Just built my first sub-ohm dual coil and...

[KineticMind]

...WOW! So that's what I've been missing!

I've been putting this build off for a while due to various reasons, but I had today off from work so I figured what the hell. Built the coils on an Omega clone using 28G Kanthal and organic cotton wick. Came out to .36 ohms.




Never thought I'd even use the long stem drip tip that came with the Omega, but the vapor was pretty warm on this build, so it got put to use pretty quick!



And the vapor production on this thing is ridiculous.




It didn't take me long to realize that I'll be needing a juice with less nicotine, though. The lowest I have is 12mg and the throat hit on it is vicious. I also got a pretty bad headache after both sessions I've had with this build, so I'm assuming that the nicotine played a role in that, too.

I'll be picking up a bottle of 6mg 100% VG later this week and will give it another shot then. The 12mg juice I used was also 80% PG and the vapor production was pretty wild. Can't wait to see what it's like with 100% VG!

Any comments and/or criticisms are more than welcome. I tried to stay pretty uniform with the spacing between coils, but as a relative newb, I'm sure I could have done some things better. I'm probably going to end up rebuilding it entirely when I get some more juice, as I had a hot leg on one of the coils after firing it a couple of times. I've scoured it looking for something that could be causing a short, but can't find anything that looks out of place. Is that something that can be fixed by adjusting the spacing between coils? Or could it be because I didn't use enough wick? I adjusted both coils until they fired evenly and lit up from the center of each coil and extended outwards. I'm a little perplexed by that.

 

[Bigflyrodder]

Hard to say from the pics and I'm no expert, looks like you wrapped a couple 4/3 coils with 28 kanthal which is way lower than I go. I tend to wrap mine right up against each other and then compress for very tight coils when using cotton wick which I think you used, only time mine are spaced is with silica.

Again, I'm not an expert but with a short first thing I look for is to make sure none of the wires are touching something they shouldn't be touching and then work on spacing. If it vapes fire it up, you'll get better over time but looks good to me!

 

[CShaver]

Awesome build. Congrats.

That being said, I'm going to be "that guy" and ask you what batteries you're using. You do not want to skimp on safety at .3

 

[KineticMind]

Hard to say from the pics and I'm no expert, looks like you wrapped a couple 4/3 coils with 28 kanthal which is way lower than I go. I tend to wrap mine right up against each other and then compress for very tight coils when using cotton wick which I think you used, only time mine are spaced is with silica.

You nailed it. 4/3 wrap with 28 gauge Kanthal. And I normally make microcoils for my other regular builds (Kayfun, Protanks, etc.), but didn't know if it would be appropriate for a build like this one. My understanding was that more surface area where the coil surrounds the wick was ideal, but I'm also far from an expert, so I could be wrong about that.

Awesome build. Congrats.

That being said, I'm going to be "that guy" and ask you what batteries you're using. You do not want to skimp on safety at .3

Thank you, and no worries about being "that guy"! Glad people are out there making sure others are staying safe!

I'm using Sony 30A VTC4's that I bought specifically for lower ohm builds. .3 is a bit lower than I was expecting to go, and I won't be going any lower than that, so the Sony's should work well for that. To be perfectly honest, though, if I can't clear up the hot leg I was getting, I'll just end up rebuilding it and will shoot for .5 with the next build.

 

[CShaver]

Thank you, and no worries about being "that guy"! Glad people are out there making sure others are staying safe!

I'm using Sony 30A VTC4's that I bought specifically for lower ohm builds. .3 is a bit lower than I was expecting to go, and I won't be going any lower than that, so the Sony's should work well for that. To be perfectly honest, though, if I can't clear up the hot leg I was getting, I'll just end up rebuilding it and will shoot for .5 with the next build.

Fair enough, I just ordered 2 myself. I have Panasonic NCR18650PF which are good for about .7, but my lates Kayfun build came out to .6-.7 and bttery gets hot after chaining for a while. So I figured I would play it safe.

You seem to know a good about about building, which sets my mind at ease lol. Saw the March 2014 start date and got worried. I don't claim to be an expert by any means, but I have done so much research, reading, planning, and building that it's insane. I practice all the time. I've already gone through 100 feet of kanthal and I started building a month and a half ago.

I just didn't want to see someone who just got into rebuilding blow themselves up on a .3

 

[SLIPPY_EEL]

if its a spot on your coil not the leg it will probably be due to a gap between wick and coil.. if its the leg maybe you have loose wire, kink in wire maybe..

 

[KineticMind]

I just didn't want to see someone who just got into rebuilding blow themselves up on a .3

I'm glad there are people out there that care enough about total strangers to speak up about things like that... especially when negligence could result in that person blowing their face off!

