What's causing this crackling noise?

[Coastal Cowboy]

This is gonna sound paradoxical, but my theorem is that you should increase wattage a bit on VW mods and temperature on TC mods. The juice is flowing through your wick(s) so quickly that the coil can't heat it fast enough. juice builds up in the wick and a blob or four starts to popping.

You're probably also getting too much airflow, which is exacerbating the issue by cooling the coil too quickly.

The wick's job is to move juice. The coil's job is to vaporize it. Move juice too fast for that power/temp setting and you get spitting and crackling. Move it too slowly and you get burnt hits or constant power bucking. If you have a lot of spitting/crackling, chances are you also have an ever so slight leaking issue. Maybe not a glub-glub juice flowing everywhere deal; maybe just a "weep."

Try bumping up the wattage a bit. If it's better but not quite right, close the airflow a bit.

The sweet spot for me is when I hear/feel it ripping. Like when you slowly tear off a paper towel at the perforation line. I'm hardheaded--it took years to figger it out.

 

[CaveFurby]

I like the crackling. Makes my vaping exciting. Scares the dog. Makes old ladies swoon.

 

[Coyote628]

Snap=ok, crackle=ok, POP= hot juice, not ok. Lol.

 

[EIHYPI]

I opened the airflow slots more, not too much and upped the wattage just a bit. I noticed that the crackling definitely diminished significantly, although there is a smooth slight crackle which is from what I am hearing perfectly normal.

 

[dom qp]

I opened the airflow slots more, not too much and upped the wattage just a bit. I noticed that the crackling definitely diminished significantly, although there is a smooth slight crackle which is from what I am hearing perfectly normal.

All my RTAs crackle when they're perfectly built and at the perfect wattage setting. There's a line you want to hit, and I know i'm there from the crackle.

When I hear it I know i'm getting a full flavoured vape with a rich body.

Keep in mind it's completely different from spitting. You shouldn't be getting liquid shooting up at you.

 

[ScottP]

Yeah, when it's throwing hot juice in the back of your throat, that's not fun. I don't get how some people like that tbh. it hurts like hell!

Mad throat hit yo.

Seriously, I don't like it either.

 

[EIHYPI]

I still trying to figure out if my old build has more mass than this one that I am currently using which would mean it generally would require more wattage for the sweet spot. If it requires math I don't know the equation. (OLD- kanthal 22G 6 wraps dual coil 3mm inside diameter normal leg length. NEW- SS 316L 24G 8 wraps dual coil 3mm inside diameter normal leg length). To me they seem almost identical from vaping them, aside from the flavor the different wires give. I'd like to compare them properly and note the differences.

Forgot to add that the kanthal build ohms out to .18 and the SS 316L build ohms to .20 .

 

[Nikhforos]

I still trying to figure out if my old build has more mass than this one that I am currently using which would mean it generally would require more wattage for the sweet spot. If it requires math I don't know the equation. (OLD- kanthal 22G 6 wraps dual coil 3mm inside diameter normal leg length. NEW- SS 316L 24G 8 wraps dual coil 3mm inside diameter normal leg length). To me they seem almost identical from vaping them, aside from the flavor the different wires give. I'd like to compare them properly and note the differences.

Forgot to add that the kanthal build ohms out to .18 and the SS 316L build ohms to .20 .

Which one has provided better flavor up to this moment?

 

[EIHYPI]

Which one has provided better flavor up to this moment?

The SS 316L build but I have a feeling that it's because of the material vs kanthal. Many people say SS gives more flavor.

 

[Asbestos4004]

I'd suggest not worrying about the math so much. Adjust power to where you get the best vape and go with it. This stuff is only complicated because we insist on making it complicated. It's actually quite simple .

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

I still trying to figure out if my old build has more mass than this one that I am currently using which would mean it generally would require more wattage for the sweet spot. If it requires math I don't know the equation. (OLD- kanthal 22G 6 wraps dual coil 3mm inside diameter normal leg length. NEW- SS 316L 24G 8 wraps dual coil 3mm inside diameter normal leg length). To me they seem almost identical from vaping them, aside from the flavor the different wires give. I'd like to compare them properly and note the differences.

