I've been using braided coils in my rda for some considerable time, but I noticed very few, if anyone else I talk to ever has braids. Obviously it's a huge about of wire. We're talking 18ft of 30AWG SS316 just to make 4 coils in my Mason RDA, but I find ramp-up is on point and the flavour is delivered very smoothly. I just honestly wondered why very few people use braids?
Braided Coils - Are they unpopular?
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You're not alone my friend, I like braided coils too.
I've used the Geekvape alpha braids, Coilology braided, and Vertebraid from AVS. All of them have been great coils/wire.
I prefer the coils from AVS, but the Coilology are good 'budget' coils and come in both SS316 and Ni80. You can get a 10 pack of the Coilology for $3. Hard to beat.
Agree, the ramp up is nice, and it gives a good dense vapor production. My only issue with them is I prefer a cooler vape. I tend to get a bit of spitting with them. Increasing the wattage takes care of that, but then the vape starts getting warm to me.
But, I still like/use them for sure. Been wrapping my own coils with Ni80 rectangle wire lately but I have a bunch of the braids sitting here for next time I recoil my RDAs.
I've used the Geekvape alpha braids, Coilology braided, and Vertebraid from AVS. All of them have been great coils/wire.
I prefer the coils from AVS, but the Coilology are good 'budget' coils and come in both SS316 and Ni80. You can get a 10 pack of the Coilology for $3. Hard to beat.
Agree, the ramp up is nice, and it gives a good dense vapor production. My only issue with them is I prefer a cooler vape. I tend to get a bit of spitting with them. Increasing the wattage takes care of that, but then the vape starts getting warm to me.
But, I still like/use them for sure. Been wrapping my own coils with Ni80 rectangle wire lately but I have a bunch of the braids sitting here for next time I recoil my RDAs.
Are you making the braided wire or buying?
I never got into braided, but love twisted wire. I generally do combos of 26, 28, and .8 by .1 flat wire, kanthal, dual coils. I never attempted braiding because it seems tricky and time consuming.
I’ve never seen the point of braided coils myself. It’s less or a twisted coil but with more popping
Personally, I see braided wire as twisted wire x 10 
Maybe that's over-exaggerating, lol. It holds a lot of juice compared to regular twisted wire though.
When I wick a braided coil, if I just drip on the coil area and pulse to get the juice to absorb, it's amazing how much juice you can drip on the coil without even saturating the cotton.
I've never made my own braided wire, don't have the patience. But I do prefer it to twisted wire for regulated mods. With unregulated devices, I think twisted (depending on number of wires and gauge) is a good deal more efficient.
I vape mostly unflavored juice, but imagine that braided wire would give great flavor.
Maybe that's over-exaggerating, lol. It holds a lot of juice compared to regular twisted wire though.When I wick a braided coil, if I just drip on the coil area and pulse to get the juice to absorb, it's amazing how much juice you can drip on the coil without even saturating the cotton.
I've never made my own braided wire, don't have the patience. But I do prefer it to twisted wire for regulated mods. With unregulated devices, I think twisted (depending on number of wires and gauge) is a good deal more efficient.
I vape mostly unflavored juice, but imagine that braided wire would give great flavor.
It is true, it takes a while. I take three 2 metre lengths of 30AWG SS316, double them over and then braid it myself over a doorhandle. It's hard to keep the ohms up with 6 cores through. I had to do 10 wrap coils just to make them workable in my HOG without insanely high wattage. Clouds are huge and dense though.
Impressed I am. I always balked at 3 strands, 6 sounds rough. I'm sure it just takes practice and patience. I can picture those coils and it sounds nice. If done nice and clean they would be pretty and lots of nooks and crannies.
They do look quite pretty. Nothing to it in terms of 3 strands or 6. As they are doubled over, you're only working with three bits of cable. I have a technique of flicking them back and forth between little and forefingers on each hand, but I've heard of people spinning the end around a small piece of dowel and passing them back and forth between hands. All in all, it takes about 15 minutes a metre at the most. You just have to make sure you pull each braid nice and tight.
I've made and used braided coils. It's a relaxing exercise making braided wire. They work ok but I personally like rectangle wire core claptons or fused claptons much better for flavor and clouds. If you want wire with alot of nooks and crannies I don't think you can beat chain wire. Chain wire is fun and easy to make but it's not one of my favorites. Chain wire does look really cool on a display RDA.
Not sure I'm correct but I have made wire that looks like a chain by twisting 2 wires one direction then twisting that with a third wire the opposite direction. Unwinds the first two while wrapping with the third. Not the most functional but useable and interesting. Twist the first pair with flat wire and it's pretty crazy.
Its not complicated. You twist 2 wires together, fold it in half then twist it in the opposite direction. You have to watch it closely. When it looks like chain links you stop twisting. Easy as that. There are quite a few how to videos on Youtube.
I don't know that braided wire is so much unpopular, but it's kind of an advanced build, especially if you aren't wanting that much wire in your build. I find 9 times out of 10, a single round wire suits my needs just fine. So, it's maybe not so much that you aren't seeing them all over the place because they're not unpopular you are just rising high on the exotic wire building ladder meaning you aren't seeing as many folks right next to you.
There are tons of builders who adore large clouds and amazing builds and I do stare at them with amazed awe, but I most certainly am not trying to REPLICATE them, etc..
Anna
There are tons of builders who adore large clouds and amazing builds and I do stare at them with amazed awe, but I most certainly am not trying to REPLICATE them, etc..
Anna
Hi Anna. Wow, okay never really thought of them as that advanced, as the guy who showed me how to do it said: "If a 5 year old can braid hair, you can braid a coil". I've often looked at claptoned wire as more advanced and there's a lot more places that can go wrong and you can end up with an ugly bit of metal string.
I think claptons require more precision and maybe tools or jigs to make a good length of wire, but braids take patience and consistency to make a really nice even heating coil. I'm sure both have their challenges.
I tried to braid wire myself once. I have about 1" done and it's sitting in my "I'll finish it later " section of my vaping gear tackle box (literally an unused Shimano tackle tray from the sports store) and it's been there for about 6 months, staring at me.
I bought a roll of staggered staple clapton. It vapes as well as my homemade 2x26/34 SS. I can appreciate the accomplishment of a home-braided length of wire, but it's function over form IMO, and with that, I'll go with the best performing, least troublesome wire that satisfies me... Store bought or HM fused clapton.
Please remember I began vaping before rebuildables
Please remember I began vaping before rebuildables
I'm in awe of some of them they can be so beautiful, it's definitely an art I'm just not capable of.
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