# Talk to me about building coils



## sabrefm1 (19/6/15)

so i have always been used to 28G kanthal but never opted to move in any other direction. all i know is depending on the screw driver size u wrapping on around 8-10 wraps will lead you around 1.5ohm to 2ohm.

now i feel like a newbie and want advice from your guys. what happens when you use difference thickness of kanthal is it the higher the gauge the thinner then cable? 

does that affect the heating of how quick or slow it heats up. as I see ppl talk alot about micro builds and thats 0.x am i right? also how do you get to that and that means u need a strong battery.

i have a istick 30 and want to start build my coils. but want to learn the correct way first before i buy my head


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## shabbar (19/6/15)

yes the higher the gauge the thinner . i prefer 28/26g .
i find with 24g and lower i have the after burner effect .


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## Lushen (19/6/15)

If you can already build a coil, then you have won.

Use this link:
http://www.steam-engine.org/coil.asp

You can input the various gauges of wire and ID's, and it will calculate the resistance for you. Will give you a good idea of what to buy if you want to make specific coil.

The higher the gauge (30G) the thinner the wire. The lower the guage (24G), the thicker the wire.
The lower the gauge the longer the wire will take to heat as the heat flux varies across the gauges. But play with the app and you will then understand better.

Reactions: Informative 2


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## sabrefm1 (19/6/15)

thanks guys. interested in getting the sub tank mini next

Reactions: Like 1


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## shabbar (19/6/15)

Awesome tank , all my other rta has been standing .


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## whatalotigot (19/6/15)

Kanthal wire is like a highway of cars.. the bigger the wire the more power can run through it, giving you LESS resistance.. the smaller wire doesnt allow as much to go through giving you a higher resistance so.. when building coils 24g wire 7 wrap will give you like .5ohm for Example.. and 28g would be 1.2ohm ... As for ID doing a micro coil would be a smaller inner diameter... and a Macro coil being larger diameter...

Using steam engine can help you be specific in building coils and what ohm you would like. on a tank you can use .8ohm - 1.2ohm for a nice vape.. using 26g wire is nice... if you are using a dripper rda then .8ohm all the way down to .1ohm the lower you go down in resistance the thicker the wire will need to be to get that ohm reading. 

What tank will you be using ? I can suggest some kanthal size, ID and wrap count for you. what are you used to vaping ? so I can estimate a good strength of vape.


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## sabrefm1 (19/6/15)

I'm interested in the sub tank mini. as you get the rba base but my istick goes max 0.4 ohm


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## whatalotigot (19/6/15)

Then a .6ohm would be nice. or .8ohm evem 1.0ohm take 26g wire and wrap 6-9 times.


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## Viper_SA (19/6/15)

As I have it <1mm is considered nano coils, 1.5-2mm micro, 2.5-3mm macro and >4mm jumbo.... I prefer the 2-3mm size. 0.4 ohm is pretty decent on the iStick, I usually aim for 0.5 ohm to keep it safe. 2mm is a good size on the subtank mini if I remember correctly. 26G was also good. Interested to hear more about the 'after burner' effect @shabbar is referring to?


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## whatalotigot (19/6/15)

@Viper_SA I think he was refering to once you have stopped firing the larger strands of wire ie: 24, 22g still have alot of heat left in them and there is a slight "afterburn" really makes no difference to the vape really.


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## Viper_SA (19/6/15)

@whatalotigot that makes sense, thanks. I get that when I build below 0.3 ohm, even with twisted 28G. Now I'm trying to teach myself to let go of the fire button sooner to avoid that sound. Pretty loud on the Derringer with wide open air flow.


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## whatalotigot (19/6/15)

Its called a follow through pull .  stop firing, keep pulling for .5sec to get the afterburn. LOL. 

I vape a 0.08ohm dual 24g parallel setup on a v3 CLT. you can still hear it winding down after a hit


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## Viper_SA (19/6/15)

Damn, that makes me want to fire up my CLT v3 tonight..... Great dripper.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Redeemer (19/6/15)

And also dont forget the tools!
A good investment is a Kuro Concepts Coiler from one of the Vendors, like VapeKing, and ofcourse a ceramic tweezer to shape the coil when test firing.
When building dual coils, a tip I got from one of the YouTube vids, is to do a reverse wind (anti clockwise wound), which works like a charm on my Zephyrus (keeps the coil 'legs' out of the way of the wick)
Been using reverse wound coils on the Goliath too, and using the coiler it always comes out perfect and consistent.

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 1


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## Silver (20/6/15)

sabrefm1 said:


> so i have always been used to 28G kanthal but never opted to move in any other direction. all i know is depending on the screw driver size u wrapping on around 8-10 wraps will lead you around 1.5ohm to 2ohm.
> 
> now i feel like a newbie and want advice from your guys. what happens when you use difference thickness of kanthal is it the higher the gauge the thinner then cable?
> 
> ...



Hi @sabrefm1

The world of coils is quite vast and with several variables you can change, it means there are many ways to tailor your vape to your preference.

Take a look at this post I made a while back, where i summarised some of the issues
http://www.ecigssa.co.za/coils.t11571/#post-224199
It may help you

I will also add some extra comments here:
Generally, the lower the resistance, the more intense the vape. But in order to get a lower resistance, one needs less wraps. Unfortunately, the lower wraps you use means less surface area in contact with the wick. So thats where the thicker wire (lower gauge number) is used. If you stick to a minimum of say 6 or 7 wraps and use the gauge of wire to drop your resistance, then that should be fine.

I find the smaller diameter coils, like 1.5 mm in combination with 28g wire tend to give me a crisper vape on my Reo. When I try use thicker wire the longer heatup time and "afterburner" effect do irritate me quite a bit. At higher power one does need bigger diameters to fit more wick in to carry more juice. So the two sort of go hand in hand. I have just found for my preference that a 1.5mm diameter with 28g around the 0.9 to 1 ohm mark seems to give me the best vape allround. Maybe not the most intense, but the most satisfying.

By experimenting you will find that each device has a sort of sweet spot range for your taste and power. You need to play around with the different wire thicknesses and coil diameters.

I would say that a resistance of 1.5 to 2 ohms is best for a mildish vape. 1 to 1.5 ohms is probably a great range for an allround good vape. Decent power and intensity but not too much. 0.5 to 1 ohms is more on the intense side of things and below 0.5 is where things get very intense and depending what equipment and batteries you are using, can be dangerous. This is just a guide, obviously there will be some exceptions.

I think you should start by experimenting with 26g wire. Do exactly the same as you have done before, just with different wire and see what the outcome is and whether you prefer it. Also, try get different diameter screwdrivers. Try vary only one thing at a time so you know what is making the change.

All the best, let us know how it goes.

Reactions: Like 2 | Winner 4


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## sabrefm1 (22/6/15)

thanks, was really looking forward to jumping in asap. my fridge packed up over the weekend. so well bought a new one which means i need to keep vaping the nautilus mini for a while


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