Beginner rebuildable questions

[Brettanomyces]

Two weeks ago I upgraded from a eroll mini to a Nautilus mini on an MVP 2 and was finally able to drop the stinkies completely like the bad habit they are, however I quickly realized that I needed more than one tank. I considered picking up another nautilus or two but I'm a little concerned about the filler material used in the bvc coils and I don't want buy a bunch of tanks that I'm going to outgrow quickly so I decided that I should try an RBA, I also decided I should get an RDA to try them out and so I have something to try flavors with at the local vape bar.

My biggest concern is flavor, after doing some research I've decided on the Kayfun lite plus v2 clone by ehpro and the Magma clone by infinite.

On to the questions:

1. I'm planning to upgrade to higher wattage APV soon but will I be ok on the MVP if I stick to higher resistance builds, say 1.5-2.0 ohms?

2. Do I need an ohm tester or can I get by with using the meter on my MVP (or another regulated mod like the vapor shark when I upgrade)? I also have a multimeter but that sounds like a pain.

3. Keeping in mind that I will be starting with higher ohm coils and I prefer a cooler vape, what gauge of kanthal should I get?

4. Are ceramic tweezers needed, are there any cheaper alternatives?

5. Eciggity seems to have everything I want to order but the description for all of the magma clones they carry calls them an "amgaM RDA Clone" and the logo on them says "Paradigm" instead of "Magma", I only found them on a couple of other sites but they called them a magma clone and they had the magma logo. Any idea if the ones at eciggity are "legit" clones or maybe clones of clones?

Thanks for any input, I found the answer to most of my questions by searching but my google-fu must be getting weak because I had trouble answering these.

 

[Soignee]

Two weeks ago I upgraded from a eroll mini to a Nautilus mini on an MVP 2 and was finally able to drop the stinkies completely like the bad habit they are, however I quickly realized that I needed more than one tank. I considered picking up another nautilus or two but I'm a little concerned about the filler material used in the bvc coils and I don't want buy a bunch of tanks that I'm going to outgrow quickly so I decided that I should try an RBA, I also decided I should get an RDA to try them out and so I have something to try flavors with at the local vape bar.

My biggest concern is flavor, after doing some research I've decided on the Kayfun lite plus v2 clone by ehpro and the Magma clone by infinite.

On to the questions:

1. I'm planning to upgrade to higher wattage APV soon but will I be ok on the MVP if I stick to higher resistance builds, say 1.5-2.0 ohms?

2. Do I need an ohm tester or can I get by with using the meter on my MVP (or another regulated mod like the vapor shark when I upgrade)? I also have a multimeter but that sounds like a pain.

3. Keeping in mind that I will be starting with higher ohm coils and I prefer a cooler vape, what gauge of kanthal should I get?

4. Am I correct in thinking that with dual coils on the magma my effective resistance will be half of what each individual coil is(ie: with dual 2.0 ohm coils the resistance would be 1.0 ohms)?

5. Are ceramic tweezers needed, are there any cheaper alternatives?

6. Eciggity seems to have everything I want to order but the description for all of the magma clones they carry calls them an "amgaM RDA Clone" and the logo on them says "Paradigm" instead of "Magma", I only found them on a couple of other sites but they called them a magma clone and they had the magma logo. Any idea if the ones at eciggity are "legit" clones or maybe clones of clones?

Thanks for any input, I found the answer to most of my questions by searching but my google-fu must be getting weak because I had trouble answering these.

I cannot answer #1 as I don't use an MVP
#2 Yes you should invest in an ohm meter, find one that measures out to thousands. 1.09 for example, you want as accurate a measure as possible.
#3 30 gauge and 28 gauge are good starting points for those 2 devices.
#4 Yes. Here is a link to Baditude's blogs. Recommended reading to help you with ohm's law etc...E-Cigarette Forum - Baditude - Blogs
#5 Ceramic tipped are not necessary unless you want to compress coils while you are firing them. You can fire the coil, release the button and use a regular tweezers to compress the coil.
#6 I used eciggity for both of those devices. I do recommend them as I did not have any issues with the quality of the product, price or shipping.

Hope that helps. Sorry about #1.

 

[dchemist]

I have the EHpro KFL+ and the Infinite Magma. I think the MVP will be fine for the KF (most people run them around 11W, myself included). With the Magma you're probably going to want a little more power. If you can swing it $ wise, I would consider a 30 W device (or larger if you like). The VaporShark would work very well for both. Hope that helps.

Edit: And yes, have some way of measuring your resistance and checking for shorts. This is always the safest bet, even before attaching to your power source.

 

[deavidsedice]

Having a "cooler vape" doesn't depend on ohms; it depends on watts and how much surface is on the coil.

