Has anyone rebuilt a ProTank coil with NICHROME Wire?? 1st Rebuild

[M_DuBb716]

Hey guys, has anyone tried using Nichrome Wire instead of Kanthal or SS Mesh, for rebuilding a ProTank coil?? I've been wanting to try my hand at rebuilding my PT coils for awhile now, and finally grabbed some 2mm Silica Wick last week with my DV purchase, but they didn't have Kanthal.. Today I checked out a new B&M in my town, and asked about rebuilding, and he said that Nichrome wire is a lot better than Kanthal, and that I should try that for rebuilding my coils (he didn't have Kanthal)

So I bought a foot of Nichrome for a buck $.. I asked him if I should get a specific gauge or thickness, and he said he only carried the one size I got, but there is another size of Nichrome that would up the resistance too high..

Now I'm sitting here with 2 feet of 2mm Silica wick and a foot of Nichrome wire, in front of me.. The wire seems pretty thin but I'll see how it works, I'm sure it will take a few tries since it's my 1st rebuilding attempt, but I have a lot of bunk PT coils for practice. I'm hoping the Nichrome/Silica performs well and doesn't taste weird or anything - the main reason I want to rebuild my PT is for better performance, more/thicker vapor, better flavor (than the stock coils).
.... All advice is very much appreciated!! Thanks in advance

 

[M_DuBb716]

Also, how much of my Silica wick should I use for my Protank rebuild? I've heard around 4mm total (including flavor wicks, if any are used), so I'm thinking I'll wrap my wire around 2 strands of my 2mm Silica, and use no flavor wick = 4mm of Silica total..

Next time I'll be trying out cotton wicks for my PT

 

[bikerbeagle]

I think *most* people use 3mm silica inside the coil, then 2 strands as flavor wicks - if they choose to - on top. The 'sweet spot', I think (just based on reading various threads on the subject) is somewhere around 3.5mm. I think that doubling over 2mm might be a bit too much ...but I don't know, I apparently suck at building coils.

The Nichrome you should be using - at least the only one I've heard about for building wicks - is Nichrome 60 (it's the closest in size to Kanthal 32) and I think it requires 1 or 2 more wraps than the Kanthal for the same ohms, but the overall process is essentially the same. There's a lot of information on it here. I was going to link some resources, but it would probably just be easier for you to do an advanced search of the forums (top right corner) for POSTS with keyword Nichrome.

Edit: P.S. It's typically uncool to post the same thread in multiple forums ...just sayin'.

 

[TomCatt]

Nichrome should work fine for coils. Some say they get a 'taste' from nichrome (others say the same about kanthal ). I've used nichrome 60 and kanthal a-1 and couldn't tell the difference.
As for how much wick to use, you just want enough so the ends just stick out of the slots in the head.

Good luck


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[M_DuBb716]

Thanks guys! Great info

Edit: P.S. It's typically uncool to post the same thread in multiple forums ...just sayin'.

Ahh, guess I'm "un-cool" around here than lol, my bad! Sorry about that << EDIT: Didn't mean to sound like an azzhole here, I know it might've come off that way, sorry

 

[Butters78]

Also, how much of my Silica wick should I use for my Protank rebuild? I've heard around 4mm total (including flavor wicks, if any are used), so I'm thinking I'll wrap my wire around 2 strands of my 2mm Silica, and use no flavor wick = 4mm of Silica total..

Next time I'll be trying out cotton wicks for my PT

I've done this. It works well just takes a second to heat up.

 

[Butters78]

Oh when you are ready to try cotton make sure to buy a 1/16th drill bit.

 

[M_DuBb716]

You've done what Eric? You mean that you've tried it with no flavor wicks? Thanks again guys

 

[Butters78]

You've done what Eric? You mean that you've tried it with no flavor wicks? Thanks again guys

Yeah bro no flavor wicks. It works just takes a second to heat up after you hit the button. You can try it and see if you like it. Another option is just using 1 2mm piece and use a pinch of cotton from a qtip as a the flavor wick. Let it soak for 15 minutes then after a few hits the cotton taste will go away.

