I was just about to write a new thread about this, but this seems like a good place to put it.
I hear conflicting stuff on SS316/SS316L. Seems the consensus is to calibrate the coils at very low wattage. I do this in a dark room. But still, my coils change color, first to blue and purple (which I think is normal), but then to black if I have to balance them for too long.
I wrap my own coils using VandyVape Stagger Fused Claptons or GeekVape Stagger Fused Claptons, usually 6.5 wraps for about 0.1-0.15 ohms.
Some sites say to dry fire them a bit hot, to create "protective oxidation". Others say creating any oxidation on SS is bad, because bits of it get into your vape and thus into your lungs. I'd really like a consensus!
But more than anything, I'd like to share a couple of photos, and learn whether these look right.
First: a brand new build, after balancing the coils. As you can see, they are already quite dark. And sometimes when balancing, they get even darker, quickly. I wash them under the sink just because I'm worried about oxidation or whatever.
https://cl.ly/2I2p1z0P0d0Y
Second, a spent coil, used twice; once new, then with a pulse to orange to running sink (3-4 times) to clean the gunk off, plus a pretty vigorous metal brush brushing. So it probably was used for 1-2 weeks. To me, the coil is totally black, and if you look at the legs, you can see the original (silver) color.
https://cl.ly/3S3t2r3T3M0Q
A few other details: with the Kylin (v2) I run at give or take 100W; sometimes it will just beg for 120W, other times if it's not wicking well, it's more like 80W. With the Govad (single coil RDA), I run at 70-85W and get stellar flavor. Obviously, the flavor starts to get very muted as a few days go by and the coils get darker. I also run about half the time in TC mode for SS316L, at the same wattages (maybe a bit lower), and temps around 500F (but this varies a lot because sometimes the ohms just don't read right, even on my DNA250 device, so 600F can be a cold vape for weird reasons, but usually it's pretty spot on).
Can someone tell me if these look right, and if not, what I'm doing wrong? I wrap 3mm ID coils using a CoilMaster kit. I balance them carefully and at low power. Is it something to do with the quality of Chinese metal? I did notice when I made my own Claptons with two sizes of wire from Kidney Puncher (high grade Swedish SS316L), they seemed to last a bit longer, but that's it.
Any thoughts, insights, or advice would be much appreciated. I wish the coils would just stay silver