Best coils for flavor

[AnthonyB]

Oh no not another one of those 'what produces best flavor' posts!

Yes it's annoying but I have to ask because after years of sub ohming I have now reformed myself as a fashionable flavor chaser.

So my question today dear citizens of the vaping community is which build and type of wire is best for flavour?

There are so many different types of coils - claptons, fused claptons, staggered fused Clapton, sleeper coils (do these really exist?) tiger coils, hurricane coils, dual-parallel, twisted, and then we have many different types of metals such as nichrome, kanthal, stainless steel, Ni200.

Let's sort out the confusion and discuss which build type and material produces the best flavor.

And GO!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tj99959]

Actually chamber size will influence flavor more than the type of coil will.
MY RDA (A7) has a 9.5 mm inside diameter, and I just use a thin gauge Kanthal coil. It produced more flavor than I wanted, and I reduced the % of flavorings in my formulas by 2/3.

 

[colonelcolt]

Have you tried wire rope?
It's a bit tricky to use it with cotton that's why it is used mostly on SS mesh builds.
I guarantee you'll be surprised.
Roughly speaking wire rope has bigger surface area than any of clapton-like stuff.
Therefore, to produce the same amount of vapor less energy is required.
Less energy means the temperature at evaporation area is lower. Which is good because the chance of overheating the flavour molecules is lower.
Material of the rope does matter too.
Some are quicker in heating and cooling, some have bigger thermal inertness. It's a matter of personal taste and preferences though...

 

[Str8vision]

Identifying the best coils (build) for flavor is just like picking the best tasting juice, everyone is different and what works best for one person isn't necessarily the ideal setup for the next. With that caveat out of the way, being a flavor chaser and NET aficionado I've tried many different coils, wicking materials, atomizers, settings and tweaks in search of the best obtainable flavor from NETs and NET hybrids. I inhale DL and enjoy ample throat hit so my ideal setup is geared accordingly.

I've wound coils in many different diameters using 22 to 30 gauge wire of different materials. I've also tried several variations of Claptons but saw no tangible benefit to using complicated artsy coils except that they're fun and cool. My preferred build for flavor is dual fused 2.5mm (I.D.) 26ga 9 wrap Kanthal coils. Each coil is around 0.9 ohms but I use them in pairs (dual coils attys) which results in a ~0.45 ohms setup that I fire at 46watts. I use bottom airflow attys and install the coils about 2mm from the deck (air inlet).

While I have found bottom airflow attys to be most advantageous, the best flavor I have experienced came from a Cthulhu Gaia RDTA which provides primary airflow from the bottom but also has highly adjustable side airflow to supplement it. I haven't mastered it's use yet but I do see great potential in this atty. My favorite atty remains an old school V1 22mm Magma RDA, the original bottom airflow atty with extra deep juice well and small chamber. I fully concur with tj99959, chamber size is critical. The smaller the chamber the better the flavor especially for those who inhale MTL since airflow across the coil(s) will be minimal. Chamber size is less important for those of us who inhale DL (massive airflow) but it still impacts flavor. Unfortunately, the current trend in attys is bigger and bigger, oversized attys are indeed easier for beginners to build on but they aren't conducive of better flavor because their chamber size is massive/excessive. Instead of a 26mm atty I'd rather see a 20mm bottom airflow RDTA hit the market. True it'd require a higher skill level to use but the payoff would be superior flavor production.

Wicking material is yet another factor in obtaining the best possible flavor. For NETs I prefer using organic Japanese cotton. However, for synthetic fruit, dessert and bakery flavors I prefer Rayon cellucotton. Since I vape NETs exclusively organic Japanese cotton is my primary wicking material.

Arguably, the most important factor in obtaining peak flavor is the juice itself. Many of the retail juice offerings are mediocre at best. If the juice is bland, build quality isn't going to make much of an improvement.

 

[KurtF]

Arguably, the most important factor in obtaining peak flavor is the juice itself. Many of the retail juice offerings are mediocre at best. If the juice is bland, build quality isn't going to make much of an improvement.

What kind of juice do you use (pg/vg mix, brand, flavors)?

 

[Str8vision]

I vape NETs (Naturally Extracted Tobaccos) and hybrid (Flavored) NETs. I learned how to extract/make my own and have been doing so for years. I typically mix NET at 40/60 VG/PG. For hybrid (flavored) NETs I use the same concentrated flavorings available to those who DIY. FW "Caramel Candy" is a favorite as is DIYFlavorshack's "Holy Vanilla" and TFA "Acetyl Pyrazine" (a nutty flavoring). Lotus "Blueberry", TFA "juicy Peach", Inawera "Cherries" and TFA "Vanilla Swirl" are some of the other concentrated flavorings I enjoy blending with tobacco extracts.

Before I was proficient at making NETs I vaped retail juice. Many of my old favorites are no longer available, gone forever. Some that I enjoyed (that's still available) are Ripe Vapes "VCT reserve", Five Pawns "Castle Long Reserve", Ahlusion's "Caramel Wild wood" and Charlie Noble's "Pistachio RY4". I ordered them as close to a 40/60 VG/PG blend as I could get.

 

[EIHYPI]

Actually chamber size will influence flavor more than the type of coil will.
MY RDA (A7) has a 9.5 mm inside diameter, and I just use a thin gauge Kanthal coil. It produced more flavor than I wanted, and I reduced the % of flavorings in my formulas by 2/3.

I actually was wondering why chamber size affects the flavor before. Can you please explain this to me?

 

[EIHYPI]

I actually was wondering why chamber size affects the flavor before. Can you please explain this to me?

I'm sorry @Str8vision just explained that.

 

[tj99959]

Should add to that:
Getting the airflow directly across the coil is imperative for flavor, regardless of if it's bottom air or side air.
Air that does not cross the coil only adds air, and nothing else.