Building Coils - Basics For Newbies

Rob Fisher

Rob Fisher

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Hi All,

Tomorrow I enter the world of building coils and messing around with wire and cotton wool etc... there is a ton of info on the other threads but thought it may be a good idea to start a beginners thread because a lot of the other threads are pretty technical.

So... Questions...
  • What thickness screwdriver or drill bit should I use to wrap the wire around? I'm building for a Kayfun Lite Plus Clone RBA.
  • I assume the 28g Kanthal A-1 Wire is the right one?
  • Can I just go to the hardware store and buy one of those little blowtorches?
  • Should I try using Silica Wick as well as Cotton Wool?
  • What power setting should I set the SVD to start?
I'm so looking forward to Vape Mail tomorrow! And just for the record this is all your fault @Matthee!
 
To start I suggest the following from HWS:

1. 2mm drill bit to use as former to wrap your coils (don't you have coil jig?)
2. 28G Kanthal is great to start off with (10 wraps on 2mm as a start)
3. Any blowtorch will work - even a lighter
4. Try both, you'll find the cotton much better re flavour and wicking
5. Power setting: start of minimum, go up until it gets nasty and then go 1 down

Looking forward to the photos, and of coarse your comments
 
johanct said:
To start I suggest the following from HWS:

1. 2mm drill bit to use as former to wrap your coils (don't you have coil jig?)
2. 28G Kanthal is great to start off with (10 wraps on 2mm as a start)
3. Any blowtorch will work - even a lighter
4. Try both, you'll find the cotton much better re flavour and wicking
5. Power setting: start of minimum, go up until it gets nasty and then go 1 down

Looking forward to the photos, and of coarse your comments
Click to expand...

Thanks Johan! No I don't have a coil jig... I made the mistake of going to sleep that night and I missed the auction end. :(
 
Another question... Do you all undo the fill screw to add the juice? The hole looks (from videos) a bit small and that seems a tough way to fill the tank?
 
Rob Fisher said:
Another question... Do you all undo the fill screw to add the juice? The hole looks (from videos) a bit small and that seems a tough way to fill the tank?
Click to expand...

You wont mess if you use the fill screw. Big mess if you forget to put your finger on the air vent when filling from the top! No easy with VM's bottles.
 
Rob Fisher said:
Thanks Johan! No I don't have a coil jig... I made the mistake of going to sleep that night and I missed the auction end. :(
Click to expand...
Rob, it is really not that hard to roll a coil. Hardest part is to keep count of the wraps. :D
Also, I don't even own a blowtorch. 28g Kanthal is not so springy and as soon as you have it in the atty, you can pulse it and squeeze it. Repeat 3 times. If the coil heats from the centre to outside, you are ready.
Screw on the barrel and top of the chamber and just take and try it before you put the whole thing together and fill with juice. Easy to change anything if you must.
 
johanct said:
You wont mess if you use the fill screw. Big mess if you forget to put your finger on the air vent when filling from the top! No easy with VM's bottles.
Click to expand...

OK in that case I need to fill my U-Can with Menthol Ice. Thanks for that tip! ;)
 
There you go Rob the pro's with experience like TylerD will take it from here with further assistance. One thing that helped me after the pulsing and then wicking - wet the wick with enough juice, easier to position in the Kayfun.
 
@Rob Fisher just a word of advice, once u get this RBA built and running properly, i guarantee you you will be posting alot of stuff in the classifieds ;)
 
You can coil one of two ways:
  1. The traditional way - the wraps are not touching. Not for cotton as wicking material.
  2. Micro coils - the wraps are tight and touching.
Here is a video on the traditional way:

The micro coil way:

Micro coiling with a jig, but worth watching even if you do not have a jig:


Your specific questions:
  • What thickness screwdriver or drill bit should I use to wrap the wire around? I'm building for a Kayfun Lite Plus Clone RBA. The majority of vapers use a mandrel of around 1.5 mm. The usual terminology is then that your have a coil with an ID (inner diameter) of 1.5 mm.
  • I assume the 28g Kanthal A-1 Wire is the right one? The most popular gauge.
  • Can I just go to the hardware store and buy one of those little blowtorches? Yes, very handy. I use a little Dremel one.
  • Should I try using Silica Wick as well as Cotton Wool? On the Kayfun, if you go the micro coil way, I recommend start with cotton.
  • What power setting should I set the SVD to start? That depends a lot on the resistance of your coil. The higher the resistance, the more power you can apply. Very important to check the resistance of your coil before firing - for if there is a short your SVD will not measure resistance.
 
Last edited:
A question new coilers ask a lot - how many wraps to get to my desired resistance? Attached a document to give you some idea.
 

Attachments

  • Coils.pdf
    63.9 KB · Views: 41
Matthee said:
You can coil one of two ways:
  1. The traditional way - the wraps are not touching.
  2. Micro coils - the wraps are tight and touching.
Here is a video on the traditional way:

The micro coil way:

Micro coiling with a jig, but worth watching even if you do not have a jig:


Your specific questions:
  • What thickness screwdriver or drill bit should I use to wrap the wire around? I'm building for a Kayfun Lite Plus Clone RBA. The majority of vapers use a mandrel of around 1.5 mm. The usual terminology is then that your have a coil with an ID (inner diameter) of 1.5 mm.
  • I assume the 28g Kanthal A-1 Wire is the right one? The most popular gauge.
  • Can I just go to the hardware store and buy one of those little blowtorches? Yes, very handy. I use a little Dremel one.
  • Should I try using Silica Wick as well as Cotton Wool? On the Kayfun, if you go the micro coil way, I recommend start with cotton.
  • What power setting should I set the SVD to start? That depends a lot on the resistance of your coil. The higher the resistance, the more power you can apply. Very important to check the resistance of your coil before firing - for if there is a short your SVD will not measure resistance.
Click to expand...


Thanks @Matthee! I am assembling the tools as we speak! Whoops... no Ohm meter! I need one of them! Yay! More stuff to buy!
 
Apologies for that expression due to a lack of a better word or acrynem. But seeing that members are 18+ I thought I will take a chance just to make sure you wash them properly.
 
Rob Fisher said:
Thanks @Matthee! I am assembling the tools as we speak! Whoops... no Ohm meter! I need one of them! Yay! More stuff to buy!
Click to expand...

If you still have your svd you can use that to check the ohms of your coil and to see if it is shorting or not.

I'm not saying don'y buy an ohm meter, just a suggestion if you wanna get rebuilding asap while your wait on your ohm meter.
 
OK now I'm getting excited... need to visit the hardware store first thing to get a few more "tools" for my Vaping Tool Box!

Vape11.JPG
 
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