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Questionable Clapton

DeepInTheAbyss

Member For 1 Year
So I just built a very large dual clapton, 24 gauge kanthal core with a 28 gauge kanthal wrap. The diameter on the inside is 30mm. It comes out to .16 ohms. The problem here is, it literally needs 200+ watts for a good vape. I know you should build with 32+ gauge, but I dont have it at the moment. What do you guys think?
 

zephyr

Dirty Pirate Meg
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Sounds like a mini-oven, it'll make vapor and if you have a lot of air, it will be vapeable for a few puffs, before your cotton and juice sautee into a nice dark brown sauce from all the heat it holds when you're not vaping it

It's also not going to give the benefits of a good clapton with high gauge wrap - you'll get a better vape from using either just 24 awg or 28 awg, a parallel build (two strands of 24 wrapped together, or 2 strands of 28 awg wrapped together, for each coil)
 

mach1ne

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I know you should build with 32+ gauge
even 32 is too big. 36 is the largest you can go without negative side effects.
What do you guys think?
i did the same thing when i was starting out. i wanted to try a build so badly i claptoned 28 with 30 or something lol (my wire order was in the mail and i couldnt wait)
you'll get a better vape from using either just 24 awg or 28 awg, a parallel build
i think @Pegleg Meg is right. you are better off running parallel 24, or maybe some twisted 28. if you have some time, a boneyard coil is good with 24, kind of a twisted/flattened build that vapes quite well imo, but requires a bit of effort compared to twisted or parallel....
 

DeepInTheAbyss

Member For 1 Year
Yeah I took it out. I also think I got the inside mm wrong I thinks its 3, the pin just says 30. It was just meh and I knew it wasnt right. I actually went ahead and built a 24g parallel before I even say your post xD id like to make a twisted coil but I did that before the clapton and it came out to some weird ohms for some reason. So I trashed it.
 

DeepInTheAbyss

Member For 1 Year
I also had a problem with the wire running back over itself my 1st few attempts. I was pinching it, so I dont know why it was doing that. Any advice?
 

DeepInTheAbyss

Member For 1 Year
I did buy 10 feet of 32 gauge because I wanted it now, and needless to say it didnt go well and it used all the wire up fast. I got it perfect for about 3 inches and then it just ran all over itself. The main problem was when I was pinching it I just couldnt see it. I was looking at ordering 1400 feet of kanthal for about 30 dollars, includes 250 feet each of 32, 34, and 36. But I couldnt even see the 32, how do you handle higher?
 

zephyr

Dirty Pirate Meg
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I did buy 10 feet of 32 gauge because I wanted it now, and needless to say it didnt go well and it used all the wire up fast. I got it perfect for about 3 inches and then it just ran all over itself. The main problem was when I was pinching it I just couldnt see it. I was looking at ordering 1400 feet of kanthal for about 30 dollars, includes 250 feet each of 32, 34, and 36. But I couldnt even see the 32, how do you handle higher?

I think you might pick up some reading glasses or something; if the wire starts wrapping backwards, stop the drill try to change the angle of your pinch forwards, I hope that makes sense

32 ought to be seeable, serious about the glasses, magnifying glass for higher gauges, but you can go by how shiny the clapton is overall - shiny when the wraps are close as possible, darker where there's spacing
 

Alter

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
Any of the wrap wire used in multiwire builds just transfer the heat so the thicker the wrap wire the longer to ramp up, cool down and use immense battery resources to get up to good vaping temp. Even 32 gauge is sketchy to use as wrap, 34 or 36 is best suited for clapton wraps and better using alternative metals that have lower resistances. I use mostly kanthal core with SS and sometimes nickle wrap, peeling the wraps back so they are not in the set screw area waiting to shift then give inaccurate TC or ohm readings.
The entire gusto of your batts is spent ramping up a coil that big to heat up the 28 wraps so then nothing left for the vape especially if your batts are getting older the worse it becomes. Mods can't compensate for older wearing out batts.
I can also see tail bulk being a major issue so thinning rather than cutting the bulk away especially using rayon as wick but also with cotton can help quench the thirst of that huge coil...too much tail bulk can actually choke a build just like too much cotton inside the coil.
 

mach1ne

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
But I couldnt even see the 32, how do you handle higher?
if you are holding your spool further away from the core wire as it spins, you can get a feel for the angle you need to hold it at to get clean wraps. it will always be slightly back towards the drill (somewhere between wrapping back on itself, and a perfect 90 degrees between your spool/wrap and your spinning core wire). once you find that angle your wraps will be clean even if you cant see them...you just gotta trust that it will work. i have a headset with a light on it that i also use to shine on my work. if you catch the glare on your wire at the right angle its much easier to see.

have a look at the official clapton coil thread for some pics of that angle and some other handy tips/discussion...
 

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