With this, i mean: It shouldn't matter if you build a 0.8ohm coil or 2.0ohm coil if these two when fire, get the same wattage.
If you own a VV or VW device, you can build almost any coil and later select the right voltage to get the wattage you want.

Of course, those VW devices have limits. Some of them works best on coils between 1.5 and 4.0 ohms. And of course, for higher wattage, you need to lower the resistance, because most VW devices have a max voltage of 6V.

If you want a cooler vape, maybe a dual coil helps. Each coil will get the half of the wattage, so it's like vaping from two smaller devices at once. Not so hot and more juice.

Also, it depends a lot on the atomizer used.

So, for your #1 question, i think you shouldn't worry on the ohms.

#3 Buy a resistance tester. They are cheap and will save you a lot of effort. Resistance testers have a flat surface which are good place to work. If you don't have one, use the resistance tester of your mod. The multimeter will give you bad readings (at least this happens to me), it is hard to make a good contact between the atomizer and the tester, and will give you a higher resistance.

#5 , i use regular ones. I do what Soignee says: first fire, release and compress. It's easy.

 

[Brettanomyces]

Thanks for the replies, lots of good information.

It sounds like I should go ahead and pick up an ohms tester while I'm at it. Unfortunately eciggity is sold of both models that they carry. 101vape is out of stock on the magma clone but has meters in stock, they also have cheaper wire so I guess I'll put together 2 orders.

My main question with gauge of wire to use was just what is a good gauge to start with knowing that I'm not looking to sub-ohm right away and since the you use a different amount of wraps to get the same resistance with different gauges I thought it might change the warmth. The ohms I mentioned was just what I figured would give me a good range based on the wattage and voltage capabilities of the mvp.

I do plan to upgrade to something in the 30+ watt range but expanding my toppers so I can have more flavors going is my first priority. I've looked at some of the Cloupor mods and the Vapor Shark DNA/rDNA, I would also like to take a look at the Sigelei(sp?) 100w and maybe some DNA or sx chip based tube mods.

 

[dchemist]

My main question with gauge of wire to use was just what is a good gauge to start with knowing that I'm not looking to sub-ohm right away and since the you use a different amount of wraps to get the same resistance with different gauges I thought it might change the warmth.

28 gauge will work well for you. However, as cheap as it is I would recommend to go ahead and get an assortment...say 30, 28, 26, and maybe even 24.

 

[joesquid]

The KFL will work fine with the MVP. I use the exact same one all the time. I vape at about 9 watts and 1.5 ohms. I see no reason for you to buy a meter if you are not going to sub ohm. The MVP will work fine and you have a multimeter for back up. I use 30 ga on my KFL's

 

[Brettanomyces]

28 gauge will work well for you. However, as cheap as it is I would recommend to go ahead and get an assortment...say 30, 28, 26, and maybe even 24.

Good point, I went ahead and ordered some 30, 28, 26, and some japanese organic cotton too. I got the ohms meter at 101 and they had some ceramic tweezers for a decent price so I threw those in as well. Now I just need to pick up a couple drill bits at the hardware store and I should be set for building coils.

I have one more quick question. I saw one coil building video where they torched the wire and then let it cool before making the coil saying that it helped it take the new shape, I also saw another where they didn't do that but they burned it with a lighter before mounting to "oxidize" it. Should I be doing one of those things or both? I'll be watching some more coil making vids the next few days so maybe I'll figure it out but the instructions seemed slightly contradictory so I thought I'd ask.

 

[Brettanomyces]

The KFL will work fine with the MVP. I use the exact same one all the time. I vape at about 9 watts and 1.5 ohms. I see no reason for you to buy a meter if you are not going to sub ohm. The MVP will work fine and you have a multimeter for back up. I use 30 ga on my KFL's

I wish I would have seen this an hour ago, oh well it's probably a good idea to have a meter before I sub-ohm so I'm not tempted top do something stupid.

 

[dchemist]

Good point, I went ahead and ordered some 30, 28, 26, and some japanese organic cotton too. I got the ohms meter at 101 and they had some ceramic tweezers for a decent price so I threw those in as well. Now I just need to pick up a couple drill bits at the hardware store and I should be set for building coils.

I have one more quick question. I saw one coil building video where they torched the wire and then let it cool before making the coil saying that it helped it take the new shape, I also saw another where they didn't do that but they burned it with a lighter before mounting to "oxidize" it. Should I be doing one of those things or both? I'll be watching some more coil making vids the next few days so maybe I'll figure it out but the instructions seemed slightly contradictory so I thought I'd ask.

I've never torched or burned my coil. I make a coil, install it, check for shorts/resistance, fire it until it glows, compress it, wick it, juice it, and vape. That much said, I'm sure that torching it would temper the metal and make it easier to work with. I've never used anything larger than 26 gage so the "springiness" has always been manageable.

