Kanthal

[Chivalry9mm]

Hey all,

What gauge of kanthal do all the coil builders out there recommend starting out with? I'm getting ready to buy my first roll but idk what gauge to get...

Thanks in advance.


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[benroy44]

I like 28 gauge but some times use 30 it depends on what Im doing at the time

 

[30+Years]

I bought 30 ga and it works well for me.

 

[Rdarkness]

I went with 30awg to get started, I figured it would cover most of the range that I wanted to make my coils at.

 

[Completely Average]

30 gauge is probably the most newbie friendly. Especially if you're making microcoils. It doesn't hold it's shape quite as well as 28 gauge, but it requires fewer wraps to get the same resistance and it heats up faster.

Plus the math is easy. If you're wrapping 30g kanthal around a 1/16th inch drill bit then each wrap = .2 ohms.

 

[Chivalry9mm]

Thanks everyone..

Plus the math is easy. If you're wrapping 30g kanthal around a 1/16th inch drill bit then each wrap = .2 ohms.

Completely Average,
Could you explain that math to me? The info I have is that 30 ga kanthal is 8.36ohms/foot. Divide that by 12 and you have 0.696ohms/inch. Then divide that by 16 and you get 0.0435ohms/sixteenth correct? Or am I missing something?


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[Vaslovik]

What atty are you using and what kind of build are you doing? What kind of ohms are you shooting for? What kind of mod?

 

[lenexa]

30 gauge is a good place to start. More importantly, buy a small butane torch from a tool supply store like Harbor Freight, or online.
Torching your kanthal before coiling will remove the majority of the "springyness" from the Kanthal, and it will retain shape, much easier.
If you are wrapping micro/nano coils this isn't as much a concern, as they are smaller coils wound tightly together, and torching won't affect the coil memory as much.

What atty are you using and what kind of build are you doing? What kind of ohms are you shooting for? What kind of mod?

 

[Completely Average]

Completely Average,
Could you explain that math to me? The info I have is that 30 ga kanthal is 8.36ohms/foot. Divide that by 12 and you have 0.696ohms/inch. Then divide that by 16 and you get 0.0435ohms/sixteenth correct? Or am I missing something?

Kanthal wire resistance is calculated in a straight line. Resistance changes when you wrap or bend the wire.

If you make a 90 degree bend in Kanthal you'll more than double the resistance in that spot, and it will heat faster than any other part of the wire when current is applied.

 

[leerm8680]

A lot of good info on kanthal can be found on the Protank MicroCoil Discussion!! A lot of reading, but well worth it.

here is a highlight:

Here is a sum-up of the most pertinent validations I have made for KPT (addendum in blue) with remarks and pictures to follow…

32AWG, 7/6 1.75mm i.d. m.c. = 2.2Ω √
32AWG, 5/4 2mm i.d., loose m.c. = 1.85Ω √
30AWG, 11/10 1/16-1.58mm i.d., m.c. = 2.1Ω √ #292 MrOcelot
30AWG, 10/9 1/16-1.58mm i.d., m.c. = 2.04Ω √
30AWG, 9/8 1.75mm i.d., t.m.c. =2.01 √
30AWG, 8/7 1.75mm i.d. m.c. = 1.85Ω √
30AWG, 8/7 1/16-1.58mm i.d. m.c. = 1.81√
30AWG, 8/7 1/16-1.58mm i.d. t.m.c. = 1.73Ω √
30AWG, 7/6 1.75mm i.d., m.c. = 1.78 √
30AWG, 7/6 1/16-1.58mm i.d., m.c. = 1.57Ω √
29AWG, 9/8 1.75mm i.d., t.m.c. = 1.92Ω √
29AWG, 9/8 1.58mm i.d., t.m.c. = 1.72Ω √
29AWG, 8/7 1.75mm i.d., t.m.c. = 1.52Ω √
29AWG, 8/7 1.58mm i.d., t.m.c. = 1.40Ω √
28AWG, 12/11, 1/16-1.58mm i.d., m.c. = 1.3Ω #241 vdaedalus
28AWG, 10/9, 2mm i.d., m.c.= 1.62Ω
28AWG, 9/8, 2mm i.d., m.c.= 1.49Ω
28AWG, 8/7 2mm i.d., m.c.= 1.3Ω

m.c.= conventional contact coil
t.m.c. = torsioned (or tensioned) contact coil
(n.b. A mechanically wound coil is not necessarily tensioned. Preferably tension adequate to induce turn-adhesion must have been applied for its use to be inferred or reported. Not merely external heat or forming pressure. Thank you, as there will be resistance implications.)