And, yeah, I am still relatively new to this hobby, but I started doing some heavy-duty research right from the start like you did. I also got into rebuilding coils pretty much as soon as the stock ones I had started tasting bad. That, and the fact that I like to tinker with just about everything, helped me ease into RDA's. Looking forward to trying new things like twisted builds on RDA's, dual-coils/chimney coils/etc. on my Kayfun, and others.

Also, I think you'll dig the VTC4's. I read a chart somewhere that claimed the lowest "safe" resistance on those would be 0.2, but I think this coil is probably about as low as I'd comfortably want to go with them. The Sony's handled it like a champ, though. I had two solid vaping sessions on this build and the battery never even hinted at getting warm.

if its a spot on your coil not the leg it will probably be due to a gap between wick and coil.. if its the leg maybe you have loose wire, kink in wire maybe..

It's definitely a spot on the leg, but what you wrote makes perfect sense, as one of the coils was made with the first length of kanthal I took off of a new spool. I thought I had worked all of the kinks out, but I must not have. I should have just discarded that first little bit instead of trying to make use of it. That's what I get for being frugal... like I really needed to with a 100' spool of the stuff!

I've gone back over the build with a magnifying glass and nothing is loose or touching anything that would cause a short, so I do believe the kink has to be it. Once I pick up some better juice to drip with, I'm going to at least replace that particular coil or just rebuild them both entirely. Until then, I won't be using it.

 

[RogerWilco357]

Now when you do these sub ohm coils what do you guys usually use to vape with since the units like Provari and Lava tube read it as below 1.0 and don't fire? What setups are you vaping with ?

 

[SLIPPY_EEL]

a little trick for getting kinks and imperfections out of the wire before wrapping is to pull the wire over plastic or between your thumb and plastic.... if you use something like 30g 32g your likely to curl up the wire doing this but then you can pull the wire between thumb and finger etc to straighten it out after....
you can even do this with 26g but be aware of the very end, the last end you pull over the plastic will normally have a bend that will stick up and try to slice your finger if your not very careful, you could probably use something in place of your finger but ive never done this as im quite competent with wire having had jobs steel fixing with wire on a daily basis.....

I have a pair of scissors that I use to pull my wire across the handle of... if you use more of the corner or edge of the scissors then the flat you will curl the wire more so try keep it more on the flat... you can do this as many times as you feel you need to until its all smooth, I normally just run my finger & thumb down it to feel for smoothness inbetween each pull..

I think this method helps soften the wire up a little as I don't feel I need to heat it up with a burner now before wrapping, just pulse it or them on your device to get any oils off

if anyone try's this you try at your own risk... I'm not responsible for sliced finger's and thumbs

oh.. almost forgot to mention that you can use pliers to help pull the wire rather then trying to grip with hand and slice fingers again ..

goodluck

 

[SLIPPY_EEL]

Now when you do these sub ohm coils what do you guys usually use to vape with since the units like Provari and Lava tube read it as below 1.0 and don't fire? What setups are you vaping with ?

I use a mechanical reo and either an rm2 normally with a single coil... cyclone with dual coil... and ive just received an igo-s which looks pretty much the same as the cyclone ..... also got an i134 that I put 1.1ohm coil on ..its ok.. not bad

 

[rarruda7]

I just tried popping up a thread on this but I didnt get any bites, I just ran a set up that initially was running at .31 but after moving it abit a adding cotton i ran it at about .28. I must say its alittle too low in safety regards for me but it was making monster clouds. I am running a purple efest 30A 18650. Am i paranoid or am i correct to be cautious on that.

 

[Smlexy]

I just tried popping up a thread on this but I didnt get any bites, I just ran a set up that initially was running at .31 but after moving it abit a adding cotton i ran it at about .28. I must say its alittle too low in safety regards for me but it was making monster clouds. I am running a purple efest 30A 18650. Am i paranoid or am i correct to be cautious on that.

The biggest thing i'd would be cautious is the battery, those purple effest are really only 20amps-ish from what i've read. As far as i'm concerned 0.28 isn't that bad, so long as you have good enough batteries. The biggest thing to look out for is the bottom button or the whole mod getting to hot, a warm mod in my experience is normal. If it starts too get hot put the mod down for a minute then change the battery.

If you find you like the whole big clouds and low sub ohm things i would get either the sony vtc3-4's or the new LG-35amp batteries both of which i use a lot and they work great, the LG's seems to have the edge, although it could be because they are newer. The purple effest should be OK just use caution and look out for a hot button.