I have actually been on the search for the same thing. I am heavily into RBAs (mianly silica, as mesh is a little to fiddly for my liking, personal preference). I have always used nichrome 34 gauge and i also have some kanthal 32 gauge (which i got for when i was messing about with genesis RBAs). So before i get into the comparision, the device i used to test the different setups on are a provari V2 and a GP spheroid V2 with 70/30 PG/VG menthol juice (DIY)
I have read a lot of people get a slight metallic taste from nichrome, never really notices as i usually torch my wick and coil, then i dry burn it till it stops smoking (in 2-6 second intervals depending on how much smoke im still getting off it).
So to test the claims i tried my kanthal 32 gauge in my Spheroid. Made a 5 wrap on 3mm silica, so it came out around 1.9ohm (off memory). Did the usual routine that i do with nichrome and i have to admit, the flavor was a little more crisp but the vapor was lacking (i do like the big plumes of vapor
). I was running it at 4v.
i gave it some run in time and the vapor was just not as full as i am used to.
I rebuilt another spheroid with my 34 gauge nichrome at 5 wraps on 3mm silica and it came out at 2- 2.1 ohms (usual routine, torch, dry burn etc) flavor seems to be slightly muted (just ever so slightly, its barely noticeable unless i was searching for it) compared to the kanthal but the vapor and heat is much better.
I also tried it on my ERA and on the reo grand. Kanthal 32 gauge - 4 wrap 1.5ohms Nichrome 34 gauge - 3 wrap 1.4 ohms. Used the Reo kicked at 8watts and the nichrome was performing better again.
Maybe nichrome is better suited to silica wicks? but i don't see how as its just used as a heat delivery system and should therefore heat in the same way. I am using miss matched kanthal and nichrome gauges but i tried to make the comparison as fair as possible. I have ordered 100m of kanthal 34 gauge in as i have read somewhere that 34 gauge is best suited to silica RBAs.
I am a little baffled as to why my nichrome is giving better overall performance compared to kanthal. Kanthal has a slightly cleaner taste which i did like, but just didn't like the lack of vapor (volume by look alone seems to be half the volume of vapor compared to nichrome, i tried to make draws as consistent as possible to get a gauge on it)
Can one type of wire really be better suited compared to another? as well as the gauge. One of my mates said that thinner gauges are better suited to silica wicks as he said he has experimented with different gauges and got the best results from 34-36 gauge wires on silica (and he was using kanthal, so i ordered some 34 kathal in to try out)
Any additional input on which is better suited or if either or is just as good would be great.
One reason i was given as to why kanthal was preferred over nichrome is due to the metallic compounds reaction to heat (oxidization). Nichrome develops a layer of chromium oxide, which is carcinogenic, but hey so are potatos when they are heated over 160 degrees); opposed to kanthals alumina layer it produces (but this has been reported to be linked to Alzheimers). In saying this, both materials are not heated to levels where either compounds are dangerous, but he said it comes down to personal preference and paranoia levels lol which is very true. But if your worried about these compounds and their effects, stop breathing the air around you as you will inhale much more worse chemicals and crud in car exhaust and analogue smoke. So please do not bash me on this little bit of my post as i am not paranoid about it and others shouldn't be as well (in my honest opinion)
Anyway, in my personal findings, i have found nichrome to be a better material to use with silica, but i will report my findings when i get some same gauge kanthal in. If anyone can shed some more light on this it would be awesome! as i am always after a perfect vape, and so far nichrome is giving me the best vape, but the flavor from kanthal seems to be slightly better, if i can get the best of both it would be fantastic!
