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Breaktru Forum  |  eCigarette Forum  |  Atty/Carto/Tank/Rebuildable  |  Topic: Coil Wire Gauge Comparison
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Author Topic: Coil Wire Gauge Comparison  (Read 12422 times)

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Online Breaktru

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Coil Wire Gauge Comparison
« on: August 18, 2013, 06:30:59 PM »
This Topic is for members to post their comments on using coils of various gauges, resistance and types.

I have been a low wattage vaper mainly using 32 gauge Kanthal or Nichrome. Making and using coils measuring anywhere from < 1 ohm to 3.2 ohms. Normally I vape between 6w to 7w.

I made a micro-coil with 28 gauge, 12 coil loops closely wound at 2.3 ohms and found that I needed 12 watts to get the same vapor as I did with the fore-mentioned.

I'm thinking that the heavier gauge wire absorbs more heat, requiring higher wattage.


What have you experienced?

Offline CraigHB

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Re: Coil Wire Gauge Comparison
« Reply #1 on: August 18, 2013, 07:53:28 PM »
It's pretty intersting the variations you get with different gauges.  For the round wire, I was going with the 32 AWG (.20mm).  Nichrome 60 gives me coils around 1.4 Ohms.  The Kanthal D in with the same gauge bumps that up to a about 1.7 and the Kanthal A-1 bumps it up to about 1.8 Ohms. 

The different materials have different resistances.  The metric resistance constants are 1.1, 1.35, 1.45 for nichrome 60, Kanthal D and Kanthal A-1.  To find resistance per meter, just divide the cross sectional area into those numbers.  What's interesting is the Kanthal D and A-1 only differ by 1% aluminum, but it makes a notable difference in resistance.

I tried 30 AWG and 28 AWG nichrome but I had to use more turns to keep resistance up.  I also found I needed more power with the heavier wire.  Makes sense since you need more current to get a thicker wire up to the same temperature.  I think the temperature of the wire is where the rubber hits the road in making vapor.

Now I'm using the .4 x .1mm Kanthal ribbon.  The D ribbon I have is a bit wider like .42mm and gives me coils about 1.2 Ohms.  The A-1 ribbon I have is closer to .35mm and gives me coils about 1.5 Ohms. 

I usually vape around 15 Watts (4.2V) with a 1.2 Ohm coil using the Kanthal D ribbon.  That's in my gennies.  In my drippers, I'm using the A-1 Kanthal to get resistance up to 1.3 Ohms.  The drippers run hotter than the gennies so I need a little bit higher resistance and a little less power.

Offline CraigHB

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Re: Coil Wire Gauge Comparison
« Reply #2 on: August 18, 2013, 08:22:52 PM »
Here's a couple pics I happen to have.

The first one is my genny with a 2mm Ekowool sleeve on a mesh wick using the A-1 ribbon.  That was an experimental one I did and it came out to 1.4 Ohms.  I typically use the 3mm Ekowool or Nextel with the D ribbon for 1.2 Ohms. 

The second one is one of my drippers with 2mm Ekowool and the A-1 ribbon at 1.3 Ohms.  The wick on that dripper has a 400 mesh core under the coil.  Seems to improve wicking from the juice well and provides support for the wick so I can make the coils tight without strangling it.

   

Offline zeus17

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Re: Coil Wire Gauge Comparison
« Reply #3 on: August 19, 2013, 09:08:52 AM »
those are really nice wraps..

well lesson learned thick wires,thou less resistance needs more power.
in my experience 32-35 should gets me the warm and nice vape that I like..

microcoiled
32 - 10 loops with a diameter of 1.55mm gets me around 1.5 ohms..gets a very nice slightly warm vape.
on the other hand 40 with 1.7 ohms doing 15loops is a goner...so reduced them to 7 loops gave me around 0.7 ohm and I get roughly he same vape on a mech...


have not done any spaced out coils in a while since I find ,microcoiling much less trouble than spaced out,i can do long legs and has enbcountered 0 to none hotspots in all my buids on the first wrap.

wicking material varies from cotton to ekowool now,i still do prefer cotton cause its really really cheap

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