Using Steam Engine

[vaper1960]

I am going to be making my very first coils soon. Been playing around with Steam Engine and something seems backwards. If I increase the target resistance, it show that I need more watts... less resistance, less watts. Isn't this backwards? I'm trying to make a pair of coils for my rda using 26 gauge stainless steel wire and my mod is only 60 watts. Any advice? I already think Kanthal is a better choice, but will have the SS for now. BTW, do I have to make spaced winds for SS or can I do contact winds?

 

[AngeNZ]

I am going to be making my very first coils soon. Been playing around with Steam Engine and something seems backwards. If I increase the target resistance, it show that I need more watts... less resistance, less watts. Isn't this backwards? I'm trying to make a pair of coils for my RDA using 26 gauge stainless steel wire and my mod is only 60 watts. Any advice? I already think Kanthal is a better choice, but will have the SS for now. BTW, do I have to make spaced winds for SS or can I do contact winds?

Steam engine is just suggesting a wattage for you - and it's basing this on how much wire is being used for a coil eg:

ss316l 26ga 0.5ohm coil using a 2.5mm id would need 7 or 8 wraps
Resistance wire length (of this coil): 85.8 mm
With a Heat flux of 200 (lower the number, the cooler the vape) it suggests 22watts
Which is pretty doable and would be a good coil/wattage for 26ga wire

ss316l 1.0ohm coil using 2.5mm id would need 16 wraps
Resistance wire length (of this coil): 171.7 mm
With a heat flux of 200 it suggests 44watts
It's suggesting such a high wattage, because this coil is over twice as long as the 0.5ohm coil above. And, you wouldn't want to or be able to fit a 16 wrap coil into many decks

Your best bet is to find out what internal diameter suits your RTA - probably 2.5mm id, and then go for a coil that gives you a cooler or warmer vape, depending on what you prefer. For me, I'd pick 0.5ohms, the wrap count is reasonable for most decks, and at 20 watts, it would be a great vape. But play around.

I use 28ga purely because it heats up fast, and isn't a warm vape. I only use ss316l due to habit, and for temp control vaping. Kanthal or n80 28ga work just as well for wattage vaping.

My ss316l 28ga 0.5ohm using 2.5mm id would need 5 wraps
Resistance wire length (of this coil): 54.0 mm
With a heat flux of 200 it suggests 11w
I normally use this coil at 15w

And since you are setting the watts - the actual ohms of the coil, don't make any difference.

Edited to add: I do slightly spaced coils - for TC and mainly because it eliminates any hot spots on your coil

 

[Punk In Drublic]

Heat Flux is a measurement of radiant heat and is calculated within Steam by 1 watt / surface area of the coil. It is nothing more than a suggestion for Steam cannot factor in other elements such as air flow.

Also, on a regulated device mass dictates the needed power, not resistance. The higher the mass, the more power is required to heat that coil. You can build a 1 ohm coil out of 28 awg wire, and another 1 ohm coil out of 24 awg wire – the latter is 4x the mass therefor requires 4x the power to reach the same temperature within the same amount of time.

Using the same gauge wire, adding wraps increases the resistance, but also increases the mass therefore requires more power. Remove a wrap, decreases resistance and mass, requires less power.

Using a higher gauge wire of the same amount of wraps increases resistance, decreases mass, requires less power. Using a lower gauge wire, decreases resistance, increases mass, requires more power.

 

[Punk In Drublic]

And take note that Steam Engine is nothing more than a calculator. It takes 2+2 and give you an answer of 4. It works off of set parameters that could be different from what you are using.

Much of the wire we use to vape is an alloy that allows a variance in material – this variance along with inconsistencies with manufacturing can influence the wire’s properties which could mean a different result than what Steam Engine calculated. Steam Engine is 100% accurate with it’s calculations, but that level of accuracy does not reflect what we may be using.

 

[Zaryk]

I never was a fan of steam engine. I just never liked the layout. I use Vape Tool Pro (Android app on the play store). Much more simple of a layout in my opinion and easier to understand especially for a beginner, but it still gives all the needed info like steam engine. There is also a free version to try it to see if you like it called Vape Tool, the pro version costs a couple bucks and has a bit more info and coil types available on it.

 

[Punk In Drublic]

Had Vape Tool (free version) on my phone, but deleted it once I received a warning the app was fake and malicious. I see it is back on Google Play so perhaps an error in the code triggered Googles security and it was corrected.

