What causes coils to fade?

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James Wilson

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If you are using an aerotank, your likely using the stock coils. Which as fine. I have a Kanger Aerotank mini here. The thing is with those coils at 1.9 or 2 ohm whichever your using, you won't need more then 8-9 watts usually on it. Those new kanger duel coils you an not clean as easily as many other coils. Best you can do is keep your setup cleaned as often as you can. 2-3 weeks is usually good. I also take some tissue and wrap up an end very small and sit it down into the middle shaft of the coil and let it absorb some of the old juice. It is about the best you can do with those since it is hard to actually take them apart without breaking the head. That said those coils usually last me about 1-2 months. Try vaping on lighter juices as darker juices tend to gunk up coils faster. Another tip if you have issues getting a good draw off it is to take a sewing needle and put it down the barrel and poke a couple holes in the wick. They tend to use too much wick in them sometimes.

That all said and done I just upgraded to an Istick 30w with a Kanger Subtank Mini. I gotta say it hits so much better then my aerotank mini. I still like my mini but man was I missing out on a lot of flavors and it hits great. Not to mention the clouds. I am not much of a cloud person but man are they awesome. I get great flavor and great clouds. I am using 80vp/20pg in my juices now. Though I was using 50/50. Made the switch just because i find i get better flavor with more vg. Though higher vg means thicker juice that is more likely to gunk up coils. Though I think I will be fine. I tend to use mostly lighter juices as it is.
 

rhammer186

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Im having a similar issue with my nautilus mini bvc 1.8 ohm coils. They dont seem to last more than a week before i get a burnt flavor or no flavor at all. I never go over 8.3 watts and don't use dark juice. I only go through a tank every day or two so im barely getting 10mls out of the coil. What can i do to increase the longevity of the coils?
 

mcclintock

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    Gunk. That's the problem. As to "burning", when you get a burnt taste something is, but I don't think that's what you're hearing. Juice vaporizing is louder than coils burning.

    VHRB's advice is excellent except you don't need to search for instructions, he gave you most of them!. Take the coil out, dip it in water, put it back in the base and with the tank off, crank it on high until you don't see vapor. If the coil can be exposed, then pop the top off and burn it like that. When you see the coils glow red, you are done. If you need more water, repeat. Put some juice on it and replace the tank and you are good to go.

    This sounds like a recipe to melt and burn the insulators. With a Kanger single coil, dry burning should be in pulses just enough to get the coil to glow a second. It must be exposed when doing so. I usually pull off the top, pull out the wicks, wipe or scrape the coil if heavy, burn, get the water running, pulse the coil, and then quickly whip off the coil and the base I use for this and stick it under the water. Pat dry, heat to get out the water, dry burn again. Rewick with cotton. I've only tried recoiling one of then and it didn't work well. I don't see much point as my coil would be as close as possible to what's already in there. I usually rewick twice and throw it out when too messed up looking. Rewicking is a good excuse for not trying to run a wick too long, if you do this earlier than necessary then it cleans up better.
     

    ian-field

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    Im having a similar issue with my nautilus mini bvc 1.8 ohm coils. They dont seem to last more than a week before i get a burnt flavor or no flavor at all. I never go over 8.3 watts and don't use dark juice. I only go through a tank every day or two so im barely getting 10mls out of the coil. What can i do to increase the longevity of the coils?

    What I'm having trouble with is; the high resistivity wire sold for e-cig coils. The stuff I got from the Mesh Company comes into a satisfactory resistance with a totally inadequate 2 turns round the wick! Even twisting 2 strands together isn't great.

    What I've been using while I still have some left is; 0.18mm wire salvaged from electronic component resistors, it was difficult to get enough turns within the width of a Vivi-Nova V2 head without shorting, my winding technique is gradually improving and I'm getting coils that work well and last at least a week.
     

    Enoch777

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    What I've been using while I still have some left is; 0.18mm wire salvaged from electronic component resistors, it was difficult to get enough turns within the width of a Vivi-Nova V2 head without shorting

    WOAH WHAT!?

    Is that even safe? I'm no electrician (perhaps you are) but this does not sound kosher. Do yourself a favor and pick up some 28GA Kanthal. If you're really having issues reaching the desired resistance you'll want to play around with coil diameter and/or consider picking up some 30/32 GA.

