Wire Quality: Does it matter?

[SHiBBY]

I've been vaping for just over a month now, having started out on a Nautilus and quickly progressing to RDA's. I love having the freedom to fine-tune my vaping experience to my exact needs, not to mention to having to bow to 'The Man' every time my coil starts tasting mucky.

Since I started building and experimenting with different gauges and coil types, I have picked up a spread of different wire brands and thicknesses from all over, and can't help but notice that the quality and hardiness of the coil, and by extension the vape, changes between different brands.

This begs the question: Are all wires created equally? Say for instance we're just looking at 24ga Kanthal A1 - Have you seen/noticed a difference in coil performance between brands? And if so, the next logical question is of course, what brand gives you the best performance? Is there a difference between electronic component Kanthal, and vaping Kanthal?

 

[Silver]

Hi @SHiBBY
Great question

I generally build fairly simple single and dual coils with thickness ranging from 26g to 30g but I use 28g most of the time

I have noticed that the Vapowire brand of 28g wire seems to have a longer life than other non-branded wire i have used in the past. Also, the thickness of the 28g wires i have used are not all identical.

I pretty much have been using vapowire exclusively for the past few months but with the other non-branded wire i got in little packets from some of the retailers, i noticed they snapped more often. Maybe it was more brittle. Not really sure, but i have noticed a difference

Nowadays i can leave a coil in a device for up to 6 weeks before I change it - and thats usually because i want to try something new, not from any noticeable degradation in the vape itself

 

[n0ugh7_zw]

I've tried various kanthals, I tend to torture the stuff. These days I live at 0.20-0.30 ohms. I've not found a great difference between them, that said I've never tried Vapowire, the price always put me off.

What I have read though is that different wires such as Nichrome 80 and 316L Stainless steel have different properties. Nichrome 80 apparently has better flavour, and 316L Stainless steel has better flavour, and better coil longevity.

 

[SHiBBY]

Hi @SHiBBY
Great question

I generally build fairly simple single and dual coils with thickness ranging from 26g to 30g but I use 28g most of the time

I have noticed that the Vapowire brand of 28g wire seems to have a longer life than other non-branded wire i have used in the past. Also, the thickness of the 28g wires i have used are not all identical.

I pretty much have been using vapowire exclusively for the past few months but with the other non-branded wire i got in little packets from some of the retailers, i noticed they snapped more often. Maybe it was more brittle. Not really sure, but i have noticed a difference

Nowadays i can leave a coil in a device for up to 6 weeks before I change it - and thats usually because i want to try something new, not from any noticeable degradation in the vape itself

Thanks for the feedback!

Funny you should mention VapoWire, since that's also currently the one I found to be the best of the ones I've got. It's a 22ga I got from a friend and that thing, 8 wraps around 3mm lasts much longer than my ability to keep my fidgety fingers away from my coiling gear... My CLT Infinite V3 clips my no-name leads on a whim, but the VapoWire leads stand up to the task. So your "brittle" theory seems right on the money.

I've seen UD wire as well? Wonder if it'll be any good.

 

[SHiBBY]

I've tried various kanthals, I tend to torture the stuff. These days I live at 0.20-0.30 ohms. I've not found a great difference between them, that said I've never tried Vapowire, the price always put me off.

What I have read though is that different wires such as Nichrome 80 and 316L Stainless steel have different properties. Nichrome 80 apparently has better flavour, and 316L Stainless steel has better flavour, and better coil longevity.

Wow, I never even knew SS was an option! Thanks for the info, I'll check it out...

 

[n0ugh7_zw]

Wow, I never even knew SS was an option! Thanks for the info, I'll check it out...

Specifically 317L and 316L

 

[Silver]

Thanks for the feedback!

Funny you should mention VapoWire, since that's also currently the one I found to be the best of the ones I've got. It's a 22ga I got from a friend and that thing, 8 wraps around 3mm lasts much longer than my ability to keep my fidgety fingers away from my coiling gear... My CLT Infinite V3 clips my no-name leads on a whim, but the VapoWire leads stand up to the task. So your "brittle" theory seems right on the money.

I've seen UD wire as well? Wonder if it'll be any good.

Interesting

I dont know enough about the differences between the brands.

But one fine morning many months ago (in the interest of Science), @johan brought his trusty and highly accurate micrometer to a vape breakfast and we measured two 28g wires. One was a no-brand from one of the retailers and the other was the Vapowire. The Vapowire was fractionally thicker. Cant remember where the thread is now, but we took photos of the measurements. So i found the vapowire came in at about 0.1 ohms less resistance for the exact same coil. Perhaps the other wire is not brittle but just thinner so that is what makes it snap easier.

I havent tried the UD wire

So far, the Vapowire is doing just fine - and although its a bit more expensive, I dont make loads of coils so its not a problem for me.

 

[Smoke187]

I have to agree, Vapowire is number 1 on my list. I havent tried every brand under my top cap, but have had a few different strands and after using vapowire, i just bring myself to use any other brands. While I am still open to test other products, I still prefer vapowire. I find that flavour comes out a lot cleaner, and lasts for days on end without the coil becoming crusty when dry burning. With all wire it also depends on the juice that you vape, some juice gunks up the coil a lot quicker and this will also apply to vapowire, but I can dry burn vapowire many times, compared to the cheaper or unbranded spools, which after 2-3 re-wicks turns a nasty brown colour.
As for the price, while vapowire is a bit more expensive, you end up using less, sine it lasts longer.

