Most versatile gauge kanthal?

[Darryl Licht]

I'm fairly new to vaping, but I'm very hands on guy and technically gifted. (I fix most issues on my own cars, been building and repairing PC's for over 20 years, can do board level soldering, etc. to name a few skills)

I have 2 Atlantis tanks, a Sub tank mini, and a Mutation X V3 RDA and have made or rebuilt coils in all 3. I am sick of spending $1/ft that most B&Ms charge for Kanthal. I've tried 24 and 26 gauge for rebuilding the coils on the Atlantis, Sub tank, and my RDA... So all are going to use sub ohm coils... .5 in the clearos and nothing lower than .3 in the RDA.

So here's the Q for you more knowledgeable on this topic... what gauge is the most versatile for these 3 coils/devices? I want to get a 100ft spool from Temco and want a gauge I can use in all 3. I'm leaning toward the thicker 24, but would appreciate your input...

TIA!

 

[Darryl Licht]

Anybody???????????????

 

[Verb]

28 awg, ........

 

[Darryl Licht]

28 awg, ........

Reasoning as to why you state this?
Can you give me (& others) more useful info than just a blanket "28 awg" statement???

 

[State O' Flux]

I have 2 Atlantis tanks, a Sub Tank mini, and a Mutation X V3 RDA and have made or rebuilt coils in all 3. I am sick of spending $1/ft that most B&Ms charge for Kanthal. I've tried 24 and 26 gauge for rebuilding the coils on the Atlantis, Sub tank, and my RDA... So all are going to use sub ohm coils... .5 in the clearos and nothing lower than .3 in the RDA.

So here's the Q for you more knowledgeable on this topic... what gauge is the most versatile for these 3 coils/devices? I want to get a 100ft spool from Temco and want a gauge I can use in all 3. I'm leaning toward the thicker 24, but would appreciate your input...

TIA!

This is going to be a somewhat lengthy explanation... but you may find it useful.

Much of the above question will depend on your PV... is it a wattage controlled, high-output regulated mod where you can "force" wattage to adjust temperature, or is it an unregulated mech, where the net resistance and build type determines output current and vape temperature?

You probably have a vaping temperature that you prefer. If you use Steam Engine to determine what that (heat flux) temperature is... you can determine the most useful gauge of wire for your needs.

Lets say that you prefer a heat flux of 250+/- mW/mm2. Using 25 gauge wire, your 0.3Ω dual parallel coil build, with an Ohm's law (OL) calculated wattage of 53w (corrected for both regulated and unregulated devices), produces a heat flux of 276 mW/mm2... which is just slightly warmer than perfect.

So, the question is... how will this wire perform at higher resistances and differing build configurations?

Our next example is using 25 gauge in a single coil, 0.6Ω build, with a OL corrected wattage of 29w, we have a heat flux of 302 mW/mm2. A bit warmer than your previous build, but still doable. Raise the target resistance just 0.1Ω, and the heat flux drops a bit to a much closer to the desired heat target, at 259 mW/mm2.

Now... this is where knowing the mod will come in handy. With a mech, there are resistance to current parity issues, where thicker wire can be useful to control desired wattage and heat flux. With a 100 watt regulated mod, you can force wattage to a build - to achieve a desired heat flux - using thinner gauges and higher resistance builds that would otherwise reduce the output of a unregulated mech.

Use Steam Engine (below) to calculate your preferred heat flux... once you know that value, along with the type of PV you have, you can select a gauge that will provide best performance within your resistance and power application range.

 

[Kevin littell]

I can build anything with 26 ga without burning it up or venting batteries.....


I vote 26 NI 80.

 

[roxynoodle]

For your devices, 26. I'm mostly an RTA person and 28 is what I use most. I use 26 on a couple and most RDAs though. If I were building yours though, I bet I would be using 26 to get reasonably sized coils and around 0.5ohm resistance.

 

[defdock]

i find 28G kanthal to be versatile -

rebuilding protank/clearomizer heads - its just small enough to still work well within clearomizer ranges 1ohm(and possibly lower) to 2.4ish ohms

rebuilding tanks, it works just fine

rebuilding drippers - i have no isues.




other then that - an alternative to 28G - IF you have a drill - you can buy 32G *which i find perfect for clearomizers* - and in times of need for 28G, you can twist(or just parallel wrap) the 32G and its comes out to a very similar ohm range as the 28G kanthal.

 

[93gc40]

Most versital?? You want to build single coils doubles triples quad, twisteds wire orbraided? gonna run a mech or a reg mod at 20 watt or 200 watts? You using synth juices or NETs high PG or VG? You using cotton, silica rayon or bamboo for wicks?

Get the point.... Kinda hard to give a one size fits all recommendation, when NO ONE vapes the same.

 

[edyle]

I'm fairly new to vaping, but I'm very hands on guy and technically gifted. (I fix most issues on my own cars, been building and repairing PC's for over 20 years, can do board level soldering, etc. to name a few skills)

I have 2 Atlantis tanks, a Sub Tank mini, and a Mutation X V3 RDA and have made or rebuilt coils in all 3. I am sick of spending $1/ft that most B&Ms charge for Kanthal. I've tried 24 and 26 gauge for rebuilding the coils on the Atlantis, Sub tank, and my RDA... So all are going to use sub ohm coils... .5 in the clearos and nothing lower than .3 in the RDA.

