Small kanthal question

[CallmeRage]

Is it bad to recoil a coil with the same wire. Im a cheapskate and only have around a foot or 2 left of kanthal So i did a small experiment and removed an existing coil. I straightened it out and retorched it so it would glow. I recoiled it with the same amount of wraps and then attached it to my posts and dry burned it/squeezed it. I then put new cotton in and some juice and fired it. It works better than before. So i was thinking. Is this a bad thing to do? I would assume not but someone thinks it is i will remove it and make a new one. Thanks in advance

 

[thorn]

You may have introduced more wire twisting into it. It may not last as long as fresh wire because of that but if it works, use it.

 

[zmbgzus]

It's not necessary to recoil when changing the cotton. Simply remove the cotton, leave the coil attached to the atty, dry burn, scrub off any residue with tweezers, refill with new cotton. Repeat till the coil no longer works effectively.

 

[novamatt]

Well, you're probably not going to get many answers on this. I would assume it's going to wear out after a while, but kanthal is so inexpensive that I doubt many people have bothered trying to re-use it. Where are you buying it from? A 100 foot roll for about 6 dollars should last you more than a year.

If you want to keep using the same piece, the standard method for cleaning is to take the wick out, keep your coil on your device and burn it dry. It'll glow red and burn the buildup off of the coil. Once it looks clean again, put a new wick in and you're good to go. No need to straighten it out and recoil.

 

[State O' Flux]

Yep... Kanthal wears out. When heated, Kanthal wire (iron-chromium-aluminum) builds up an aluminum oxide thermally conductive coating on it's outside surface that protects the individual coils from shorting, one to another. This is called alumina (Al2O3).

Once the aluminum content diminishes to the point where that oxidation resistant, electrically resistive alumina layer isn't produced... all that remains is iron and chromium oxide.
Exposure & contamination degradation, inconsistent heating, increased resistance and ultimate wire failure aren't far behind. Chances are, you'll see the blackened, pitted wire or perhaps even taste the iron, long before that failure occurs.

 

[Mr.Mann]

Yep... Kanthal wears out. When heated, Kanthal wire (iron-chromium-aluminum) builds up an aluminum oxide thermally conductive coating on it's outside surface that protects the individual coils from shorting, one to another. This is called alumina (Al2O3).

Once the aluminum content diminishes to the point where that oxidation resistant, electrically resistive alumina layer isn't produced... all that remains is iron and chromium oxide.
Exposure & contamination degradation, inconsistent heating, increased resistance and ultimate wire failure aren't far behind. Chances are, you'll see the blackened, pitted wire or perhaps even taste the iron, long before that failure occurs.

I wish there was a way to add favorite posts to a folder!

 

[Susan~S]

I wish there was a way to add favorite posts to a folder!

If you are talking about bookmarking all you have to do is click on the post# and then bookmark the link. Even though the whole page is really bookmarked, the post# you bookmarked will be the first thing you see.

 

[CallmeRage]

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread You guys are the best!

 

[Neunerball]

It's not necessary to recoil when changing the cotton. Simply remove the cotton, leave the coil attached to the atty, dry burn, scrub off any residue with tweezers, refill with new cotton. Repeat till the coil no longer works effectively.

That's what I do myself. However,...

Yep... Kanthal wears out. When heated, Kanthal wire (iron-chromium-aluminum) builds up an aluminum oxide thermally conductive coating on it's outside surface that protects the individual coils from shorting, one to another. This is called alumina (Al2O3).

Once the aluminum content diminishes to the point where that oxidation resistant, electrically resistive alumina layer isn't produced... all that remains is iron and chromium oxide.
Exposure & contamination degradation, inconsistent heating, increased resistance and ultimate wire failure aren't far behind. Chances are, you'll see the blackened, pitted wire or perhaps even taste the iron, long before that failure occurs.

Therefore, it's working just for a limited time.

 

[Dayglow]

I use 28g kanthal and make my coils large enough ID that I can easily remove old cotton>soak to clean>dry off and dry burn>rewick
I'll use the same coil for several rewickings before I rebuild as long as the coil is in good shape and still at around the same resistance I built it to.