Protank MicroCoil Discussion!!

[bover907]

I haven't been back to the thread in a week or so, but I just want to share what I do, since my arthritis greatly affected my ability to keep constant tension from the spool to the coil with the method Mac demonstrated so eloquently. The result of my losses of tension would be one to two spaces in each 10 wrap coil.

What I do now to counteract this problem is simply have my wife hold the spool for me, so I can use both hands to maintain constant tension on my .07" screwdriver. So, I tape the end to the screwdriver handle, have my wife hold the spool, and just tell here to maintain tension and hold it still while I wind the coil. (I do use the cut eraser to keep my Kanthal spool from springing unwound on me, btw).

This has worked out great for us. Seeing as my wife also vapes, and has no interest in re-wicking or recoiling heads, (hubby has to do all that. She's just a plug and play vaper, lol) holding the kanthal spool is her contribution to the re-building process. I've made nothing but perfect tmc's since starting to do it this way. And these "tug of wars" are that much more quality time in our otherwise busy lives, lol. Hope this helps out anyone who deals with as much everyday hand pain as I do.

 

[MacTechVpr]

I haven't been back to the thread in a week or so, but I just want to share what I do, since my arthritis greatly affected my ability to keep constant tension from the spool to the coil with the method Mac demonstrated so eloquently. The result of my losses of tension would be one to to spaces in each 10 wrap coil.

What I do now to counteract this problem is simply have my wife hold the spool for me, so I can use both hands to maintain constant tension on my .07" screwdriver. So, I tape the end to the screwdriver handle, have my wife hold the spool, and just tell here to maintain tension and hold it still while I wind the coil. (I do use the cut eraser to keep my Kanthal spool from springing unwound on me, btw).

This has worked out great for us. Seeing as my wife also vapes, and has no interest in re-wicking or recoiling heads, (hubby has to do all that. She's just a plug and play vaper, lol) holding the kanthal spool is her contribution to the re-building process. I've made nothing but perfect tmc's since starting to do it this way. And these "tug of wars" are that much more quality time in our otherwise busy lives, lol. Hope this helps out anyone who deals with as much everyday hand pain as I do.

Bov, God bless you both for your love and tenacity. I'm inspired.

Good luck.

 

[MacTechVpr]

I dunno if this has been covered or not. But can the dual coil PT3 heads be rebuilt as a single coil??? I have never bought one so I have not looked at the heads.

Not meaning to ignore you G. I know I ran across a pretty good video on rebuilding with a single. Perhaps at a vendor site. Can be done and the results good. Nextel and a contact coil with their improved flow and power handling, well I can attest to that and now many more on this thread and others. I'm lookin' forward to the vapeathon on the FDA's lawn.



Good luck.

p.s. I'll post if I find later. Headin' out to a meet up.

 

[brookj1986]

Mac, how does one make a tensioned parallel coil? I struggle with the twisted ones too. The spool is key for my current efforts. If I built a coiling machine, probably would have no issue with these.

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[MacTechVpr]

Mac, how does one make a tensioned parallel coil? I struggle with the twisted ones too. The spool is key for my current efforts. If I built a coiling machine, probably would have no issue with these.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk.

It'll be the short answer tonight brook but it's fairly simple. For winding thicker gauges or twisted I use a needle nose or vise grips to the required pre-cut length of wire or doubled wire in the case of t/p. Either sit on a chair and hold it between your knees or thighs and wind downward towards the tool. Mouth of the vice grips pointing up from the knees is better.

Laying down parallel is not much different than single straight wire. Same principles apply which repel the adjacent wire. It helps to keep the section of wire short. Make sure that they issue in parallel from the vice grip (not crossed, no kinks). I did my first one easily with adhesion the first time. A bit more force but not too much. After the first couple I had a spell where I was snapping the wires frequently. Back under control now and retrained on just how much tension is required for adhesion. It's not as much as folks think.

Give it a try you'll enjoy the result. Lookin at my last build now.

Good luck.

 

[brookj1986]

It'll be the short answer tonight brook but it's fairly simple. For winding thicker gauges or twisted I use a needle nose or vise grips to the required pre-cut length of wire or doubled wire in the case of t/p. Either sit on a chair and hold it between your knees or thighs and wind downward towards the tool. Mouth of the vice grips pointing up from the knees is better.

