Stupid Mistake - Now Replacing my Coils More Often

[score69]

I've been having a rough cough since November last year. Usually clears when I get up in the morning, by the end of the day, starts up again and through the night. I should have actually gone to the Dr for it, but was putting it off.

Have been vaping since the days of the cigalikes. Nothing my my vape routine has really changed, I was wondering if I had been vaping a bad batch of VG or PG, or maybe all the years of smoking had caught up with me.

Then I realized, that even though I rotate though several RDAs, I usually ended up with most of my time on the Recurve. And you know what, I've still been using the original Ni80 rectangle wire coil in it I installed 11 months ago when I first got the RDA. Ooops.

My other RDAs I rotate with, were also using the original (same type) coil, I've never rebuilt my Nudge 22 or Asmodus C4, but they didn't have as much vape time on them.

When I switched to the C4 for a while, my cough went away after a few weeks. Then, I realized, the coils were probably oxidized, they were starting to look a little rough. Needless to say, I replaced the coils in all three of my daily use RDAs, and no cough.

So yeah, I made a stupid mistake here, probably should have been obvious a long time ago. That wire/coils are my favorite, they were vaping fine, so I never bothered to change them. Didn't realize, it had been almost a year.

Anyways, lesson learned. Even though I vape unflavored, change wicks every two weeks, using coils for a year isn't a good idea. Who would have thought it?

So just posting this in case there's anyone else who gets lazy with replacing coils. Probably inhaled some excess/bad crap for a while there. I'm going to change my coils at least every two months now, whether they need it or not. For the cost and time involved, it should have been common sense. Was just something I overlooked for a while since I like that wire and had no desire the try a different wire/coil type.

Feel stupid even posting this, it's obviously not good to use a coil that long if it's a daily use topper. Even though I don't vape at high wattages, or dry burn my coils excessively, they do need to be replaced more often than yearly. Since the cough started about 7 months into using my Recurve, I'm no longer comfortable with 6 months, etc. Every two months (or sooner) seems reasonable to me.

 

[Fidola13]

Thanks for sharing. Do you change your wick often and dry burn your coil in between changing coils? I don’t suppose you have a photo of that coil ?!

I enjoy making my own coils so I only occasionally dry burn instead I change out the entire coil. Moneys not an issue when making your own. And it’s SERIOUSLY easy. If you can wrap a string around a pencil- you can wrap a coil lol! Probably costs a few cents to make a replacement but I use mostly single wire or lately parallel or twisted coils.

If you’re using pre built exotics I imagine it could get expensive to change them often. I see no improvement in taste to use them though.

 

[bombastinator]

Fascinating. Begs the question of how long a given coil of a given type should be used. I have no data.

Is there any around?

 

[bombastinator]

Thanks for sharing. Do you change your wick often and dry burn your coil in between changing coils? I don’t suppose you have a photo of that coil ?!

I enjoy making my own coils so I only occasionally dry burn instead I change out the entire coil. Moneys not an issue when making your own. And it’s SERIOUSLY easy. If you can wrap a string around a pencil- you can wrap a coil lol! Probably costs a few cents to make a replacement but I use mostly single wire or lately parallel or twisted coils.

If you’re using pre built exotics I imagine it could get expensive to change them often. I see no improvement in taste to use them though.

i did. Well maybe not necessarily an improvement, but there was a change in flavor character. It required really really high wattages though, and from what I could gather may well be caused by heated air in the vape chamber.

 

[greek mule]

Fascinating. Begs the question of how long a given coil of a given type should be used. I have no data.

Is there any around?

I use ss316L dual coils 26 AWG 8.5 wraps and I noticed they need replacement after consumption of 200-300 ml
(dry burn and re-wick every two days)

 

[bombastinator]

I use ss316L dual coils 26 AWG 8.5 wraps and I noticed they need replacement after consumption of 200-300 ml
(dry burn and re-wick every two days)

That’s a lot of juice. What caused you to feel they needed replacement may I ask?

 

[greek mule]

The coils even I cleaned them had some kind of white junk and taste was altered.

 

[Fidola13]

i did. Well maybe not necessarily an improvement, but there was a change in flavor character. It required really really high wattages though, and from what I could gather may well be caused by heated air in the vape chamber.

I remember the experiment you performed and that very long back n forth thread! I had to take a couple of days off from it at one point lol!

I guess I should clarify that at the ohms and wattage I vape at I didn’t notice any particular increase in flavor.

Having said that I do increase my watts when vaping dessert/bakery type liquids and lower my watts when vaping light fruit type juices. Assuming I’m using one atty the increase isn’t significant though. I normally vape at .4 to .6 ohms and between 30 and 40 watts. The lower end for fruits etc and the higher end for bakery/dessert type.

If I’m using a sub ohm tank with drop in coils at .15 I’ll go up to 65 or so watts for the high end for bakery juice. Nothing like 150 watts!! I can’t even imagine how warm that must be!

But vaping is awesome because there are so many ways to enjoy it!!

 

[score69]

Thanks for sharing. Do you change your wick often and dry burn your coil in between changing coils? I don’t suppose you have a photo of that coil ?!

I enjoy making my own coils so I only occasionally dry burn instead I change out the entire coil. Moneys not an issue when making your own. And it’s SERIOUSLY easy. If you can wrap a string around a pencil- you can wrap a coil lol! Probably costs a few cents to make a replacement but I use mostly single wire or lately parallel or twisted coils.

If you’re using pre built exotics I imagine it could get expensive to change them often. I see no improvement in taste to use them though.

I vape unflavored exclusively, so I don't have a lot of residue and my wicks and coils last much longer in between cleanings.

I do dry burn (lightly) when I rewick. Light pulses, and rinse it under running water after heating it.