 

[Brettanomyces]

Thanks, it sounds like I don't need to worry about that. I already have a propane torch so I'll probably try it and see if it helps, I mean any excuse to use a blow torch is a good one(as long as nothing burns down).

I'm starting to think I probably didn't need to get the magma since I didn't get any votes of confidence for pairing it with the mvp(I'm pretty sure it's not dangerous) but if it doesn't work well it will just give me more incentive to figure out what I want in a higher wattage device.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[rodeo302]

The magma will work fine on the mvp just keep the ohms above 1.2 or so since the mvp isn't really suited for subohm usage I'll throw a dripper on mine every once in a while for fun but it's built higher than I normally do.

 

[joesquid]

I do torch mine to compress when I build them. I use a 1/16 bit to wrap around and to stabilize the coil while mounting it. I also will wrap a few, torch them and compress then keep them in a pill bottle until I need them.

 

[Brettanomyces]

That sounds like a good reason to use a torch, I hadn't even thought about trying to complete a coil without mounting it.

It's nice to hear that the magma won't be completely useless with the mvp, it should be fun to play around with. This hobby is becoming more expensive than the habit it replaced, hopefully it will slow down once I get a good base of hardware but I'm already feeling the health benefits so I don't really mind it that much.

 

[dchemist]

That sounds like a good reason to use a torch, I hadn't even thought about trying to complete a coil without mounting it.

It's nice to hear that the magma won't be completely useless with the mvp, it should be fun to play around with. This hobby is becoming more expensive than the habit it replaced, hopefully it will slow down once I get a good base of hardware but I'm already feeling the health benefits so I don't really mind it that much.

Go for the Magma too. My first build was 1.0 Ohms and it worked fine (the MVP should be able to handle this) I just prefer my Magma around 0.8 Ohms. Taste is always subjective.

 

[Brettanomyces]

I ordered it last night along with the KFL and coil building supplies because I found a 10% off code and I know I'll be getting something more appropriate for it soon anyway. It was just nice to hear that it should work decently with the mvp.

Now I just need to find some good coil building tutorials so I know what I'm doing when everything gets here. I have to say, this site along with Phil Busardo's and Rip Tripper's videos have been much more helpful than any of my local B&Ms.

 

[Slips]

Just trying to get some post out of the way, but saw this thread and figured i would share my 2cents.
Don't know if eciggity carries it but the "Holmes" rda i find is really simple to build on and has great flavor no matter the build.
Welcome to the world of rebuildables and happy vaping.

 

[Soignee]

I ordered it last night along with the KFL and coil building supplies because I found a 10% off code and I know I'll be getting something more appropriate for it soon anyway. It was just nice to hear that it should work decently with the mvp.

Now I just need to find some good coil building tutorials so I know what I'm doing when everything gets here. I have to say, this site along with Phil Busardo's and Rip Tripper's videos have been much more helpful than any of my local B&Ms.

YouTube will be your best friend on building coils!

 

[dchemist]

I ordered it last night along with the KFL and coil building supplies because I found a 10% off code and I know I'll be getting something more appropriate for it soon anyway. It was just nice to hear that it should work decently with the mvp.

Now I just need to find some good coil building tutorials so I know what I'm doing when everything gets here. I have to say, this site along with Phil Busardo's and Rip Tripper's videos have been much more helpful than any of my local B&Ms.

Awesome! Let us know what you think when you get them Vaping.

 

[Brettanomyces]

I got my first package with most of my building supplies on saturday and then finally got the second one with the Kayfun clone and Magma clone today(yay!) so I thought I'd update the thread with my first impressions.

My first first impression is that I don't know why I was worried about building coils, it's even easier than it looked in the videos I watched. I think I spent more time cleaning everything than I did building the coils and wicking. My second first impression is that not only do I get more flavor out of both but I'm also getting less, and by that I mean that it's missing the slightly funky flavor I got with the nautilus mini and eroll. I'm not sure if that's due to the different wicking material or the NM and eroll having more rubber and plastic but it's a noticeable difference.

Both are working great on my mvp, I built a 1.93 ohm coil for the KFL and a 1.7 ohm single coil for the Magma. I used 28 awg kanthal wrapped around a 5/64" drill bit, 8 wraps for the magma and about 11 for the KFL. I was in a rush to get down to the local B&M to try some juices out so I didn't think to take any pictures until I had already filled the KFL but here's the coil on the magma:



It's not the best picture and it's not the cleanest coil I've seen(the first one I built in the KFL was actually better) but the guy at the local B&M was impressed with it and his jaw about hit the floor when I told him it was my second coil ever so I guess it's not too bad. Both coils lit up nicely from the inside out once I compressed them which the main thing I was concerned with other than resistance.

Thanks again everyone for the advice, I think I'm well on the way to finding my vaping nirvana. I do plan to try some different builds and I want to upgrade the mvp to something more powerful but I think this is a good start.