Stainless steel in mechanical mods?

[Ricky Vapes]

Hi all I’m new to the forum I stopped smoking completely a year ago and have made vaping quite a hobby since then. I love my tube mods single battery mechs to be exact. I find nichrome to be the best on my mechs I like the vape I get from Dual parallel 5 or 6 wrap coils with nichrome 26 gauge. Nichrome is hard to find where I’m at now though and Kanthal/stainless steel is available at most vape shops around me.

26gauge Stainless steel 430 worked good in TCR mode for me or at a low wattage but whenever I make a simple 6 wrap coil with it and put in on my mech it doesn’t take long before it turns black and charred. I tried a dual parallel with SS but it ohms out too low unless I do 10 wraps which brings me to .1 ohm but with all that wire it’s hard to fit in most RDAs and took too long to heat up.

I’m wondering how others find SS in mech mods and am wondering if Mabye SS316L would make a difference rather than SS430. Are their any builds I could do that may work better? Am I better off not using it at all? Thanks all for any reply’s.

 

[Punk In Drublic]

Stainless Steel 430 is inherently lower in resistance than say Ni80 or SS316L of the same dimension. In comparison to SS316L it also has a much higher TCR value which means as the coil heats up, its resistance increases by a greater rate than SS316L. On a fixed voltage device such as a mech, that means as resistance increases, power output decreases. Given its characteristics, I personally do not think SS430 is a well-suited wire to be used on a mech and that you are going to be faced with challenges regardless.

I have tried SS316L on a mech…don’t particularly like it simply because of its TCR value. But that is me, others do enjoy the type of vape SS brings when used with a mech. At the low cost of a spool, or perhaps some sample wire from your local store, it maybe worth experimenting. Only you can judge whether you like it or not.

 

[bombastinator]

SS will work. It has a more variable resistance according to heat than nichrome or kanthal so it won’t work quite as well in an unregulated mod. It will work though. It was introduced for temp control which you don’t have so you don’t gain anything from it. Some claim they prefer the flavor, some don’t.

 

[Vinnybagodoughnuts]

Wire wizard | Steam Engine | free vaping calculators

 

[Ricky Vapes]

SS will work. It has a more variable resistance according to heat than nichrome or kanthal so it won’t work quite as well in an unregulated mod. It will work though. It was introduced for temp control which you don’t have so you don’t gain anything from it. Some claim they prefer the flavor, some don’t.

Stainless Steel 430 is inherently lower in resistance than say Ni80 or SS316L of the same dimension. In comparison to SS316L it also has a much higher TCR value which means as the coil heats up, its resistance increases by a greater rate than SS316L. On a fixed voltage device such as a mech, that means as resistance increases, power output decreases. Given its characteristics, I personally do not think SS430 is a well-suited wire to be used on a mech and that you are going to be faced with challenges regardless.

I have tried SS316L on a mech…don’t particularly like it simply because of its TCR value. But that is me, others do enjoy the type of vape SS brings when used with a mech. At the low cost of a spool, or perhaps some sample wire from your local store, it maybe worth experimenting. Only you can judge whether you like it or not.

Thanks for the reply’s that makes sense the only reason I would want to use it is because it heats up much quicker than kanthal and I can get bigger clouds with it . I asked someone at my work if they had any nichrome wire and they had a box of different wires that included 30 feet of NI80 so I’m happy I can make some coils with that when I get home. I’ll have to keep looking online for it. I made my very first online purchase in my whole life a couple weeks ago for a Kennedy vindicator Mech mod and it came through in 5 days so I’m quite happy. The site I got it from was out of NI80 wire and most sites I looked at were out as well. Now that I’ve got with the times and stopped-being so old school Mabye I’ll be able to find a site that will deliver to Vancouver Island Canada where I live. Mabye someone here knows of any reputable websites I could get wire from?

 

[Punk In Drublic]

Thanks for the reply’s that makes sense the only reason I would want to use it is because it heats up much quicker than kanthal and I can get bigger clouds with it . I asked someone at my work if they had any nichrome wire and they had a box of different wires that included 30 feet of NI80 so I’m happy I can make some coils with that when I get home. I’ll have to keep looking online for it. I made my very first online purchase in my whole life a couple weeks ago for a Kennedy vindicator Mech mod and it came through in 5 days so I’m quite happy. The site I got it from was out of NI80 wire and most sites I looked at were out as well. Now that I’ve got with the times and stopped-being so old school Mabye I’ll be able to find a site that will deliver to Vancouver Island Canada where I live. Mabye someone here knows of any reputable websites I could get wire from?

I suffer from postal anxiety and much prefer shopping out of a store than online. BUT… online shopping does have its benefits.

Dashvapes (A Canadian company eh!) does deliver to Van Island, they carry Lightning Vapes line of wire in all different sizes and types. Very low minimum shipping requirements. They also have a store in Burnaby should you venture off the Island. Great juice bar. Prices are average for Canada, but cheaper than the average BC shop (expensive out there!). They are also a juice manufacture who does manufacture for some US brands. Prices are on average for Canada, but most, if not all, juice is made to order which ensures freshness.

Gas City Vapes (Alberta) is another that I have shopped at that I would recommend.

 

[Ricky Vapes]

I suffer from postal anxiety and much prefer shopping out of a store than online. BUT… online shopping does have its benefits.

Dashvapes (A Canadian company eh!) does deliver to Van Island, they carry Lightning Vapes line of wire in all different sizes and types. Very low minimum shipping requirements. They also have a store in Burnaby should you venture off the Island. Great juice bar. Prices are average for Canada, but cheaper than the average BC shop (expensive out there!). They are also a juice manufacture who does manufacture for some US brands. Prices are on average for Canada, but most, if not all, juice is made to order which ensures freshness.

Gas City Vapes (Alberta) is another that I have shopped at that I would recommend.

Cool thanks a lot I have watched dashvapes you tube videos I’m sure they are a good company I will definitely check them out.

 

[mcclintock]

Any temperature control effect of using SS will probably be insignificant, but would actually be desirable. Unfortunately, any wire material with adequate TCR to produce a usable effect with a mech or VV device requires true temperature control as bad things happen when they are overheated.

SS has advantages in a mech as a longer length of thinner wire can be used for the same total coil size, with faster warmup due to reduced mass, but you'll need to recalculate and re- fine tune the coil because it's a lot bigger difference than Kanthal vs. nichrome.

 

[Ricky Vapes]

Makes sense I find SS is much harder to work with I keep breaking the wire straightening it with a drill and holding with pliers. I’ll just go with what I enjoy best and keep using Nichrome or kanthal since I get the best results. I prefer kanthal over SS I have used SS in temp control with My regulated mod before but It never caught on with me. I’m more a mech guy except for at work I use a durable mod since I work construction. I have been enjoying my profile unity mesh RTA on top of my jackaroo lately at work.