    There's absolutely no reason you should be needing to salvage wire (which may or may not be safe for vaping). So many people rebuild, there's a ton of resources here on the ECF and guides on YouTube that one could argue it's an exact science.
    Please do be safe and learn as much as you can before trying something!

    And if you're serious about rebuilding pick up a solid RDA/RBA or check out topper-specific guides so you know you're doing it correctly.

    ~~

    As far as coil longevity it's definitely in the realm of gunk. Replaceable coils tend to fall short in this category unless rebuilt or modified in such a way that you can perform maintenance such as dry burning/washing/re-wicking.

    A typical micro coil of mine lasts a month or two, while my twisted coils last 3+ months. I re-wick and dry burn daily. I also believe that large bore chambers and more free-floating coils gunk up much slower than alternatives, where you're cooking juice in a tighter space. Give that juice some room to move around, wick, react to temperature and keep up on your maintenance and results will be immediate.
     

    edyle

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    What I'm having trouble with is; the high resistivity wire sold for e-cig coils. The stuff I got from the Mesh Company comes into a satisfactory resistance with a totally inadequate 2 turns round the wick! Even twisting 2 strands together isn't great.

    What I've been using while I still have some left is; 0.18mm wire salvaged from electronic component resistors, it was difficult to get enough turns within the width of a Vivi-Nova V2 head without shorting, my winding technique is gradually improving and I'm getting coils that work well and last at least a week.

    what?
    what wire are you talking about?
    Ask for a roll of Kanthal wire; 30 gauge.
    use a meter yourself to test ohms on the wire, put the probes about an inch apart on a stretch of wire and see what ohms you get.
    Should be somewhere in the vicinity of 1 ohm per inch; 1/2 ohm an inch or 2 ohm per inch is ok.

    maybe you got 36 gauge?
     

    rhammer186

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    As far as coil longevity it's definitely in the realm of gunk. Replaceable coils tend to fall short in this category unless rebuilt or modified in such a way that you can perform maintenance such as dry burning/washing/re-wicking.

    A typical micro coil of mine lasts a month or two, while my twisted coils last 3+ months. I re-wick and dry burn daily. I also believe that large bore chambers and more free-floating coils gunk up much slower than alternatives, where you're cooking juice in a tighter space. Give that juice some room to move around, wick, react to temperature and keep up on your maintenance and results will be immediate.

    Can this rebuilding of the coils be done with the BVC coils for the nautilus mini?
     

    Enoch777

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    Can this rebuilding of the coils be done with the BVC coils for the nautilus mini?

    IT CAN BE DONE!

    You'll have to excuse me if the mini uses a different coil head, I haven't kept up on these products in a while. It should be easy enough to duplicate at any rate. If you're new to building however I don't recommend trying it. You need the right supplies, the right knowledge, and the right technique to build a coil. There's some basic requirements that need to be met and checked and then re-checked to do it safely.

    In my experience rebuilding heads is one of the trickier things to attempt. The chance of a hard short is quite high unless you are very careful and precise in your work. A simple RDA is much easier especially for a novice.

    Just search the forums and you'll find a treasure trove of information on the subject of rebuilding. Be safe and best of luck :)
     
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    ian-field

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    what?
    what wire are you talking about?
    Ask for a roll of Kanthal wire; 30 gauge.
    use a meter yourself to test ohms on the wire, put the probes about an inch apart on a stretch of wire and see what ohms you get.
    Should be somewhere in the vicinity of 1 ohm per inch; 1/2 ohm an inch or 2 ohm per inch is ok.

    maybe you got 36 gauge?

    Having got ripped off by the Mesh Company - I'm reluctant to buy stocks of wire to test each gauge whether it works.

    At the time I ordered, I didn't know much - the Mesh co exploited that to offload some stagnant stock.
     

    Zealous

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    What I'm having trouble with is; the high resistivity wire sold for e-cig coils. The stuff I got from the Mesh Company comes into a satisfactory resistance with a totally inadequate 2 turns round the wick! Even twisting 2 strands together isn't great.

