Re-buildable advice wanted

[Barefoot Joe]

I'm not new to SuperT, but am pretty ignorant when it comes to re-buildables. I just saw where the Simplicity 18350 and the Strata to top it showed up on the site....and pulled the trigger on both. I have actually been waiting for that particular combo to come up for sale, so I'm pretty stoked. Now for my questions...

Is it "Kanthal" wire that I want? If so, what gauge (28, 30, 32)? Is there a better choice of coil wire?

What do I need for wicking material.....cotton, synthetic? Does that come in a rope/string form?

Lastly, any suggestions of where to get this stuff would be appreciated.

Thanks for your time,

Joe B

 

[vapero]

I don't own a strata nor a simplicity but as with all rdas the gauge of the wire depends on the resistance you want to achieve
I'll go with a 28 and use just cotton (the one you buy at a pharmacy or supermarket) check out the http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...271-micro-coils-increase-vapor-flavor-th.html thread and learn
you will need a multimeter to test the ohms and battery voltage

I get the wire at ebay

 

[anavidfan]

Ditto on all the above....... Ebay, best place for all wire needs. Amazon now also carries most of the same providers for wire and you can order your cotton there too.')

 

[pAth77]

Joe, what resistance do you vape at? The answer to that will determine what gauge of wire you should get. I personally prefer working with thicker gauge wire (easier to coil, easier to dry burn, etc), but what works for me might not work for you. Give us a better idea of what you like, and we'll do our best to point you in the right direction.

As for wicking material, I've always been a proponent for organic cotton. But there's nothing wrong with good ole silica or ekowool.

 

[Barefoot Joe]

Joe, what resistance do you vape at? The answer to that will determine what gauge of wire you should get. I personally prefer working with thicker gauge wire (easier to coil, easier to dry burn, etc), but what works for me might not work for you. Give us a better idea of what you like, and we'll do our best to point you in the right direction.

As for wicking material, I've always been a proponent for organic cotton. But there's nothing wrong with good ole silica or ekowool.

Thanks all. I currently use a Precise+ 16340 and 18500, so 3.7 volts.....no change there with the Simplicity. I use HH 357 LR atomizers, 1.6 ohms I believe. I use TW juice, 100% PG most of the time. Occasionally I mix with a little VG, but not often, if that makes any difference.

I will check out the micro-coil thread. I'm not understanding how to use cotton (maybe the thread will answer that). I assumed you had to "wrap" the coil around something. Excuse my naivety.

addendum: I've checked out the thread and looked at a few YouTube videos. Looks like it's going to be dual micro coils and organic cotton at this point. Looks pretty "do-able" and functional to me.

 

[pAth77]

Your overall resistance will depend on the gauge of your wire and how much of that wire you use. Here is the resistance per inch for A-1 kanthal (from TemCo data sheets):

32g: 1.091 ohms/inch
30g: 0.696 ohms/inch
28g: 0.439 ohms/inch
26g: 0.275 ohms/inch

If your target is to build something close to your 1.6 ohm HHV, then you're better off with 30g (or maybe 28g). If you're going to build a micro coil, you will have much better results with the thicker gauges like 26g.

Personally, I wouldn't run a dual micro coil on an 18350 battery, unless you were above 1.0 ohm. In order to get that high you would need to build two 2.0 ohm coils, and you would probably need 32g. You could use lower gauges, but you would need to use a crapload of wire....and you would get a significant amount if lag time. Plus, building a micro using thin wire is not easy to do cleanly. If I were you, I would stick to a single coil when using an 18350.

 

[Barefoot Joe]

Your overall resistance will depend on the gauge of your wire and how much of that wire you use. Here is the resistance per inch for A-1 kanthal (from TemCo data sheets):

32g: 1.091 ohms/inch
30g: 0.696 ohms/inch
28g: 0.439 ohms/inch
26g: 0.275 ohms/inch

If your target is to build something close to your 1.6 ohm HHV, then you're better off with 30g (or maybe 28g). If you're going to build a micro coil, you will have much better results with the thicker gauges like 26g.

Personally, I wouldn't run a dual micro coil on an 18350 battery, unless you were above 1.0 ohm. In order to get that high you would need to build two 2.0 ohm coils, and you would probably need 32g. You could use lower gauges, but you would need to use a crapload of wire....and you would get a significant amount if lag time. Plus, building a micro using thin wire is not easy to do cleanly. If I were you, I would stick to a single coil when using an 18350.

Thanks for that.....I'm starting to catch on. Thicker wire has less resistance than a thinner wire assuming the length of the wire is the same. Add to that, a thinner wire will take more wraps to create a micro coil of a given length....thus more thinner wire = more resistance. Sounds like a thicker gauge (28 maybe) for a micro coil. Just as an estimate, what kind of resistance should I expect with 10 wraps of standard diameter from a micro coil of 28 gauge, 26 gauge, etc?

 

[pAth77]

There is no real standard diameter. People have assigned arbitrary diameters for what they consider to be nano coils, micro coils, mini coils, etc. I can't remember what their diameters are, but it's not a huge deal in my opinion. I generally vape a single coil at around 0.8-0.9 ohms. I use 7 wraps of 26g around a 3/32" nail, and I'm always in the 0.85 ohm range.

Edit: Just did some quick calculations for 10 wraps based on the size of my coils (3/32" ID):

28g: approx 1.45 ohms
26g: approx 0.95 ohms

 

[Barefoot Joe]

There is no real standard diameter. People have assigned arbitrary diameters for what they consider to be nano coils, micro coils, mini coils, etc. I can't remember what their diameters are, but it's not a huge deal in my opinion. I generally vape a single coil at around 0.8-0.9 ohms. I use 7 wraps of 26g around a 3/32" nail, and I'm always in the 0.85 ohm range.

