Eh, right now, 24 gauge is the most popular. That`s one I have to get more of.
26 has held the banner long enough. LOL.
26 has held the banner long enough. LOL.
Max Wattage for 28AWG Wire?
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Depending on the ohms and how fast you feed the volts.... you could run all 60watts you have.. a coil of 3-4 Ohms might be vapeable. It will be too hot to vape long before it pops.
FWIW, I put it in the green range before any factoring. YMMV. Bear in mind the thing doesn't measure temperature of the coil surface, but rather power radiated therefrom. Some of this power evaporates juice, and some of it heats air. Both of these cool the surface temp of the coil. As has been said, it's not an absolute rule. If you like 300-- or 500-- mW/mm^2, then you like it and that's good enough. The idea is to give you a yard stick so you can gauge the results you're going to get before building. Try changing the wire gauge and see what happens to the numbers
You gave me an idea for a coil.
A hybrid dual parallel spaced contact coil, 28 gauge, 3mm ID, 5 wrap. Came out to 0.6 ohms.
For my Subtank mini
(I have the older deck)
Currently running it at 40W, not bad
A hybrid dual parallel spaced contact coil, 28 gauge, 3mm ID, 5 wrap. Came out to 0.6 ohms.
For my Subtank mini
(I have the older deck)
Currently running it at 40W, not bad
Total lack of understanding of build.
28ga heats easier, therefor requires less power to do the same work. I have 28ga. coils running 15w and 28ga. coils running 35w+, none getting HOT. Proper e-liquid and Air flow prevent that.
Some of us that started off back when things ran on 36ga.-32ga. actually found 28ga. a welcome relief.
Yes, I also build with 26ga. and 24ga. Depending on the atomizer of choice.
Now, the first thing I noticed was answers being given without the Op ever stating what it would be used in.
nice!You gave me an idea for a coil.
A hybrid dual parallel spaced contact coil, 28 gauge, 3mm ID, 5 wrap. Came out to 0.6 ohms.
For my Subtank mini
(I have the older deck)
View attachment 516400
View attachment 516399
Currently running it at 40W, not bad
How many vapers does it take to wrap a coil...? 
Adding mass for sake of keeping a coil cooler is like strapping sandbags to a Formula 1 car to slow it down for hard turns.
Adding mass for sake of keeping a coil cooler is like strapping sandbags to a Formula 1 car to slow it down for hard turns.
You can't vape at anywhere close to what the wire itself will take. The power limit of a build will depend on every aspect of the build. 28 gauge has less surface area than 26 per length so to make an equivalent coil would require more wraps, not less, to get the same surface area. Resistance doesn't matter with a regulated mod unless you're hitting its limits, so there is no need for parallel coils unless you want to twist it, some other mechanically-related reason, or are using a mech mod. I've run .6 ohm at 11 watts (#26, 2.6 V) to 2.4 ohms at 22 watts (twisted #32, 7 V) on my iStick.
Lol im loving some of these responses. 28g was defacto for years before 50+ watt mods rolled up.
If its too hot maybe some rebuilding practice is in order.
I use 28 like religion .8, .9 single in my KF .6 ish singles in drippers and around .45 to .55 w duals.
Warm but not hot.
Clouds rolling like tumbleweeds down the side walk.
Atty never gets too hot to touch. All on a mech, 40w or less.
If its too hot maybe some rebuilding practice is in order.
I use 28 like religion .8, .9 single in my KF .6 ish singles in drippers and around .45 to .55 w duals.
Warm but not hot.
Clouds rolling like tumbleweeds down the side walk.
Atty never gets too hot to touch. All on a mech, 40w or less.
So many comments thanks guys! So to sum it all up:
So last night I decided to build a new coil with 26AWG, 0.8 ohms, 6 wraps of 26AWG and I'm vaping it at 250 mW/mm^2 or so on 25W. Honestly it's fine and just as good as before in lower wattage, barely any different and 3W less in power.
I guess there's a reason to the temp being green on Steam Engine, however, what's the limit? I see most guys saying that 28AWG is ideal for 0.5-1.0 ohm but according to Steam Engine it will take 1mm of inner diameter to reach 4 wraps, and also it will output 923 mW/mm^2 in heat flux on 26W on 0.5ohm which sounds crazy hot to me.
So again I'm confused, and not sure what AWG I should be using for the 0.5-0.8ohm builds I am aiming for and more importantly, what's definitely the heat flux you should not pass when building and factoring in your desired W?
