Help with Ares-2

[Bauble]

So I bought an Ares-2. My first rta. I am strictly MTL -former smoker. It's powered by a geekvape Agis solo.

It came with a couple of premade coils and I find them ok. The package says they are 1ohm.

I need help with a couple of things.

****I don't know what wire to buy. As in size. I think I want SS316. I also bought a magic stick for coiling.
****I would PREFER to have a low watt, low juice consumption system.
I was using a Joyetech AIO with a .6 ohm atomizer. I LIKED THIS VERY MUCH.

It was a juice miser and had a good hit. I also use an 80% PG juice.

*****The 1 ohm coil is almost good enough between 12 and 15 watts, but it's sucking juice really fast. It also seems to produce more vapor. I don't care about more vapor -at all. In fact, I'd rather have less.

I'd like to recreate that in this RTA.
Any help toward this goal would be appreciated.

 

[Horselady154]

I have an Ares-2, but haven't used it yet. Can't imagine the coils would be much different than the ones I used on my other MTL tanks. I like stainless steel wire and prefer 28 gauge over 26; although I use both. 28g is smaller. I typically wrap coils with a 2.5mm internal diameter and do about 6 wraps.

 

[Bauble]

I have an Ares-2, but haven't used it yet. Can't imagine the coils would be much different than the ones I used on my other MTL tanks. I like stainless steel wire and prefer 28 gauge over 26; although I use both. 28g is smaller. I typically wrap coils with a 2.5mm internal diameter and do about 6 wraps.

Do you know the approximate ohm value you get from that?

 

[Horselady154]

Honestly, I don't pay that much detailed attention to exactly how many wraps I am doing. Sometimes it is 5, sometimes 6 and sometimes 7. I get anywhere from .45 to .6 or so. I just looked and the one I am vaping right now is .58.

Oh, and another thing I do is once I wrap the coil with the tool I use and while it is still on the tool, I pull on the loose end with some pliers and space the coils. After you do that, push them back together, but you will notice there will still be a space between them. Spacing coils reduces the chances for hot spots.

I use these coils with anywhere from 10 watts to 15 watts. Works for me.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

I mostly build at 1 ohm and vape between 15-20W.

My opinion: go with 28 gauge wire. 26 gauge has a significantly more ramp up time. This matters for lower wattages.

Fool around with this calculator

To get around 1 ohm on 28 gauge and a 2.5mm inner diameter...

SS613 - 10 wraps (click for calculator)
28g SS Non-Resistance Wire - TEMCo Industrial

Kanthal A1 - 5 wraps (click for calculator)
28g KA1 Resistance Wire - TEMCo Industrial

Nichrome 80 - 7 wraps (click for calculator)
28g Ni80 Resistance Wire - TEMCo Industrial

 

[CaveFurby]

You might even try going as high as 1.6-1.8 ohms on that 28 gauge kanthal. I have a build in my kayfun, which is 9 wraps of 28 gauge around a 2.5mm rod, this gives me approx 1.6 ohms and I find this very satisfying in the kayfun, and I use 14-16 watts with this build.

 

[Bauble]

I mostly build at 1 ohm and vape between 15-20W.

My opinion: go with 28 gauge wire. 26 gauge has a significantly more ramp up time. This matters for lower wattages.

How fast is your juice consumption? For example, on the AIO I could run between 4-6ml for the day.

With this new RTA setup I fill it two times before noon. (4 ml)
I know that doesn't give any indication on how often I vape, but it is noticeably thirstier.
Is there a way to manipulate this?

 

[Hawise]

How fast is your juice consumption? For example, on the AIO I could run between 4-6ml for the day.

With this new RTA setup I fill it two times before noon. (4 ml)
I know that doesn't give any indication on how often I vape, but it is noticeably thirstier.
Is there a way to manipulate this?

Assuming you're using regular round wire rather than fancy builds, a higher ohm, lower wattage coil will generally use less juice than the reverse. I'll add that regular round wire is probably the best choice for your parameters, so there's no need to worry about more extravagant builds.

Is there a particular reason you're interested in SS316? It's a good choice if you're interested in TC. If you're not using TC, SS316 will still work quite well but you might find it easier to get what you want with kanthal.

A key factor in picking your wire is gauge. That's the thickness or diameter of your wire. Higher gauge = thinner wire. @UncleJunkle gave you some examples using 28 gauge wire, which sounds about right for what you're wanting. In your place, I'd probably start with something very similar to what UncleJunkle suggested, but maybe with a bit higher resistance. For example:

Kanthal A1, 28 gauge, 2.5 mm ID, 6 or 7 wraps - (1.15 ohms with 6 wraps, 1.3 ohms with 7 wraps)
(If there's anything in this description you don't understand, please feel free to ask for clarification.)

