2mm ID ='s aprox 1.5 ohms
Reduce to 8 or 9 wraps for less resistance (aprox 0.1 - 0.2 ohms per wrap)
Use smaller diameter ID for less resistance, larger ID for more resistance.



STEP 1

You will need the following: 30ga kanthal wire (aprox 5 - 6"), 2mm microdriver (or 5/64th inch drill bit), phillips screwdriver, scissors, nail clippers, tweezers.







STEP 2

Hold one end of the wire against the microdriver (or 5/64ths drill bit) leaving a tag about 3/4" long under your thumb:







STEP 3

Make ten wraps making sure the tags point in opposite directions when finished. Don't worry about making the coil pretty at this point. We'll clean it up later.







STEP 4

Compress coils together. Release.







STEP 5

Getting prettier! Ready to put on the device.







STEP 6

Place coil between the connecting screws...legs on the bottom. Keep the coil on your microdriver throughout the tightening process to prevent coil distortion. Wrap first leg around terminal no more than one revolution. You don't want to stack the leg around the screw...one strand width is all you need under the screw. Tighten. Repeat with second leg.
IMPORTANT: LIFT COIL OFF OF AIRHOLE TO PREVENT SHORTING.








STEP 7

Getting there! Trim the legs with nail clippers as close to the screw as you can get. You can also twist the wire till it breaks.







STEP 8

Now we're going to pretty up the coil by compressing the wraps together. Start by getting your coil glowing red.







STEP 9

Release the fire button (DO NOT FORGET TO RELEASE THE FIRE BUTTON), then gently squeeze the coil together with tweezers and hold for about five seconds while it cools. Repeat this glow-compress cycle a couple more times until your coil has no gaps in it. REMEMBER: RELEASE THE FIRE BUTTON BEFORE YOU GRAB THE COIL WITH YOUR TWEEZERS!!!







STEP 10

Your microcoil is now ready to be wicked. Notice the microcoil is centered between the screws and lifted 1 - 2mm above the airhole









STEP 11

Make your wick. I use sterile or organic cotton ball here (I'll show silica at the end of this pictorial). Japanese cotton and Rayon are also excellent alternatives. Pull a piece of the cotton so the strands run lengthwise. How much to use? Try to use the amount in the photo best you can judge and adjust as you learn. After extensive study, more tends to be better than less. You want enough so it drags through the coil but doesn't pull the coil out of place.







STEP 12

Roll one end tightly for threading in the coil.







STEP 13

Feed the wick through the microcoil and pull through. Again, you want to feel some drag as you pull it through but you don't want to be so tight that it pulls your coil out of place.







STEP 14

Here's what it should look like after you have wick pulled through.







STEP 15

Trim wick on both sides. Overall length should be aprox the overall width of the base (or a hair longer is OK). Too long is as bad as too short. Cut to length as shown in photo.









STEP 16

Put a couple drops of e-liquid on each end of the wick to saturate.







STEP 17

Paste the wick to the sides of the deck. DO NOT (I repeat), DO NOT shove the wick into the juice channels. Simply lay them on top.









STEP 18

Reassemble, fill, and enjoy!





SILICA WICK

If you prefer silica, make yourself a fish tape (a piece of kanthal folded over). Feed it through your coil (photo shows a loose coil). Slip the silica through the looped end. Pull silica through coil (keep your fingernail over the trailing edge of the coil so it doesn't pull away). Trim to width of the Kayfun base (23mm). You're good to go. I use two strands of 1mm silica so that after it is pulled through the coil you are left with four strands. It's a tight fit but it wicks wonderfully.

 

[LAwaters]

Excellent tutorial, Bronze! Clear, easy to follow, and great pics. Thanks for this.

 

[Dochartaigh]

I thought that 2mm wasn't considered a microcoil according to the chart that is floating around?

2mm would fall under "mini" which is something like 2.5 mm down to 1.6. "Micro" is 1.5 to 1.1, and "nano" is ~1mm.

 

[Bronze]

I thought that 2mm wasn't considered a microcoil according to the chart that is floating around?

2mm would fall under "mini" which is something like 2.5 mm down to 1.6. "Micro" is 1.5 to 1.1, and "nano" is ~1mm.

