Billow V2 dual nickel help

[Wraithkrown]

I just bought a Billow V2 and am looking a putting some nickel coils in it. The Billow is my first rebuild-able. I have some coiling jigs at 2, 2.3, and 3 MM and 30 gauge nickel wire. Does anyone who has built on this thing have any recommendations? I am kinda waiting a bit as I have seen that using a drill to "braid" 2 nickel wires can make the coil building a bit easier(Have to charge my drill battery first). Thanks in advance for any help you all can provide.

 

[suprtrkr]

What mod are you going to put it on? How low can it fire?

 

[Wraithkrown]

What mod are you going to put it on? How low can it fire?

SnowWolf .05 ohms

 

[suprtrkr]

SnowWolf .05 ohms

I have the same mod, but I have only built single coils in Ni200 for it. According to Steam Engine, you need to be somewhere in the vicinity of 10/9 wrap, 3mm ID to bring a set of dualies in at .1 Ohms. I'd shoot for that, and if it winds up a skosh light, the SW might still fire it since it goes down to .05 Ohms. You know Ni200 wants spaced wraps, right? You don't build contact coils like for Kanthal? I just wind them loose on a mandrel, and push the ends together like a spring, and let them pop back out. It's worked OK so far. If you like them more regular, however, an appropriately sized machine screw will give you a spiral path to wind in. Then just unscrew the screw from the middle. Good luck, and let us know how it works.

I think you'll love the TC on the SW. I do. I crank the wattage up to about 50, to shorten the ramp time, then switch to TC mode. It will vary with juice, but I'm doing OK with mine at about 425 degrees. Good luck

 

[Wraithkrown]

Oooo... Thanks for the link to Steam Engine! Thank you also for the info. My SnowWolf is not even 1 day old yet I have an Arctic on it with a nickel coil running 470 degrees F and 70 Watts.

 

[CorTEH]

steam engine is a massive time saver if your trying to nail a certain build.

 

[Wraithkrown]

Thanks for your help Suprtrtr! I found there is just not enough room for braiding the nickel, The chimney will not fit. I went with 8 wraps at 2.5 mm diameter. After 8 trashed coils, success finally! I think I even got the wicking right on the first try. Only took me 2 hours..... Hopefully it will not take that long every time

 

[Rabbit Slayer]

Braided wire is not the same as twisted wire

 

[Wraithkrown]

Braided wire is not the same as twisted wire

Thanks for pointing that out. I did indeed mean twisted.

 

[suprtrkr]

Thanks for your help Suprtrtr! I found there is just not enough room for braiding the nickel, The chimney will not fit. I went with 8 wraps at 2.5 mm diameter. After 8 trashed coils, success finally! I think I even got the wicking right on the first try. Only took me 2 hours..... Hopefully it will not take that long every time

Lol, it won't. Now you've got a build that works, repeating it or tweaking it a bit is easier to do than dreaming up a new one. Deck room is an issue with nickel. The wire has no resistance to speak of; getting enough Ohms for the mod to fire with fancy (and thus thicker) builds is hard. I have heard of some people having luck twisting a strand of 32ga nickel with a strand of 32ga Kanthal. I don't know anybody whose advice I trust saying so, or at least I don't remember, so at your own risk, YMMV. The idea is, electricity takes the path of least resistance, which would be thru the nickel. The Kanthal is just there to provide stiffness to the wire bundle and surface area; it would carry very little current. That theory seems sound enough to me. That's how resistive voltage dividers work, or using the breakdown voltage in a reversed zener for a voltage trigger. But I haven't done it, and it probably depends more on your mod's software than anything. Have fun and be careful. ;-)