I have an idea : How about using remote control glow plugs

[RayJ1]

Noticed these $4 metal pipes at variety store the other day. I had all else needed at home so I grabbed it to try this out having read this thread already.

Drilled and tapped a hole to fit a glow plug in the end. Did it in end so I could put couple drops of juice in bowl, one in plug itself, and control how much gets into glow coil by simply tipping pipe downward from horizontal position.

My experience is a waste of time. Put igniter on plug, glowing great, get a drop or two of juice on element and it goes dark, snaps, crackles, tiny trickle of vapor. Not enough voltage to vaporize instantly like ecig. Hooked it up to my a 12 Volt supply with variable output and slowly cranked it till I popped the plug. Plug popped before getting to three volts.

This seems to be a no go.

Most igniter coils are made with platinum wire. They have extremely low resistance and the coil wires are very small in diameter. When pushing these tiny low resistance coils to high voltage the resulting current goes way up!! If you can imagine a funnel where you overfill the top to the point where the fluid coming out the bottom can't keep up with whats being poured in. This would cause the top to overflow. In our case, the tiny diameter platinum wire can only take so much current and voltage. What happens is the tiny low resistance coil is trying to pass current at a much higher voltage and current. This creates heat(funnel backing up due to overfill). This heat gets hot enough to almost instantly melt the wire.

 

[katink]

Have a look at the igniters in older model petroleum stoves perhaps?
Zibro (top left picture on this page is an example)

 

[RayJ1]

Making atomizer coils. The chinese have picked the right stuff for coil wire. Nichrome 80's characteristics fit our intended purpose. Most atomizers have a static resistance of 3 ohms. Looking at the characteristics of Nichrome 80 wire with a diameter of .004 inches yields the following data. It has a resistance of approximately 43 ohm per foot. Most coil wires have a total length of about an inch of wire. 43/12inches = 3.58 ohms. That's in the ball park of what our current atomizers are. HOWEVER that being said... as the wire diameter goes up....the resistance goes down. There is a fine line between picking length of wire, and diameter of wire for our coils. With a 3.7 volt power source that can deliver 1amp of current, the wire diameter and resistance of the wire makes this combination a good heating element. If you go to larger diameter wire...the current needed to heat the larger diameter wire to the same level as the smaller diameter wire goes up dramatically. The larger diameter wire would be more durable, but the power drain to get the same heating results would increase dramatically. If you research Nichrome 80 there is all sorts of info on it that relates to resistance in realtion to wire diameter and length. There is also lots of info on how much current it takes to heat X diameter wire to certain temps.

There are other metals that could be used for coils, but they are not as durable or a cheap.

 

[SS109]

For those looking to possibly make their own atomizer/heating element or wanting to compare elements from other areas (like R/C glow plugs) this link could prove useful. Just copy, paste, and remove the spaces.

http: // www . resistancewires . co. uk/heating_element_design. html

I really hope this helps someone as it took me forever to figure out how to post it without it being a link!

 

[sberri]

R/C glow plugs are designed to handle less voltage and current over a short period of time. They will go up in smoke if power is applied for too long or if the voltage and/or current is to high. I have owned several nitro cars, planes, and helicopters over the years and I don't think a glow plug is going to be the holy grail for attys. Trust me on this one. I've wiped out hundreds of glow plugs over the years. Besides, glow plugs cost about $5 each; half the price of a new atty if you know where to shop.....