Ok, so I will lay this post out in 2 parts. The first part I will talk about my observations, and the second part I will ask my questions. Quite simply, I am trying to find the best combination of wire and wrapping technique that will enable silica to wick optimily.
Here's what I have noticed:
When making a coil I like my vape around 1ohm. I am using 30 gauge kanthal which with my wick (2mm silica folded twice, creating 3 layers of wick in the center where the coil is and a loop on either side). With 30 gauge a 3 / 4 wrap gives me 1ohm. However, when using a 3 / 4 wrap all the wraps light up intensely, and I find that this can cause some dry hits with certain liquids. The 3 / 4 wrap is what I've been using on my mech mod. If I use a regulated device I usually do a 6 / 7 wrap which gives me 2 ohms. I can pump my voltage up to 5.2 volts to achieve the same wattage as 1 ohm on a mech mod and it seems to wick better. I've also noticed that when dry firing this 2 ohm coil the outer wraps do not light up as intensely as the inner ones. I know this this is an effect of the heat transfer between the wire and the wick. On the outer wraps heat can travel away from the coil into the loops, and the inner wraps cannot transfer heat away as well, so they light up more. My theory here is that the cooler temperatures on the outside of the coil encourage wicking into the center of the wick where the majority of the vaporization happens. This cannot happen with the 3 / 4 wrap as there's just not enough surface area to allow the heat to transfer in this way.
I am no expert on thermodynamics, these are just my observations and they seem to be backed up by the resulting wicking properties.
Now for my questions:
Is what I'm observing and assuming based in any kind of reality does it make sense? I'm waiting on some 28 gauge wire which I'm hoping will allow me to achieve the 1 ohm goal with more wraps (I'm hoping for at least 4, ideally 5). If my assumptions are correct, this should work. I was also reading about so called "micro coils" with many wraps touching each other. Do the wraps touching each other affect the resistance of the coil? Will I be able to achieve the 1 ohm goal with more wraps of 30 gauge wire if the wraps are touching each other? If the 28 gauge wire doesn't give me many more wraps, would I be able to "fake" the heat absorption effect by placing the inner coils closer together than the outer coils?
Clearly I could be an idiot and all of this could be wrong, so I would also like to know how you guys (and gals) are achieving good wicking on low ohm coils with silica.
Please discuss
Here's what I have noticed:
When making a coil I like my vape around 1ohm. I am using 30 gauge kanthal which with my wick (2mm silica folded twice, creating 3 layers of wick in the center where the coil is and a loop on either side). With 30 gauge a 3 / 4 wrap gives me 1ohm. However, when using a 3 / 4 wrap all the wraps light up intensely, and I find that this can cause some dry hits with certain liquids. The 3 / 4 wrap is what I've been using on my mech mod. If I use a regulated device I usually do a 6 / 7 wrap which gives me 2 ohms. I can pump my voltage up to 5.2 volts to achieve the same wattage as 1 ohm on a mech mod and it seems to wick better. I've also noticed that when dry firing this 2 ohm coil the outer wraps do not light up as intensely as the inner ones. I know this this is an effect of the heat transfer between the wire and the wick. On the outer wraps heat can travel away from the coil into the loops, and the inner wraps cannot transfer heat away as well, so they light up more. My theory here is that the cooler temperatures on the outside of the coil encourage wicking into the center of the wick where the majority of the vaporization happens. This cannot happen with the 3 / 4 wrap as there's just not enough surface area to allow the heat to transfer in this way.
I am no expert on thermodynamics, these are just my observations and they seem to be backed up by the resulting wicking properties.
Now for my questions:
Is what I'm observing and assuming based in any kind of reality does it make sense? I'm waiting on some 28 gauge wire which I'm hoping will allow me to achieve the 1 ohm goal with more wraps (I'm hoping for at least 4, ideally 5). If my assumptions are correct, this should work. I was also reading about so called "micro coils" with many wraps touching each other. Do the wraps touching each other affect the resistance of the coil? Will I be able to achieve the 1 ohm goal with more wraps of 30 gauge wire if the wraps are touching each other? If the 28 gauge wire doesn't give me many more wraps, would I be able to "fake" the heat absorption effect by placing the inner coils closer together than the outer coils?
Clearly I could be an idiot and all of this could be wrong, so I would also like to know how you guys (and gals) are achieving good wicking on low ohm coils with silica.
Please discuss
