Hello Everyone

[tbaytusmc]

Hey all,
The name is Tom. Found the site like most everyone else, Im sure, googling for info. Ive been vaping, in a very amateur manner, for a while now, but Im deciding to make my way in. Just bought an eleaf istick, and Im running a Kanger PT3 on it, with a genitank mini and a second istick (for the wife) in the mail.
Im about to order my first bit of kanthal and silica wick to start rebuilding my old-style dual coil Kanger attys (because I am unhappy with the new style...) and was wondering what gauge kanthal and silica to order for the dual coil, shooting around 1.5ohms. Info will be appreciated.

 

[Maytwin]

Sorry I can't answer your question as I haven't rebuilt anything yet (it's something I'm thinking about at the moment) but welcome to the forum - it sounds like you're off to a good start - I love my istick

 

[blindgungfu]

When I was using the pt2 I used 28 or 30 gauge. Bigger than 28 in a tank makes a hard time imo. To long to heat and all that.

 

[Susan~S]

Hello and welcome to the forum tbaytusmc. Glad to have you here!

I rebuild my single kanger coils using 30 gauge Kanthal & cellucotton (rayon) or Japanese cotton pads (Koh Gen Do or Shiseido). Have also used organic cotton balls.

1. Mini Protank Micro Coil Rebuild
2. This is a single coil build in a dual coil base. !!!! Aero Tank !!!! with 2.2 ohm micro coil build with cotton
3. Check this tutorial by Leekeylee. I have not tried this yet: Rebuild Upgraded Kanger Dual Coil to a Single Vertical Coil

Another option is to buy NR-R-NR wire from FastTech.

1. Authentic Kanthal Pre-Made Wire-and-Wick for RBA (50-Pack) NR-R-NR / 1.5ohm
2. Authentic Kanthal Nichrome Pre-made Welded Wires - NR-R-NR (100-Pack) 0.2mm*95m / 1.3ohm

 

[novamatt]

Honestly, just to be able to fit it into the Kanger cartridge, 30 or 32 is pretty much the way to go. It's a little difficult to work with because it's so small, but you'll get it. If you decide you like building coils, you'll eventually want to go with something made for it, like a Kayfun or a Lemo. The large decks make them easier to deal with, and you can use bigger wire (28 is a good starting point), which is easier to wrap.

 

[Steven G]

Greetings Tom and Welcome to the ECF...............................................Enjoy............................................

 

[DingerCPA]

Welcome aboard!

Susan beat me to the links. I haven't tried rebuilding the dual coils, but I've gotten pretty good at the single coils for the PT2.

I typically do about 9/8 wraps of 30g on a 1/16" drill bit. Land at 1.8 ohms almost every time. I prefer the 30g in those heads. You could probably use 8/7-ish to take you down 0.1 ohm or so. Maybe 7/6. BUT, whatever you do, make sure you have an ohmmeter to check the build BEFORE you try to fire it!

 

[HecticEnergy]

Honestly, just to be able to fit it into the Kanger cartridge, 30 or 32 is pretty much the way to go. It's a little difficult to work with because it's so small, but you'll get it. If you decide you like building coils, you'll eventually want to go with something made for it, like a Kayfun or a Lemo. The large decks make them easier to deal with, and you can use bigger wire (28 is a good starting point), which is easier to wrap.

^ this

When I started rebuilding I did so on pro tank 2 heads. I used 32ga wire and scillica wick. The cotton craze hadn't really struck yet.
I did that for a weak before ordering a kayfun clone and some RDAs (rebuildable dripping atomizers).
I still use Kayfun on rare occasion, but generally stick to drippers (just got a Reo Grand LP!!!). Rebuilding dippers is a good place to start because you have a ton of space to build and you don't have to tear your tank apart to rewick and such. With that 20w iStick you can do some RDA builds no problem, and there are decent and cheap RDAs available (Infinate CLT comes to mind.. or any number of the clone attys available). As cheap as $10 on some sites. It's worth the money to avoid the hassle of rebuilding pro tank heads IMO.
I still generally stick to 28 ga wire in my builds and I've been rebuilding for a little over a year. I build my coils around 1.2 - 1.4 ohms as I like a cool vape and responsive coil times (I don't want to have to wait for it to heat up). In dual coil mode thats about .6-.7 ohms. much lower than that on the RDAs I have and its too hot for my liking.

