all i know is you guys have confused the hell out of me, LOL


On the topic of the mysteries of very closely-wound coils seemingly not causing shorts:
Kanthal and nichrome, when exposed to oxygen, both form micro-thin shells of oxide compounds with the most heat-stable metal that they are composed of. These compounds are aluminum oxide, and chromium oxide, respectively. This oxide formation rate increases with temperature. Also, oxide compounds such as these are electrical insulators, though they are fragile and fairly easily defeated through mechanical friction.
Because of this, I think that both of these metals would be resistant to having coil turns short to each other, unless there is some significant force applied them.
While it's been a number of years since my electrical theory schooling, I agree with pretty much everything that mrelwood has said on the matter. If there is actual touching of non-oxidized metal to non-oxidized metal, the electrical current will flow through that connection. That is, quite possibly, limited by the area of that connection, since current-conducting capability is limited by that.
MISTer E, I think that you are definitely on to something with the extremely tight helix being more resistant to being compressed, as well. Mechanically, it makes sense. Couple that with the thermal expansion properties of the metals involved, and the fact that small diameter, resistant wires are not good conductors, and so dissipate excess current as heat, and you also would seem to have the 'perfect storm' of effects that would protect against that while the coil is in use. That said, I don't see that helping while merely testing on a very low amperage ohmmeter. In that case, I would think that the current would prefer the non-oxidized interior of the wire.
I believe that MISTer E also theorized about the path that the electrons take through the conductor having some effect on this. Personally, I would think not, though there definitely is a difference in the path that electrons take through a conductor, based upon the frequency of an alternating current. This is called 'skin effect'. For DC current, the electrons should flow equally throughout all of the conductive alloy, based upon what I remember of that. Either way, I would not think that it would make much difference in the ability of the electrons to short-circuit a section of the conductor due to contact.
While I don't know any exact rates for the formation of oxides, they do form any time they are exposed to oxygen, and I would think that rate is nearly instantaneous for some amount of the protection. Here are some references that I found:
http://www.sci-ed-ga.org/modules/materialscience/light/pdf/section_13.pdf
Aluminium oxide - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chromium - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I'm no electronics engineer, but I was an electronics technician with a fair amount of electrical theory included in my schooling, and these are just my opinions, based upon my limited knowledge of the subject.![]()
I now appreciate your skepticism even more
I sometimes think America is religion & mumbo jumbo voodoo make believe capital of the world
I am a recluse hermit & have been since childhood. I only went to school for 8 years as a child & did not attend most days. I am also in real life what I accused you of being. In real life people avoid me because I am soo skeptical
I may be a little jealous of how you can be a hard skeptic in your writing & I can only do it in my hermit like isolation like a coward.
Slapping a Laplander for skepticism would be like slapping a reindeer for seeking &/or eating lichens.
I forgot to mention that this recent discussion has been a fascinating read, so far.
I've recently been plagued by several sub-par coil builds causing hot spots from two turns being a bit too close together, which I'm quite sensitive to. It's almost infuriating at this point, because I hadn't had this problem since starting with these quite a while ago, and I don't know why I am now. It seems that I've been over-thinking the process, and have strayed from my original method of rebuilding too much in an attempt to make it easier.
I've got to get some lower resistance nichrome, now, and try my hand at some dense coils. I see promise in this pursuit.
Glad to see another Michigander on the forum. I've just ordered some 30 awg kanthal, 32 nichrome, 32 nr nickle to add some more to the arsenal. I've been using 33 gauge kanthal so I know what you mean about wanting something lower in ohms.
my visualizations are mostly non science as electrons can not be seen flowing & I just am attempting to do so from others diagrams I have seen of current flow because its fun to imagineI believe that MISTer E also theorized about the path that the electrons take through the conductor having some effect on this.
You are compared to meI'm no electronics engineer
I used gimp & some tricks in my art toolkit that would take too long to explain. I am glad you like it. Your comment made me laugh.how u do that?
I'm confused with all this too lol. Just wrap it and vape it lmao.
For people who don't understand the twist of the nr-r-nr, watch Scott boners vid on Odysseus it's exactly how I do my coils.
Wow, MISTer E. I really didn't see that one coming. I really don't know why I continuously fail to type in a way that would reflect my true attitude. I guess I better stop trying in order not to hurt the people here.
Sorry MR E, I really don't know what went wrong.
Cyrus Vap
friends, ... happened in here lol