Kanthal Vs. Nichrome Observation

[Kaezziel]

Finally decided to get some Nichrome and see how it compares. I've been using 28g Kanthal A-1 almost exclusively and just picked up some Nichrome in 26g and 24g. Wrapped up some nice, tight coils micro style with the 26g, 2mm I.D. 9/8 wrap and loaded them up parallel style. I've done this several times now, and the one thing that I keep noticing is that no matter how pretty my coils look, no matter how even they are... when I pulse fire them, it is a PITA to get them to glow evenly from the inside out... when I coil with Kanthal, even the ugly ones glow perfect after a pulse and pinch... just wondering if anyone else is noticing the finicky nature with Nichrome...

*EDIT*
Just realized, I probably should have put this in "Coil Building", so if one of you wonderful mods/admins wouldn't mind moving it over for me, I would greatly appreciate it!

 

[caged]

I recently picked up some 26 gauge Nichrome 80. It takes a bit, but the coils do even out and start glowing evenly. The coils seem to stay cleaner, but the vape seems harsher and I can taste a hint of metal at higher wattage. I moved back to Kanthal.

I also picked up some ribbon wire, but I haven't tried it yet because I am not happy with the coils I've been able to wrap.

 

[Kaezziel]

It does seem a bit harsher, but it also seems to heat up faster. I'm not getting any metal taste off of it on my mech at all. I did finally manage to get the coils to glow evenly, but it took a LOT more work that it takes me with Kanthal... With Kanthal, I just coil it, screw it down and pulse it... it's usually a little uneven at first pulse, but I get it to glow then squeeze it together with the tweezers and it's good to go after that... With Nichrome, I had to do that like 1000X, plus put my mandrel back in the coil a few times to get everything to finally make me happy...

I haven't tried the ribbon at all... I've looked at it a few times, but I just can't get myself to see any real benefits of it...

 

[DesmondTheMoonbear]

the bennefit of ribbon wire is the surface area.
surface area=Flavor.

 

[Kaezziel]

the bennefit of ribbon wire is the surface area.
surface area=Flavor.

Yeah, but 1/2 of your heating/surface area is external and unused... you'd be sending as much heat outward as inward and increase the chances of melting an insulator, not to mention how hot the outside of the atty would get... at least that's how I see it. :shrugs:

I'm not gonna say I'd never try it, but I get plenty of flavor and density with round wire, and I'd imagine the ribbon is a PITA to wrap...

 

[suspectK]

The heat is developed from using resistance wire..just because that gets hot, doesn't mean heat is shared through out the circuit as a whole.

Also, I know kanthal releases alumina when it's heated...it doesn't necessarily come off the wire, but it coats the outside. This acts like an insulation, allowing compressed coils to be used without creating shorts. Since nicrhrome doesn't contain aluminum, it won't release the insulating compound alumina.

 

[Kaezziel]

I wasn't referring to the circuit getting hot, I meant the radiant heat from the ribbon would heat the top cap more than round wire does due to the increased outside surface area of the coil itself... in my head, anyway

As for compressed coils creating shorts, I'm not having any problem with the Nichrome. It just seems to me that the Nichrome is more finicky at the beginning. Once it broke in, it heats perfectly from the inside out, but when I first put it in, it seemed to take forever to get it to heat correctly... Kanthal seems to be much easier to work with in that aspect to me.

I was just wondering what kind of experience everyone else was having, and if anyone else was noticing the same thing...