Questions about sub ohm coils and wicks

[Anthony Hannah]

Today I bought a stillare rda and I have no experience with the proper maintenance and use of these types of atomizers. I am using it on my iPV 2s boxmod. I want to know everything about the different methods of making coils and wicks, which materials to use, and how often these materials should be replaced or adjusted. For starters, how often should I change the coils/wicks and what are some sure signs of a bad coil/wick?

I found this site by typing that question in to google and the thread I found wasn't very helpful. The answerers only indicated that there are many different answers to that question.

Right now I am using 26g kanthal wire and organic cotton for wicks. Any info or links would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mikey6]

There are literally thousands of ways to coil and wick. For use on an ipv2 I would start with about 10-12 wraps on a 2mm bit and then feed the cotton through. You want a little resistance but not so much to where it is hard to pull through. But first things first watch YouTube. There are plenty of build tutorials out there on the interweb for the taking. Aim for about 1-1.5 ohms to start.

 

[Lessifer]

Hi, welcome to ECF! Unfortunately there are a lot of different answers to those questions. In general(for me), coils need to be dry burned whenever the performance drops due to gunk build up, and that's when the wicks get changed. A coil can last me months without needing a new one, but I don't run super low sub ohm, usually around 0.7-1.0.

As for types of coils, I really like a single micro coil for my every day vape. That would be 8-10 wraps on a 1/16" drill bit, wraps tightly wound together(touching), placed as close to the air hole as possible. One of the best parts of rebuildables is experimenting and finding your favorite setup.

You won't be able to post in the other areas until you get your first five posts in(replies count). But you may want to check out this area: Rebuildable Atomizer Systems

or here Coil Builds

 

[The Ocelot]

Hi, welcome to ECF! Unfortunately there are a lot of different answers to those questions. In general(for me), coils need to be dry burned whenever the performance drops due to gunk build up, and that's when the wicks get changed. A coil can last me months without needing a new one, but I don't run super low sub ohm, usually around 0.7-1.0.

As for types of coils, I really like a single micro coil for my every day vape. That would be 8-10 wraps on a 1/16" drill bit, wraps tightly wound together(touching), placed as close to the air hole as possible. One of the best parts of rebuildables is experimenting and finding your favorite setup.

You won't be able to post in the other areas until you get your first five posts in(replies count). But you may want to check out this area: Rebuildable Atomizer Systems

or here Coil Builds

u haz beated me.

 

[Anthony Hannah]

There are literally thousands of ways to coil and wick. For use on an ipv2 I would start with about 10-12 wraps on a 2mm bit and then feed the cotton through. You want a little resistance but not so much to where it is hard to pull through. But first things first watch YouTube. There are plenty of build tutorials out there on the interweb for the taking. Aim for about 1-1.5 ohms to start.

right now my device says im running 0.4 ohms.

I did watch a very good build tutorial on youtube posted by Abby Vapes

I believe you about there being thousands of ways. since i have started looking into this just today I have been overloaded with information. What would really help is if someone could help me narrow down the different coil/wicking methods by maybe grouping them into different categories and explaining some of the pro's and con's of each. I have no idea how reasonable this request is since I don't know much about this yet.

Another thing that would be helpful is if I could hear some things others have tried that worked well.

Also my original question: When should the coil be changed? When should the wick be changed?

 

[Anthony Hannah]

Hi, welcome to ECF! Unfortunately there are a lot of different answers to those questions. In general(for me), coils need to be dry burned whenever the performance drops due to gunk build up, and that's when the wicks get changed. A coil can last me months without needing a new one, but I don't run super low sub ohm, usually around 0.7-1.0.

As for types of coils, I really like a single micro coil for my every day vape. That would be 8-10 wraps on a 1/16" drill bit, wraps tightly wound together(touching), placed as close to the air hole as possible. One of the best parts of rebuildables is experimenting and finding your favorite setup.

Thanks! Thats really helpful. Especially the advice about dry burning

 

[Lessifer]

Thanks! Thats really helpful. Especially the advice about dry burning

Darker/sweeter juices will gunk your coils faster. I usually go 3-5 days between dry burns. What kind of coil build are you using now?

 

[Mikey6]

For the 0.4 build how did you coil it? And I've tried a ton of builds-Clapton, stove top, parallel, macro, micro, twisted, nano, heck even a zipper build. I have found my sweet spot to be right there at 0.4 on a mech, dual coil 26g 6 wraps on a 2.5 mm bit. In my tugboat v2 it's a nice warm flavorful vape.

I use a lot of custard and sweeter flavors right now and that really gunks up the coils so I pull out my wick, dry burn, and pop a new wick in just about every night. That usually only takes about 5 minutes, 10 if I'm being super .... about scrubbing and quenching the coils to get them nice and super clean again.

