Pros and Cons of wire guage sizes

[Karim.S]

Hey Guys,

So what are the actual differences of thicker/thinner guage wire aside from achieving the desired ohm in a different way?

Benefits for example:
- Which guage is normally recommended for which resistance
- Which is cooler/warmer
- Which is more or less prone to spitback
- Which produces better flavour
- Cloud production etc

Thanks!

 

[steam heat]

Hello and welcome to the forum.... Its not so much about the wire but how you use it. If you like I'll elaborate a Lil but I'm sure a few others will chime in soon.

 

[mauricem00]

Hey Guys,

So what are the actual differences of thicker/thinner guage wire aside from achieving the desired ohm in a different way?

Benefits for example:
- Which guage is normally recommended for which resistance
- Which is cooler/warmer
- Which is more or less prone to spitback
- Which produces better flavour
- Cloud production etc

Thanks!

spend a little time playing on steam engine Coil wrapping wire gauge affects resistance and heat flux. I like a cool vape so I chose a coil that runs between 95 and 130 on my mechanical mods over the life of the battery.their is no one size of wire that is best for everything.the size of you build deck also influences what size coil to use.

 

[edyle]

Hey Guys,

So what are the actual differences of thicker/thinner guage wire aside from achieving the desired ohm in a different way?

Benefits for example:
- Which guage is normally recommended for which resistance
- Which is cooler/warmer
- Which is more or less prone to spitback
- Which produces better flavour
- Cloud production etc

Thanks!

use www.steam-engine.org

basically the fatter the wire, the more power you need to run it.

 

[Elvensilvan]

It's not only the wire gauge that determines the benefits ... but also the wire length, the type of coil, the type of mod, the atomizer, the battery ... and several other factors.

Be specific in your question, and you might get a more specific answer.

 

[Karim.S]

It's not only the wire gauge that determines the benefits ... but also the wire length, the type of coil, the type of mod, the atomizer, the battery ... and several other factors.

Be specific in your question, and you might get a more specific answer.

Dual coil, steamcrave aromamizer rdta and supreme, vw and tc mods for example coolfire plus and rx200.

Basically given all factors are adequate and equal, for instance if I build a dual .9 coil on a 3mm diameter with 26g and the same on a 28g, what will be the difference in performance given one wire is thicker and one is thinner?

 

[suprtrkr]

Dual coil, steamcrave aromamizer rdta and supreme, vw and tc mods for example coolfire plus and rx200.

Basically given all factors are adequate and equal, for instance if I build a dual .9 coil on a 3mm diameter with 26g and the same on a 28g, what will be the difference in performance given one wire is thicker and one is thinner?

Assuming you run them at the same wattage, the 28ga coil will have a hotter surface temperature. The 26ga coil will have a longer ramp time (take longer to make vapor) but it may not be noticeable depending on what wattage you run. Given identical resistances and mandrels, the 26 coil will be bigger in diameter and longer using more wraps.

It's not about the wire, it's about what you do with it. I find I use more 28ga than all others combined. But I also use it slick, in twists and in braids. I don't get into other gauges much, although I like 30 and 32 when coiling for my woman who likes higher resistances than I. I also like 30ga twists in the .5-.9 range as they are stiffer than 28ga slicks. I have no need for 26 and below because I usually don't vape at wattages appropriate for them.

Check out the thermal flux entries on Steam Engine. I like to keep my wraps between 4-10 and my surface thermal flux between 120-200. So I put in the resistance I want, adjust the mandrel to give the good wraps, then the wire size and form (slick, twist, parallel, whatever) to put the thermal flux where I want it. I sometimes go back and forth several times to get everything all working together. That's the coolest thing about Steam Engine: you don't have to build the coil to get a good idea of how it will perform.

 

[Grimwald]

In my experience, thicker (fatter) wire takes longer to ramp (heat) up. Or it takes more watts to ramp in a short period of time.

However, with thicker wire, you will get more wraps for the same ohms...so more surface area to vaporize liquid.

Then you get into number of coils, dual, triple, quad...which adds to the surface area but dramatically raises wattage needs and lowers battery time.

It's all a trade off between watts, surface area, ramp up time, battery time, juice usage...yada yada. Personal preference.

I prefer simple single coil devices using 30ga wire somewhere between 1-2 ohms. I only vape around 8 watts. But that's just me.

 

[K_Tech]

Lots of good advice coming in. I just wanted to add that aside from the math (which absolutely gives you a great idea of where you'll be) experimentation is the best way to find what your personal sweet spot is.
And keep in mind that a build will probably vary in performance from one atomizer to the next, because the dynamics of air flow are also a HUGE factor in your vape.
Wire's cheap, staying off cigarettes is PRICELESS!!

 

[markcfh]

Personally, I like a 22g dual build in a velocity clone, if I'm not using claptons/alien/etc. Its a lot of use, and preference. With the stuff you listed you should be familiar with building. Just experiment, its the best way to figure out what you want.

 

[IMFire3605]

Thicker the guage of wire and larger the coil (example 24awg)= Longer ramp up time, hotter coil which transfers to the mod as these hot coils cool down slow, excellent vapor production, more resilient coil that will last longer, with larger diameter coils you get more efficient wicking, lower resistance per inch

Thinner the guage of wire (example 30 or 32awg)= Short ramp up time and short cool down time, these are more in line for a mouth to lung tank/atomizer device, more prone to degrading quickly and very fragile, higher resistance per inch

 

[edyle]

Dual coil, steamcrave aromamizer rdta and supreme, vw and tc mods for example coolfire plus and rx200.

Basically given all factors are adequate and equal, for instance if I build a dual .9 coil on a 3mm diameter with 26g and the same on a 28g, what will be the difference in performance given one wire is thicker and one is thinner?

use www.steam-engine.org to compare the two.

If you build dual 0.9 ohm on 3mm with 26 gauge and 28 gauge, you will need more wraps on the 26 gauge than on the 28 gauge.

The 26 gauge, in this example would need a much higher wattage to run at.

Coil wrapping
26 gauge, 12 wraps, 80 watts

Coil wrapping
28 gauge, 8 wraps, 40 watts

 

[Two_Bears]

Hey Guys,

So what are the actual differences of thicker/thinner guage wire aside from achieving the desired ohm in a different way?

Benefits for example:
- Which guage is normally recommended for which resistance
- Which is cooler/warmer
- Which is more or less prone to spitback
- Which produces better flavour
- Cloud production etc

Thanks!

Thinner wire generally has higher resistance.

My favorite gauge is 25 or 26.

I dont care for 28 gauge and thinner.

RDAs and RTAs with post holes sometimes screws will cut 28 and thinner gauge wire. If you trap leads under screw heads such as Kayfun thin wire is fine.

 

[Ryedan]

Hey Guys,

So what are the actual differences of thicker/thinner guage wire aside from achieving the desired ohm in a different way?

@State O' Flux wrote some great blog posts on this subject. Here's one of them. Read that and you'll get a good primer on this stuff

Benefits for example:
- Which guage is normally recommended for which resistance
- Which is cooler/warmer
- Which is more or less prone to spitback
- Which produces better flavour
- Cloud production etc

Thanks!

If you've read State's blog you now know there is more to it than that and there is no one answer for any of your questions. Learning how to use the Steam Engine coil design calculator will really help you understand more about it all and State goes into how to use it in his blogs.

 

[Karim.S]

Thanks for all the useful info guys, I'm impressed. Much appreciated!