Something I've noticed...

[dyanaprajna]

This post will get a little involved, so please bear with me.

When I started vaping, I was looking to quit smoking. I have successfully done that. My vaping style was looking for both clouds and flavor. I bought into the whole "low coil resistance and high watts for big clouds and flavor". After only 2 1/2 months, I've started DIY juice and coils.

My first coil build was: 24 g Kanthal, 3 mm ID, 6/7 wraps, .41 ohm, on the TFV8 RBA. I have this tank on my GX350.
My second build, just tonight: 24 g Kanthal, 3 mm ID, 4/5 wraps, .27 ohm, also on the Cloud Beast RBA. This tank is on my Alien.

The .27 ohm build is too hot. I get a very slight cotton taste (although my wicking may not be perfect). The flavor is muted, but not horrible. I get decent clouds. And this is around 55 watts. On the pre-made .15 ohm coils, I could take it up to 120 watts, with good, not great, clouds and flavor. On my .41 build, I get great flavor and clouds, and this at only 45 watts.

So, the moral of the story, or, TL;DR: you don't need extremely low coil resistance with extremely high wattage for clouds and flavor, just the right knowledge. Now I'll end up changing my build in the Alien tomorrow.

Thank you guys for putting up with my rant.

 

[halbgott]

Have you tried any micro coils yet? I've tried a few times to see how much longer a battery would last but they seem to burn too hot and too fast to make enough vapor.

 

[Ryedan]

The heat flux of your first build at 45 watts is a really cool 121. That should IMO be a cool vape with great flavor, if everything is set up right.

The HF of the second build at 55 watts is a middling (for me) 225. If everything is set up right this should still perform very well. My bet is, because of the slight cotton taste, you've got a bit too much cotton in the coils, or you've choked the juice flow with the wick tails. IMO if everything is right, the first build may give you a bit better flavor and be a cooler vape, but it shouldn't be too much of a difference.

Tank design can make a big difference in best coil design too. I don't have those atties so I can't comment on them.

I don't really consider resistance at all when I design a build. It's all about staying in the right heat flux range for me to get the vape I want at the power I want to vape it at.

Keep experimenting and vape on dyanaprajna

 

[Ryedan]

Have you tried any micro coils yet? I've tried a few times to see how much longer a battery would last but they seem to burn too hot and too fast to make enough vapor.

Do you have build details on one of them halbgott? I used them pretty much all the time for a few years. They work really well, but they also have to be designed right. Lately I mostly use spaced coils for a bit better flavor.

 

[dyanaprajna]

Have you tried any micro coils yet? I've tried a few times to see how much longer a battery would last but they seem to burn too hot and too fast to make enough vapor.

Not yet, but I'm considering it. But I'm holding off until I get wicking down.

@Ryedan : yeah, I don't think it's wicked too tight, but I think you might be right about blocking the juice flow holes.

 

[halbgott]

Do you have build details on one of them halbgott? I used them pretty much all the time for a few years. They work really well, but they also have to be designed right. Lately I mostly use spaced coils for a bit better flavor.

I've tried a parallel 30 gauge kanthal with 8 wraps(so 16) with cotten wrapped around it and a dual 8 wrap made like a dragon coil. Those were wound around a 1 mm coil jig. Both were just a bit over 1 ohm.

 

[VHRB2014]

Getting the wicking just right goes a long way in cooling down a low ohm build. Just saying.

 

[Zakillah]

I've tried a parallel 30 gauge kanthal with 8 wraps(so 16) with cotten wrapped around it and a dual 8 wrap made like a dragon coil. Those were wound around a 1 mm coil jig. Both were just a bit over 1 ohm.

1mm dia? Thats waaay to narrow. No wonder those ran too hot and dry on you.

 

[halbgott]

1mm dia? Thats waaay to narrow. No wonder those ran too hot and dry on you.

Heh, thanks.
You recommend 1.5 or 2mm on 30 gauge?