It's really just a taste thing with the builds though. Some like higher resistance, some like lower. You may get lucky and find something you like quick or it could take time. I recommended a higher build simply because the increased coil surface area will lend to more Vapor, flavor and throat hit and because the regulated device can be easily adjusted to any wattage you want to try.

 

[SndGrdn]

Ok, here is what I have gathered over the past couple of months...

Super Nano = wrapped around a sewing needle
Nano = wrapped around a 1/16 drill bit
Micro = wrapped around a 5/64 drill bit
Macro = wrapped around a 5/32 drill bit

I have been on a twisted kick lately...which mean you take two or more wires and twisted them together with a drill...this will lower the resistance of the wire so that your ramp up time will be quicker and the vape will get hotter faster...One thing to remember is that if your coils turn red while hitting they are not making vape anymore.

Wicking and Airflow are also major considerations....youtube is your friend...do searches and watch as many as you can...

 

[MR. Mad]

just check out you tube it will keep your head spinning with the different types of coils

 

[Ayloxs]

What would really help is if someone could help me narrow down the different coil/wicking methods by maybe grouping them into different categories and explaining some of the pro's and con's of each. I have no idea how reasonable this request is since I don't know much about this yet.

Another thing that would be helpful is if I could hear some things others have tried that worked well.

Also my original question: When should the coil be changed? When should the wick be changed?

Some general rules I've found:
-Thinner wire=more resistance per inch. As you go thinner, it will heat faster with less energy, making the battery last longer.
-Thicker wire=more surface area. As you go thicker, it will require more energy to heat, so it will heat AND cool slower.
-The higher the watts, the more vapor you get. Remember to use the safest batteries possible!
-Flavor is more dependant on coil temperature. Overheating ruins flavor, and produces chemicals you don't want to inhale.
-Flavor and vapor increase as the total surface area of the coils increases.

For my daily vaping, I prefer to take 5-ish second drags, and I don't like waiting for the coils to heat. 28 gauge at around 1.2 ohms puts me where I like to be. I happen to like wrapping around a 3/32 inch punch. I put the hexagonal end of the punch into a vise, then hold 1 end of the wire with pliers and use my bare hand to wrap the coil. This makes very consistent coils for me.

For when I want tons of vapor,24 gauge wire is better. Now, I use dual parallel coils for that, but that's a little more difficult. If you use a 1/8" punch (or screwdriver) and do 6-10 wraps per coil, it shouldn't be lower than about 0.3 ohms. Again, the safest batteries are required for these builds especially. Also I would never fire a coil, especially a low-ohm coil, without checking it on a multimeter. You can buy one for about $20 on Amazon that accepts RDAs.

As far as replacement, when the wick gets charred, it won't let the juice flow, so I like to keep my wicks fairly fresh. When my cotton is dead, it rips in half when I try to pull it out but I like to change it before that (so it tastes better). I re-wick my coils multiple times. If they're gunked up, I take the cotton out, fire them until orange, then stop firing and immediately touch each coil under running cold water. The gunk jumps right off. Make sure you let it dry thoroughly before using again.

So that's what works for me. Hope it's helpful. Vape safe!

Edit: Almost forgot! This calculator is really useful for "inventing" coils without too much trial-and-error:

http://www.steam-engine.org/coil.asp?

I use it a lot lot lot.

 

[bulldog63h]

Your coil can last a month or more easily. Your wick should be changed every 1-5 days. Pay attention to flavor changes with the wick. That'll tell you when to change your wick better than anything else. When the flavor drops off, put a new wick in.
As far as coil design and size, play with it a bit. Try new designs and different sizes for each design. You'll find some you like better than others. That's a large part of the fun with rebuildables. Have fun with it and let us know what you try and what you think of each one.

 

[Anthony Hannah]

For the 0.4 build how did you coil it? And I've tried a ton of builds-Clapton, stove top, parallel, macro, micro, twisted, nano, heck even a zipper build. I have found my sweet spot to be right there at 0.4 on a mech, dual coil 26g 6 wraps on a 2.5 mm bit. In my tugboat v2 it's a nice warm flavorful vape.

I use a lot of custard and sweeter flavors right now and that really gunks up the coils so I pull out my wick, dry burn, and pop a new wick in just about every night. That usually only takes about 5 minutes, 10 if I'm being super .... about scrubbing and quenching the coils to get them nice and super clean again.

It's really just a taste thing with the builds though. Some like higher resistance, some like lower. You may get lucky and find something you like quick or it could take time. I recommended a higher build simply because the increased coil surface area will lend to more Vapor, flavor and throat hit and because the regulated device can be easily adjusted to any wattage you want to try.

I wish I could be specific. The coil build I'm using now was done by the salesman at the vapor shop. I can tell you that he used 26g kanthal wire and he wrapped it 4 times around a random screwdriver. I could not tell you the diameter.

Also I'm running two coils, one on each side of my posts. I suppose what you call parallel?