Hope this info is helpful in targeting your temp sets. Let me know your validations please (or successful improvement so we can test it!).

Good luck all.

 

[Weizenheimer]

Depends on what kind of coil you are wanting to make and how long you like your hits to be

 

[Chivalry9mm]

This is the rda that I just bought from my B&M store last night. Prior to this I have used my crappy plastic atomizers that came with my eGo Twist. Then I got a kanger tech aero tank but that pos kept flooding on me and was just not what I was looking for. So I got this rda last night and have been falling in love with it more and more ever since. Way better flavor, vapor production, everything is just better. Plus I pulled my juice down from 24mg to 8mg and that taste is phenomenal. With this being my first build and such what would you all suggest as far as what type of build etc. I saw this really cool triangle micro coil on YouTube but that's prob still a little too advanced just yet...


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[30+Years]

Why did you break it down?

Surpised that you had so much trouble with your aero. I have two and have had no trouble with them.

 

[Sstaas62]

i first got 30g when i was rebuilding my protank heads a while ago but since i am now using my dripper i like 24g for sub ohm builds.

 

[Hoosiermo]

What type of PV do you have?
What type if battery are you using?
Do you have a multimeter? Or at the very least a PV that will read resistance.
I would not be putting just any coil onto an ego style battery.

I think the answers to those questions will determine your starting thickness for kanthal.

 

[PhatRon]

These might help you out some when starting out. Remember to account for the length of the legs but that doesn't add too much resistance to your build unless you have long legs.

View attachment Coils.xlsx

View attachment Kanthal Coil Estimator.xlsx

With the coil calculator you just enter in your desired resistance and the gauge wire you are using manually.

I started out using 30 gauge and it is very versatile.You can go lower ohms or higher with less heat up time. I wouldn't advise you to jump straight into sub-ohm but rather start around 1.2 and work your way down. Of course know about your battery's amp limits and how to test for shorts and resistance but there is a plethora of information here that will help you out with that.

Soon you may move on to twisting different wire gauges together and then that's when the fun starts because the calculator won't really help out with that, it will be more of a trying out different builds to see how much resistance you will get with different amounts of wraps.

 

[DKP#]

Could you explain that math to me?

For a 1/16 inside diameter 30 ga coil:
- The actual length of the wire for one wrap is Length = PI*Diameter
- The size of 30 ga wire is .01"
For Diameter, the center of the wire is used, making the diameter for calculating 1/16" + .01" = .0725" = Coil Diameter
Wire length for One wrap = PI * Diameter = 3.1416 * .0725 = .2278" = wire length per wrap
Multiply this length times the resistance per inch
.2278 * (8.36/12) = .159 = ohms per wrap.
The actual resistance will come out a little higher because the diameter ends up a little bigger and as Completely Average said, the wire deforms a little.

 

[coalyard]

Thanks everyone..



Completely Average,
Could you explain that math to me? The info I have is that 30 ga kanthal is 8.36ohms/foot. Divide that by 12 and you have 0.696ohms/inch. Then divide that by 16 and you get 0.0435ohms/sixteenth correct? Or am I missing something?


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Circumference = pi (3.14) X diameter...

 

[Chivalry9mm]

Well there's my first coil. Thanks everyone for all the help. I used 32 ga. From my B&M store because I just couldn't wait till my roll of 30 ga arrived from temco. It is right at 2 ohms so nothing too fancy but there it is. Thanks again everyone for the insight! Another question, is shortening the coils overall length the only way to drop the ohms?



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[DKP#]

To lower ohms (resistance), you could also
-use 2 coils (parallel) which would cut the ohms in half
-twist 2 wires together (same as above)
-or use a smaller gage (larger diameter)wire