So I want to start building my own coils but oh my

[Quintusson]

Kanthal - SS316 - Ribbon wire - Ni80 - 22G - 36G - Geek Vape wire - Lemaga wire - UD wire - etc. etc. etc.

So many things and terminology I have no clue about!

I've got a decent wire cutter and some tweezers. I want to stop off at Vape King or such and get myself one of these wire turner things (1st pic below), but then again, should I get a 2.0mm or a 2.5mm? And then the wire... Apparently the lower the number, e.g. 22G, the higher the ohms? Or is that other way around?

Basically, what I want to get to is a Fuzed Clapton type wire (I think I saw that type of wire on one of the sites, but again, which brand is best?) and I like running between 0.2 - 0.5ohms. Also, I have a serpent mini 25, which delivers amazing flavour, but I am running the single build deck on it and the spacing is quite small between the posts (2nd pic below).

How many wraps must I do? And what other tools should I get??

Thank you in advance for any advice.

 

[GregF]

LOL @ivc_mixer just like DIY juice making, DIY coil making has the same drawbacks.
Need lots of different wire and goodies to try different builds to find what you like.
The rabbit hole is not as big as DIY juice but it is there for sure.
You can use anything basically for the inner mandrill, you dont need the coil winder. A few different size drill bits will work for now.
Have a look here to find the number of wraps, ohms etc etc
Enjoy the new journey.....

 

[Christos]

The coil master coiler comes with all common sizes. Sp from 1mm to like 4mm and all sizes in between.

I would suggest a combo coiling kit.

The higher the wire gauge the higher the resistance so 28 AWG would have higher resistance than a 26 AWG coil of the same internal diameter and wraps.

I would say the best in my experience is to get 26 or 28 AWG.
As for wire types it will be an experiment to find what you prefer. I used to like stainless steel and no I like ni80.
The lemanga, UD and geek vape etc is just choice of brands of the wire.

I personally like the kidney puncher and the twisted messes wire.

Where are you based? I'll PIF a older coiling kit to you if you are willing to collect it etc and are close by the jhb south area.

 

[Friep]

Good day
To answer some of your questions the lower the gauge of the wire the thicker the wire will be. So 20g kanthal is realy thick cout hanger thick. This will result in lower ohms. The higher the gauge the thinner the wire 40g abit more than the thickness of a strand of hair.
On the coil jig I would gou for:
Then you can make coils from 2mm to 4mm internal diameter or id. Might be a bit more than the other ones but worth the investment.

For the serpent min 25: 2.5mm to 3mm wil work great. Simple ni80 24g 5 wraps should give you 0.43 ohms in single coil and 0.218-in dual coil. The ni80 ramps up quickly and gives awsome flavour.

On the clapton wire I can't help you unfortunately I know that flatwire flaptons ni80 and ss are great haven't tried them but hear good things about the wire.

 

[antonherbst]

Oh this hole like all other vape holes is deep. I started with a serpent mini 22 and used a 2mm, 2,5mm and 3mm drill bits for my coil wrapping. I got myself just plain round wire to start off with while learning the wrapping thing. I was told to wait on the more exotic wire until i think i can do a proper plain build. And i am glad i did start with plain wires and have grown into the more exotic wires. The more complicated the wire build the more difficulties are added into coil wrapping. I have a wide selection of wire in my arsenal and now own a coil kit and it is wonderfull to wrap any wire with it.

To sum up

Start with easy wire
Get a coil app to help calculate ohms
Get drill bits as you start wrapping
And become a “doctor” and have patients
And ask and youtube some videos

And enjoy this part of vaping.

 

[Quintusson]

The rabbit hole is not as big as DIY juice but it is there for sure.

Lol. I have fallen deep, deep into that rabbit hole! Ordered about 8 concentrates a month ago and have not touched one of them, but I just had to have it!

I'll PIF a older coiling kit to you if you are willing to collect it etc and are close by the jhb south area.

Wow! Many thanks @Christos ! I stay in Pretoria, but will definitely make a plan. My best friend stays in Alberton, so I might send him on a mission

As for wire types it will be an experiment to find what you prefer. I used to like stainless steel and no I like ni80.

I read somewhere that if you run Watts, then Kanthall is better? SS melts too quickly? And what is ni80?

