Kanthal question

[Howietzer]

Aside from the cost, what are the differences or benefits to using standard or flat Kanthal resistance wire?

At a few b&m's near me I have no trouble getting standard Kanthal albeit in small quantities at a premium, but no mention of the flat stuff I've been reading about people using. I'm just curious because I'm researching as much as possible before I dip my toes in the rba market.

Also, would an Igo-L or S be a reasonable starter rba for a first timer? By reasonable I mean, somewhat easy to work with and fairly low priced if I decide later that I would prefer to stick to standard tanks/atomizers.

Thank you in advance

 

[Jazzi Mike]

Standard Kanthal is easier to work with than Flat Kanthal. When you wrap standard Kanthal, you don't have to worry about the wire twisting or anything. With flat Kanthal, you need to get it flat against your wick. People say that flat Kanthal gives you better vapor production because more of the Kanthal is making connection with the wick. Thus, you get more vapor. I would suggest for your first build using standard Kanthal, but I'm sure others have successfully started with the flat kind.

I would suggest the igo l or igo W. They are both a bit bigger than the igo S, which will make them easier to work with. The igo W has two negative posts, so you can build dual coils if you want. (You can just build a single coil if you want though.)

 

[Jazzi Mike]

Also, you have to have something to tell you the resistance of your coil before firing it! This can be a multimeter, one of those 510 ohm readers, or a mod that has that feature in it. Always check the resistance before firing a coil you build yourself!

 

[Wmmeese]

In my opinion, flat ribbon works well on mesh wicks and wire seems to work better on cotton or silica wicks. Check out the threads on building micro coils as they are relatively easy to make and are easily re-wicked, especially when using cotton.

 

[Howietzer]

Thanks for the tips! After reading your explanation on the differences I plan on going with wire for a few reasons;
1) cost- being that I am new to this I am expecting a high failure rate. Whether or not that happens, I am prepared for it.
2) Local availability- I will start with a few feet so that I'm not stuck trying to get rid of a spool if it turns out I'm not in to it. (unlikely)
3)Ease of use- pretty self explanatory with regards to Jazzi's response.

On the point of the resistance checker, got that covered 3 ways;
1) actual 2-prong meter
2) My absolutely glorious SiD (or as I call him, Gary )
3) a shiny new VV 3.0 that will be delivered this week.

Also I was already leaning towards the Igo-L, I just wanted some reasurance. And I plan the Micro coil + Organic cotton route for quick cleaning and swapping flavors.

 

[Thrasher]

the only real advantage is the flat wire has more of the surface area touching the wick, creating more vapor. and some seem to feel it runs cooler (with all things equal) i like it in drippers.

 

[polpol]

The igoL doesn't have holes on the posts. Haven't tried flat wire on it because of just that. Tell me how it goes.

Sent from my SC-03E using Tapatalk 4

 

[ScottP]

Thanks for the tips! After reading your explanation on the differences I plan on going with wire for a few reasons;
1) cost- being that I am new to this I am expecting a high failure rate. Whether or not that happens, I am prepared for it.
2) Local availability- I will start with a few feet so that I'm not stuck trying to get rid of a spool if it turns out I'm not in to it. (unlikely)
3)Ease of use- pretty self explanatory with regards to Jazzi's response.

On the point of the resistance checker, got that covered 3 ways;
1) actual 2-prong meter
2) My absolutely glorious SiD (or as I call him, Gary )
3) a shiny new VV 3.0 that will be delivered this week.

Also I was already leaning towards the Igo-L, I just wanted some reasurance. And I plan the Micro coil + Organic cotton route for quick cleaning and swapping flavors.

Two things to add here. First, you mentioned that your local B&M sold small quantities of wire at a premium then mention cost as a factor. I would like to point out that you can get 100ft of 32 and 30 AWG kanthal on Ebay for less than $5.00 -$6.00 shipped. So if you have to pay more than that at the B&M then I would still get it from Ebay even if you never use half of it. Second it may help you to download the free Android app "Vaper's Toolbox" to help calculate wrire length and number of wraps to use.

 

[Howietzer]

Two things to add here. First, you mentioned that your local B&M sold small quantities of wire at a premium then mention cost as a factor. I would like to point out that you can get 100ft of 32 and 30 AWG kanthal on Ebay for less than $5.00 -$6.00 shipped. So if you have to pay more than that at the B&M then I would still get it from Ebay even if you never use half of it. Second it may help you to download the free Android app "Vaper's Toolbox" to help calculate wrire length and number of wraps to use.

I do see your point, however I can get it for right around 35cents a foot in as large or small of quantity as I would like. Also no offense but I prefer to not be wasteful. If on my first go I spend say $3.50 on 10ft, and find out I love rebuilding, I can get on e-bay and get an entire spool for much less. On the flip side, if I find out that I can't be bothered to recoil myself, I'm only out 1/2 of the cost of a pack of anologs, and not try to give/throw away wire I have no use for.

