Microcoils and other things

[subver]

It went good! I actually didn't even try to dry burn it, I just set up a new wick.. In a haste to rebuild I just went back to silica, but I'm not done with ekowool... I'm also gonna be trying cotton as well... rolled cotton to start with (probably on micro coils) and then I still need to find that Martha Stewart yarn that Bishop talks about.

But yeah the ekowool sleeve worked out great, right off the bat... I didn't really notice it being any better than silica, though... I'm not a big dry burner guy, I like to just rebuild, so people who dry burn may be more interested in that build.

I felt like it gunked up faster than normal, but there was also less air space in the ceramic and I'm using a new juice that I think gunks up fast anyway, so it's hard to say for sure.

 

[Aal_]

I meant the silica inserted inside ekowool. You will have to compare it with plain ekowool if it wicks better. I'm working on something I will let you know in few hours.

 

[subver]

Yes Silica inside ekowool sleeve worked better than just ekowool.

I still want to give full ekowool another chance, though... it DID start working well for me after a day or two.

I'm pretty eager to try cotton first, though. I keep reading great things about it and a lot of people are moving from silica to cotton.

 

[dokebilee]

I tried making a microcoil for the Penelope today but it was unsuccessful. I made a microcoil, unraveled it to see the length I need it to be, which was around 2 1/4 inches exactly, and the twists on each end needs to be around 3mm. The major problem is that the wire that you need to use, 30g kanthal, is too thick to be able to make twists. Sure I could use a 32g Kanthal but it doesn't work well because it is too thin and therefore it is too flexible for the coils to be able to touch.

Something to remedy this is to use a welder... but I don't own one and don't think I will get one in the near future. Another solution that I will try is to make the microcoil using the 30g Kanthal, trim near the end of the coils and then make a "U" on each end to attach a silver NR wire. I'll try this out later on today.

 

[subver]

I tried making a microcoil for the Penelope today but it was unsuccessful. I made a microcoil, unraveled it to see the length I need it to be, which was around 2 1/4 inches exactly, and the twists on each end needs to be around 3mm. The major problem is that the wire that you need to use, 30g kanthal, is too thick to be able to make twists. Sure I could use a 32g Kanthal but it doesn't work well because it is too thin and therefore it is too flexible for the coils to be able to touch.

Something to remedy this is to use a welder... but I don't own one and don't think I will get one in the near future. Another solution that I will try is to make the microcoil using the 30g Kanthal, trim near the end of the coils and then make a "U" on each end to attach a silver NR wire. I'll try this out later on today.

Maybe even try those small crimps? I can't wait for my 28g kanthal to get here... definitely want to try this as well! Tonight I'm going to set up dual twisted coils like Bishops latest video. Hopefully the twisted wire will weld to the Nickel wire easily. I also only have 32g kanthal but I think it'll still work ok, we shall see! I might try to make each coil 1.4ish ohm, I'm liking my duals at .7ohm.. haven't really tried any lower than .6, though.

 

[dokebilee]

Hmm, I've been thinking of trying out those silver crimp beads but I heard that they are not as efficient as they may seem. Some people reported snapping the silver wire due to the crimp and other times it just comes loose.

People have made microcoils with 32g Kanthal but it's just not fun to make due to it being so thin. Remember, the coils need to touch or needs to be really close together. I've tried it with 32g Kanthal and it's not fun. Oh yea, it is recommended that you use a 1/16 drill bit or something similar to wrap the coils behind.

Update: I just tried out the "U" method with the 30g Kanthal microcoil but it is still not easy to do, especially with my fat fingers. It is much easier to make a dual coil and to just stick to subohm for the Penelope.

 

[subver]

Yeah I watched a video on making them, the guy used a 1/16" drill bit, then when he had the coil he would fire the coil in little spurts, then squeeze the coils together with needle nose pliers, then keep repeating that until it all glowed evenly.. I know that wouldn't work out the same on a Penny, but you could try wrapping the coil, torching it red hot, then squeezing it together over and over - just a thought.