So here's the Q for you more knowledgeable on this topic... what gauge is the most versatile for these 3 coils/devices? I want to get a 100ft spool from Temco and want a gauge I can use in all 3. I'm leaning toward the thicker 24, but would appreciate your input...

TIA!

I recommend 30 gauge kanthal a1 as the most versatile size to buy; you can even use that comfortably in simple protank.

Keep in mind that you can buy thinner gauge and twist it together, but you can't take thicker wire and simulate thinner wire.


I bought 10m each of 34,32,30 and 28 and am experimenting with those (so far i'm leaning towards the 30 more)

 

[Darryl Licht]

This is going to be a somewhat lengthy explanation... but you may find it useful.

Much of the above question will depend on your PV... is it a wattage controlled, high-output regulated mod where you can "force" wattage to adjust temperature, or is it an unregulated mech, where the net resistance and build type determines output current and vape temperature?

You probably have a vaping temperature that you prefer. If you use Steam Engine to determine what that (heat flux) temperature is... you can determine the most useful gauge of wire for your needs.

Lets say that you prefer a heat flux of 250+/- mW/mm2. Using 25 gauge wire, your 0.3Ω dual parallel coil build, with an Ohm's law (OL) calculated wattage of 53w (corrected for both regulated and unregulated devices), produces a heat flux of 276 mW/mm2... which is just slightly warmer than perfect.

So, the question is... how will this wire perform at higher resistances and differing build configurations?

Our next example is using 25 gauge in a single coil, 0.6Ω build, with a OL corrected wattage of 29w, we have a heat flux of 302 mW/mm2. A bit warmer than your previous build, but still doable. Raise the target resistance just 0.1Ω, and the heat flux drops a bit to a much closer to the desired heat target, at 259 mW/mm2.

Now... this is where knowing the mod will come in handy. With a mech, there are resistance to current parity issues, where thicker wire can be useful to control desired wattage and heat flux. With a 100 watt regulated mod, you can force wattage to a build - to achieve a desired heat flux - using thinner gauges and higher resistance builds that would otherwise reduce the output of a unregulated mech.

Use Steam Engine (below) to calculate your preferred heat flux... once you know that value, along with the type of PV you have, you can select a gauge that will provide best performance within your resistance and power application range.

Yes it was lengthy and informative!

I am using a regulated mod: iPV mini II / 5-70 W

I prefer most builds to be at .8-.4 ohms and generally stick to 20-35W using the stock .5 ohm coils in the clearos.

I've been using 24 and 26 AWG, but its time to order a spool from Temco!

 

[Darryl Licht]

Most versital?? You want to build single coils doubles triples quad, twisteds wire orbraided? gonna run a mech or a reg mod at 20 watt or 200 watts? You using synth juices or NETs high PG or VG? You using cotton, silica rayon or bamboo for wicks?

Get the point.... Kinda hard to give a one size fits all recommendation, when NO ONE vapes the same.

In my OP I stated that I have been rebuilding the coils in my Atlantis and SubTank mini and I have a Mutation X V3 RDA. I typically use single coils for now in the RDA. I did not list my mod which is a regulated box mod the iPV Mini II (5-70W)

I prefer ... cotton for wicking material and I use high VG only! 70-80%!

 

[ignotus]

All I can tell you is that I favor 26 gauge.

(Both gauges run $10 or less for 100 feet, which will last a long time, so why not get both?)

 

[DaveSignal]

I use 24g kanthal or 24g nichrome. I also have 26 and 28 gauge spools, but I only use them for twisted builds. But I use unregulated mods and prefer a very specific resistance range that is lower than your target range.
You can get a 100 ft spool on eBay or amazon for around $5. Why not just get the gauges you want to try?

 

[Darryl Licht]

All I can tell you is that I favor 26 gauge.

(Both gauges run $10 or less for 100 feet, which will last a long time, so why not get both?)

I use 24g kanthal or 24g nichrome. I also have 26 and 28 gauge spools, but I only use them for twisted builds. But I use unregulated mods and prefer a very specific resistance range that is lower than your target range.
You can get a 100 ft spool on eBay or amazon for around $5. Why not just get the gauges you want to try?

You both bring up a good point, if I buy both 24 and 26g, I'll have more than enough for quite some time. I was trying to be "cheap" by getting just one "do all" gauge!

 

[Croak]

30 and 26 is a good pair to stock if you're on a really tight budget, because you can twist the 30 to get something close to 28, and twist the 26 to get something close to 24.

But at only $5-$6 per 100ft spool shipped direct from Lightning Vapes through Amazon, I have everything from 22ga to 32ga in Kanthal.

 

[Thrasher]

I use 28 round and ribbon and 30 round. for my builds its always in the range of resistance i want

 

[pls0138]

I would say 26, 28, and 30 gauge are the most common. 24 is getting on the thick side and 32 is getting on the thin side. I was pondering the same question a while back, I decided to get a spool each of 27 gauge and 29 gauge kanthal. I figured since they are in between the most popular gauges, I would be able to cover a wide array of builds with those two wires, I've been satisfied with my decision. The odd gauges are a little harder to find, I found mine on ebay for a reasonable price.