Nickel allergy

[KurtVD]

What exactly is the deal with allergies and using NI200 wire to build coils? I can get light skin rashes from nickel belt buckles, but I don’t feel anything bad from vaping with nickel coils, in fact I prefer it for building. However maybe I’m not looking for the right symptoms, so here’s question: what are the symptoms, when someone’s allergic to nickel coils?

 

[Mordacai]

Hello @KurtVD, if I were you I'd probably err on the side of caution and avoid Nickel if I could.

May I ask, are you Temperature Controlled vaping?

 

[bombastinator]

The problem with allergy symptoms is they can vary wildly.

 

[KurtVD]

May I ask, are you Temperature Controlled vaping?

Yes, that's why I tried NI200 in the first place: my local vape shop sold/recommended it to me when I explained that I wanted to start vaping in TC mode. In retrospect, I wonder if he was out of SS wire, and that's why he recommended the nickel wire...who knows. But for me, I like it because it's easy to build, and I prefer the vapour I get with NI200 to SS316, although, I'm not 100% sure if I could actually tell the difference between the two in a blind test (the only two juices I vape are very sweet, I'm not sure if I taste anything else)

 

[Punk In Drublic]

Have you been tested for Nickel allergies or just drew that conclusion based on your experience with a nickel belt buckle? Also keep in mind the buckle maybe an alloy with nickel as a primary material. Possible some other ingredient is what caused your reaction.

What happens when the wire you use to vape is exposed to your skin?

 

[KurtVD]

Have you been tested for Nickel allergies or just drew that conclusion based on your experience with a nickel belt buckle? Also keep in mind the buckle maybe an alloy with nickel as a primary material. Possible some other ingredient is what caused your reaction.

What happens when the wire you use to vape is exposed to your skin?

No, I have never been tested, just get the light skin rashes. I once heard that nickel is the metal primarily used for items like belt buckles, but I have no idea if that's true.

What happens when the wire you use to vape is exposed to your skin?

Nothing, but that would be the same with the belt buckle: it needs to be in contact with the skin for hours in order to have an effect.

 

[Punk In Drublic]

No, I have never been tested, just get the light skin rashes. I once heard that nickel is the metal primarily used for items like belt buckles, but I have no idea if that's true.


Nothing, but that would be the same with the belt buckle: it needs to be in contact with the skin for hours in order to have an effect.

Wrap a little piece around your finger and wear it like a ring for a couple of hours, see if you react.

But in all honesty, if concerned or even suspect, you should get tested. Allergies can intensify with age. As a child I was sick twice within a short duration (like a year). First time was prescribed penicillin, no reaction. Second time, prescribed penicillin again, but this time I got a free ride in the colourful van with the lights and siren when my airways swelled, and I couldn’t breath.

 

[Mordacai]

You could try using Titanium instead.

 

[KurtVD]

You could try using Titanium instead.

Have you used it? How easy is it to bend? Compared to Ss316 an Ni200? Do you know what Gauge I need order with Titanium, to obtain an acceptable resistance (over 0.07) with a small coil? Small= 2.5mm and 5 or 6 wraps. (For example with Ni200, thicker than 28Ga isn’t enough, has Titanium higher resistance?)

 

[Punk In Drublic]

Have you used it? How easy is it to bend? Compared to Ss316 an Ni200? Do you know what Gauge I need order with Titanium, to obtain an acceptable resistance (over 0.07) with a small coil? Small= 2.5mm and 5 or 6 wraps. (For example with Ni200, thicker than 28Ga isn’t enough, has Titanium higher resistance?)

I use Titanium – I like it. The 24awg I have is very easy to work with. You can model a coil in Steam Engine to see what suites your needs. But it has a higher resistance and lower mass than Nickel given the same gauge. Similar to Nickel it can not be dry burned and should be used in a spaced coil.

 

[greek mule]

For single coil build,20 AWG
For dual coil build /24 AWG

 

[stols001]

First of all, I would buy a belt that you KNOW is made of nickel (although yeah warping it around you for a half day would do no harm.

I will bet almost any money that MOST belts may haven nickel IN them but also other metals too. You could be reacting to anything.

The next question becomes, how much nickel is leeching into your juice and tank. I BELEIVE the idea with TC and nickel is you don't want to overheat it due to nasty biproducts. So I remain uncertain how much nickel you are actually inhaling if you are using proper TC.

Contact allergies and inhalation allergies can be quite different. The problem is, one can cross over into the other frankly. so you really sort of need to be carerful.

My inclination would be to say go see an allergist and actually GET tested to any sensitivity to nickel. It's really the only way to be 100% sure. I would vape other wires in the meantime and see how you do getting used to them.

Sometime if you "start" with a particular wire it becomes preferred simply due to familiarity. Do some experimenting you yourself have said you are unsure if you can "really" taste a difference.

Also, I am not a doctor so I cant' tell you what to do.

This is what I would do in your shoes, however.

Anna

 

[Mordacai]

Not tried Ti yet, but I've some 26AWG Geekvape at one side already to go (setup as Titanium 1).

According to steam-engine.org, 5 wraps at 2.5mm ID should put you over 0.2 ohms.

 

[KurtVD]

Similar to Nickel, Titanium it can not be dry burned

Oh thanks for letting me know that. Now I will have to think again before buying Ti wire, since the one thing I really don’t like about Ni200 is that I can’t test my coils for hot and cold spots. Maybe I’ll switch to very thin SS316...

 

[Mordacai]

@KurtVD, that's for contact coils that you use in wattage. And dry burning is to supposedly remove surface contamination from the wire, but alters its TCR due to being heated. So when using TC, it's not advised.

Use a small jam jar half full of Isopropyl Alcohol to clean your coils, just drop them im and let them soak. Then take them out about 20 minutes before you need to use them and the Isopropyl Alcohol will evaporate.

For TC your coil needs to be spaced, so there are gaps between the wraps and they don't touch.

 

[KurtVD]

that's for contact coils that you use in wattage

Is it? Because the few times when I used SS316, even though I tried to build a spaced coil, I remember that I found a hot spot at least once. I agree that it shouldn't have been there, if I had built a better coil, but the good thing about checking is, that you can be sure.

For TC your coil needs to be spaced, so there are gaps between the wraps and they don't touch.

I know that, but I wonder how important this really is? Because, to obtain an acceptable resistance with Ni200 wire in my 22mm atomizer, I have to squeeze in a certain number of wraps (eg I can't leave large gaps), and once I insert the cotton, due the softness of the wire, it's unavoidable that some of the wraps touch each other. Yet I'm vaping in TC mode all the time and it seems to be working fine. I have a DNA 75 box and a Pico 75W running Arctic Fox, and they both seem to be handling these coils just the way they should.

 

[Mordacai]

They doesn't have to be a massive gap between wraps, just as long as they don't touch. It's just that where they touch, they can make a bridge and alter how the coil works and its resistance.

And I know exactly what you mean with coil distortion, it gets worse as wire gauge increases and wire diameter increases.

It can be a right pain with MTL, as when using TC and trying to get a high resistance. You end up using wire that's annoyingly small diameter and distorts very easily.

Best tip I can give you is to either use a needle, crochet hook, knitting needle or whatever you can lay your hands on to move the wraps apart a little after wicking.

Also, may we ask what atomiser you are using?

 

[puffon]

Haven't used it in 4 years but there is tempered Ni200 available.
A little easier to work with than annealed Ni200.
TEMPERED Nickel ni200 Wire