 

[SHiBBY]

Well, I have also noticed that my wicks on the no-name coils stain a lot faster than the VapoWire coils, which leads me to believe that they may contain impurities in the form of metals other than the FeCrAl that it's supposed to be made up of, or more Ferride and less Chromium and Aluminium. Ferride oxidizes on a whim, whereas Chromium and Aluminium not so much. Of the three, Ferride is also the cheapest... I think I'm on to something here

 

[Gazzacpt]

UD wire is not to shabby coils last me a month. Could go longer but my fingers get itchy to build coils. Vaporwire and UD definitely take more punishment than no name stuff.

 

[SHiBBY]

I have to agree, Vapowire is number 1 on my list. I havent tried every brand under my top cap, but have had a few different strands and after using vapowire, i just bring myself to use any other brands. While I am still open to test other products, I still prefer vapowire. I find that flavour comes out a lot cleaner, and lasts for days on end without the coil becoming crusty when dry burning. With all wire it also depends on the juice that you vape, some juice gunks up the coil a lot quicker and this will also apply to vapowire, but I can dry burn vapowire many times, compared to the cheaper or unbranded spools, which after 2-3 re-wicks turns a nasty brown colour.
As for the price, while vapowire is a bit more expensive, you end up using less, sine it lasts longer.

Yup yup, that is my exact experience as well. The "brown colour" is derived from the oxidization of Ferride, which I'll bet my panties is present in higher concentrations in the cheaper wire, or not blended properly. My 24ga shows signs of flaking oxidization after one or two dry burns (when rewicking), whereas the VapoWire just keeps going...

Any students of metallurgy engineering around here that'll let us use their mass spectrometer?

 

[ashTZA]

Well, I have also noticed that my wicks on the no-name coils stain a lot faster than the VapoWire coils, which leads me to believe that they may contain impurities in the form of metals other than the FeCrAl that it's supposed to be made up of, or more Ferride and less Chromium and Aluminium. Ferride oxidizes on a whim, whereas Chromium and Aluminium not so much. Of the three, Ferride is also the cheapest... I think I'm on to something here

I bought a few rolls of no-name Kanthal off fast tech which starts to rusts and taste like ass after a day or 2 in an atty.
I suppose <$2 a roll wasn't obvious enough of a hint for me.

 

[SHiBBY]

I bought a few rolls of no-name Kanthal off fast tech which starts to rusts and taste like ass after a day or 2 in an atty.
I suppose <$2 a roll wasn't obvious enough of a hint for me.

Ditto, and therein lies the summary of my conundrum. There are cheap options available, but when it comes to inhaling no-name into my innards, my bargain-hunter side is overwhelmed by my willingness to live a long and full life without a lung transplant.

I think for wicks and wires, it's worthwhile paying a little extra for the peace of mind. And of course experience, seeing as my VapoWire tastes WAAAY better than my XiaoMing-Much cloud-Such wow wire...

 

[DoubleD]

This thread needs a *bump

 

[Veez]

My cotton always turns orange /red with Demon killer coils.

 

[Hallucinated_]

My cotton always turns orange /red with Demon killer coils.

Yea, i have also experienced that with demon killer wire.
That was the last time i used chinese mass produced coils.

 

[Daniel]

Haywire 22 or 24g for mech builds , fancy coils for the rest regulated driven ...

Gonna try that Viking reviewer dude's method of moering some Kanthral 22g flat .....

 

[Puff the Magic Dragon]

Haywire 22 or 24g for mech builds , fancy coils for the rest regulated driven ...

Gonna try that Viking reviewer dude's method of moering some Kanthral 22g flat .....

Morten Oen does many things differently. Let us know if the new moer my plat wire works out.

 

[Daniel]

Morten Oen does many things differently. Let us know if the new moer my plat wire works out.

Yup he also vapes at like a bazillion watts so not my style either but in the name of science....I'll probably die but let's see will do a video maybe....

 

[Caramia]

Haywire 22 or 24g for mech builds , fancy coils for the rest regulated driven ...

Gonna try that Viking reviewer dude's method of moering some Kanthral 22g flat .....

Ditto on the Haywire, love the flat Ni80, also the Flaptons - damn nice in the Hadaly, Zeus, Castle, Petri nd even managed a build in the Skyclone. It just keeps on going, clean, dry burn, voila!

 

[franshorn]

Morten Oen does many things differently. Let us know if the new moer my plat wire works out.

Wonder if sticking it in a vice might work? I've got a roll of 24g Kanthal lying around.

I've given up on the RTA thing. But still have a Goblin v3 mini i'd give another try.

 

[Puff the Magic Dragon]

It may work. If your vice is big enough you could hammer it on the slide or even the jaws.

Like you I am 90% squonking at the moment. I still use my Goblin from time to time.

 

[Daniel]

Saw a video of Twisted Messes using a Pasta roller to flatten wire , gonna give that a go .....

 

[Puff the Magic Dragon]

He was using 20 AWG wire on the closest setting. The thickest I have is 24AWG. Let us know how it works I am keen to try it.

 

[franshorn]

It may work. If your vice is big enough you could hammer it on the slide or even the jaws.
View attachment 126462
Like you I am 90% squonking at the moment. I still use my Goblin from time to time.

Nah, i'm using the NRG tank with commercial coils. Can't deal with the Rebuildables. My wife already says I waste too much time if I just mix juice..

On the vice part. I was actually thinking about pressing it between the jaws to flatten it. I have quite an old vice. So more than large and strong enough to squeeze some wire Flat between the jaws.