Forgot to add that the kanthal build ohms out to .18 and the SS 316L build ohms to .20 .

They should be about the same, with the Kanthal a tad higher but it shouldn't be enough to make a huge difference.

I'm pretty sure that wicks are the difference you're looking for.

 

[Asbestos4004]

They should be about the same, with the Kanthal a tad higher but it shouldn't be enough to make a huge difference.

I'm pretty sure that wicks are the difference you're looking for.

Maybe, but I know, for me, I need far less power to run a .2 ohm 24ga SS coil than I'd need to run a .2 ohm 22ga kanthal coil.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

Maybe, but I know, for me, I need far less power to run a .2 ohm 24ga SS coil than I'd need to run a .2 ohm 22ga kanthal coil.

Made me open another tab and look, dammit...

Steam Engine says yeah, it does take more power to drive the Kanthal 22's.

 

[sonicbomb]

22G is horribly inefficient and in my opinion should be avoided.

 

[Eskie]

The only popping I enjoy is from the bubble wrap my vape gear may get delivered in.

 

[EIHYPI]

22G is horribly inefficient and in my opinion should be avoided.

I don't understand. I've been mainly using 22G kanthal since i started building coils. I would always get decent flavor and cloud (not that I care about the cloud). My understanding was always that if I use SS or nichrome in 22G the ohms will be too low & more wraps would require more power. What is it about 22G kanthal that makes it inefficient and should be avoided? I'm just trying to understand.

 

[sonicbomb]

Thick wire has a poor ratio of mass to surface area.
If you have two lengths of wire with one twice the thickness of the other, the thicker wire will have twice the surface area but four times the mass.

With an unregulated device you might use 22G to reach a low resistance range, but you would be better off using multiple strands of thinner wire in parallel.

On a regulated device where low resistance coils are entirely unnecessary, you are better off using lots of wraps of a thinner wire to get faster ramp up/down times and a far more efficient coil.
This greater efficiency means the same vapor production at lower powers levels, or greater vapor production at the same power levels.

Unless of course you like slow ramp up/down times and pockets full of spare batteries.

Understanding the relationship between power and coil resistance | E-Cigarette Forum

 

[Coyote628]

22G is horribly inefficient and in my opinion should be avoided.

Thats good to know. As a budding coil builder, i now have 24 feet of 22g kanthal that ill have to get creative with....lol.

 

[dom qp]

I still trying to figure out if my old build has more mass than this one that I am currently using which would mean it generally would require more wattage for the sweet spot. If it requires math I don't know the equation. (OLD- kanthal 22G 6 wraps dual coil 3mm inside diameter normal leg length. NEW- SS 316L 24G 8 wraps dual coil 3mm inside diameter normal leg length). To me they seem almost identical from vaping them, aside from the flavor the different wires give. I'd like to compare them properly and note the differences.

Forgot to add that the kanthal build ohms out to .18 and the SS 316L build ohms to .20 .

Left: Kanthal coil, Right: SS coil

They look pretty similar to me. Difference would be you can temp control one and not the other (TCR values of the metals).

Tool: Wire wizard | Steam Engine | free vaping calculators

IMO things like 22G wire have their place. Mostly in single coil set ups with massive wattage and voltage. You can use them to build really low. But you need a lot of power to heat up that amount of metal.

In a dual coil set up the resistance is so low that you can't do anything other than round wraps. So you don't get anything out of it other than TC.

But in my experience, I would rather use something like 2x 26g core with a 38g wrap over a single 22g coil.

Look at this. Roughly the same resistance. 5x the surface area. More surface = more juice being vaporized = more flavour.

If you don't want to take the time to make claptons you can do a poor man's clapton: a twisted build. You take a length of wire, fold it in 2 or 3, twist it until you can't twist anymore.

3x the surface area doing this. Super easy to build. Super easy to heat.

 

[ScottP]

Many people say SS gives more flavor.

I don't think it give more flavor, just cleaner flavor. Less metallic or wire taste.