Once you master that stuff you can try a mesh wick in the protank or evod head.

 

[M_DuBb716]

Awesome, thanks!! I planned to try my first rebuilds with no flavor wicks anyways - I read somewhere that there's usually about 3.5mm of wick in the Protank. So I figured since I have some 2mm Silica, I'll just wrap my wick around 2 strands of that. So there would be 4mm total of wick with my Nichrome wrapped around it, with no flavor wicks.. I might have to pull a tiny strand out of 1 of the 2 pieces of 2mm wick I use, to make it closer to 3.5mm total

Now another thing I've just recently read about, is MICROCOILS! Apparently if you build a 'microcoil' for your Protank, it will perform very similar to or better than a sub-ohm rigged RBA!! I guess the technique is using about 10 wraps of coil on the wick, and wrapping it so closely that the wire touches eachother.. I really need to try this out!

 

[Butters78]

Yup I've done a couple microcoils in my protanks. Really easy to do. It works well and good vapor. When the cotton gets old all you have to do is slide a new piece in it's awesome.

 

[TomCatt]

I don't use a 1/16" drill bit, I use a round toothpick


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[M_DuBb716]

About to attempt my 1st rebuild ever, right now!! I think I'll be using a paperclip to keep everything in place

 

[M_DuBb716]

Hey guys, 1 more important concern.. I just found out that my Nichrome wire is 0.14 thickness.. Will this be too thin for rebuilding my Protank?

 

[M_DuBb716]

Just built my 1st two coils!! It feels so good to finally do this - will hopefully increase the performance/flavor/vapor thickness of my protank!!

.. My 1st rebuild read in at 3.9Ω, I'm just glad it wasn't a short on my 1st attempt, or that I did electrocute myself lol!!
.. 2nd attempt I tried wrapping it about 4-5 times (wrapped about 6-7 times on 1st attempt), and got 1.0Ω ("atomizer short" message on my eVic).. A few more tries and I should have this down, it's pretty easy!!

 

[M_DuBb716]

Well, I somehow lost the rest of my Nichrome - so I guess I'm done rebuilding for now until I go grab some more.. Prolly gonna get Kanthal wire next time

My 3rd attempt metered in at 3.4Ω, still a little bit too high for my eVic's limits. It's taking a while too heat up and might be giving off a bit of an 'off' taste. I'm going for 1.7-2.6Ω... Thanks guys!

 

[stashbldr]

I've been rebuilding my Protank coils for a long time .. I use 3.5 mm silica .. no flavor wick, no plastic cap thingie. Have also done it using 2 strands of 2mm, like you are using. Both worked great. With the silica that thick I do 4 wraps and end up around 1.8 ohms. Be sure you trim the wire tails that stick out all the way, otherwise you will get a short. I usually twist it off, that way it snaps right next to the metal tube and there's never any still sticking out. You can get some kanthal on Ebay for good prices and most of the Ebay vendors ship right away. Good luck to you

 

[Buckshot]

I use 1.5mm silica and a couple strands thrown on top....and yea, no "plastic cap thingy". 2.5ohm@10 watts on a vamo hits nice.

 

[M_DuBb716]

I usually twist it off, that way it snaps right next to the metal tube and there's never any still sticking out.

Thanks guys!! Stashbldr, you mean you twist the excess wire off with your fingers, and it breaks off evenly right against the coil-body? I'll have to try that

It really bummed me out that I somehow lost the last of my Nichrome wire, even though it was only about 8inches left and I paid $1 for a foot.. I only built 3 coils (came out at 3.9Ω, 0.9Ω, and 3.4Ω on my 3rd attempt), and I'm really anxious to build some more and get some good practice, and now I have to wait til tomorrow to get some Kanthal.. And I might not get to try a well-built Nichrome coil to compare, for awhile at least
... I want to get some good practice, and get one or 2 around 1.8-2.6Ωs and than try my hand at the MicroCoil!! Please keep the feedback coming, Thanks guys!

 

[djtonyb]

I have a small roll of something labeled "Nikrothal"... I'm afraid to use it because it might cause a rift in the space-time continuum.