Twisted vs Clapton?

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Hoggy

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I don't like twisted wire, because I think it's more prone to spitting.

Even though I only tend to use either round for thicker gauges, or twisted for smaller - I do notice that sometimes a strand or two will actually break apart. I think I need to learn to only twist a little bit - and not till it breaks apart from the drill. But damn.. Hearing that motor spinning at high speed is too addicting. <Tim Allan grunt> :cool:

However, I notice the breaking happens most often with multi-nickel strands with a harder wire, such as 3 - 34g nickel with a 28g kanthal. For harder twisted, like SS strands - not so much, but it can happen occasionally. For reference, I use anything from: ss304, ss316L, ni-200, nichrome-60, nichrome-80, kanthal ribbon, kanthal round, and 1 roll of titanium. I'll never order more titanium though -- that stuff is crazy-springy.

For me, claptons are too much wasted effort and material expense for very little gain.. Not worth the time to do it myself, nor the insanely ridiculous prices for pre-made claptons. ... I guess if you're lucky enough to be rich...
 

mimöschen

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Ridiculously priced?
10m (30ft) of 26/32 Kanthal Clapton wire weigh in at 6,50$, 7,50$ for SS Claptons. Alright. That's not cheap and the retailer definitively makes his cut. But ridiculously overpriced is something completely different in my opinion.
Although Ni80 and Nickel Claptons are much harder to come by. Ni80 is available for around 9$ and Nickel...I don't know. I just don't use that.
 

Hoggy

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yes. I got stockpiled wire by the 1,000 feet for variously ~$15 to maybe ~$28 for the differing varieties. Getting wire by the 100ft rolls is ~$4 - ~$8 (though IIRC 100ft of titanium garbage was ~$17 - for trialing).

By comparison, the Clapton wires you mention would be over $19.50 per 100ft, or over $22.50 per 100ft respectively. You can get over 1000ft rolls at those prices.

So yes, ridiculously expensive - coming from a poor man's point of view.. Now I just gotta learn to not twist until it breaks from the drill when twisting. Easier said than done, though. That drill sound is a mighty temptress. :)
 
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mimöschen

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Who needs 100 ft of wire?
Each in various strengths?
Come on. My 30ft Clapton is in use for more than a year. And there's still plenty left, although I have more than 20 RDAs and RTAs that get rewicked on a regular basis.
Sure, it's not the only wire I build with, because on some tanks I prefere plain SS, so perhaps half of my tanks go with Claptons.
But for the price of one meal, you can get far more than a year of vaping. Sorry. But that's not overly priced in my opinion.
 

Hoggy

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It should be noted that I have a tendency to be a hoarder - plus I'm a cheap ....... on top of that. ;) But you got a point - I have yet to have ever gone through a 100ft roll.. But then again, I switch wire types all the time, just for something different -- plus some build types work better with temp control with the various devices and atomizers.

Many of my builds could last over a year these days (unlike when I started), but most often I just get bored and want to rebuild for the hell of it. It's fun playing with all the various wire types and gauges - and devices and atomizers. Plus, due to my hoarding, I ended up having over 130ft of silica wick left - so it can be fun finding which wire types and coil diameters work best for rewicking with x number of silica strands, so it doesn't go to waste - and for something different.

My foot is firmly planted in the hobbyist side of vaping.
 
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mimöschen

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Mine too. But I don't need x types of wire.
And I've learned that coil placement is much more important than type of wire, so I seldom waste my wire on experimenting, because it just doesn't make a (huge or for me even noticable) difference.
Don't get me wrong, I have a box full of different wires, but after 2 years of coilbuilding, I've come back to what has proven the best for me. And that's Clapton or SS. Ok. If I'm in the mood, a fused clapton for my large chambered atties.
 

Hoggy

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Well, trying to go back toward the main thread subject.. The main take-away should be that the wires shouldn't break if not overly twisted.. Plus will probably wick better, to boot - compared to tight-twisted.

However, I think what could be more important here is the wick type. Rayon is so vastly superior in wicking performance to other types like cotton or silica - that there is simply no need for a Clapton wire 'module' to act as a juice buffer/wicker. Cotton acts more like osmosis for the juice, so Clapton could be more useful with that wick type - by holding more juice while the slow action of the cotton brings the juice towards the coil. It's also because of this slower osmosis action, that one will notice/hear about cotton holding onto older/previous flavors - whereas rayon is able to change flavors much more quickly (almost instantly, IME).

OTOH, rayon acts completely like a pump.. Always bringing juice to the coil as fast as the coil can use it, unlike cotton. So there's no real need for a Clapton - or even twisted, for that matter - to be acting as a buffer/wick. It's still fun doing twisteds though, so I'll still keep doing it even with rayon.
 
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3vilpsychos

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I too have found the best flavor in twisted coils. I've tried claptons, fused claptons, twisted fused claptons, etc but still my best flavor has come from bare twisted coils. Maybe the RTA could be the difference in others experiences? One note...I just built some wire out 36 claptoned onto 28 and twisted 2 strands together. I'm about to coil it with hopes of a tasty experience lol
One more note....that should read bare twisted coils in parallel. Aka zippers
I like my twisted builds best. It's personal preference, but I honestly would rather my twists to be 26 g kenthal. 10 or 11 wraps duel came out too be .45 not dangerously low.

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk
 

3vilpsychos

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Who needs 100 ft of wire?
Each in various strengths?
Come on. My 30ft Clapton is in use for more than a year. And there's still plenty left, although I have more than 20 RDAs and RTAs that get rewicked on a regular basis.
Sure, it's not the only wire I build with, because on some tanks I prefere plain SS, so perhaps half of my tanks go with Claptons.
But for the price of one meal, you can get far more than a year of vaping. Sorry. But that's not overly priced in my opinion.
I've used 30 for this week. I have friends who vape and like trying different cold out. Not everyone is into vaping the same. I like to surprise friends with coils. And I also change my coils, and wick once a week. Or sooner depending if there turning yellow to brownish. 30 feet is quite a bit though if your only using one mod, and you only build plain micro or macro. I have to agree. I twist everything for my personal use. I just like the way they work. Flavor and dense vape.

Again... To each his own

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk
 
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