Coils, ohms, and Kanthal gauge on Protanks

Status
Not open for further replies.

supersport13

Super Member
ECF Veteran
Nov 25, 2013
700
1,278
United States
So, I'm trying to rebuild the coils on my PT's and have a tech question hopefully you guys can answer for me. 28ga, 30ga, or 32ga....which one gives more resistance/higher ohms?Do more wraps or less wraps equal more or less ohms? Right now, I'm using my PT's on an ego ctwist. Should I do micro coils if I'm using the ego, or should I wait until I get something with more power? I know somewhat of a trial and error thing, but I'm runnin' out of Kanthal. Any input would be greatly appreciated!:blush:
 

Portertown

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Oct 20, 2013
1,103
1,304
Greenville, NC, USA
I use 30 ga wire wrapped around a round tooth pick. This gives me a micro coil with an ID of .075 and I try to get around 2 ohms (about 9 wraps) if it is used with an ego. I wick it with the Peaches and Cream yarn from Walmart that I have boiled in DISTILLED water twice.
Once I get a good coil, I can use it for maybe a month by weekly removing the cotton and doing a dry burn and then putting in new cotton. Just do not dry burn with dry cotton as it will catch on fire.
 

Kirkwood

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Jul 29, 2013
199
124
Buffalo NY USA
More wraps, higher resistance. Smaller diameter (higher gauge) higher resistance. I use 28 gauge, 8 wrap micro coil, torched before wrapping and when I squeeze the coil together. I do this for all my evod/protank heads that I use for work, and use them on twists or vv3's with a resistance of 1.7 +-. ID of coils is .07-.08
 
Last edited:

Dakota Jim

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Apr 14, 2013
1,423
1,221
in a warehouse buried near Univille SD
I use 30 or 32 Kanthal wraps vary but I generally build to 1.8 - 1.9 ohms using a 3/48 machine screw and then torch and squeeze to a "micro" coil

you do have a multi-meter to check ohms and for shorts, right?

running short on Kanthal?

here is where I got my Kanthal

Kanthal A1 Wire 32 Gauge 100 ft 0 25oz Resistance Resistor AWG A 1 | eBay

much better than paying $1 per foot from some web vendors
 

Wingsfan0310

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Oct 2, 2013
2,366
3,202
Flat Rock, MI, USA
So, I'm trying to rebuild the coils on my PT's and have a tech question hopefully you guys can answer for me. 28ga, 30ga, or 32ga....which one gives more resistance/higher ohms?Do more wraps or less wraps equal more or less ohms? Right now, I'm using my PT's on an ego ctwist. Should I do micro coils if I'm using the ego, or should I wait until I get something with more power? I know somewhat of a trial and error thing, but I'm runnin' out of Kanthal. Any input would be greatly appreciated!:blush:

The higher the number gauge of the wire will give a higher resistance (ohms). I use 32g and on a 5/4 wrap (5 on top, 4 on the bottom of the coil) I get 2.2 ohms. More wraps will give you higher resistance, less wraps will give you a lower resistance. Larger gauge, thinner wire, more resistance. Think of it like a garden hose - The thinner the hose, the harder it is for water to go through (more resistance). The thicker the hose, the easier it is for water to go through (less resistance). Hope this helps! Happy Vaping :toast:

PS Always make sure you check the resistance (ohms) of the head before attempting to fire it!!!
 
Last edited:

IMFire3605

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
May 3, 2013
2,041
3,148
Blue Rapids, KS, US
32ga and 30ga wire are your best bets for a Protank head, 28ga and thicker as well as improperly installed flat ribbon kanthal generally degrades the pin insulator quicker or cuts the insulator leading to shorts later down the road. Being most people that use a Protank or clearomizer of any sort are on regulated, circuitry controlled devices, 30 and 32 ga wire heats up faster, and due to the space you have to work in, gives more room to work with. Micro-coiling and Nano-coiling a Protank head even on an Ego Twist is the way to go and improves performance drastically, just takes a couple more steps to do depending on your wrapping tool, my case I use a 1/16th inch drill bit (5 Top/4 bottom wrap with 32ga, but mostly use a 9/8 wrap with 30ga ranging in at 1.8-2.2ohms perfect for the Ego imo) though I lean toward using more wraps with 30ga as it gives me more wick and wire surface contact which equates to more liquid vaporizing at once, then I thread in distilled water boiled organic cotton ball material that is marginally loose, to packed you get no juice flow, just enough to when the coil grips enough of the cotton the coil will want to shift, is about perfect and the most you need. This done after you have mounted and tightened the coil down into the head with the wrapping tool still in place after compressing and torching, and wires pulled, snugged tight, and cut/excess removed, and 30ga being larger diameter is more resiliant and less fragile than 32ga.
 