Who makes up these rules? Probably some guy in his underwear sitting in his basement eating Cap'n Crunch while scratching the mole on his .....

Yes, I've seen those charts too Dochartaigh. You're free to call them whatever you want. There are no ISO standards on coils. Until then I just call them all microcoils as long as the specs are spelled out. If I'm wrong, I apologize to everyone in advance and I'll have a mod cane me till I'm bloody.

Just kiddin' with yuh.

 

[PapawBrett]

Outstanding Job General !

Personally, I use a 1/16th drill bit and carefully wrap my each coil beside the previous one. Because I use Mechanicals (REOS) I include a five second or so Ohms test before firing. As long as the Ohms readout does not waiver back and forth, I have a good, solid coil. Then, after test firing, I also gently squeeze my coils together with tweezers as shown in this pic-torial. By using this method, I can consistently produce 11- 12 wrap coils at about 2.0 ohms (for both of my VV Grand) and 8- 9 wrap coils for 1.5 ohms on my Woods and my Mech's.

I am aware that Bronze is a ProVari Man. For those of us who use mechanical Mods- I Cannot Stress Enough (!) the importance of a good Ohms test PRIOR to test firing, and after your rebuild is completed. Twenty cents worth of Kanthal is a lot easier to part with than $150 worth of Mod. And dead shorts don't work well on Mechanicals.

 

[DavidOH]

Nicely done. Should be a help to someone trying to wrap that first coil.

 

[Dochartaigh]

Yes, I've seen those charts too Dochartaigh. You're free to call them whatever you want. There are no ISO standards on coils. Until then I just call them all microcoils as long as the specs are spelled out.

I think of it this way: the majority of people use 28 gauge wire, right? And in Kayfun's for example, most people aim for around (roughly) 1.5 ohm. So you can't really go all that much bigger than 2mm and still build a 1.5 ohm/28-gauge coil and still fit it in the Kayfun...or the coil is going to be wider than the terminal posts, and/or too tall so the top cap (or bottom of the deck) hits it which will create a short.

So purely by the physical constraints of the most popular RTA out there, using the most common wire, building it at the most common resistance, I would think right around 2mm would then be considered the "standard" size since it's just right to fit in there (takes a deep breath so therefore, that's why I wouldn't consider 2mm to be a microcoil.

No offense to your nice tutorial - I'm just sayin'

 

[Bronze]

Outstanding Job General !

Personally, I use a 1/16th drill bit and carefully wrap my each coil beside the previous one. Because I use Mechanicals (REOS) I include a five second or so Ohms test before firing. As long as the Ohms readout does not waiver back and forth, I have a good, solid coil. Then, after test firing, I also gently squeeze my coils together with tweezers as shown in this pic-torial. By using this method, I can consistently produce 11- 12 wrap coils at about 2.0 ohms (for both of my VV Grand) and 8- 9 wrap coils for my Woods and my Mech's.

I am aware that Bronze is a ProVari Man. For those of us who use mechanical Mods- I Cannot Stress Enough (!) the importance of a good Ohms test PRIOR to test firing, and after your rebuild is completed. Twenty cents worth of Kanthal is a lot easier to part with than $150 worth of Mod. And dead shorts don't work well on Mechanicals.

Yeah, there are a zillion variants. This one here is really designed for a regulated mod as you point out. I have a mech too Pop that I use regularly. I'm not a subohmer (too warm for me).

 

[PapawBrett]

Yeah, there are a zillion variants. This one here is really designed for a regulated mod as you point out. I have a mech too Pop that I use regularly. I'm not a subohmer (too warm for me).

I don't subohm, either as I prefer a cooler, smoother Vape. I only added that post as I didn't want some unsuspecting soul to try a rebuild without understanding the importance of an Ohms test. Still, an outstanding post Bronze.

 

[Bronze]

I think of it this way: the majority of people use 28 gauge wire, right? And in Kayfun's for example, most people aim for around (roughly) 1.5 ohm. So you can't really go all that much bigger than 2mm and still build a 1.5 ohm/28-gauge coil and still fit it in the Kayfun...or the coil is going to be wider than the terminal posts, and/or too tall so the top cap (or bottom of the deck) hits it which will create a short.

