Anyone use 24awg Kanthal for RBA coils?

[rc10mike]

I have a few feet of 24awg Kanthal-A1 on the way. Im going to build a super coil / lr. Anyone else tried this?

I have my concerns about trying this, but Ill save them until I actually try it out!

 

[aarhus]

Nope, haven't gone beyond .6 (on 28), and that got way too hot for me. With 24...... Oiks!!!

Looking forward to hearing about it <gets popcorn>

 

[NicoHolic]

I've only gone as low as 0.5Ω with 26 AWG Nichrome 60 (about like 25 AWG Kanthal A1)

You may want to post this in the big micro coil thread.

Know your battery's maximum continuous current rating and Ohm's Law intimately before going SLR!

I strongly recommend you stick with safer chemistry, high-drain IMR batteries when doing this.

 

[Awkwardly Awesome]

With a wire that thick, you probably will need a larger inside diameter, otherwise you will end up with like 20-25 wraps on 1/16" inside diameter coil. I built a .5 ohm coil with 26 gauge Nichrome that was 19 wraps (to this day, 19 wraps seems like it should be higher resistance but I tested it on 3 devices and all of them said .5 ohm) and it honestly ran like crap. The outside 2-3 wraps never actually heated up. And you pretty much had to fire it for 3-4 seconds before taking your drag otherwise it wasn't even remotely hot enough to make good vapor.

I wish you the best of luck but I feel there is a limit to how big the wire can be. And IMO 26 gauge Nichrome is it.

 

[NicoHolic]

FWIW, several of us are getting 0.5Ω with 8 wraps of 26 AWG Nichrome 60 on a 1/16th drill bit, and I like it A LOT. Without doing the math, I suspect the same number of wraps of 24 AWG Kanthal A1 on the same drill bit will come in around 0.4Ω and go down from there with fewer wraps. I wouldn't start with less than eight, though. With wire this thick, paying attention to top cap clearance becomes more important.

eta: at these current levels, watch for arcing, or glowing or signs of heat where the switch contacts the battery. Arcing can erode the firing pin and battery top, and heat can melt the button as well.

 

[rc10mike]

If it doesnt work...I have some 28awg on the way too. I have been using 32awg, but the results have been meh..

 

[NicoHolic]

Yeah, 32 is a bit small. Wire's so cheap, I've decided on getting some of all sizes. Unlike some others here, I don't really detect a flavor difference between Kanthal A1 and Nichrome 60. Either's good with me. Good luck, be safe, and ask first if you have any doubt. Someone here knows the answer.