Edit: Just did some quick calculations for 10 wraps based on the size of my coils (3/32" ID):

28g: approx 1.45 ohms
26g: approx 0.95 ohms

Wow, again, Thanks! Prior to your post I ordered some 26 and 28 gauge. I plan to try a single "micro-coil" with 10-12 wraps of the 26 gauge first, then may experiment with dual coils with the 28 gauge.

My basic understanding is that dual coils will essentially half the resistance of a similar single coil....is that right? Is so, based on the values you provided, 2 coils of 28 gauge with about 13 wraps would give a resistance of about 1 ohm. I'm just trying to cement how this basically works in my mind. In the end, I'm sure it will be trial and error as to what I like, but this sure has given me a good starting point (and possibly an ending point).

 

[pAth77]

...My basic understanding is that dual coils will essentially half the resistance of a similar single coil....is that right?...

That is correct.

...2 coils of 28 gauge with about 13 wraps would give a resistance of about 1 ohm. I'm just trying to cement how this basically works in my mind...

Remember, the resistance will depend on how much wire you use. A 13 wrap coil that has a diameter of 1/16" will have a lower resistance than a 13 wrap coil that has a diameter of 1/8". Try not to think about it from the perspective of how many wraps your coil is. That is only half of the equation. I remember that recently, someone posted a resistance calculator based on the type/gauge of wire, coil size, number of wraps, etc. Hopefully someone here can re-post it for you because it will definitely help you out when you start building.

 

[Riverboat]

28g: approx 1.45 ohms
26g: approx 0.95 ohms

Since I Kick my mods I use a 3.0ohm HH............So tell me what gauge wire/wraps would I need for a 3.0ohm coil?

 

[pAth77]

Since I Kick my mods I use a 3.0ohm HH............So tell me what gauge wire/wraps would I need for a 3.0ohm coil?

Since you kick your mods, I'm guessing that it's not quite as relevant. Setting your kick to "x" watts means that it won't really matter what your resistance is; the kick will always adjust the voltage in order to get you to your desired power. But for the sake of answering your question, I would recommend that you use either 32g (1.091 ohms/in) or 34g (1.759 ohms/in). In order to achieve 3.0 ohms, you would need 2.75" and 1.70" of wire, respectively. Using thicker gauge wire will require you to use way too much length (e.g. You would need 6.8" of 28g and a whopping 10.9" of 26g in order to reach 3.0 ohms!). That substantial length of wire will take forever to heat up. It does not matter what your coil diameter is. You could wrap a super-nano-mini-micro coil with a diameter of 1/128" or you could wrap a mega 1" diameter coil...as long as you use 2.75" of 34g kanthal, you will always get a 3.0 ohm coil. I personally do not like working with thin wire. It does not hold its shape as nicely as the thicker gauges.

 

[mitchob123]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...ZmxrT1cwU3Zsa1lJMFdpUW5MSFE&usp=sharing#gid=0

coil resistance calculator. Youre still going to need a multimeter though to make sure you dont have any shorts etc...

 

[Barefoot Joe]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...ZmxrT1cwU3Zsa1lJMFdpUW5MSFE&usp=sharing#gid=0

coil resistance calculator. Youre still going to need a multimeter though to make sure you dont have any shorts etc...

Very cool, and potentially very useful! Only problem is I can't get it to work. I have tied in Google docs and downloaded it as an excel file and opened it in excel. I am able to change the variables of wire type, gauge, etc, but it does not give me a calculated resistance. Could be something i am doing wrong? Educate me!

 

[snork]

Since I Kick my mods I use a 3.0ohm HH............So tell me what gauge wire/wraps would I need for a 3.0ohm coil?

I have a thought for you.
I know you like the 3 ohm HH better than an LR HH. I also like a 3 ohm HH better (but they both blow chunks IMO).

I think you're going to find that it won't be necessary to go 3 ohm on a good rebuildable. The reasons a 3 ohm HH is better don't equate.

 

[Riverboat]

I have a thought for you.
I know you like the 3 ohm HH better than an LR HH. I also like a 3 ohm HH better (but they both blow chunks IMO).

I think you're going to find that it won't be necessary to go 3 ohm on a good rebuildable. The reasons a 3 ohm HH is better don't equate.

So @ what ohms are your RBA's coils built...Assuming that I will be using a Kick2....suggestion??

 

[snork]

It won't matter too much if you're using a Kick. But what you're going to see is the power *you* will have over the coverage your coil has over the length of the wick, depending on the gauge of the wire, diameter of the coil/wick, and closeness of the wraps. Fun stuff.

 

[Riverboat]

It won't matter too much if you're using a Kick. But what you're going to see is the power *you* will have over the coverage your coil has over the length of the wick, depending on the gauge of the wire, diameter of the coil/wick, and closeness of the wraps. Fun stuff.

I am so confused since I am a novice coil builder.....
I guess it will be a learning experience......Fun-not sure about that?

 

[pAth77]

You might realize that once you start rebuilding, you won't find the need for a Kick anymore. One thing that might help us out in helping you out is what wattage you currently vape at. Knowing that will help us narrow down where you should start.

And don't worry, we have a lot of experienced builders here that will help you out along the way.

 

[Tinben]

I am so glad you started this thread. I have never owned a rebuildable. I really want to pull the trigger on a strata for my P+18350. I just wonder how it would compare to a Empire Mods 1.5 atty in flavor and performance. It seems to me that it's all about the right wire and wicking material.
I am still torn on what to do.