Best of luck to you! Welcome

 

[tbaytusmc]

Thanks for all the replies. Everyone says its a hassle, but Im actually looking forward to the delicate work of putting the kanger attys together. Im an avionics tech/instrumentation tech so I love that kind of work.
As to using cotton over silica, thats the new trend, huh? Id figure it would burn too fast... Would I need a specific cotton wick material or could I use store-bought (read wally-world) organic type- cotton? If thats the case, hooray for ease of material acquisition. What about cotton yarns? That would almost seem too easy. hah.

 

[novamatt]

Most people use organic or sterile cotton - I go with sterile, because "organic" can mean lots of different things depending on who's doing the labeling, while "sterile" is a regulated term that means clean and germ-free. I got a box of sterile cotton balls from CVS for under $5 about a year ago and I'm not even halfway through it yet. The sterile stuff is in the first aid section of the store.

ETA: The part that makes it a pain isn't so much the small space and tiny parts (although that's part of it), but that the smaller, thinner wire doesn't hold its shape as well as larger wire, so it's difficult to build a good, tight coil. The thin stuff is pretty springy and wants to uncoil.

 

[HecticEnergy]

I've used organic cotton and sterile cotton balls, both give off a funny taste to me for the first few several MLs of liquid, at least to me. I've been using organic japanese cotton pads - got 200 from amazon for like $10. Pads are easier to use because you can cut them to width and its pretty much the same every time. with cotton balls there is a lot of eyballing and it was tough for me to reproduce the same wick. I used cotton for about two months before getting the JC in (shipped from japan, so it took a few weeks).
Some claimed to have used Peaches and Cream cotton yarn from walmart, and I'm sure that would be easier to use.

The cotton shouldn't burn. The heat from the coil should draw the liquid to the coil, heat and create vapor. If the tank is not feeding the wicks fast enough, or the cotton is too tightly packed to feed the coil quickly enough then the cotton will get dry and burn (ICK!).

I understand the excitement.. I started with protank heads and it was exciting to vape on my own coils, but after a bit it became to tedious and frustrating. you will need to clean the coil and re wick the cotton at a similar pace as you would dry burn or replace the coil heads previously. What I did was sit down and coil a half a dozen or so heads, then when I got down to 2 or 3 "fresh" heads clean and rebuild the "spent" heads. of course when on your first few you are going to want to build and try it before you do a "bad build" in a ton of heads and need to rip it out and start over. That worked for me, hopefully you find something that works for you quickly
32 ga wire is very springy, so be sure you aneal it first, and that helps some. My biggest complaint was working in the tight spaces and not really being able to dry burn without burning the insulators which basically ruin the head because everything you put through the head after you burn an insulator (even if you rip out the build and build a fresh one) tastes burnt...

 

[Rat2chat2]

Already got your answers but I just wanted to

to ecftbaytusmc. So glad you are here. Have fun and happy vaping to you.

 

[drunkenbatman]

There's nothing wrong with 28g wire & silica wick, but the iStick doesn't really go down below 4v. I know, it says it does but it is lying to you. If you were happy at 4v with them before, you'll be OK, but many would get dry-hits with longer draws. If using them on an iStick, I'd really recommend looking at doing a micro-coil, using either organic sterile cotton (I use swifters atm) or Japanese cotton. You'll probaby want to pick up a little roll of 28g and 30g kanthal to get a sense as to what works best for you, and can look at non-resistance wire in the future.

With a microcoil + cotton, you can not worry about burnt hits and it'll be like a new tank. Getting the wicking right will probably be harder than getting the coils right, and while Japanese cotton can simplify that, for the amounts you'll be using the better wicking won't play a huge role, and regular cotton would work about as well for much less.

Hope to hear back on how it goes!

 

[daleron]

Welcome to ECF Tom, make yourself right at home