So purely by the physical constraints of the most popular RTA out there, using the most common wire, building it at the most common resistance, I would think right around 2mm would then be considered the "standard" size since it's just right to fit in there (takes a deep breath so therefore, that's why I wouldn't consider 2mm to be a microcoil.

No offense to your nice tutorial - I'm just sayin'

Other than the oddball 26ga and twisted wire coils, I find that 28 and 30ga is split about evenly. The subohmers favor the 28 and the regulateds favor the 30. Just a tendency.

 

[Bronze]

I don't subohm, either as I prefer a cooler, smoother Vape. I only added that post as I didn't want some unsuspecting soul to try a rebuild without understanding the importance of an Ohms test. Still, an outstanding post Bronze.

I'd like to think if someone is using a mech they would know to test it before firing it up. But that would be giving too much credit though wouldn't it?

I just wanted to post a simple coil build for noobs. How many times do we walk people through builds or troubleshoots? Especially on the Kayfun thread. Maybe getting it in a pictorial will spare us the energy.

 

[jstjoehere]

I think it was a good tutorial easy to follow and very clear. Good job

 

[tnt56]

Excellent job Bronze and Papaw. As far as the inside diameter is concerned. I have to go with Papaw. Anything over 1/16th inside diameter is a mini coil. All my Reo's are done at 1.5mm ID. 10 wraps of 28 gauge give me around 1.2 ohms. Perfect for this old man.
And I don't sub ohm either. Tried a 0.3 ohm once. Lost all the hair on my head. (whoops, didn't have any there to start out with.).

 

[retic1959]

I think of it this way: the majority of people use 28 gauge wire, right? And in Kayfun's for example, most people aim for around (roughly) 1.5 ohm. So you can't really go all that much bigger than 2mm and still build a 1.5 ohm/28-gauge coil and still fit it in the Kayfun...or the coil is going to be wider than the terminal posts, and/or too tall so the top cap (or bottom of the deck) hits it which will create a short.

So purely by the physical constraints of the most popular RTA out there, using the most common wire, building it at the most common resistance, I would think right around 2mm would then be considered the "standard" size since it's just right to fit in there (takes a deep breath so therefore, that's why I wouldn't consider 2mm to be a microcoil.

No offense to your nice tutorial - I'm just sayin'

Microcoil has become more synomynous with the type of build rather than the size , most ECF veterans accept anything with an ID of 2mm and compressed as being a microcoil , since there is no standard I wouldn't buck the common usage of the term on ECF unless you like jousting with windmills .

 

[Bunnykiller]

I thought that 2mm wasn't considered a microcoil according to the chart that is floating around?

2mm would fall under "mini" which is something like 2.5 mm down to 1.6. "Micro" is 1.5 to 1.1, and "nano" is ~1mm.

the way I see it, nano is too small to pull cotton thru, micro is too small to pull to pull silica thru and macro is big enuf to pull silica or cotton thru..... example nano = needle, micro = micro screwdriver, macro = 10 wraps = 5 ohms


awesome post Bronze !!!! if a picture is worth a 1000 words, you just wrote an awesome book

 

[Bunnykiller]

subohm on a 3.1


.001 ohms its hot its nasty its just gross

 

[Calve]

I think of it this way: the majority of people use 28 gauge wire, right? And in Kayfun's for example, most people aim for around (roughly) 1.5 ohm. So you can't really go all that much bigger than 2mm and still build a 1.5 ohm/28-gauge coil and still fit it in the Kayfun...or the coil is going to be wider than the terminal posts, and/or too tall so the top cap (or bottom of the deck) hits it which will create a short.

So purely by the physical constraints of the most popular RTA out there, using the most common wire, building it at the most common resistance, I would think right around 2mm would then be considered the "standard" size since it's just right to fit in there (takes a deep breath so therefore, that's why I wouldn't consider 2mm to be a microcoil.

No offense to your nice tutorial - I'm just sayin'

Tomato Tomahto.

 

[Bronze]

Tomato Tomahto.

I was going to use the exact same reply but opted for the underwear guy instead.

 

[Calve]

Bronze, you showed it really is as easy as tying your shoe. cudos.

 

[Bronze]

Bronze, you showed it really is as easy as tying your shoe. cudos.

Seems the less words and the more pictures the better, huh?