 

[Zakillah]

For a 30G 8 wrap parallel, I'd go at least 2,5mm and thats still on the narrow side. 3mm would be good IMO.
Oh, I just figured you wrapped the wick around the coil, so that doesnt really apply. Never built like that, so I cant say anything of importance...

 

[Ryedan]

I've tried a parallel 30 gauge kanthal with 8 wraps(so 16) with cotten wrapped around it and a dual 8 wrap made like a dragon coil. Those were wound around a 1 mm coil jig. Both were just a bit over 1 ohm.

How many watts did you run that at halbgott?

 

[halbgott]

How many watts did you run that at halbgott?

I think I started at 20 and worked down to 13 and was underwhelmed. I haven't tried silica so maybe that's what coils that thin need?

Edit*
Just looked around youtube and yikes. Macro, micro, nano. Stuff gets confusing. I was using tanks up until four months ago.

 

[Ryedan]

I think I started at 20 and worked down to 13 and was underwhelmed. I haven't tried silica so maybe that's what coils that thin need?

Edit*
Just looked around youtube and yikes. Macro, micro, nano. Stuff gets confusing. I was using tanks up until four months ago.

When I was into microcoils I generally stuck to about 1.5 mm ID. Here's a great thread on them from a couple of guys who really know this stuff. FYI, 1mm = 0.040 inch, or close enough for our purposes . 1/16 inch is right around 0.060 inch or 1.5mm.

Now as good as microcoils are for some builds, as I got into higher power (watt) vapes I found bigger diameter coils worked better for me. I moved to 2 and then 3 and sometimes 4mm ID's. They all have their place, they all have their pluses and sweet spots if you also know how to tweak them for the vape you want. IMO the best way to learn what works for you is to experiment and see what works best for you and your atties. There are a lot of variables in this picture and a lot of them work together, so if you change one thing like wire gauge you'll probably find that affects other variables like number of wraps and best power level required to get a good vape. I use heat flux from the Steam Engine calculator a lot to help me design builds and that works well for me.

Wicking is a huge factor too, it has to be fast enough to keep up with how fast your coils vaporize juice. If it doesn't keep up, the coil(s) will run dry and you'll get a dry/artificially hot/and-or burnt vape.

IMO your coil build should be good for between 13-20 watts, but the other factors play a big role here. Without knowing all the details of your build I can't comment on that stuff.

I would not try silica if I were you. I would stick to cotton and go with a simpler coil design, ID of around 2.5mm, single wire, wick inside it, tweak it and get that working well for you. That stuff is mainstream and you will be able to get help with it from a lot of folks around here. Once you have something simple that works well you'll have a baseline you can improve on if you still want to explore that. Then again, you might find that does it for you

 

[Asbestos4004]

spaced coils have served me well...I think the flavor is better and my wicks seem to last longer. Contact coils seem to get really hot in the middle of the coil. Spaced seem to be more forgiving, they don't seem to pop as much and I just like them better...therefore, they are the best way to vape. Happy Easter!

 

[daviedog]

Steam Engine,, heat flux, a gift from the Gods.
Now i only concern myself with wicking..

 

[dyanaprajna]

How do spaced coils differ from contact coils?

 

[supertrunker]

Nowhere do you mention what nic % you vape, so you might be missing a trick there.

T

 

[Bunnykiller]

best flavor I ever experienced was on a Rose atty at 12W with a 1.4 ohm 28 gauge coil

 

[Ryedan]

best flavor I ever experienced was on a Rose atty at 12W with a 1.4 ohm 28 gauge coil

The Rose V2 is just about my favorite atty right now. Have it wet up with 27 gauge SS316 at 0.65 ohms and running between 17-19 watts. HF is very close to your setup. Great flavor but what I really like about it is the noticeable TH with low nic juices. That's a hard combination to achieve but the Rose makes it easy.

For flavor alone I think the Aqua V2 has the Rose beat ... but not by much.