Rebuildable Noob - Russian 91%

[Zanzabar78]

Hello everyone,

I just placed an order for the Russian 91%

Now I want to order the kanthal and wick and cotton.

I will be using it with an itaste vv v3 (I know its not ideal but that's all I have right now).

Since I have to order these "parts" from overseas and ship them internationally its very expensive and I want to get it right the first time.

I am looking into building 1.5-2.0 ohm coils and micro coils using both cotton and silica.

1. What diameter wicks should i choose?
2. I'm confused as to the number of wraps that's recommended for each type of coil. Is it better to have lets say 8 wraps to achieve a 2.0ohm coil or 4 wraps with a different gauge kanthal? What guages should i order (28, 30, 32?)

Thanks in advance

 

[bce22]

I have always had more success using cotton than silica in microcoils. I find it much more difficult to install silica inside a coil. When using silica I don't use micros. I wrapped the Wire around the silica.

You may want to try cotton instead.

In regards to wire gauges and number of wraps it is a balancing act. In my opinion who wants as much wire in contact with the wick as possible without taking an ungodly amount of time to heat up. For you I would get 30gauge kanthal. And plan on around 10, 11 or 12 wraps about 2mm inside diameter.

 

[Porkchopz]

I just got a Russian 91% on Friday. Got the new Polished one.

I used the supplied Kanthal and the supplied silica wick just to get started and test it out. I did I think it was 5 or 6 wraps and got a 2.0 Ohm coil.

It works pretty good. I think I can do better... but it's not bad. Decent vapor production and I can't say it's the tank... but this blueberry I mixed up is tasting very nice. Have not used it in another tank so it could just be the flavor I got is better than the others I've tried.

At any rate... I have 32 and 34 Gauge Kanthal and I have 3mm and the new 2mm ceramic wick inbound from rbasupplies.com Heard really good things about that wick so I'm going to give it a shot. Expensive... but might turn out to be worth it.

I plan to just play around with those bits and see how it goes... find a coil I like and stick with it.

Hopefully some others that have had the Russians or the others in that line will chime in with what they are doing for coils.

As for Micro coils... I think this might help... I plan to try this at some point... seems like it might end up being a bit too harsh for me... but still want to try it.

Kayfun Lite Double Barrel Coil Build - YouTube

-Brian

 

[bce22]

Though I will try the dual coil build in my Russian someday (I use my aqua when I want dual subohm builds) it is not recommended for the OP using a regulated itaste v3.

Stick to a single coil above 1.5 which is still a great place to be in the russian/Kayfun lite+

 

[Zanzabar78]

Thank you both for your input.

From what I gather, for regular coils around 5 wraps is ideal, for micro should aim for 9/10 wraps or am I mistaken?

 

[jchamb2]

For regular coils in a Kayfun type RBA (like the Russian) I like to use 3mm silica doubled over and wrap it around 5 times (there will be 5 wraps when seen from one side and 4 wraps when seen from the other side). This gives me about 1.7 - 2.2 ohms resistance (I use Kanthal 32). For me this is ideal, and so far I haven't the inclination or need to play with micro coils.

Everyone has different "formulas" for making coils, but this is one of the most basic builds.

 

[bce22]

Thank you both for your input.

From what I gather, for regular coils around 5 wraps is ideal, for micro should aim for 9/10 wraps or am I mistaken?

For micros I would start with 11 wraps. Remember you are using a vv device and have to ability of dialing it in after its built. With a mech mod your build is everything since there isn't any way to adjust the output (unless using a kick).

If 11 wraps is too high for what you want next time try 9 or 10.

 

[mbliffert]

I personally find microcoils and cotton to be easier than standard coils and silica in a Kayfun.

30ga is probably a good place to start on the iTaste, but you may find that you quickly want to try other more advanced coils as the Kayfun/Russian is so easy to build on.

If you go the cotton route, make sure to get 100% organic cotton balls. They are dirt cheap and provide the best flavor in my opinion.

I own everything from 26ga kanthal up to 32ga. My current preferred coil is triple twisted 32ga with 7 wraps around a 5/64 drill bit for around a 1.1ohm coil. The flavor is both crisp and robust. I also primarily use mech mods, but add a wrap or two when building for VV/VW devices.

I recommend watching Rip Trippers coil tutorials on YouTube, and watching them multiple times before your device arrives. Before my first Kayfun I watched the videos so many times that I was able to build a very nice microcoil and cotton wick from memory.

I was up and running in about 15 minutes, basking in clouds of delicious vapor

 

[Zanzabar78]

Gotta love the vaping community, always so helpful! thank you everyone

 

[rhean]

Order 28, 30, 32, just to play with. I enjoy making microcoils, and for me, attempting to thread silica through those things is impossible. Organic cotton balls spun into wicks, on the other hand, are easy to thread through anything, no matter how skinny or thick the diameter; you determine the size of the wick. Many people also use Sugar&Cream yarn for wicks Lily Sugar 'N Cream

With silica, I'd wrap the coil around the wick, rather than using a microcoil. For this, doubled 3 mm, or doubled/tripled 2 mm, whatever, would work. Just get some of everything to experiment with.

With coil, it's the length that mostly determines resistance. There are a few free android apps that tell you how long to cut various gauges of kanthal to achieve a specific goal https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.valsoft.vaperstoolbox I prefer to wrap longish coils with fairly skinny diameters. You might find you prefer the opposite. Trial and error here

32 gauge is really fun because you can double or triple twist it. Without twisting, 32 is difficult to work with for builds under 1.4-1.5 (for me--you might find you prefer it!)

Youtube has, literally, hundreds of how-tos on coil and wick building.

 

[Zanzabar78]

One last question , can cotton wick be used in regular (non micro) coils?

 

[rhean]

One last question , can cotton wick be used in regular (non micro) coils?

Why not? The drawback to cotton in regular coils wrapped directly onto the wick is that (for me) the cotton wick needs to be replaced more often than silica wick--you can't dryburn cotton, for one. With a microcoil, or a regular coil wrapped on a drill bit, etc., I tweeze the old wick out, dryburn the coils, and replace the wick. It's a simple process, and the coil itself lasts weeks. With a regular coil you wrapped directly around the cotton, you'd have to replace the whole thing, as pulling the cotton out in such a way that the coil remains intact would be difficult--at least, I can't do it. This, btw, is why I prefer cotton. You can thread it through anything.

 

[Elizabeth Baldwin]

I love my Russian. It's the my choice out of all my cool stuff... Better taste by far. I use cotton... I build at 1.3 ohms usually. I've tried other wicks but cotton tastes best.

 

[IceCreamMan]

The first micro coil in this vid is the cats azz! He also show how to do a chimney micro coil near the end but I prefer the first setup best.
I promise you, try this setup & you will be happy happy happy.