New coils often breaking/crumbling on first fire

[Kanthal]

I've been building micro coils on my kayfun for a while now but I still haven't figured out why so many times after building a brand new coil it will bend and crumble the first time I fire it. Then I have to take it off the deck and wrap another coil and try again. I'm still trying figure out what makes this happen. When I wrap my coils I am always sure the coil isn't bottoming out on the deck and I always make sure the screws are tight.

Could it be the brand of Kanthal I'm using? I'm using cheapo Temco brand (28g).

 

[Zealous]

Weird. I use Temco 30g & my coils last me months. When you say it's crumbling what does that mean? I don't think I've ever heard of that happening.

 

[Kanthal]

I mean as soon as I hit the fire button it burns up the coil.

 

[Kryyptyk]

I mean as soon as I hit the fire button it burns up the coil.

Coils popping like that usually indicate a short.

 

[Zealous]

ok then yea I would agree it has to be a short somewhere.

 

[v1k1ng1001]

Yup, you're building shorts somehow. Make sure the wire is not making contact with the deck except via the posts before you first fire it.

 

[Kanthal]

Coils popping like that usually indicate a short.

I was thinking that too but I can't figure out why it's happening. I wrap my micro coils tight. I keep the loops tightly pressed against each other on every coil i wrap. I also mount it on the screw post tight. I mean really tight. I can't figure out why I would be having shorts, unless there's something wrong with my Kayfun.

 

[Zealous]

I'm thinking it's a short somewhere in the Kayfun. But I can't advise on that I as I have very limited experience with that atty. I'm sure someone will have some helpful feedback shortly though.

edit: Ok so wait a minute. You said that it would "bend" and crumble. When you say bend are you saying that the coil changes positions from where you put it? Is it going lower and touching something thus causing it to short out? Are you using cotton ball for wicking? Could it be that when you put that small chamber piece on and trying to get the cotton wicking where it should go you are pushing your coil down?

 

[Susan~S]

I mean as soon as I hit the fire button it burns up the coil.

Could you post a picture of a "burned up coil"? I can't picture what this looks like.

Do you put your RDA/RTA on an ohm meter before you attach it to your mod and fire it? How many ohms is your build?

 

[pufZeppelin]

still need more than 'crumble'

are you saying it just burns off at the connections ?

does the coil wire melt and disappear ?

melt into a blob of metal ?

how about some numbers
what ya using , watt setting ?

wouldn't use the term 'cheap TEMCo wire'
afaik, that's good USA quality metals...

 

[Kanthal]

it bends ,warps, turns ashy on the first fire

 

[David1975]

What kind of Kayfun are you using? I've got a "few" of them, and one thing I've noticed is the center post (510 to + deck screw) sticks up on some. If your building the coil and keeping it too tight when you screw it down (hard to get the drill out...) you might want to let it a little looser. This way you can, after tightening the screw, pull it up a bit more, off the air intake screw. Another thing I have had before with coils is a wrap overlap another.... hit the fire button and FLASH, burnt coil. If you can upload a few pictures I'm more than happy to help. I'm not saying I'm an expert, but I do use Kayfuns 99% of the time...

 

[K_Tech]

What is the resistance of your coils, and when/how are they crumbling apart?

 

[Kanthal]

Could you post a picture of a "burned up coil"? I can't picture what this looks like.

Do you put your RDA/RTA on an ohm meter before you attach it to your mod and fire it? How many ohms is your build?

I can't take a picture of it now because I'm not digging in the trash. And the coil I have on it now is working fine.
.
I usually build around 1.0 to 1.2 ohms on my kayfun. I'm using Efest 18650 2500mah 35A

and yes i build it on a ohm reader deck but the ohm reader is a piece of crap and doesn't work half of the time.

 

[Kanthal]

What kind of Kayfun are you using? I've got a "few" of them, and one thing I've noticed is the center post (510 to + deck screw) sticks up on some. If your building the coil and keeping it too tight when you screw it down (hard to get the drill out...) you might want to let it a little looser. This way you can, after tightening the screw, pull it up a bit more, off the air intake screw. Another thing I have had before with coils is a wrap overlap another.... hit the fire button and FLASH, burnt coil. If you can upload a few pictures I'm more than happy to help. I'm not saying I'm an expert, but I do use Kayfuns 99% of the time...

I have the Smokejoy kayfun clone. Some unheard of manufacturer on Alibaba lol

Smokjoy Usa Top 1 Sales Kayfun Clone,Kayfun Lite 3.1/kayfun Plus - Buy Kayfun Clone,Kayfun Lite 3.1,Kayfun Plus Product on Alibaba.com not sure, but I think this is the one. There's no way of knowing since I bought it from a local B&M.

 

[Kanthal]

I'm thinking it's a short somewhere in the Kayfun. But I can't advise on that I as I have very limited experience with that atty. I'm sure someone will have some helpful feedback shortly though.

edit: Ok so wait a minute. You said that it would "bend" and crumble. When you say bend are you saying that the coil changes positions from where you put it? Is it going lower and touching something thus causing it to short out? Are you using cotton ball for wicking? Could it be that when you put that small chamber piece on and trying to get the cotton wicking where it should go you are pushing your coil down?

I always fire it without any cotton in it right after building it. That way I can squeeze it with the tweezers and make sure all the loops are tightly compressed. I used to do this method on my itaste SVD and the coils would never burn up. But now I'm doing the same method on mech mods... could this be why they are burning up on the first fire? I notice when I first fire it it's glowing much hotter that it ever did when using my SVD.

 

[Kanthal]

Maybe I shouldn't fire it without any cotton in it? I can make a video the next time I build a coil to show you what happens.

 

[K_Tech]

I always fire it without any cotton in it right after building it. That way I can squeeze it with the tweezers and make sure all the loops are tightly compressed. I used to do this method on my itaste SVD and the coils would never burn up. But now I'm doing the same method on mech mods... could this be why they are burning up on the first fire? I notice when I first fire it it's glowing much hotter that it ever did when using my SVD.

Yep. Depending on the resistance, you're just going to want to VERY quickly "pulse" the coil. That keeps it from getting TOO hot and disintegrating. Short, quick pulses to just get the coil glowing a bit on the orange side so that you can pinch/tweak them to your liking.

 

[Kanthal]

Yep. Depending on the resistance, you're just going to want to VERY quickly "pulse" the coil. That keeps it from getting TOO hot and disintegrating. Short, quick pulses to just get the coil glowing a bit on the orange side so that you can pinch/tweak them to your liking.

Okay, this seems to be the answer to why I keep destroying them. Usually after building a coil I will fire it without any cotton in it just as if I was taking a vape on it. Maybe I hold the button too long and just enjoy seeing it disintegrate...lol. From now on I won't hold the fire button down for 5 seconds let the coil burn so hot. I guess the problem has been solved. Thanks guys/girls.

 

[Cullin Kin]

It doesn't matter how beautiful the coils are, if any part of the coil or the leads is touching any part of the kayfun deck besides the posts it will cause a short. Usually a lead will snap, the coil becomes ashy looking, and they become very brittle/fragile.

Please post a photo. We like photo's here and they surely help diagnosis'.