Nightcall

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Aug 29, 2013
294
232
USA
7 wraps of 30Ga around what looks like a standard tooth pick gives me 1.8 ohm.

A higher gauge like 32 is easier to work with because you need less coils for the same resistance. There's very little room in the Protank head so you have to be precise, but since I started using a micro screwdriver I get a much tighter and all around better wrap. Now I have 8 wraps with the 30 Ga for 1.6 ohms. Some people fit 10 wraps in there.



All of this fires on my ego Vision Spinner batteries with no problem. But my SVD is the device I check ohms with. Wouldn't be building my own coils without an ability to check ohms.
 

Nikkita6

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Oct 7, 2011
8,970
18,956
New York
So, I'm trying to rebuild the coils on my PT's and have a tech question hopefully you guys can answer for me. 28ga, 30ga, or 32ga....which one gives more resistance/higher ohms?Do more wraps or less wraps equal more or less ohms? Right now, I'm using my PT's on an ego ctwist. Should I do micro coils if I'm using the ego, or should I wait until I get something with more power? I know somewhat of a trial and error thing, but I'm runnin' out of Kanthal. Any input would be greatly appreciated!:blush:

For Protank rebuilds I think 32 gauge Kanthal is best (more ohms per inch/approx 1.2) ... Because you are using an Ego Twist, you don't want a build with low ohms (below 1.5), and considering the "space" you have to work with in the coil head, you don't have enough room for a build with 30 gauge Kanthal or lower, and get the resistance level you need for your device to fire, without risking a short from the coils touching the sides. A micro coil made with 30 gauge, and wrapped to at least 1.5 ohms will be too wide to fit inside the coil head without touching the sides of the coil head IMO...

I use both 30 and 32 gauge Kanthal, but I always use the 32 gauge for rebuilding PT's, and 30 gauge for RDA's.
 

Nikkita6

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Oct 7, 2011
8,970
18,956
New York
Does anyone know the gauge of the wire in the stock Protank? Does Kanger get different coil resistances by changing the number of wraps or changing the wire size? Thanks

I am fairly certain that PT's use 32 gauge Kanthal for their coils ... in fact I am very certain. I have taken apart, and rebuilt enough PT stock coils, and based on what I know about ohms per inch with regard to the various gauges of wire, it could only be 32 gauge that Kanger uses.
 

supersport13

Super Member
ECF Veteran
Nov 25, 2013
700
1,278
United States
I am fairly certain that PT's use 32 gauge Kanthal for their coils ... in fact I am very certain. I have taken apart, and rebuilt enough PT stock coils, and based on what I know about ohms per inch with regard to the various gauges of wire, it could only be 32 gauge that Kanger uses.
That's what I was thinking as well...:toast:
 

Shedit

Full Member
Dec 2, 2013
43
37
BF China
For Protank rebuilds I think 32 gauge Kanthal is best (more ohms per inch/approx 1.2) ... Because you are using an Ego Twist, you don't want a build with low ohms (below 1.5), and considering the "space" you have to work with in the coil head, you don't have enough room for a build with 30 gauge Kanthal or lower, and get the resistance level you need for your device to fire, without risking a short from the coils touching the sides. A micro coil made with 30 gauge, and wrapped to at least 1.5 ohms will be too wide to fit inside the coil head without touching the sides of the coil head IMO...

I use both 30 and 32 gauge Kanthal, but I always use the 32 gauge for rebuilding PT's, and 30 gauge for RDA's.

Can't figure out how Rip Trippers built a nano coil for the PT with 12 wraps of 28 gauge and it came in at 1.1 ohms, and fit it in the PT head. Is it because he's squeezing the coils together and you're not? My first Kanthal order is on the way, just trying to figure some things out to keep me from wasting it on too much trial and error.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cIoH-mOXKsc&desktop_uri=/watch?v=cIoH-mOXKsc
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users who are viewing this thread