    What I've been using while I still have some left is; 0.18mm wire salvaged from electronic component resistors, it was difficult to get enough turns within the width of a Vivi-Nova V2 head without shorting, my winding technique is gradually improving and I'm getting coils that work well and last at least a week.

    I don't know anything about the Mesh Co. However Temco is a good company for Kanthal and you have many choices of guage available on Amazon from them. I would recommend 30 guage.

    I also agree that starting out your rebuilding with a simple dripping atomizer until you've mastered good coil building is better than trying to learn rebuilding those little tank heads.
     

    Light Seeker

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    Having got ripped off by the Mesh Company - I'm reluctant to buy stocks of wire to test each gauge whether it works.

    At the time I ordered, I didn't know much - the Mesh co exploited that to offload some stagnant stock.
    PLEASE STOP IMMEDIATELY USING SALVAGED RESISTOR WIRE!!!!!

    Many electronic assemblies are dipped in acid baths and chemicals as part of the manafacturing process. You have no idea what you may be inhaling..... And it can't be good!!

    I have no idea about your source, but get your wire from Temco. Kanthal A1 in the 26-32 gauge.

    Used to rebuild the original viva novas few years ago, and was using 6 wraps of 32 gauge all the time. Consider starting there.

    And leave the recycled electronics to recyclers!!!
     

    ian-field

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    PLEASE STOP IMMEDIATELY USING SALVAGED RESISTOR WIRE!!!!!

    Many electronic assemblies are dipped in acid baths and chemicals as part of the manafacturing process. You have no idea what you may be inhaling..... And it can't be good.

    I wouldn't be so averse to trusting suppliers if the first one I ordered from hadn't ripped me off!
     

    ian-field

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    I got 50ft of 29ga on eBay, from Temco, for $5.45 -- it's my favorite wire to use, for my 1.4-2.0Ω range.

    Lightning Vapes is also a good source, but I had to go hunting to find 29ga.

    Andria

    Already hunted high and low - none of the UK suppliers with anything useful will allow phone orders (I don't trust my PC!).

    also my vernier (digital) caliper only does mm & decimal inches - a small minority of suppliers list SWG sizes, the majority list in AWG, its a lot of faffing about searching out equivalents tables.
     

    rhammer186

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    Already hunted high and low - none of the UK suppliers with anything useful will allow phone orders (I don't trust my PC!).

    also my vernier (digital) caliper only does mm & decimal inches - a small minority of suppliers list SWG sizes, the majority list in AWG, its a lot of faffing about searching out equivalents tables.
    Websites like Amazon is pretty secure for purchasing over the computer. You can also try a hardware store if you have those near you.
     

    ian-field

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    Websites like Amazon is pretty secure for purchasing over the computer. You can also try a hardware store if you have those near you.

    Like Sony perhaps..................how many times has their customer database been hacked now?!!!!!

    And if people like Sony can't keep their servers under control, I'm not even going to enter may card No on the KBD of my machine for any reason.
     

    ian-field

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    Several of my credit cards were hacked, luckily the bank caught them b4 the charges were put thru. Lately been using prepaid cards I load up with a small amount for online shopping .... Particularly eBay or unknown merchants.

    Hackers steal £650 million in world's biggest bank raid - Telegraph

    Another thing I'm not too happy about is; all new bank cards are contactless - I only found out recently that you just tap it on the top of the card reader (no need to enter PIN). If anyone found my card, they'd be able to spend up to £20 per shop - wouldn't take many shops to clean me out!
     

    rhammer186

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    Hackers steal £650 million in world's biggest bank raid - Telegraph

    Another thing I'm not too happy about is; all new bank cards are contactless - I only found out recently that you just tap it on the top of the card reader (no need to enter PIN). If anyone found my card, they'd be able to spend up to £20 per shop - wouldn't take many shops to clean me out!

    Wow. I guess I'm lucky with Chase here in the US since they tend to be over cautious and flag some of my own purchases which lock my card. If I leave the my state or travel too far from my usual places and then try to shop they will lock it and give me a call or text within 10 minutes to ask if I was the one buying something. It can be really annoying but I do appreciate the overactive fraud protection service they offer. If my card # is stolen, which has happened once, they do not hold me accountable, no matter the charge.
     
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