 

[Friep]

On a nother note ni80 might be a bit difficult to work with in the beginning. But if you strum the coil and start low wile pulsing you should be fine. Struming means taking a screwdriver or coil jig or ceramic tweesers and stroking the coil in one direction after pulsing that means heating your coils without any cotton in them to check if they heat up evenly from the inside out.

Enjoy this journey it makes vaping alot more interesting and fun.

 

[Christos]

Lol. I have fallen deep, deep into that rabbit hole! Ordered about 8 concentrates a month ago and have not touched one of them, but I just had to have it!



Wow! Many thanks @Christos ! I stay in Pretoria, but will definitely make a plan. My best friend stays in Alberton, so I might send him on a mission



I read somewhere that if you run Watts, then Kanthall is better? SS melts too quickly? And what is ni80?

What you hear and what works is usually very different. I hated kanthal.
Ss can be used in wattage mode or temp control.
Ni80 is nichrome wich can be used in wattage mode.

Do you like a warmer vape or a cooler one?

 

[Friep]

I read somewhere that if you run Watts, then Kanthall is better? SS melts too quickly? And what is ni80?

I haven't had issues with ss melting and it has the added benefit of being used in tc and watts mode. Ni80 is a wire tipe made from a material called nichrome a mixture of nickel and chrome where the 80 gives you the % of nickel in the wire. Some of these wire tipes contain a bit of iron and can give a bit of a metallic taste after a few dry burns. But the kidney puncher ni80 does not contain this iron and also doesn't give that metallic taste after a while.

 

[Quintusson]

Do you like a warmer vape or a cooler one?

I prefer a cooler vape.

 

[GregF]

Have a look here it explains the different types of wire and what they do.

 

[Quintusson]

strum the coil

I've seen people at the vape shops do that and always wondered about it. The tweezers I have is actual tweezers, the steel ones you pluck hair out with - my wife still wonders what happened to it, but she bought a new one - and I have tried 'strumming' coils with it before, but not sure if I did it right. I see however the tweezers that most shops, etc. use are ceramic. Does this make a difference?

 

[Quintusson]

the kidney puncher ni80

A friend of mine told me he also prefers the kidney punchers as they do not rust? Where can I get some?

 

[Christos]

I've seen people at the vape shops do that and always wondered about it. The tweezers I have is actual tweezers, the steel ones you pluck hair out with - my wife still wonders what happened to it, but she bought a new one - and I have tried 'strumming' coils with it before, but not sure if I did it right. I see however the tweezers that most shops, etc. use are ceramic. Does this make a difference?

Only if you compress your coils while still firing... the ceramic prevents a dead short!

I also hate the ceramic tweezers and only use metal ones but your experience is possibly going to be different to mine.

 

[Friep]

I've seen people at the vape shops do that and always wondered about it. The tweezers I have is actual tweezers, the steel ones you pluck hair out with - my wife still wonders what happened to it, but she bought a new one - and I have tried 'strumming' coils with it before, but not sure if I did it right. I see however the tweezers that most shops, etc. use are ceramic. Does this make a difference?

You can strum the coils with those tweezers just not wile fireing them this will cause a short. The ceramic tweezers works better because you can squeeze the coils wille fireing them as they do not conduct electricity.

If the vape on the coils weren't horrible most probably you strummed correctly and got the hotspots out.

 

[Quintusson]

Taking a chance here, but anyone in Pretoria East area that may want to give up a hour or so of their time to physically show me some tricks and tips? I will see if I can buy the necessary equipment, etc. today.

 

[Quintusson]

If the vape on the coils weren't horrible most probably yous strummed correctly and got the hotspots out.

Yeah, because I did not know what I was doing, or why, I just used to strum because I saw other people doing it and then after a few times I would stop, look at the coil and assume it's all good.

 

[Friep]

A friend of mine told me he also prefers the kidney punchers as they do not rust? Where can I get some?

I get my kidney puncher from vapehyper they are really affordable.

 

[Friep]

Yeah, because I did not know what I was doing, or why, I just used to strum because I saw other people doing it and then after a few times I would stop, look at the coil and assume it's all good.

I have been building my own coils for more than a year now and I still do this lol. But the idea behind the strumming is to get rid of hotspots thats when one of the wraps or more than one glows brighter than the others and after you strum it it behaves.

 

[Quintusson]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I think I need to put my impulsiveness aside a bit here and research the topic more, watch some videos, get more information and then jump into the rabbit hole. I can see this is something I am going to enjoy, so let me not just jump in and get frustrated.