My 1st coil built for IGO-W - how did I do?

[firephly]

here it is, it's a 30gauge wire with cotton ball from CVS

I'm using an MVP 2 and it tested at 2.1ohm

When I bought the IGO the guy at the store built a coil for me-his was tighter wrapped and had a smaller center

I wrapped it around a nail but it's not as small or tightly wound as the one the guy in the store did for me, and I am getting clouds but not as much flavor as I did from the one he made.

 

[Vash]

For my tastes I prefer a tight micro coil.You should also try less cotton .Seems like that will be too much once it wet and make sure your air hole is in front of your coil.

 

[firephly]

For my tastes I prefer a tight micro coil.You should also try less cotton .Seems like that will be too much once it wet and make sure your air hole is in front of your coil.

I have the air hole in front of the coil like the store guy showed me. So a micro coil has a small center and is tightly wrapped then?

I'm going to try again and find a drill bit with a smaller center to wrap it around and wrap tighter and use less cotton, thanks!

 

[Paul.K]

Not bad at all for your first build. Yeah micro coils will be touching each other and produces a very nice vape. +1 to using just a bit less cotton but you are not too far. I would also move the whole coil just a bit closer to the edge (air hole). With a tighter wrap and longer legs your resistance should be about the same. Keep practicing!!!!

 

[InTheShade]

I too use a microcoil. 1/16 drill bit, 28ga. Kanthal, 10 wraps should get you about 1.3ohms. Using 30ga. it'll probably be closer to 1.5ohms (same wraps / diameter)

One you have it wrapped and metered out, you can fire it with no cotton and then get a pair of tweezers or needle-nose pliers and squeeze the wraps together to get it even tighter. This also will help eliminate any hot spots or hot legs.

 

[Angiebubs]

I need to get one of these to try. I went shopping for one and found this tutorial, have you seen it?
An Illustrated Guide to Coiling an IGO-W - Vape Core

 

[Joka]

So if he is using too much cotton does that mean I am just smothering?

 

[Papa_Lazarou]

I too use a microcoil. 1/16 drill bit, 28ga. Kanthal, 10 wraps should get you about 1.3ohms. Using 30ga. it'll probably be closer to 1.5ohms (same wraps / diameter)

One you have it wrapped and metered out, you can fire it with no cotton and then get a pair of tweezers or needle-nose pliers and squeeze the wraps together to get it even tighter. This also will help eliminate any hot spots or hot legs.

^ This, exactly this. Also agree about using a tidge less wick and having the coil a little further to the perimeter. Nice first effort, though. You got this.

 

[firephly]

I need to get one of these to try. I went shopping for one and found this tutorial, have you seen it?
An Illustrated Guide to Coiling an IGO-W - Vape Core

In this he wraps the cotton around the coil instead of putting it through the middle? I've never seen that!

Thanks everyone! I can't seem to find anything smaller enough in diameter to make as small of an opening as the one the store guy made, is the center diameter very important?

 

[Paul.K]

You can go to home depot or lowes. They sell small drill bits for only few dollars for a 2-pack.

 

[InTheShade]

In this he wraps the cotton around the coil instead of putting it through the middle? I've never seen that!

Thanks everyone! I can't seem to find anything smaller enough in diameter to make as small of an opening as the one the store guy made, is the center diameter very important?

Not really, but obviously a larger inside diameter will mean a higher resistance for the same number of wraps. If you can't find a drill bit, a paperclip will work, a needle to a syringe, some doubled over kanthal wire, tin foil, the stem of a very small screwdriver ect. etc - have a walk around your house, you'll be surprised what you might find.

Just experiment and see what you prefer - there are really no hard and fast rules*

*Well technically there are to call something a micro-coil or a nano-coil. I forget exactly but the inside diameter has to be below a certain measurement to be called a micro, but like I said, it does't matter what you call it, it matters if you like it.

 

[firephly]

well, i'll have to get a 1/16 drill bit later-my nail is fairly small, right now i'm finding it challenging to get the wrap really close together...trying a 3rd time here

thanks everyone's been super helpful!

edit: tried pinching the coil together more with a tweezer, it wants to snap back apart again...

 

[InTheShade]

In this he wraps the cotton around the coil instead of putting it through the middle? I've never seen that!

Thanks everyone! I can't seem to find anything smaller enough in diameter to make as small of an opening as the one the store guy made, is the center diameter very important?

Cotton beds work really well with the smaller diameter coils. If you wrap a really small inside diameter coil and put the wick through the coil, you will often find that your tiny cotton wick cannot keep up, so you get burnt cotton - not good vapes.

So a lot of people now are putting cotton all around the coil, it's a good solution - again it's all about experimenting. Biggest benefit of wrapping around the coil and not through it you will not choke the wick if you use too much.

 

[StevenServo]

looks pretty good man

 

[InTheShade]

well, i'll have to get a 1/16 drill bit later-my nail is fairly small, right now i'm finding it challenging to get the wrap really close together...trying a 3rd time here

thanks everyone's been super helpful!

edit: tried pinching the coil together more with a tweezer, it wants to snap back apart again...

Picture say a thousand words, so try this video. It's from fellow ECFer Superxdrifter, it helped give me my 'aha' moment making micro-coils.



Just as a note, I don't have a working torch to anneal the kanthal, a lighter works just as well and helps remove some of the springiness from the wire. I also don't use the jig he uses in the video...

 

[firephly]

Oh boy, coil #2 at 10 wraps turned out to be 3.2ohm and didn't work as well as the first one

 

[firephly]

Picture say a thousand words, so try this video. It's from fellow ECFer Superxdrifter, it helped give me my 'aha' moment making micro-coils.



Just as a note, I don't have a working torch to anneal the kanthal, a lighter works just as well and helps remove some of the springiness from the wire. I also don't use the jig he uses in the video...

Hmmm.. burning the wire next time...going for round 3 now

 

[Coelli]

I just tried wrapping the outside of the coil instead of threading it through and it seems to work well.

 

[B1sh0p]

Oh boy, coil #2 at 10 wraps turned out to be 3.2ohm and didn't work as well as the first one

Try a smaller diameter and make sure the coils are wrapped as close as possible. You don't need to pre torch the kanthal, but it helps. Make sure you heat and squeeze the coils with tweezers. Don't touch the coil while you're firing it though.

 

[firephly]

I just tried wrapping the outside of the coil instead of threading it through and it seems to work well.

seems like a good option!