I used to rewick weekly, but started letting that go to every other week as well. My wicks are still clean after two weeks, I kind of just do it out of obligation. I'm sure I could go longer if I wanted to.

I vape 70%VG unflavored, about 15ml/day (two weeks between dry burning and rewicking), so about 210mls of juice in between rewicking and pulsing the coil.

I do occasionally, use pre-built exotics, but my favorite wire, even more so than any exotics I've tried is the 0.9x0.3mm Ni80 rectangle wire we spoke about in the other thread. I'm so happy with this, I really had no reason to replace the coils. I knew I had been using them a long time, but never realized it had been close to a year. The cough started after about 7 months. So I would probably be fine replacing them at 6 months, but I'm sure they were already starting to have issues before then. I do roll my own, so very inexpensive to replace them. So I guess I will just chalk it up to laziness and now I know better going forward.

I rebuilt all of my RDAs with the same exact coil/wire since I like it so much and wrapped about a dozen so I have them ready to go next time. I'm figuring I will just swap them out at 2 months from here on out.

I wish I had taken a picture of the coils, I checked the trash, but it's already been emptied. The coils actually cleaned up really well, but the surface of the coil towards the center appeared dull and kind of whitish after cleaning, most likely oxidation. The ends of the coil were still a bit shiny, no whitish coloration.

I vape unflavored and didn't notice an odd taste or anything to my vape. Perhaps there was and I was just used to it. Evidently something being released during heating was causing irritation to my lungs. Clean wire now for a few days (same spool) and my cough is gone.

 

[r77r7r]

Op, are you saying the metal degraded? Became a bit toxic?

 

[score69]

Op, are you saying the metal degraded? Became a bit toxic?

That's my suspicion. Over that much time, even vaping at lower wattages, I believe the metal was starting to oxidize/degrade. I didn't notice any strange taste, but I developed a pretty severe cough. It was from my lungs more so than my throat.

A few days after replacing the coils, I'm back to normal now, no cough. It's the only thing I can think of that caused my issues. I was chasing VG/PG, etc for a while, thinking I might have gotten a bad batch. Didn't even stop to think the coils might be a problem.

 

[bombastinator]

That's my suspicion. Over that much time, even vaping at lower wattages, I believe the metal was starting to oxidize/degrade. I didn't notice any strange taste, but I developed a pretty severe cough. It was from my lungs more so than my throat.

A few days after replacing the coils, I'm back to normal now, no cough. It's the only thing I can think of that caused my issues. I was chasing VG/PG, etc for a while, thinking I might have gotten a bad batch. Didn't even stop to think the coils might be a problem.

Ni80 is still largely nickel, which has its own issues.

 

[charlie1465]

Feel stupid even posting this, it's obviously not good to use a coil that long if it's a daily use topper. Even though I don't vape at high wattages, or dry burn my coils excessively, they do need to be replaced more often than yearly. Since the cough started about 7 months into using my Recurve, I'm no longer comfortable with 6 months, etc. Every two months (or sooner) seems reasonable to me.

No you're not stupid...you've actually done an interesting experiment on coil aging without realising it. I'm lazy as well but will dry burn and change cotton every few weeks at least.

My guess here is that you were getting a gradual carbon build up on the coils and it was that that led to the cough...i don't think metal would cause a cough on its own especially when dry burned regularly which bring the metal back to base with a small oxidised layer which is then normally brushed off.

Keep us posted and thanks for sharing

 

[chellie]

I've been having a rough cough since November last year. Usually clears when I get up in the morning, by the end of the day, starts up again and through the night. I should have actually gone to the Dr for it, but was putting it off.

Have been vaping since the days of the cigalikes. Nothing my my vape routine has really changed, I was wondering if I had been vaping a bad batch of VG or PG, or maybe all the years of smoking had caught up with me.

Then I realized, that even though I rotate though several RDAs, I usually ended up with most of my time on the Recurve. And you know what, I've still been using the original Ni80 rectangle wire coil in it I installed 11 months ago when I first got the RDA. Ooops.

My other RDAs I rotate with, were also using the original (same type) coil, I've never rebuilt my Nudge 22 or Asmodus C4, but they didn't have as much vape time on them.

When I switched to the C4 for a while, my cough went away after a few weeks. Then, I realized, the coils were probably oxidized, they were starting to look a little rough. Needless to say, I replaced the coils in all three of my daily use RDAs, and no cough.

So yeah, I made a stupid mistake here, probably should have been obvious a long time ago. That wire/coils are my favorite, they were vaping fine, so I never bothered to change them. Didn't realize, it had been almost a year.

Anyways, lesson learned. Even though I vape unflavored, change wicks every two weeks, using coils for a year isn't a good idea. Who would have thought it?

So just posting this in case there's anyone else who gets lazy with replacing coils. Probably inhaled some excess/bad crap for a while there. I'm going to change my coils at least every two months now, whether they need it or not. For the cost and time involved, it should have been common sense. Was just something I overlooked for a while since I like that wire and had no desire the try a different wire/coil type.

Feel stupid even posting this, it's obviously not good to use a coil that long if it's a daily use topper. Even though I don't vape at high wattages, or dry burn my coils excessively, they do need to be replaced more often than yearly. Since the cough started about 7 months into using my Recurve, I'm no longer comfortable with 6 months, etc. Every two months (or sooner) seems reasonable to me.

Interesting you say that. I do not use RDA's but I use RTA's and I always have 4 tanks/mods. A few years back, I sort of had a schedule and would change all the coils on a particular day. I do not actually have to remember to change the coils so I stopped my schedule because as soon as I start to cough - I know it is time. I think some of us are more sensitive to the changes/oxidation in the wires. (I know folks who vape on disgusting coils and they are fine with it --- I'd be hacking away)