Once you get started, you can fine-tune things a bit. You might try one more or one less wrap, or 26 or 30 gauge wire, or 2 mm or 3 mm inside diameter.

Good luck!

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

How fast is your juice consumption? For example, on the AIO I could run between 4-6ml for the day.

With this new RTA setup I fill it two times before noon. (4 ml)
I know that doesn't give any indication on how often I vape, but it is noticeably thirstier.
Is there a way to manipulate this?

I can't really answer that for a lot of reasons, the main one being that while I do have the Ares 2 tank, I only used it briefly and I am now using other tanks I bought to test them out.

But I can tell you that I consume about 10/day (direct lung) using a mix of 1 ohm coils at 15-20W and 0.5 ohm coils at 25W. I'm a chain vaper. 50/50 juice

However what I find odd is that on your AIO at 0.6 ohms, when the battery is putting out 3.7v, your vaping at 23 watts, but closer to 30 watts at full charge. That's 2 times higher power than you say you're running your Solo/Ares 2 combo at 12-15W. I would think the AIO would consume more juice, not less.

Now you have me scratching my head.

 

[Bauble]

I can't really answer that for a lot of reasons, the main one being that while I do have the Ares 2 tank, I only used it briefly and I am now using other tanks I bought to test them out.

But I can tell you that I consume about 10/day (direct lung) using a mix of 1 ohm coils at 15-20W and 0.5 ohm coils at 25W. I'm a chain vaper. 50/50 juice

However what I find odd is that on your AIO at 0.6 ohms, when the battery is putting out 3.7v, your vaping at 23 watts, but closer to 30 watts at full charge. That's 2 times higher power than you say you're running your Solo/Ares 2 combo at 12-15W. I would think the AIO would consume more juice, not less.

Now you have me scratching my head.

Curious, I don't know how it all works, but I was just thinking that I believe it takes longer for the Ares to heat up. I am taking a longer draw to achieve the same feel I get with the AIO. Where on the AIO it heats almost instantly and the draw is very short.
I can also hear the Ares cool down, as in I can hear it still making vapor after I have released the button. Just for a moment.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

The Ares 2 premade coils are 26 gauge. The AIO coils are likely made of thinner wire. That would account for why the Ares 2 1 ohm coil has a slow ramp-up and cool down times compared to the AIO.

Go with 28 gauge and then try 29 gauge if you still don't like it at 28 gauge. But I think 28 will be fine. The difference between 28 and 26 ramp-up and cool down is significant.

 

[AngeNZ]

Curious, I don't know how it all works, but I was just thinking that I believe it takes longer for the Ares to heat up. I am taking a longer draw to achieve the same feel I get with the AIO. Where on the AIO it heats almost instantly and the draw is very short.
I can also hear the Ares cool down, as in I can hear it still making vapor after I have released the button. Just for a moment.

It's almost impossible to compare an AIO coil to an RTA coil, especially trying to do with similar resistance.

When I vaped tighter MTL RTAs and I tried 26g - I didn't like it at all. It took forever to heat up and it stayed warm for too long. 28g was 100 times better

 

[Bauble]

I ordered a small assortment of wires to test. I will report back with some results.
Thank you all for your input.

I do like this Ares. I like the refill port, for example. Much nicer than having to unscrew the top.
And honestly, I was surprised I could get it as close to the same feel as the AIO right out of the box.

I am doing all of this because of the imminent mail ban. Government do-gooders are simply the worst kind of evil.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

I take it you are vaping commercial juice (not making your own)?

 

[Bauble]

I take it you are vaping commercial juice (not making your own)?

Yes, I have been buying bulk quantities (quarts and gallons) for a number of years.
It's ridiculously affordable when you buy in bulk.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

Yes, I have been buying bulk quantities (quarts and gallons) for a number of years.
It's ridiculously affordable when you buy in bulk.

I used to buy in bulk (liters) from Heartlandvapes before I was forced to DIY (not complaining because for me DIY is super easy since I only vape 1-flavor juices). I don't know where you buy, but heartland was always cheap enough for me.

 

[Bauble]

Just a short update. I am still waiting for my assortment of wires I ordered, but I thought I'd have a go at making a coil with the bit of wire that came in the box with the Ares2. I have been reading about how it all works and watching some youtube.

I did discover that I assembled the cotton in the premade coil incorrectly and this led to rapid burning.
I made a smaller diameter coil and reassembled with fresh cotton and what a difference!

It's like a whole different unit. Much better with my hand built (and correctly assembling the wick in the coil). Looking forward to more experimentation.