And it begins (coil building)

[Cormkev59]

Hello ECF members/vapers

New to the forum and looking forward to soaking in tons of info. I've been vaping full time about 9 weeks (kicked the analogs). I was part time vaping for about 3 months prior to that. My first Mod was the Vamo V3, which I still love. I added a MVP2 and a Vision spinner. I have an assortment of tanks (iClear30's, Protank2, Protank3, Pro tank mini's, and a few EVOD's). I am in the process of stepping up to building micro coils and just picked up a Kay-fun 3.1 (clone) and a Kay-fun lite Plus (original). Now I just need to step up to the plate and build.

I have watched you-tube videos on building coils. The one question I have is how to start the first wrap??? I have fat fingers and that first wrap seems a toughy. Does anyone have any tricks or suggestions? I bought 28GA wire and plan on using a 3/32 drill bit.

 

[Sed Contra]

You can always back your first wrap off afterwards so that it doesn't count, so to speak.

 

[bloodline129]

Go to princess auto and pick up forceps you all are very welcome

 

[Sl4gathor]

I use a drill bit buried in a piece of wood, I hold the end of the wire with my thumb against the wood, gets really good first wrap...
I use the old pencil eraser to pinch the warps up against, and pull the tails tight with a pliers.....

 

[Butters80]

This thread might be able to get you further along.
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/reos-mods/446263-micro-coils-ohms-description.html

 

[Cormkev59]

Thanks everyone I am working up to building a few coils this weekend. I am sure I will have lots of questions afterward.

 

[Squishie]

Some people heat their wire with a torch so it is more easy to mold, I have a has stove so I just heat it with that. It makes it easier to get the wraps closer. Also once you install the coil and fire it you can pinch it together with tweezers to get a tighter wrap.


Sent from my mech mod using sub-ohms.

 

[ElConquistador]

The first wrap or two is always going to be crappy. At least it always is for me.

 

[jamie0516]

Keeping an eye on this post

 

[v1k1ng1001]

keep at it, you'll figure it out really fast!

 

[skimmer02]

Welcome to your new addiction!

 

[NealBJr]

some words of advice:

One method is to go ahead and wrap your coils, even if the first wrap is bad. However, wrap one more than you intended, then from the bad side, tug the bad wrap out by pulling on the bad lead side and let the coil "uncoil" until the bad wrap is out.

Test the coil with an ohm tester after it is installed into your atomizer, then again after your whole atomizer is assembled. Sometimes the coil can short out on a part of the atomizer you didn't intend it to.

keep in mind, the higher the gauge number (thinner wire), the faster it will heat up AND cool down. the lower the number (thicker wire) will heat up slower, but maintains heat longer. If you do long inhales, then a thicker wire is preferred. If you do mouth to lung, and/or shorter inhales, then thinner wire might work better. I've wrapped some coils with 24 gauge that continues to sizzle for a whole second AFTER I release the button. Those also heat up my drippers pretty hot if I chain drip.

If you do micro coils, never squeeze the coils while firing the mod.. it will cause an instant short. Instead, squeeze just after you stop firing the button and while it is still red hot. I use a pair of ceramic tipped twezers to avoid that problem and squeeze while firing, but don't do that with just any tweezers.

Play around with your ohms and wire sizes... Each person has their preferences, so it might take a while to find yours.

 

[Cloud Junky]

You can always hold it parallel to the object you are using to wrap it on or you can just pull it taught when you are done if it is a loose wrap in the end. I always pull my legs when I am done still on the bit I am using.

 

[andthatsalright]

I do the one-extra-wrap method and use some pliers to straighten out the bad coil at the beginning. Works great, in my experience.

 

[Cormkev59]

UPDATE:

I managed my first usable coil, forgot to take photos but I will next one. Came out at 1.6 ohms. One question/issue is that when I first fire the PV (MVP2) I get a slight pop and puff in the vapor. I assume I have a hot spot??? When I fired the coil it was heating from the center out and looked to be fine. Since this is my first I am not sure how to identify a hot spot in the coil and help? The Kayfun Lite + looks great on my MVP2 and the flavor is better than the IClear30's. I used organic cotton as a wick with 28ga Kanthal 9 wraps on a 3/32 drill bit.

 

[Cormkev59]

Another question I forgot to ask. With RBA's is it better to run Voltage or Watts or does it not matter? Both my MVP2 and Vamo3 can run either. When I use tanks I usually run in power mode (8.0 to 8.5 watts). I'm liking the rebuildable's this could take my Vaping to another level.

 

[beanz]

I went down to my local shop and they were more than happy to wrap my first coil and even give me some materials to practice on. When I was ready a week later to try it on my own, I just went down there and had them watch me and give me pointers.

 

[old_geezer]

I've been recoiling EVODs for about a week now and getting it down. I got about 15 EVOD's, 25 coils both 1.8 and 2.2 and various sizes of Kanthal and silica. I finally gave up on the silica and went cotton. What is working for me is tiny 1/16th drill bit. 5 or 6 wraps of 32 Kanthal. Not a micro-coil. I spread it out as much as I can without shorting. I burn the Kanthal over a gas stove before wrapping so it's not so springy and funky to deal with. So burn Kanthal, wrap drill bit, leave drill bit in and mount on EVOD, remove drill bit and snake as thick of a cotton wick through as I can more or less. Spread out coils. Put 2 1mm flavor wicks on top. Put on the top of coil then trim the wick. I get 1.7-1.9 pretty much with 5 wraps. It vapes well even on a cheezy 3.7V eGo. SVD and MPV V2 no problems. No flooding. For me the silica wasn't sucking up or holding enough juice to get a good cloud. Using fat cotton also seems to stop any leaks and gurgles cuz the wick holes are pretty well stuffed after adding the 2 flavor wicks. Just my way of doing it so far. I'm new at this but got something going that is working well for me. Next week I might be doing something totally different
- Joe

 

[Cormkev59]

I've been recoiling EVODs for about a week now and getting it down. I got about 15 EVOD's, 25 coils both 1.8 and 2.2 and various sizes of Kanthal and silica. I finally gave up on the silica and went cotton. What is working for me is tiny 1/16th drill bit. 5 or 6 wraps of 32 Kanthal. Not a micro-coil. I spread it out as much as I can without shorting. I burn the Kanthal over a gas stove before wrapping so it's not so springy and funky to deal with. So burn Kanthal, wrap drill bit, leave drill bit in and mount on EVOD, remove drill bit and snake as thick of a cotton wick through as I can more or less. Put 2 1mm flavor wicks on top. Put on the top of coil then trim the wick. I get 1.7-1.9 pretty much with 5 wraps. It vapes well even on a cheezy 3.7V eGo. SVD and MPV V2 no problems. No flooding. For me the silica wasn't sucking up or holding enough juice to get a good cloud. Using fat cotton also seems to stop any leaks and gurgles cuz the wick holes are pretty well stuffed after adding the 2 flavor wicks. Just my way of doing it so far. I'm new at this but got something going that is working well for me. Next week I might be doing something totally different
- Joe

I plan on rebuilding EVODS and Protanks once I get decent at building micro coils. I figured micro's would be easier than the small space and thinner wire of rebuilding tanks.

 

[Cormkev59]

Another couple newbie questions. Now that I have my Kay-fun operational how often should I change out the wick? I assume the coil will outlast a wick. Second question is if I want to change juices do I have to build another coil or can I just swap out the wick and put the new juice in?