TC and Clapton Coils

[YeOldeOke]

Man, have things changed since last I vaped. Find myself a noob on quite a few issues. So here's me next learning curve - TC and clapton coils.

Never used a clapton coil. But after reading up a bit seems like I must give it a go in my quest for Flavour Nirvana.

I currently run s/s 26g coils on istick tc 120w. I want to stay with s/s as the core coz kanthal's no good for tc.

Thinnest s/s wire for the wrap I can find here in za seems to be 28g. 26g core with 28g wrap seems wrong. Now apparently you can use kanthal for the wrap in tc as the current basically just runs through the core?

Some pointers on s/s clapton coils would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ezekiel]

Hi @YeOldeOke

Yeah, I've also been on the hunt before for 30/32 AWG SS. I would suggest posting in the "Who has stock?" forum - maybe there is a smaller/less online vendor somewhere who has some, or will bring some in - it can't hurt. Otherwise, I know there is someone in SA selling some pre-Claptonned SS wire, which is apparently very good.

You can also try using 28 AWG for the wrapping - SS 28 AWG is much more flimsy than Kanthal 28 AWG. I haven't tried it, but maybe it works?

You can use a 24/26 AWG SS core, and wrap it with high gauge Kanthal. However, I suspect you will have a problem with the SS' accuracy, since the resistance of the actual wire will be quite low, and wrapping it will bring the TCR down even further (I guess). You might actually have more luck with a higher gauge SS core if you can manage to Clapton it.

Personally, I would suggest using Ti as the core. It is very sturdy wire, so I actually think wrapping it will be easier, and it is very accurate, even when you start dropping the resistance. Alternatively, you can make a Ni/SS twisted core and wrap around it - a single Ni strand anywhere in the mesh will give you all the TC accuracy you need.

Finally, before you start jumping into Clapton and TC (which can work wonders some days, but can be a mess with getting the correct TCR on others), have you tried twisting multiple SS strands together? It is very fun, and it does the same as Claptonning - increasing the surface area. Much easier though, and you won't need any additional wire.

 

[YeOldeOke]

@Ezekiel Thanks for that very informative post. There's some interesting points.

Twisted 26g s/s.... That would halve the resistance. On double coils that may be a bit lower than I would want to go. Not morally.

All I have is 26g s/s and 28g kanthal. Think, given the points re TC you raise, I don't want to buy a lotta stuff that may not work. Maybe I'll just get 10 s/s clapton coils from slowtech and see how they do, when and if they arrive. Their wire be a lot cheaper as well.
https://www.fasttech.com/products/3...uthentic-mkws-316l-stainless-steel-pre-coiled