A few questions regarding hybrid clapton coils

[zenga]

Yesterday I picked up these hybrid clapton coils (linking doesn't seem to work, but fasttech is also selling them, and they are called 'thunderhead creations nickel kanthal precoiled') at my local vape shop. It says: 'clapton nickel and kanthal coils – 0.2 mm / 0.4 mm, which I believe is 32/26 awg'. The order they are mentioned in makes me believe that its 32 awg nickel wrapped around 26 awg kanthal, but I'm not sure if that makes sense. Calling the guy in the vape shop resulted into only more confusion.

My first question is how can I know if the core is nickel or kanthal (or the wrap for that matter)?

My 2nd question is (using both a cuboid and vtc-mini): which TCR profile should I use: the core one or the wrap one? Or in case if that doesn't matter: the kanthal or the nickel TCR profile?

My 3rd question: I see ni200 and nickel DH, can't really find a good explanation about the difference, does it matter for me?

And finally: is there any safe 'ballpark' setting I can use, and if not what do I risk with trying stuff out? Would really love to try these out on my new griffin/cuboid combo, but a little bit reluctant due to being confused.

Thanks in advance!

 

[river.guy]

I am far from an expert, just to let you know up front. As far as nickel and Kanthal go, high grade nickel is a bright shiny silver color. Kanthal has a more dull silver color.

See pic below (Kanthal bottom/nickel top):



For your second question, TC using nickel will have flaky results using tightly wrapped wire. Nickel is much more stable in temp mode when the coil is evenly spaced. Claptons and micro coils have the wire touching and will most likely produce less than desirable results.

On your third question, I honestly dont know. Having only used Ni200 (pure nickel), the term nickel DH is new to me. The debate on nickel safety rages on. Some say it is absolutely fine, while others say we are poisoning ourselves by using it. I stopped using it mainly because it is crappy wire to build with IMO. SS and Ti wire have provided a much better vaping experience for me personally. Not only are they much better to build with, they offer better flavor as well.

For your final question, a nickel TCR value (or something close to it) will most likely be the way to go. Kanthal is not able to be temp controlled the same way Ni, SS and Ti are. When you fire a coil, the current will travel the path of least resistance. If your core wire is Ni and the wrap is Kanthal, it will heat the core wire. If the reverse is true, then it will heat the wrap. Hope this helps!

 

[zenga]

Thanks for your answer. I have figured it out meanwhile: it's a core nickel along with a kanthal wrap, though unfortunately the resistance of the wire comes out so low that it's barely useful. The nickel TCR was indeed the way to go, since a test in powermode ruined the coil completely.

I have simply ditched them and moved on since. Thanks again, appreciate it.