 

[AngeNZ]

I never was a fan of steam engine. I just never liked the layout. I use Vape Tool Pro (Android app on the play store). Much more simple of a layout in my opinion and easier to understand especially for a beginner, but it still gives all the needed info like steam engine. There is also a free version to try it to see if you like it called Vape Tool, the pro version costs a couple bucks and has a bit more info and coil types available on it.

I use Vape tool pro (loved it so much I paid for it) as I find it a lot easier to use

 

[Zaryk]

Had Vape Tool (free version) on my phone, but deleted it once I received a warning the app was fake and malicious. I see it is back on Google Play so perhaps an error in the code triggered Googles security and it was corrected.

Yes, that was an error on Google's part. It is a solid app. The creator appealed it and had the issue resolved.

 

[Zakillah]

As a beginner, if you´re building for a regulated mod, my advice is to forget about resistance as a measurement stick on how many Watts a build needs. Its still widely used by many people but its rubbish and can be confusing (case in point) and even counter productive. Its easily possible to build a 0,1 Ohm coil which burns at 20 Watts. Its also possible to do a 1 Ohm build that´ll work at 100 Watts.

You´ll be much better off using coil size and mass as a indicator for how much power a build needs. Very easy; the larger and heavier the coil is, the more power it´ll need. Thats really it. There is no need to throw resistance in the mix here.

 

[vaper1960]

My concern is I'm doing dual coils on a RDA and my mod is only 60 watts max. I'm going to get Kanthal wire anyway so that should make this easier (someone is giving me some SS wire to try out... that's why I'm not sure how big of coils (2) will stay under 60 watts (in fact, I'd rather keep it at 50 watts)

 

[Punk In Drublic]

Single or dual coil (or more than 2), mass is still relevant. A single 26 Awg SS316L coil of 6 wraps around a 3mm ID jig equals approx. 80 mg of mass, 2 of these would be 160 mg of mass total. Personally, I would probably run this at approx. 35 to 45 watts depending on airflow of the atomizer. And if we wish to reference the Heat Flux within Steam, 200 mw/mm² = 42 watts for this build….depending on airflow of course.

Note: If using the Coil Wrapping Tab within Steam, you need to click on "Advanced" to see the coil properties that includes mass per coil.

What is great with re-buildable’s is the ability to experiment.

 

[vaper1960]

Punk In Drublic, I think I understand now. Your example... 35-45 watts was that for single or dual coil?

 

[Punk In Drublic]

Punk In Drublic, I think I understand now. Your example... 35-45 watts was that for single or dual coil?

Dual coils. But note this is just an esitmate - airflow is a contibuting factor.

 

[vaper1960]

I input that into steam engine... comes out to 0.22 ohms and 38 watts. I'm still having a hard time with 0.22 ohms only needing 38 watts (but I believe you)

 

[Punk In Drublic]

I input that into steam engine... comes out to 0.22 ohms and 38 watts. I'm still having a hard time with 0.22 ohms only needing 38 watts (but I believe you)

Why the hard time with 0.22 ohms needing only 38 watts? On a regulated device, the resistance is not dictating the power output. You are. Lower resistance does not mean more power. Higher mass means more power is needed to bring the coil to a preferred temperature within a preferred amount of time. And Steam Engine’s Heat Flux is a measurement of radiant heat based on the coils surface area. It does not account for mass.

Titanium is a low mass wire, therefore requires less power to heat to the same temperature within the same duration as say Kanthal of the same dimensions. But if you were to build a Titanium wire in Steam, it will report the same Heat Flux power as Kanthal of the same dimensions. Hence why I stated above that Heat Flux is nothing more than a suggestion.

 

[vaper1960]

I understand. I think my "mental block" has to with the fact my only experience is with drop-in coils. I totally get it that with a regulated mod in wattage mode I'm in control... not resistance of coil(s) I just want to avoid building a dual coil that will need more than 50 watts. It's great that I can do 6-8 wraps (I thought I would end up with 10 wraps or more)

 

[AngeNZ]

I understand. I think my "mental block" has to with the fact my only experience is with drop-in coils. I totally get it that with a regulated mod in wattage mode I'm in control... not resistance of coil(s) I just want to avoid building a dual coil that will need more than 50 watts. It's great that I can do 6-8 wraps (I thought I would end up with 10 wraps or more)

Yeah it's a mindset - I used a twisted coil yesterday which was 2 strands of 28ga, twisted. The finished coil was 2.5mm id, 5 wraps and 0.35ohms.

I vaped it at the exact same 20watts I'd use for a 2.5mm id 7 wrap 28ga ss316l at 0.7ohms.

Until you start playing with unregulated mods - the ohms are just a number

 

[sonicbomb]