Clapton wrap & heat dissipation

[Kazuko]

Hi everyone,

I've been messing with a clapton wire I bought from my local B&M, it's a Ni80 fused clapton 2*26/34.
I get awesome flavor and really decent clouds out of this, especially in dual coil RDAs (obviously), but it doesn't dissipate heat quite efficiently.
I came to find a wattage at which the first two puffs are only warming the coils up, and then I get a warm, dense vape. If I add watts, the first puffs give me decent clouds, but the following ones are way too hot for me. It also takes quite some time to cool down. I rebuilt yesterday removing a wrap from my previous build, it obviously cools down faster, but still takes some time, and I still need the couple warm-up puffs.

Now, I know that 34 gauge is quite thick for a wrap wire, and I believe 36 gauge is used in most american-made coils. Is the difference really significant? I mean, would I be able to use a wattage that would give me a consistent vape, no matter if the coils are warmed-up or not, with 36 gauge wrap?
I can't seem to find a wire spool of Ni80 fused clapton which that wrap gauge, Chinese company get their gauges awfully off, and American coil builders mostly sell prebuilt coils, and not wire spools. That's why I can't just try it, so I guess you guys are the only way for me to know...
(I've seen a 2*26/35 fused clapton wire for sale online, I could try this, but then again, would it actually make a difference?)

 

[Myk]

KidneyPuncher sells spools and ships internationally.

What I do with high mass coils is preheat. Hold the button until I hear it sizzle, then take a puff.

 

[Kazuko]

Thanks for the reference, I'll check that out!

Yeah that's what I've come to do for the warm-up puff, but I'd much rather enjoy a more responsive & equally cloudy wire, and the cooling down is also something I care about. I usually vape in the street and then put my mod in my pocket (regulated mod with a stiff button, so it won't auto-fire on me), and sometimes I can feel the RDA is still warm through the pocket. It's not burning hot obviously, but it's a bit of an annoyance still.

I've made do with this wire for roughly a month, on both regulated and mech mods, so it's still highly enjoyable, and my go-to for airy setups, but I'm in a long quest for perfection, trying to improve things one by one, and the efficiency of my builds is on that list of things to improve, but not at the expense of either clouds or flavor

 

[billthetroll]

Ok so I just started building my own coils.I couldn't wrap them by hand at all,had to do the "vise and swivel" technic and I've been good ever since.I mean a monkey with a banana in one hand and a spool in the other can do it, it's that simple.on to my point,get some wire make some claptons and see what works best for you.not saying you're dumb and can't make them.I was just saying how easy it is.I use to buy pre made wire before then I seen how easy it is to make them.my favorite seems to be stainless steel 2×28 ~40 it gives a great vape and cools down fast.gives a thick plume of vape and really good flavor.

 

[Kazuko]

I would already be making them if I had a drill, not sure what your technique is but based on what I've seen, it has to involve one (I haven't seen anyone make a wire without one).
I've seen some kits out there to build our own clapton wires, but it's like 60€, and my gf's gonna freak out if I buy one, so yeah, I'll just avoid that for now

 

[Myk]

I do better without a swivel, at least my swivels. I'd like to find better swivels so I could make some long ones.

 

[billthetroll]

Some people do better by hand then swivels, walmart is where I got mine they was 2 in a pack #3 I think then I got some small ones ,i keep about 5 swivels on the setup at a time I can go as fast a the drill will go and no bends in my wires at all.I admire the people that out that wire in the drill and booom!!!!!!make one with fingers and that's it.but I love making that perfect smooth wire.stainless steel 40 awg looks so clean.funny thing is kazuko I had my kids hold a broom 2 or 3 times as I hand wrapped a clapton 24 awg kanthal with 32 ni80 I swear.took me 45 mins.Will just about that.looked...........ok.........alright............ok it was garbage but I vaped it and it was great.you have the drive for this you'll do anything to make it happen.fasttech has some lil hand held drills for making claptons.not that thing you're talking about it just pick you up one for 25$ 30$.I got a drill and a vise,swivles cheap.about 50$,I mean that not cheap but get one thing at a time of you need to.I just had a hard core drive to do it was all.

 

[Kazuko]

I'll probably end up making my own wires down the road (those alien wires look very interesting, but Chinese companies can't seem to get those right, at all), but it's a topic for another day

I guess you kinda answered the main question though, thinner wrap will give me a more consistent and reactive vape, right?