Laying down parallel is not much different than single straight wire. Same principles apply which repel the adjacent wire. It helps to keep the section of wire short. Make sure that they issue in parallel from the vice grip (not crossed, no kinks). I did my first one easily with adhesion the first time. A bit more force but not too much. After the first couple I had a spell where I was snapping the wires frequently. Back under control now and retrained on just how much tension is required for adhesion. It's not as much as folks think.

Give it a try you'll enjoy the result. Lookin at my last build now.

Good luck.

Thank you sir. My wood chair has some deep gashes in it from attempting this in the past. I'll try doing it while sitting on the edge of my couch. May work better. Which side of the parallel do you put in the vise grips?

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[MacTechVpr]

Thank you sir. My wood chair has some deep gashes in it from attempting this in the past. I'll try doing it while sitting on the edge of my couch. May work better. Which side of the parallel do you put in the vise grips?

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk.

I'm using a pin vise more often these days brook. The screwdriver's a demo so newcomers know where to start. I prefer to grip the loop and insert the two wires in the collet. I suppose you could tape the two loose ends to a small screwdriver in a pinch. But you really need a good handhold and steady rotation for parallel.

I recently picked up this one (up to 3mm) and it turned out to be fairly good, better than I expected...

Brass Rubber Handled Swivel Head Pin Vise 4 Sizes Of Chucks

They're available all over but I can't attest to the quality.

Good luck.

 

[brookj1986]

I'm using a pin vise more often these days brook. The screwdriver's a demo so newcomers know where to start. I prefer to grip the loop and insert the two wires in the collet. I suppose you could tape the two loose ends to a small screwdriver in a pinch. But you really need a good handhold and steady rotation for parallel.

I recently picked up this one (up to 3mm) and it turned out to be fairly good, better than I expected...

Brass Rubber Handled Swivel Head Pin Vise 4 Sizes Of Chucks

They're available all over but I can't attest to the quality.

Good luck.

PIN vise has been my go to. Got a decent one for $10 on Amazon. Has been doing the trick. Just ordered some metric drill blanks. 1.8 mm, 2 mm, 1 that's just under 1/8 inch for macro coils, and one that's a #57 (roughly 0.8mm for nano micro coils). Should have them in a week or so. Probably around the time I'll start messing around with parallels and re-try tension wraps with twisted wire as well.

As always, thank you for the info. Will post my good results as usual.

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[Taowulf]

I dunno if this has been covered or not. But can the dual coil PT3 heads be rebuilt as a single coil??? I have never bought one so I have not looked at the heads.

Absolutely. Do it all the time. Or you can build them as a dual coil.

Sent from underwater with my Kyocera Hydro via Tapatalk

 

[LazyBulldogge]

Coiling Gizmo is working wonders for my hands here
Silicone grommets/my abilities still require, that I compress the coils a bit after installing them in the coil heads, but I can live with that.
And in addition to that, I've got one of these on the way: https://www.fasttech.com/p/1655800 - tweezers with ceramic tips, so you can compress as you heat up the coil. Looking forward to seeing how that works out, but I reckon it should ease the process even more

 

[M_DuBb716]

Internet's been out for a few days.. Well a couple of days ago my eVic took a crap (squished/deformed/stretched O-Ring on the 510 pin), and yesterday I finally got my 1st mechanical mod... The CRONUS Clone!! I'm really liking it so far (with my protank), still getting used to the firing from the bottom, and how heavy it is..
Now I can do some real crazy builds!! I've been thinking about drilling out the air holes on my Protank 2's Airflow Controller.

 

[Alter]

I drilled out my Kanger airflow adapter with 1/16 bit and it works much better than I anticipated. I now have a huge difference in controlling the air than I did with the smaller holes it had. I can now vape .6 ohm coils in my protank without it getting the burny taste I was getting with a stock base or the adapter. That burny taste IMO was the coil getting too hot from not enough air passing by the coil and burning the juice onto the coil, but thats now fixed and I'm a happy camper. You have to wash it real good and get all the metal bits out or you won't get the ring to spin. I held the base of the adapter with pliers and spun the ring with a straight screwdriver to get it to spin after I drilled it out.

 

[Garemlin]

Absolutely. Do it all the time. Or you can build them as a dual coil.

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Good to know. I guess the process would be the same as a PTII head.

