Iatty supply suggestions

[v8pegirlrocker]

Hello folks, just bought an iAtty and would like to know what everybody is using for R wire and NR wire and wicking....and also where to buy...I would like to have everyhting I need before my iAtty arrives. thanks so much for any help and suggestions!!!!​

 

[MrKrinkle]

You can use all kinds of stuff but I prefer sterling or pure silver wire for NR at 30 to 34 gage dead soft... as for Resistance wire its 36 gage Kanthal A1 all the way.... be sure to buy A1-Kanthal.... all of which can be found on eBay or amazon... I also like using 1mm sterling silver crimp beads... and for wick its XC-116 from Omega.com just make sure to torch off the sizing before use..... hope that helps.... a multimeter is also a must have for building your own coils.... also keep in mind that with XC-116 you will need to modify a ceramic cup and the top plastic as its a bit thicker than stock wick ....

 

[fright88]

For NR wire you can get this
.999 Fine Silver 30 Gauge Round Dead Soft Wire
Or you can order the Nickel wire from the link Imeo supplied in the iAtty sticky thread first post. The silver is nice because you don't have to order 80 yards at a time.

Resistance wire look up Kanthal on e-bay. 32 guage is good for LR 34 or 36 guage for HR I bought my Kanthal from this link he doesn't have any 32 awg listed but you can send him a message and he is usually really good at replying
eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

For wicking
Imeo reciently posted that The Wick (from the wick store) is bad for you so we won't mention that.
The wick Bruce and the other suppliers have in stock now is e2 wick. Other then the GG vendors I have yet to find anywhere to buy it so if you do please let me know

I personally like the XC-116 wick from Omega here
Nextel Braided Ceramic Very High Temperature Sleeving
XC4 is has higher heat resistance but no one has proven to me that it is worth the extra cost so I use the XC. However 1 drawback is you have to treat this stuff with a torch. But to me it wicks much better then the e2 wick. Also if you know someone with a kiln to harden it a bit it works even better.

Finally some people are using SS Mesh if you search around the forum I am sure you will be able to find a lot of info on this. The SS also needs to be torched and treated. There is a lot of info floating around on how to treat mesh wicks I just don't have any expierence with it.

Hope this helped

 

[fright88]

Also on the Sterling silver NR wire it is supposed to be 0 resistance wire unlike the Nickel wire which does have some resistance (I think something like 1.8 ohms per meter or something like that) it isn't much but it can ever so slightly alter your resistance.

Also some of us like to use 1mm sterling silver crimp beads (and the companion crimp tool) My local hobby lobby sells these but they can also be bought on line. This method can be harder (like threading a small eye needle sometimes) but you don't have to twist wires and I also find it can be easier to work with crimped wire then twisted. (Although if you get a bad crimp it can b a PITA)

Finally just a side bit I find that I sometimes break the 30 awg ss wire so my next order will be 28 awg if I can find it. It might be a lottle more costly but I am hoping it doesn't break as much. So for testing it might not be bad to pick a ft or 2 of it to see how you like it.

 

[MrKrinkle]

Fright try using same gage silver wire but using half hard instead of dead soft.... its much sturdier than dead soft but doesn't like to twist with Kanthal and is best used with crimp beads.... I tend to twist the Kanthal around the silver wire then use a crimp bead and trim the excess....

 

[fright88]

Also keep in mind using XC-116 you will need to modify the slots in both your ceramic cup and top plastic.... to do this you will need a diamond file kit which can be found at HarborFreight.com for about 5 bucks also a great source for o-ring kits 225pc standard and metric for about 7 dollars each I advise getting both....

ha glad you brought it up I totally forgot to add that.

 

[MrKrinkle]

Glad you got it my Droid is messing with me tonight I lost the whole paragraph and you clipped it good man now I don't need to retype it.....

 

[fright88]

Fright try using same gage silver wire but using half hard instead of dead soft.... its much sturdier than dead soft but doesn't like to twist with Kanthal and is best used with crimp beads.... I tend to twist the Kanthal around the silver wire then use a crimp bead and trim the excess....

Thanks for the advice I hadn't thought of that. I find that when I do break it it is right at the crimp so this may be a better solution