IGO-W issue, screws breaking the kanthal wires

[zazz]

hey guys, just getting into rebuildables and having issues. Just doing single coil on the IGO-W for starter, and i built a few decent ones so far, around 1.7-2.2 ohms. However it seems every time i try to tighten everything up the wire breaks before i get the screws tightened down.

I think im using 30 guage wire, and tried both 3mm and 1mm silica. Is there trick to tightening down the screws without breaking the wires?

 

[zazz]

well other than tight airflow i think i got a good coil this time, 2.3 ohms and working ok.

Still unsure how to avoid breaking the wires other than getting lucky

 

[bfrie]

you have the igo-w with holes in the posts, or the knockoff from fasttech?

 

[zazz]

Holes in the posts

 

[t8kiteasy]

Just tighten it until you feel a little resistance and you see the wire move a little,that's it.

 

[bfrie]

yup. overtightening. just need to get it snug, not tight

 

[pdib]

Take a look/feel at the tips of those screws. Sometimes filing it (sanding it) smooth helps.

 

[UncleChuck]

Breaking wire while tightening the screws isn't ALWAYS an issue of simply tightening it down too hard. Sometimes the wire can bind up the threads a little bit and stop the screw from properly tightening down. It's easy to tell if this is happening, as the screw wont be going down as far as it should, and while tightening the screw it will just immediately stop, instead of gradually getting tighter as you snug it down.

This seems to happen on some of my RDAs more than others. My ERA clones seem to have an issue of the wire binding the screws up more than my other rebuildables. The best way I've found to avoid this, is to leave the wire ends longer than usual, and to very gently wiggle the wire back and forth while tightening the screws down. This makes it easier for the wire to properly and firmly seat at the bottom of the wire hole, instead of binding up towards the top and breaking off.

Using another tiny flat head screwdriver to push the wire down towards the deck will also help, basically you just want to make sure that the wire is secured at the bottom of the wire hole, instead of binding up with the threads higher up.