How to correctly tighten coils after they have been installed?

[Dylan Campbell]

I have been building for a long time but never took the time to correctly make sure my coils were tight. I would be as careful as I could when I was putting the leads through and tightening the post but after that I'd get impatient and just throw some cotton through and call it a day. One of my coils is crooked at the moment and the coils are kinda gaped and ugly. Can someone tell me the right way to tighten and pretty up my coils so they look and work a little better? Thanks

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[Ou2mame]

You mean tighten the screw. I do them fairly tight but too tight and they snap. So less than that lol

What kind of coils are you making, and for what device? Micro coils i make them hot and squeeze them with tweezers. Regular coils i space then out with a small knife. There are youtube videos that you can look up on coil building that will explain exactly what to do in great detail.

 

[Dylan Campbell]

You mean tighten the screw. I do them fairly tight but too tight and they snap. So less than that lol

What kind of coils are you making, and for what device? Micro coils i make them hot and squeeze them with tweezers. Regular coils i space then out with a small knife. There are youtube videos that you can look up on coil building that will explain exactly what to do in great detail.

No no. I know how to tighten the screw without snapping the coil. What I'm trying to say is when you put your coils in and try to straighten them out so they are parallel and spaced correctly my coil will loosen up and not become as tight as it was when I wrapped it. How do I properly use tweezers or pliers to squeeze the coil tighter without ....ing it up?

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[Ou2mame]

Oh, so you have a micro coil. The youtube videos are really helpful. Basically get a pair of tweezers and make the coil red, let go of the power and lightly squeeze. Let it cool while squeezed and do it again. Just don't power it while you have the tweezers touching the coil or you'll short it. They make ceramic tweezers to be safer.

 

[nebulis]

You can simply opt for not making them that tight. I prefer it loose, first because I don't have to heat them up to sqeeze them together and second because I like the idea of cotton being "free" not only to soak up liquid but also to let it go (comparatively) freely as vape. As a matter of fact, the deeper sense or advantages of tightly wrapped coil (with the wraps being in contact) has never been quite clear for me.

 

[gpjoe]

You also might consider a Kuro Koiler or Coilmaster tool. Both will make very nice, tight micro coils.

Otherwise you must heat, squeeze, and repeat, as stated above.

 

[Hitcat44]

Regardless of whether you subscribe to the tightly compressed Coil or the loose or anywhere in between,,,
I tighter them on initial Posting, then adjust the Coil to position level and proper spacing for Air Inlets (obviously depending on AFC design & placement on RDA/RBA), then check Post Screw Tightness again, then test fire several times starting at quick bursts getting longer on burst duration as the Coils "come in" until fully and evenly glowing, then readjust Coils if necessary & re-check Post Screw tightness.
I also check Ohms directly after each Post Screw tightening/confirmation. Safety and a tad OCD.
Then Wick.

Of course, ya gotta be careful not to over tighten and sheer your Coil Leg (or strip the Screw head or Post threading). One of the reasons I went to minimum 26 gauge over 28 (except on the Fogger v4.1 as build room is quite limited). 26-24 are much more forgiving regarding the grey area between loose and over tight/steering the Leg.
Again, ya don't want to "crank" on it but proper torque on the Post Screw is paramount to get the most out of your Rig and longevity of the build. Takes time and patience to get it dialed in and varies between Devices too.

Just my "Process". Hopefully some of that will help you.

P.s. Never have ended up with a loose Coil but have eviscerated a few Coils during build in my day. Best shut up or Karma might come around to remind me of those....

 

[Bunnykiller]

from what Ive read, your getting coils pretty and then you wick and they mess up?? how much wick are you using and what size wire? another trick I use when installing coils is to leave the coil on the shaft it was wound on, place coil, set screws, align coil, remove shaft...
pretty coil

 

[dhood]

Rip Trippers has some great videos on how to make coils and the proper techniques involved. When firing a coil the first time, don't throw a lot of power at it and don't try to get the coil red the first time. I've found that the legs have a tendency to get hot first on the first few firings and they will melt if you're not careful. Also, once the coil gets to where it is starting to get red, strum a small screwdriver across the it. I don't know what it does, but it really helps the coil to fire from the inside out.

 

[NealBJr]

Nobody mentioned the kuro koilers... Rip Tripper has done a review on it here. It makes it WAY easier with no gaps. Without the coiler, I wrapped as close as I could. keep the coil in the screwdriver while I attach it to the base. Once in and the screws are tight, then I take it off the screwdriver. I then use a ceramic tipped tweezers to tighten the coil. I will fire it and get the coils red, then tweeze it together.. and repeat until there are no gaps, and it's glowing from the center out. If you don't have ceramic tweezers, use a good pair of needlenose pliers, just make sure you do not fire the mod while you are squeezing the coils, or electricity will go through the pliers and cause a short.

 

[DaveSignal]

Just tighten the screws down until snug and then check the resistance. If its right (or close), then heat up the coils on the mod without cotton and adjust them with your tweezers. They should both glow simultaneously in a uniform fashion. If not, check the screws and scratch across the coils lightly with the tip of your tweezers. Then fire again. If heating up perfectly, then put your cotton in it.

 

[SleeZy]

It also helps to anneal the kanthal before you use it. Use a lighter and use the blue flame else you risk scorching the kanthal.
It makes it way easier to wrap the coils. Then i use the same tech as mentioned above, make the coil hot enough to glow then squeeze with a tweezer.

Some recent research claim it might be a bad idea to make them glow to squeeze them but i do it anyway. It's to hard to make a good coil otherwise (micro coils mainly)

Make sure you don't use the tweezer when you're firing the mod unless you've ceramic tweezers. Else you will short the coil, which is realy bad incase you're using a mech mod.

 

[Wolfenstark]

Go buy a coil winding tool.
For me you use less wire as i don't have to cut off as much from the spool.
Gets them tight or you can gently pull them apart if you want spaced.
All I do is give them a glow and a scrape with a screw driver if they're not glowing evenly.