Stainless Steel Coils

26g is a nice inbetweener just as it is in kanthal. I use 26g unless I want to do fused claptons, then I use 28\32g
 
@Silver, 26 awg is nice to get resistance of about .3 till .8 ohms.
My only complaint is 26 awg gets really hot so if airflow is restricted you are going to have a hot atty.
Perhaps 28awg is a good starting place.
I need to get some 28awg
 
@Silver, 26 awg is nice to get resistance of about .3 till .8 ohms.
My only complaint is 26 awg gets really hot so if airflow is restricted you are going to have a hot atty.
Perhaps 28awg is a good starting place.
I need to get some 28awg

Thanks @Christos
I will try get 28g
But what about 314 versus 316 ?
I recall there being a difference. Is that the grade of steel or type of steel?
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys
Will give it a bash soon and report back
 
Thanks @Christos
I will try get 28g
But what about 314 versus 316 ?
I recall there being a difference. Is that the grade of steel or type of steel?
I Have no idea!
I have 316 26 AWG.
I do find it soft and very lovely to work with so I would buy 28AWG 316.
I like the UD ss as it's clean and well the quality is decent compared to other wire brands I have bought before.
 
Gotta agree with you there, i still run an alcohol swab over the wire before building but no residue on the ud package at all.

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Stainless 304 is 13.96 ohms per meter
Kanthal A1 is 28.96 ohms per meter

Using 28 gauge wire On 8 wraps on a 2 mm ID:
Kanthal A1 gives: 1.28 ohm
SS 304 gives: 0.63 Ohm
Conclusion: At the same number of wraps stainless will give lower resistance which, of course, produces more heat and heats up faster.

Using 28 gauge wire to get to 1 Ohm:
Kanthal A1 needs 6.5 wraps
SS needs 12.5 Wraps
Conclusion: For a given resistance, a much lower volume of material is used with Kanthal so it will heat up faster than stainless.

Since the volume of material directly affects heat up time I suppose it comes down to if you prefer coil surface area (Kanthal) or heat up time (Stainless) ...

Stainless in a mech mod will automatically taper off the power as the heat and associated resistance increases e.g. starting of on a 0.2 ohm @ 72 watts set up will end up at 0.24 ohm @ 60 watts by the time 250 degrees Celsius is reached. Rather desirable side effect to my mind..
Power mode regulated mods may or may not behave the same depending on whether the mod reads the resistance and recalculates power output while it is in a fire condition I imagine.

For TC I'll still stick to nickel though, it's the king of TCR which allows for more accurate temperature control and the least heat up time. That's IF you can get a build working with thinner wire, don't mind swapping coils more often and don't mind spending a little time in front the mirror to 'dial in' the settings. And they say TC is for newbs .. tsk, tsk. ;)
 
Thanks @JakesSA. Most useful. Much appreciated.
 
I need to try some SS asap.
 
@Alex this is me with dual SS coils in the Manta which has awesome airflow and is for Lung Hits! I'm gonna get me another Manta!
SS 001.JPG SS 004.JPG
 
So what gauges are most useful for SS, is the low carbon 'L' type preferred?
 
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So what gauges are most useful for SS, is the low carbon 'L' type preferred?

I only use 317L and 316L. The 316L is much softer than the 317L and has a lower resistance than the 317L. I still do like my 317L and I have a crapload of it....lol.
I have 28g and 30g in the 316L and only 24g in the 317L, but if you torch the 317L (which is very springy) before building, it's quite soft and pliable. Just use a high quality flush cutter with the 317L, it breaks the lower quality cutters...lol
 
Stainless steel - undesirable metallurgic properties when heated a lot. chromium(IV) oxide isn't something I want to be falling in love with. Anyone who has welded with it knows this, and knows to use fume extractors.

The claims that it "tastes better" are simply not true. It might taste different, which is to say that if someone only ever used stainless steel, and then made the switch to Kanthal, different flavours might pop and give the impression of an improvement in the vape. No logical reason to favour it over Kanthal or Nichrome.
 
Stainless steel - undesirable metallurgic properties when heated a lot. chromium(IV) oxide isn't something I want to be falling in love with. Anyone who has welded with it knows this, and knows to use fume extractors.

The claims that it "tastes better" are simply not true. It might taste different, which is to say that if someone only ever used stainless steel, and then made the switch to Kanthal, different flavours might pop and give the impression of an improvement in the vape. No logical reason to favour it over Kanthal or Nichrome.

That is just your opinion mate. People's perceptions differ. ALL my juices taste better when using SS. I sometimes build with kanthal and then my juices just taste "off". Switching back to SS and it's just better.
The claims that it tastes better might not be true for you, but for many other people it's very true.
 
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