 

[dokebilee]

Yeah I watched a video on making them, the guy used a 1/16" drill bit, then when he had the coil he would fire the coil in little spurts, then squeeze the coils together with needle nose pliers, then keep repeating that until it all glowed evenly.. I know that wouldn't work out the same on a Penny, but you could try wrapping the coil, torching it red hot, then squeezing it together over and over - just a thought.

I tried that but had no luck with it. You could try it out and maybe it will turn out fine for you. For now, I'm going to stick with dual coils on my Penny and microcoils on my BCC.

 

[fright88]

Hmm, I've been thinking of trying out those silver crimp beads but I heard that they are not as efficient as they may seem. Some people reported snapping the silver wire due to the crimp and other times it just comes loose.

People have made microcoils with 32g Kanthal but it's just not fun to make due to it being so thin. Remember, the coils need to touch or needs to be really close together. I've tried it with 32g Kanthal and it's not fun. Oh yea, it is recommended that you use a 1/16 drill bit or something similar to wrap the coils behind.

Update: I just tried out the "U" method with the 30g Kanthal microcoil but it is still not easy to do, especially with my fat fingers. It is much easier to make a dual coil and to just stick to subohm for the Penelope.

I twist 30 guage and even 28 guage kanthal wires for my Ody and penelope. I just use some needle nosed pliers and a secind set of blunt nosed pliers.

 

[cookiejar]

Lol why don't you guys try out twisted micro coil

 

[subver]

Lol why don't you guys try out twisted micro coil

I thought about that as well, I'm interested in someone trying it.. I feel problems would arise in all the gaps between the coils, though.. I think that's sort of the point of a microcoil is that you basically mush the coils together to form a tube, not a coil.
Not sure if it would work or not, but I'm interested! More surface area at least!

 

[MadMatt986]

Hmm... I started doing my Ithaka like Imeo demonstrated in his video. If you look closely he has a pretty tightly spaced coil. Crossing the wicks on the Ithaka helps push it together and makes it stay tightly spaced. I did a direct comparison of a loosely spaced and tightly spaced coil and can definitely say the the tight coil provides much better throat hit.

 

[TheSneakerHoarder]

I thought about that as well, I'm interested in someone trying it.. I feel problems would arise in all the gaps between the coils, though.. I think that's sort of the point of a microcoil is that you basically mush the coils together to form a tube, not a coil.
Not sure if it would work or not, but I'm interested! More surface area at least!

Bad idea..just get proper gauge kanthal. I'm using 27g with dual 9 wraps at .55 ohms and loving it. Micro-coils are amazing; I'll never go back to regular coils.

 

[subver]

Yeah I will be trying them again soon.. my first try didn't go so well.. I welded my wires and wrapped the coil then torched it a bunch of times and squeezed them together with needle nose pliers, but the welds broke. I didn't have a lot of time so I just went with a regular setup after that. I'm gonna try again, this time, though, I will just weld them after torching (I should've realized that to begin with) - especially now that I'm using this cotton hemp yarn that wicks so well!

Do you weld your wires or twist them with micro coils? I guess the other option would be to just have long legs on the micro coil but I don't think that's a good idea. Are you using them on Ody/Penny or Ithaka?

 

[IcyX]

Hi there,
I know this thread is a little old but I have a couple tips for making r/nr connections with 28 ga kanthal. #1 use 30ga nickel wire for your nr wire and #2 double the nickel wire over. A picture is worth a thousand words so here ya go.

Double the nickel wire

Make first twists with your fingers

Grasp w pliers, make six or so wraps, and trim excess on both ends

Now doubling the nr wire does add a little extra mass to the nr/r junction but it is very little. It gives a much better hold imho. I tried this with .999 silver but it is still very tricky, I prefer the nickel for 28ga, but silver for 30ga and 32 ga