Building coils

[Hurley]

I have bought a few repairables and need some advice on building the coils. What is the diffrence between nichrome and kanthal? which is better? What gage of wire is best? I,ve herd 30,32,36. Any advice anyone can give me will be greatly appreciated. thanks.

 

[keenanmcfar]

Personally i like the thicker guages of nichrome as it seems less prone to hot spots. Ive had no experience with kanthal. Apparently there is a difference in taste and supposedly durability. Kanthal is supposed to be stronger. Honestly though... I havent had one coil break yet. Another advantage of thick wire.

 

[unloaded]

What range of resistance are you looking for? How much space do you have to build the coil? These will effect which wire would work best for you. If you've only got enough space to wrap up 1" of wire for a coil the 30g will probably be too LR. I use 1-1/2" of 32g Kanthal A1 and get a 2.0 ohm coil when I wrap it. I start with a 2" piece and use a 1/4" on each end to twist with NR wire for legs. If I did the same with 30g wire the resistance would be lower, 34g would be higher. If I still wanted 2.0 ohm but didn't have enough space to wrap 1-1/2" for coil I'd use a shorter and thinner wire to get same results. Seems complicated at first, but once you mess with the wires and your attys you'll quickly figure it out. I'd start with some 32 & 34g or some 32 & 36g I think 30g would probably be too big unless you are making a very large coil.

 

[Nurzrachit]

I have bought a few repairables and need some advice on building the coils. What is the diffrence between nichrome and kanthal? which is better? What gage of wire is best? I,ve herd 30,32,36. Any advice anyone can give me will be greatly appreciated. thanks.

It really does depend on how much space you have. When I rebuild my Vivi Nova I use 4 coil wrap with 36G Kanthal, comes out to 3 ohms. When I rebuilt my Ratank I used a 13 coil 30g nichrome. All depends on the space, and your desired preference. I would recommend getting several sizes to play with. It is cheap, and you can practice with differnt ones. Good luck.

 

[Hurley]

I have a Phoenix bulli and a smoktech vivi tank. So far I have ordered 30 GA kanthal, 36 GA nichrome, and some 400 SS mesh. I tend to like 2-3 ohm range. I think I will get some 32 GA. What's the diff between the kanthal and nichrome?

 

[dirfm]

I agree - it does come down to a personal preference. I find nichrome a little easier and forgiving with tighter builds. Kathal is nice on the larger rebuilds, but not a necessity. I do also agree with unloaded 30 kanthal is WAY big, 30 nichrome (what I use) is not bad though as Nurzrachit suggests - it can wrap very tightly. Get a few of them and play with it!

 

[spraintz]

fwiw, the larger gauge wire has less resistance and I find that I have to wrap too many coils to reach my desired resistance (3.3 - 3.6) and it makes my coil and atomizer very hot as it take a lil longer for all coils to heat up. just gotta find a nice setup for yer particular tastes and preference

 

[Hurley]

Thank you for all the info. I think I will pick up some more sizes as you are right in it is cheep. Under 5 each for what I got so far. Hows the RA tank? I might have to pick up one of those as well.