Tap'd from my LG G2

 

[brookj1986]

I drilled out my Kanger airflow adapter with 1/16 bit and it works much better than I anticipated. I now have a huge difference in controlling the air than I did with the smaller holes it had. I can now vape .6 ohm coils in my protank without it getting the burny taste I was getting with a stock base or the adapter. That burny taste IMO was the coil getting too hot from not enough air passing by the coil and burning the juice onto the coil, but thats now fixed and I'm a happy camper. You have to wash it real good and get all the metal bits out or you won't get the ring to spin. I held the base of the adapter with pliers and spun the ring with a straight screwdriver to get it to spin after I drilled it out.

Hmm. Never thought of this. Always thought that the burnt flavor I'd get was from too much wattage, not enough juice to counteract. Didn't think more airflow would be the cure. Will have to test this. Just need to find my correct drill bit.

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[MacTechVpr]

Coiling Gizmo is working wonders for my hands here
Silicone grommets/my abilities still require, that I compress the coils a bit after installing them in the coil heads, but I can live with that.
And in addition to that, I've got one of these on the way: https://www.fasttech.com/p/1655800 - tweezers with ceramic tips, so you can compress as you heat up the coil. Looking forward to seeing how that works out, but I reckon it should ease the process even more

LB you'll be very pleased with the tweezers. Between that and the coilers the coil making process will become pretty seamless. In the middle though lies the treacherous ground of slippery grommets. It's become a major problem challenging all the methods we write about here. But I will emphasize one thing…bear in mind that balancing the tension of the wind is what it's mainly about. As you set keep examining your coil and mildly tensioning with fingertips both leads as you push in grommet and pin. This will help.

I've done many dozen's of builds with partners in my study and others over the past few weeks. It's more important than ever to recall that symmetry and tension go hand-in hand.

Good luck LB. Enjoy the vape.

 

[MacTechVpr]

Hmm. Never thought of this. Always thought that the burnt flavor I'd get was from too much wattage, not enough juice to counteract. Didn't think more airflow would be the cure. Will have to test this. Just need to find my correct drill bit.

Quite probable with cotton particularly above 10W. It just doesn't have the flow rate in small coils for that, speaking from my own limited experience in testing it for the KPT. But more typically a burnt taste in a clearo is in the main, a short. The usual suspect. Insufficient airflow will flood ya, not usually burn ya. But applying to much power without air under those circumstances and all bets are off.

I do like the drilling out part on the aero bases. Cheap enough experiment to try. If only they weren't made so cheaply.

Good luck all.

 

[brookj1986]

Quite probable with cotton particularly above 10W. It just doesn't have the flow rate in small coils for that, speaking from my own limited experience in testing it for the KPT. But more typically a burnt taste in a clearo is in the main, a short. The usual suspect. Insufficient airflow will flood ya, not usually burn ya. But applying to much power without air under those circumstances and all bets are off.

I do like the drilling out part on the aero bases. Cheap enough experiment to try. If only they weren't made so cheaply.

Good luck all.

I drilled out the holes. Turned from my normal 9.5 watts to 11 (which is normally where I get a slight burn taste) left the air holes wide open (normally close them down a bit too try to get more juice, not realizing this could be limiting it)

No issues and great vapor. Interesting.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk.

 

[MacTechVpr]

Good to know. I guess the process would be the same as a PTII head.

Tap'd from my LG G2

If you want to go dual a much more efficient near equivalent would be to go twisted-pair wire. Say 32 AWG yielding the equiv resistance as 28 AWG but with more coverage area (for the same res). I'll have to work out an example of this as it's been a while. A larger wick and so the advanced technique of locating a larger diameter after wicking like 5/64" would be useful. Eko and Nextel are ideal candidates for this. So I powerful cool tensioned twisted pair could be very interesting. The downside for 28 AWG or t/p 32 AWG is difficulty terminating. Not as difficult as duals but you get more hangers which can ruin your vape. I limey the idea tho.

Good luck.

 

[brookj1986]

On a completely unrelated note, Mac, your micro coil techniques have taken my drippers to a new level. Just got a good Helios clone. Wonderful dual coil 0.8 ohm 28 gauge. Dripping NicoTicket peanut butter cookie with a little Frenilla mixed in... One of the better vapes I've ever had.

Sorry, I know off topic, but I owe those beautiful coils to the tensioned techniques I learned for the pt

Eventually, it will turn into a quad build... Love the T post, makes life so easy.

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[Taowulf]

Dual coil for a PT3, works great, awesome flavor. I've been using it since Friday of last week, 1.18Ω.

That was the best angle I could get, from the top you can only see one coil.

Edited to change to link. Uploading to ECF reduces the size far too much.