Kanthal A1

[Mateo the Great]

Hello Vapers,

I am looking to get into some rba's and I have been doing as much research as I can on them before I make the switch.

With that being said, could you guys please explain to me what the Kanthal A1 wire is? I was told to get 24g wire. Could someone recommend which wire would be better wire to get for a beginner? Regular Kanthal (Not sure if Kanthal A1 is the norm or not) or if there is another brand to go with?

Thank you.

 

[Goodyaz]

I went with Kanthal 28awg to start it is easy to work with and good for anything. I have 26awg, 28awg, and 30awg at home. I dont mess with much else.

 

[readeuler]

Kanthal is resistance wire, Kanthal A1 is just a particular kind of Kanthal, and the kind I've always used. Other resistance wire includes nichrome, and "specialty" wire like gplat (a rebranded welding wire). When current flows through resistance wire, it heats up.

The gauge pertains to the thickness of the wire, which matters for two reasons.

Lower gauge wire is thicker. Given a 24ga build and a 28ga build of the same resistance, the 24ga build will have more mass, and require more wattage to heat up in a timely fashion.

Also, as the wire gets thicker (lower gauge), the resistance per unit length drops. For 28 gauge around a 2mm screwdriver, 10 wraps usually puts me around 1.8 ohms. For 32 gauge, I only needed 5-6 wraps around the same screwdriver to get 1.8 ohms.

What you're using to power your coils matters a lot. With a mech or a 30+ watt mod, 24 gauge should be fine. With 15 or fewer watts, the 24 gauge will probably perform poorly. 28 gauge is a good starting number for regulated devices, 30 gauge if you'll use dual coils with only 15 or fewer watts at your disposal.

What will you be using to power your coils? Do you think you'll ever build dual coils? These variables make a big difference when it comes to choosing the wire.

You can order 100 feet of Kanthal directly from the mfg Temco, for about $5, as cheap as it gets.

 

[Mateo the Great]

Kanthal is resistance wire, Kanthal A1 is just a particular kind of Kanthal, and the kind I've always used. Other resistance wire includes nichrome, and "specialty" wire like gplat (a rebranded welding wire). When current flows through resistance wire, it heats up.

The gauge pertains to the thickness of the wire, which matters for two reasons.

Lower gauge wire is thicker. Given a 24ga build and a 28ga build of the same resistance, the 24ga build will have more mass, and require more wattage to heat up in a timely fashion.

Also, as the wire gets thicker (lower gauge), the resistance per unit length drops. For 28 gauge around a 2mm screwdriver, 10 wraps usually puts me around 1.8 ohms. For 32 gauge, I only needed 5-6 wraps around the same screwdriver to get 1.8 ohms.

What you're using to power your coils matters a lot. With a mech or a 30+ watt mod, 24 gauge should be fine. With 15 or fewer watts, the 24 gauge will probably perform poorly. 28 gauge is a good starting number for regulated devices, 30 gauge if you'll use dual coils with only 15 or fewer watts at your disposal.

What will you be using to power your coils? Do you think you'll ever build dual coils? These variables make a big difference when it comes to choosing the wire.

You can order 100 feet of Kanthal directly from the mfg Temco, for about $5, as cheap as it gets.

First off... Awesome response to my question. I thank you for that.

Yes I would like to build Dual coils but feel that I should only start with the single coils for now until I understand more and get used to building those before I go into a more complicated build. As of right now, I use a KTS mech mod, Stingray Mech mod. I have been looking to get into other mech mods but it seems that people don't know how many watts they push out. Obviously I am not there yet to know these things either. So when it comes to mech mods, I am pretty much at a loss on those as well. I know i know.... Stupid noob. We all start somewhere.

Is it worth it to use my Vamo v5 or like an MVP on RBA's? Side note- I am not sure what an RDA or RTA are. I believe pretty much the same thing as an RBA?

 

[Mikey6]

Hey Mateo,

Mechs don't actually push watts. All they do is give you straight power from the battery, which on a fresh charge will be 4.2 volts. Wattage actually comes from the voltage and resistance you have built into your coil. Watts=volts squared / resistance. So for sake of easy numbers 4 volts with a 1 ohm coil would be 4*4/1=16. And same 4 volts on a 0.5 ohm coil would be 4*4/0.5= 32. Hopefully that makes sense.

You can use a regulated device with rebuildable atomizers no problem just be sure to stay within the limits of the device.

RBA is rebuildable atomizer (sort of a broad term)
RTA is rebuildable tank atomizer (kayfun style, genesis style, etc)
RDA is rebuildable dripping atomizer (igo, Mephisto, plume veil, mutation x, etc)

Start with some decent single coils and really get a feel for the math, them have some (safe) fun with it.

 

[Mateo the Great]

Thank you Mikey for the advice and knowledge you have bestowed upon me

 

[K_Tech]

First off... Awesome response to my question. I thank you for that.

Yes I would like to build Dual coils but feel that I should only start with the single coils for now until I understand more and get used to building those before I go into a more complicated build. As of right now, I use a KTS mech mod, Stingray Mech mod. I have been looking to get into other mech mods but it seems that people don't know how many watts they push out. Obviously I am not there yet to know these things either. So when it comes to mech mods, I am pretty much at a loss on those as well. I know i know.... Stupid noob. We all start somewhere.

Is it worth it to use my Vamo v5 or like an MVP on RBA's? Side note- I am not sure what an RDA or RTA are. I believe pretty much the same thing as an RBA?

I think starting off easy is the way to go. Everyone is different, and has a different happy place when it comes to vaping. For me, I started out rebuilding "factory" coils for my Kanger Protanks, and I was sticking around 2 ohms. From there I started on rebuildables and worked my coil resistance down in stages. I've gone low (for me) ohms in a few builds just to try things out, and have found that I really don't like vaping much below 0.4 ohms on an RDA.

And as to a Vamo or an MVP with a rebuildable, I'm going to go out on a limb and say yes, and no, lol.

With an RTA (Rebuildable Tank Atomizer) you would be okay on one of those. Bear in mind that they won't fire very low coils - I think around 1.3 ohms is the limit? - but something like a Kayfun around 10 watts is still a pretty decent vape.

With an RDA (Rebuildable Dripping Atomizer you can certainly build to the right ohms, but you may not be happy with a dripper at 1.3 ohms. Maybe.