Dry burning SS 316

[danielpm]

Hello! In the past few months, I've been using SS 316 for temp control on my VTC mini. I really like it, and I feel safer than using Ti or Ni as I know that if something goes wrong (hot legs, hot spots, etc) it wouldn't be a problem because SS can be used in power mode as well.

The thing is, it appears that my SS works better when I dry burning them (like when I so with kanthal, to eliminate the hotspots). If I don't do that, there is times that even you temp control, I can fell the cotton burning, probably from a hot spot on SS.

My question is: do you dry burn your SS? I've reading a lot about this, some says that is safe, some not, I can't reach a conclusion.

 

[stylemessiah]

Ive become (extra) lazy over the last 4/5 months since switching to tc and ss exclusively, i dont even dry fire the coils to check for hotspots, i just wrap, wick and fill. Maybe ive been lucky.

I believe its safe to dry burn to clean between rewickings, but ive not had a lot of success personally doing that, it always retains some discoloration (dark), so i just wrap a new coil and get on with it. Im not sure its ever as efficient to use a dry burnt coil over a fresh one. I have many metres of ss, that costs nothing, may as well use it...

 

[danielpm]

Ive become (extra) lazy over the last 4/5 months since switching to tc and ss exclusively, i dont even dry fire the coils to check for hotspots, i just wrap, wick and fill. Maybe ive been lucky.

I believe its safe to dry burn to clean between rewickings, but ive not had a lot of success personally doing that, it always retains some discoloration (dark), so i just wrap a new coil and get on with it. Im not sure its ever as efficient to use a dry burnt coil over a fresh one. I have many metres of ss, that costs nothing, may as well use it...

I've also had success with SS without dry burning, but something it's just doenst function properly. If I dry burning it, its stellar. My fear is that with dry burning I'm damaging the wire.

Btw, you do TC with SS on the treebox? It's not only for Ni and Ti?

 

[stylemessiah]

I've also had success with SS without dry burning, but something it's just doenst function properly. If I dry burning it, its stellar. My fear is that with dry burning I'm damaging the wire.

Btw, you do TC with SS on the treebox? It's not only for Ni and Ti?

What ohmage are your coils? Are you spacing the wraps?

I have found that for me (and a few others i know) that builds 0.5 and above work best. My usual build is 7/8 spaced wraps of 26g 316L on a 3mm screwdriver, gets me about 0.67. Lasts me over a month a coil and wick. Using a Lemo 2, single coil.

I do tc with ss (only) on both the TreeBox and the SX Mini M, though both do Kanthal/Ni/Ti/ss. Lol i got the SX Mini second hand shortly after i got the TreeBox because of the reputation of the SX as being accurate, and i hardly use the SX. The TreeBox is without any doubt the most stable mod ive ever owned (apart from the SX of course). I havent had an issue with it since ive owned it. Does any wire, as it has user adjustable TCR. So does the SX. So theyre both a bit future proof too.

 

[sig-cmt]

I always dry burn until blue (the wire absorbs oxygen to develop a thin film of iron oxide). Dry burning allows for the visual verification of hot legs which can indicate a short circuit if occurring only at the end wraps. Depending on your vaping preferences, the iron oxide layer will continue to develop over time. Patina on a dual 24/26g twisted 316L Ø3.75mm 7/6 wrap @ 0.09Ω...

 

[bsidb]

Yes, I dry burn .How else would you know if you have hot legs or spots without dry burning? Sounds like a good way to get a nasty tasting vape , with 430ss which is what I'm using more of for TC

 

[Stinkytofus]

whats benefit of 410 or 430 over 316l

 

[Vapin Dave]

yep, i dry burn contact and spaced 316 coils with no problems

 

[BillW50]

I used to be a big fan of SS, until I dry burned one the other day and I got this awful smell. Dry burned it again since I thought maybe it was just the smell of gunk burning. Nope, smell was twice as strong as it was before. Then I thought maybe it will go away at vaping temperatures. So I juiced it up and nope, it tasted like it smelled. I checked my other builds that I knew I had dry burned before and they all had that hint of that taste too. Replaced all of my SS coils with Ni200 again. Now I hate SS wire.

 

[moloko]

You must be careful when dry burning your SS coils. Never fire to a full glow like you would with kanthal, make sure it doesn't go past what I would describe as a dull glow. You can see the color of the SS change depending on the temperature it has reached, I try not to dry burn past the gold/brass sheen stage.

 

[USMCotaku]

I dry burn if I am making a contact coil or a twisted/clapton coil, to remove any "hot spots", if I am doing a spaced coil, I have found no need to dry burn.

 

[Stinkytofus]

ss316l has nickel in there, from what im reading 430 only have 0.5% nickel