The flavor I'm using is called honey qq. Its pretty sweet and its 80% VG
Concerning flavors you said you liked custard and sweet flavors. I read this earlier today and I wanted to share it with you although I hope I'm not being redundant or telling you something you already know. I just know I would hope someone would tell me. The guy at the vapor shop certainly didn't..

This is from a thread about sub ohm vaping risks:

Buttery flavors
It seems reasonable to add a specific note on butter/creamy flavors here. Diacetyl or a similar substitute is present in some flavors, and it is likely that other materials in this flavor group have exactly the same issues as diacetyl, since they are all fairly similar molecules. Because of the sheer volume of liquid consumed and the volume of vapor created by sub-ohming, all issues related to refill liquid safety are magnified. Previously it was considered that consumption of 10ml of refill liquid per day was high; now there are rumors that some sub-ohmers may even consume 20ml a day and run 80 watts or more.

Until more information is available, our advice is that all butter/cream type flavors are avoided for sub-ohm use (inhalation of the butter-popcorn-custard flavoring diacetyl can cause the irreversible degenerative lung disease bronchiolitis obliterans, aka 'popcorn lung').

This warning is not pure speculation:
A research study has already indicated that the vapor created by high-power vaping contains more potentially toxic compounds
Dr Farsalinos' recent study reports that a very high percentage of cream-type flavors contain diacetyl even when the vendor claims there is none present
He states that 7 out of 10 vendors who claim there is no diacetyl in their products are not correct
It looks as if diacetyl is now being used widely as a flavor enhancer like MSG in food, as so many products contain it
What vendors say is clearly irrelevant - the only proof is a test certificate with a negative result
An additional issue is that most GC-MS systems may not be sensitive enough to detect the adulterant, it requires a specialist HPLC test according to experts

 

[Anthony Hannah]

For when I want tons of vapor,24 gauge wire is better. Now, I use dual parallel coils for that, but that's a little more difficult. If you use a 1/8" punch (or screwdriver) and do 6-10 wraps per coil, it shouldn't be lower than about 0.3 ohms. Again, the safest batteries are required for these builds especially. Also I would never fire a coil, especially a low-ohm coil, without checking it on a multimeter. You can buy one for about $20 on Amazon that accepts RDAs

I have a standard multimeter, but what are you saying I should measure with it? The resistance? My box actually tells me the current resistance, but are you saying I shouldn't trust that, or are you saying I should measure something else on the coil?

 

[Mikey6]

Anthony- don't worry about being redundant, that's how we thick headed people learn the stuff about the things Haha. Things like diketones, battery safety, and chemical breakdown are perfectly repeatable in my eyes. I know there are some risks when it comes to the creamy flavors and I do take that into consideration when I'm buying juices.

And for the ohm meter box - it basically is just an ohm meter like on a DMM but more accurate and dedicated to atomizer. Any decent one will have a 510 connection to screw the atomizer in, and Some of them even have different adaptors for checking battery voltage or other styles of atomizers. Check out your favorite vape supply website and they are about $10-20

 

[SndGrdn]

Also I'm running two coils, one on each side of my posts. I suppose what you call parallel?

Actually that would be called dual coils.

Parallel coils are when you use two or more wires next to each other then do your wraps...Basically giving you two separate coils in the same post on your atty.

 

[ProjektMayhem]

Definitely read up about rebuildables. It took me a few weeks of research before I actually felt like I was ready to go out and buy my first RDA. Even when I got it with all the knowledge I was still pretty nervous about it because of reading about battery safety. Definitely get an ohm reader if you don't have one. A mod that tells you resistance is good enough until you get a real ohm reader. But go to Rip Trippers' YouTube channel and watch some videos of his coil builds. Or go to RiPTrippers. And if you don't get tha phat cloudz or whatever at first, practice makes perfect.

 

[Slaughtercult]

Thats very interesting about the Diacetyl, I knew nothing about that at all.

 

[Madcuzbad87]

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...ughts-about-sub-ohm-latest-vv-vw-devices.html

This is a really long read, however it is extremely informative for someone who is using a high watt box mod. Sub-Ohming doesn't really matter with a Regulated Mod because you are at a constant power until your battery drains. Sub-Ohming was/is important for Mech mod users because of the limitations that their battery/mod presented to them. I would take the time to read the about thread, and really take in the information presented. I'm going to be giving a 2.0-2.2Ohm dual coil build a try with my Sigelei 100w Plus and see my results. The information in that thread is backed up by a lot of science and knowledge. Using a Regulated device is different from using a non-regulated device.

 

[Ayloxs]

I have a standard multimeter, but what are you saying I should measure with it? The resistance? My box actually tells me the current resistance, but are you saying I shouldn't trust that, or are you saying I should measure something else on the coil?

Yup, I meant check the resistance. I'd imagine you can trust your box, do you know its margin of error? You could always check your setup with your standard meter, then check it on the box to see if it's the same. Call me paranoid, but I really don't like the idea of a battery bursting in my face.