 

[billthetroll]

The reason why they can't get it right is because they're mass produced, they don't have a machine that can pull the outer clapton wire to that .....just....right point to reclapton, then the slow turn of the drill and your eye watches that wire turn with every wrap.you mess up and reverse the drill....over and over and over......again a machine can't do that And yes the thinner it is the more consistent vape you'll get.I'm going to try higher awg wire I'm not that good yet.past 40 awg it's like hair.I'm trying to get my staggered staples down right now.it's hard but it's a great hobby.some people put boats into bottles i make coilslol

 

[Myk]

I guess you kinda answered the main question though, thinner wrap will give me a more consistent and reactive vape, right?

Some. But you'll see better reaction playing with the cores, especially with fused IMO.

I liked a 30 wrap better than 32, I think because the 30 has more space to hold more liquid. But all common sense would say the 34 is more reactive.

 

[Zaryk]

I wrap 28x3/40 fused claptons. When i used thicker outer wire, ramp up time was fairly long.

You have to keep in mind that the electricity isn't really heating the outer wrap up, the heat from the inner wire is what heats the outside wrap up. The thicker the outer wrap, the more work the inner wire has to do to heat it up.

I wrap my coils with 5 ball bearing fishing swivels and a modified sewing machine. I don't like using drills because it takes up one hand to run, the sewing machine has a foot pedal so I have both my hands free to do the wrapping.

 

[billthetroll]

Man you have to post a pic of you sit up bro.that sounds unique.do you mean you wrap your claptons with 30 awg myk or is that your cores?

 

[Zaryk]

Man you have to post a pic of you sit up bro.that sounds unique.do you mean you wrap your claptons with 30 awg myk or is that your cores?

Just an old sewing machine, found at most thrift stores. Mounted some swivels to a board and clamp it to my table. It does let me make 3 foot shots of wire at a time though, which is nice.

 

[billthetroll]

Man you have to post a pic of you sit up bro.that sounds unique.do you mean you wrap your claptons with 30 awg my or is that your cores?

that is dope broI love it,see that's what I was talking about.if you got love for this you'll do whatever it takes to make it happen.I would have never thought of that.

 

[Zaryk]

that is dope broI love it,see that's what I was talking about.if you got love for this you'll do whatever it takes to make it happen.I would have never thought of that.

When I get into a hobby, I go all in, lol. I kinda live by the saying "if it is worth doing, it's worth over-doing".

 

[billthetroll]

Right, my thing about vaping is i never really cared about anything.I mean my kids but never a real hobby.this saved my life, then turned into this massive THING that I spend large amounts of money on....lol, I had to sit a vape budget for myself.the last 3 months I kinda went overboard.

 

[Zaryk]

Right, my thing about vaping is i never really cared about anything.I mean my kids but never a real hobby.this saved my life, then turned into this massive THING that I spend large amounts of money on....lol, I had to sit a vape budget for myself.the last 3 months I kinda went overboard.

I've always had hobbies. When I was into video games I ended up with around 500+ games laying around. Stopped playing games, and gave my kids all my stuff. Went to guns, built a few, bought quite a few, stockpiled cans of ammo. Still use those, but not as often anymore. Went to airsoft, built 17 airsoft guns for myself and would repair and build guns for others across the US. Kinda forced into stopping that one (nowhere good to play around me anymore). Now I am here, into vaping, following my same habit of over-doing it. But I have been restraining myself fairly well anymore. I have focused on juice making and coil wrapping instead of acquiring mods and atties.

 

[stols001]

That is a super great use of a sewing machine, and well, I'd love to get my hands on my mom's (still unopened one) although I have to admit the idea of making my own exotic coils is kind of daunting! LOL.

Anna

 

[Myk]

Man you have to post a pic of you sit up bro.that sounds unique.do you mean you wrap your claptons with 30 awg myk or is that your cores?

My wraps were 30 around 26 or 28. When I had to buy some wrap I got 32. I don't have any of those built. That was before TC and I only did single claptons. The closest looks like the 30ga wrap.

When I decided to try claptons in TC I got 34. From a clapton making standpoint I don't think I'd want to go smaller. And now I'm getting a little fancier.