Built my first coil, concerned about safety...

[Sk0tto]

So I stopped at my local vape store and picked up some 28awg Kanthal A1 yesterday. After watching tons of videos on youtube, I got to work last night and made a microcoil on a 2mm jewelers screwdriver. I did somewhere between 10-12 wraps and put it in a mini protank 2.

One vid mentioned touching the two probes of the multimeter together and subtract that reading from the reading I got from the atty head. Touching the two probes together, the reading was .1 ohms. After putting the positive probe in the bottom hole of the head and the ground probe on the outside threading the reading was 1.4, therefore the coil is reading 1.3 ohms.

I tried several times to get to 1.8 or higher using different coil diameters and number of wraps, but I wasn't able to get there. Maybe I was just tired, but after five or six times, I gave up for the night.

I'm using a Kanger evod VV 650 as my battery. I have the voltage turned down to 3.2, it's lowest setting. Kind of nervous to throw more power to the coil at this point...

My questions are as follows:

1. Would I get better results with 30 or 32 awg?
2. Would I get better results with a larger coil diameter?
3. Should I not concentrate so much on getting nice even tight wraps and just go for a regular coil similar to what the stock coils look like?
4. Is this a safe setup given the battery I'm using, or should I be using a VV/VW and/or mod for this? I don't really want the battery to explode in my face...

Thanks in advance for any advice/info you provide. Happy vaping!

 

[Agamer]

First I am glad to see you have a multimeter and are using it properly that is one of the best tools you can have for coil building

now on to your questions

1-I rebuild my kanger heads using 30g wrapped around a paperclip really tight about 10ish times and end up closer to 1.5-1.8 so moving to that may help you

2- It depends a larger diameter will use more wire and give a larger resistance reading so on one hand yes but on the other it may become to large for the small chamber in the kanger

3-In my opinion it is easier to duplicate a tightly wrapped coil since the space between wraps will vary only slightly

4 I think you are right at the bottom limit of what the kanger will even let you fire. Changing wire will bring you higher in resistance and that will be a bit better for that battery with that coil at 3.2v you are at just shy of 8 (7.87) watts so you are right around the edge of burning some juices in a kanger

Hope this helps

Edit- and congratulations on the week and a half smoke free

 

[HughDaHand]

1.3ohms is about the highest I could get with 28ga and a protank head. There just isn't enough room to fit much more than that in there. 30ga would be much better for those heads. I did run those coils on a ego twist and a smoktech winder with no problems for a while. They really didn't start to shine until I put them on a mod that had a higher amp limit. Your twist battery is gona top out at about 3.5-3.6v on those coils no matter how high you turn it up. Those coils are really at the limit of what it can do.

I would recommend getting some 30ga to rebuild protank coils.

 

[Sk0tto]

Thank you AGamer and HughDaHand. I was going crazy because I *KNEW* I had a multimeter SOMEWHERE in the house but couldn't find it in any of the places I would have put it. I ended up going out and buying a new multimeter because I couldn't stand having all of the equipment ready to go but nothing to safely test it with.

Off to the vape store to get 30g!!

 

[huhhman]

I ran 1.3ohm twisted 32 gauge in my Protank heads for a long time. Any lower than that and you'll burn the rubber insulator. In those ranges you shouldn't be worried about the battery, turn it up to reach the flavor you like.

 

[Arnie H]

Don't know what more I can add, except to say that I have re-built many protank and vivi nova heads, but I have done so using 32 gauge/4 wraps using plain old fashioned spacing (not microcoils). I want to commend you as well, on being safe and using a multimeter or other means to test resistance.

If you decide to build on an RBA/RDA at some point, you will usually have room to make larger diameter coils (yielding a higher resistance).

 

[Sthur]

My goto build right now is 30 gauge wire around a 1/16 drill bit, 8/9 wraps, 1.8 ohms every time and cotton as a wick. Keep the 28 for rda and get a spool of 30.


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[3mg Meniere]

Don't know what more I can add, except to say that I have re-built many protank and vivi nova heads, but I have done so using 32 gauge/4 wraps using plain old fashioned spacing (not microcoils). I want to commend you as well, on being safe and using a multimeter or other means to test resistance.

I use this method. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttsi6N2f9FI&feature=youtu.be It is simpler, and more like the stock coils. Except that using 3mm wick, I don't have to put in the disposable flavor wick. Using 32 g wire, it would be a PITA to thread the wick. This build fits well into the small place with minimal opportunity for a short. The pin helps me pull on the legs for a tight fit.

Save the RDA/RBA techniques for that equipment.