Also I'm one of the few people out there who refuses to pay for a smartphone, I have a powerful gaming desktop and a nice laptop. Plus I make/receive less than 100min of phone calls per month, so I just keep my "dumb" phone

 

[ScottP]

I do see your point, however I can get it for right around 35cents a foot in as large or small of quantity as I would like. Also no offense but I prefer to not be wasteful. If on my first go I spend say $3.50 on 10ft, and find out I love rebuilding, I can get on e-bay and get an entire spool for much less. On the flip side, if I find out that I can't be bothered to recoil myself, I'm only out 1/2 of the cost of a pack of anologs, and not try to give/throw away wire I have no use for.

Also I'm one of the few people out there who refuses to pay for a smartphone, I have a powerful gaming desktop and a nice laptop. Plus I make/receive less than 100min of phone calls per month, so I just keep my "dumb" phone

I totally understand and they are just suggestions...although it is possible to setup an Android emulator on a PC and download free apps with a gmail/google account. If you wanted to bad enough. If not, if you will let me know what gauge of Kanthal you are going to use, what type of Kanthal (A-1, A, or D), what resistance you are going for, and what diameter object you are wrapping around, I can give you the basic numbers to help out.

 

[Howietzer]

Wow ScottP you are awesome!

What I want to use is:

32g A-1 2-2.5 ohm Any size (I used to be a carpenter so I've got tons of different size bits to wrap on)
for micro coil plus organic cotton


32g A-1 2-2.5 ohm 2mm silica with 2 or 3 folds don a heavy paperclip



I don't have a mech so I have no use for sub-ohm at this time, and the only reason I picked the 2-2.5ohm range is because my evods and pt2 are set up at that resistance and work great for my vv/vw unit. If you have any suggestion other wise please let me know, as I am all ears.

 

[ScottP]

Wow ScottP you are awesome!

What I want to use is:

32g A-1 2-2.5 ohm Any size (I used to be a carpenter so I've got tons of different size bits to wrap on)
for micro coil plus organic cotton


32g A-1 2-2.5 ohm 2mm silica with 2 or 3 folds don a heavy paperclip



I don't have a mech so I have no use for sub-ohm at this time, and the only reason I picked the 2-2.5ohm range is because my evods and pt2 are set up at that resistance and work great for my vv/vw unit. If you have any suggestion other wise please let me know, as I am all ears.

Ok for 32AWG Kanthal A-1:

For the micro coil and cotton, I would suggest wrapping a 1/16th bit with a 7/6 wrap. Depending on your leg length should put you right in your range.

For the Silica with 3 folds you are only going to get 3 to 4 wraps to stay in that 2.0-2.5 range. It's harder to tell wrapping soft wicks directly, b/c the real coil diameter can change based on how tight or loose you wrap it.

 

[Howietzer]

Ok for 32AWG Kanthal A-1:

For the micro coil and cotton, I would suggest wrapping a 1/16th bit with a 7/6 wrap. Depending on your leg length should put you right in your range.

For the Silica with 3 folds you are only going to get 3 to 4 wraps to stay in that 2.0-2.5 range. It's harder to tell wrapping soft wicks directly, b/c the real coil diameter can change based on how tight or loose you wrap it.

Thank you very much.

I will use your recommendations. So I guess with the soft wicks It's alot more trial and error than anything, the only reason I through that option in is because I'd like to try different types of wraps and see which I like better for flavor and th.

I am a born tinkerer so I look forward to playing around with these and seeing what I can come up with. Again thank you for the help.

 

[ScottP]

Thank you very much.

I will use your recommendations. So I guess with the soft wicks It's alot more trial and error than anything, the only reason I through that option in is because I'd like to try different types of wraps and see which I like better for flavor and th.

I am a born tinkerer so I look forward to playing around with these and seeing what I can come up with. Again thank you for the help.

NP at all. And yes when trying to wrap soft wicks directly, even with a needle backbone, it is extremely difficult to be consistent. The total diameter of three round wicks is 1.5 x the diameter of a single wick. So three 2mm wicks bundled together should be about 3mm total diameter. However when wrapping, you could probably pull it tight enough to compress it into 1mm-1.5mm. So your final resistance would be considerably lower and being choked off like that I doubt it would wick well. For this reason I personally prefer to try to build on a bit, nail, or something that cannot be compressed and then add the wick later.

If you want to use three strands of silica but want to try to build solid then add the wicks use a 3mm bit and start with 4 wraps. That should be pretty close to where you want....maybe just a tad on the high side.

 

[Howietzer]

Excellent tips. All have been added to my notes.

 

[Howietzer]

Update:

Ordered an Igo L and spool of 32awg

Again thanks to everyone for the guidance on this topic, you have all been a huge help!