Thanks
FWIW, I put it in the green range before any factoring. YMMV. Bear in mind the thing doesn't measure temperature of the coil surface, but rather power radiated therefrom. Some of this power evaporates juice, and some of it heats air. Both of these cool the surface temp of the coil. As has been said, it's not an absolute rule. If you like 300-- or 500-- mW/mm^2, then you like it and that's good enough. The idea is to give you a yard stick so you can gauge the results you're going to get before building. Try changing the wire gauge and see what happens to the numbers
So last night I decided to build a new coil with 26AWG, 0.8 ohms, 6 wraps of 26AWG and I'm vaping it at 250 mW/mm^2 or so on 25W. Honestly it's fine and just as good as before in lower wattage, barely any different and 3W less in power.
I guess there's a reason to the temp being green on Steam Engine, however, what's the limit? I see most guys saying that 28AWG is ideal for 0.5-1.0 ohm but according to Steam Engine it will take 1mm of inner diameter to reach 4 wraps, and also it will output 923 mW/mm^2 in heat flux on 26W on 0.5ohm which sounds crazy hot to me.
So again I'm confused, and not sure what AWG I should be using for the 0.5-0.8ohm builds I am aiming for and more importantly, what's definitely the heat flux you should not pass when building and factoring in your desired W?
Thanks
And I assume that using twisted coils outputs less heat flux than single coils?
how much salt do you put on your food?? there is no correct answer other than just enuf to make you happy
Just trying to make sure I get it right bro... If a specific amount of heat flux means dry/burned hits I'd like to avoid that. I'm new to rebuilding, hence all the questions, not trying to be annoying or anything...
I guess this question can be easily answered if you guys can state the maximum heat flux that I shouldn't pass at my desired W, then Steam Engine will already work out the best gauge for me to use according to that.
I guess this question can be easily answered if you guys can state the maximum heat flux that I shouldn't pass at my desired W, then Steam Engine will already work out the best gauge for me to use according to that.
I think you know this zachn85, but just to be sure, heat flux defines the amount of power (watts) per surface area of the coil wire.
I almost always use dual coils at between 35-50 watts and do lung hits so I'm moving more air over the coils than if I were vaping MTL. What I've found is that as long as I stay under about 450 mW/mm^2 my vapor will not be noticeably burned. So for me that's the hard upper limit for my builds. I would imagine with MTL hits that number would go down but I haven't tried so it so that's just my opinion.
Wire gauge choice is not as simple as making the decision from the build resistance and the power you're going to be running. The main thing I look at when designing a coil in Steam Engine is the heat flux at the power I'm aiming to use. I start by entering the power, the number of coils, the wire type (single wire, twisted, parallel, Clapton, etc), a wire gauge, coil ID and a starting point for build resistance. HF can then be changed by changing the resistance which changes the number of wraps (which changes the amount of wire surface area), by changing the wire gauge or by changing the power. The only way to find out what HF you like to vape at is to try a few different builds and see for yourself. Different juices also do better at higher or lower HF.
I also try to keep most of the coil in the air flow. That means if I have a round air hole in front of a coil I don't design a long skinny coil unless I can place it vertically and get it in the air flow that way.
Heat capacity is also a factor. It increases as wire mass increases. It influences the amount of heat up and cool down time your coil will need. I've found it is power sensitive in that with more power your coil will tolerate higher HC without noticeable heat up time.
Ultimately it's a balancing act with a bunch of variables in the picture. The good thing is as long as you're not burning juice and the atty is making vapor you can safely vape it
Unfortunately the answer is, it depends. I can run a 32 gauge coil at 200W and a 24 gauge coil at 12W.
If a atty has lots of airflow you can run a much much higher heat flux (mW/mm^2) than a restricted low flow atty irregardless of the wire gauge.
Dry hits come from the wick being dry, not wattage. High watts may dry out a wick that isn't feeding fast enough but that is all a part of the balancing act.
"I see most guys saying that 28AWG is ideal for 0.5-1.0 ohm" This is nonsense. I can make a 0.3 ohm coil with 28AWG or a 3 ohm coil. If set the power to 20W they both are radiating the same amount of heat, 20W. The surface temperature may differ (heat flux) but that is something I decide.
I'm sorry there is no simple answer. You just have to experiment.
I can give you a starting point for your Subtank Mini. Get a 3mm rod, wrap a coil that fits, 5-8 wraps (resistance does not matter on a regulated mod). Start with the power low, say 14W. Let the wick bed in for a bit then turn the power up until you find the sweet spot. If you start to get dryish hits (tastes a bit funky) you'll need to turn it down or work on the wicking.
Good luck
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