Advantages to different coil materials

[VapeOn1960]

What are the advantages/disadvantages between Kanthal (A1) Nichrome (Ni80) and Stainless Steel?
I have mostly just used Kanthal so far. Asking before I order more wire. Not interested in Nickel or Titanium.
I know that Kanthal and Nichrome are for wattage mode only and SS can do both wattage and TC (temp control) I might be interested in TC but don't feel I need it. I've built before but slipped into lazy mode (using drop-in coils) Going to jump back into building again (have RTAs, RDAs and RBAs) I like to do "dry burn" when I first build a coil (and when I need a new wick) Are you really not supposed to do that with SS? I guess quick ramp-up is good but not sure that matters to me either.

 

[nadalama]

I don't use Kanthal at all because of slow ramp-up time. It gets on my last nerve.

N80 is really my favorite, because it's quicker to get hot, and it's less finicky than SS. When you dry-burn it, you aren't going to cause off-gassing of strange, noxious fumes or whatever. SS is only supposed to be heated just enough to where you can tell if there are hot spots, at low wattage, say 15W to 25W. I like the flavor from N80 better also, can taste just a bit of metal when I use SS. I've used temp control a bit, but haven't found it all that helpful, so I normally just use wattage mode. I also have a lot of mechanical devices, so no temp control available, and frankly, I don't want to be bothered with remembering which atomizers have stainless and which have N80, to tell which of them I can use on the devices that do have temp control. PITA.

I use a lot of Wotofo's pre-made Clapton spool wire, and all of it is N80. I don't wrap my own Clapton wire, not even going there, but the Wotofo wire works great for me. I think WireOptim, Vandy Vape, and Geekvape also make limited selections of spools of this pre-made Clapton stuff, but some of them are hard to find these days.

 

[dubya314]

To me, just depends what you are going to build, and how you are going to build it. I use all three. My personal biggest concern is what ohm am I looking for, and how many wraps will it take to achieve (total coil mass is a huge deal to me). For example, I use kanthol for building my mtl set ups, which are usually built to about .7-1.2 ohms. It would take a lot of wraps with N80 to achieve this, and more wraps than would probably fit in the atty with SS, lol. Also using them on regulated, I can set my watts/volts up higher to make up for ramp up. I use SS and N80 for my builds in the .2-.5 range, and only N80 for all builds below that.

 

[aerodan]

I've been dry burning my SS to near red hot, no issues for quite a while. That's how I can tell they're heated evenly. Is that a no-no? They do turn a pretty shade of golden.

I just use SS for everything, since it does TC as well. Down to .35 no issue, but lower would be a lot of wrapping at 28G.

 

[FlavorOverClouds]

Ka is good for keeping the resistance high for series devices but I don't like how long they take to ramp up. My favorite is actually a combination of nichrome (80 and/or 90) cores and SS fuse, or N80+SS fuse. N80 is easy to work with and great for most builds. N90 cores greatly reduce ramp-up and can reach low resistance without a lot of mass. I find SS fuse to be great for bringing out the brighter notes of ejuice flavors like citrus and candy

I only want it to taste amazing. Is that too much to ask?

 

[Vape Fan]

What are the advantages/disadvantages between Kanthal (A1) Nichrome (Ni80) and Stainless Steel?
I have mostly just used Kanthal so far. Asking before I order more wire. Not interested in Nickel or Titanium.

I think adv/disadv has been discussed as far as what I could add.
To me SS has a 'clean' taste compared to the other 2. Not good or bad, for me at least. I like Nichrome the best for ramp up and it's taste. I need Ka for certain coil specs and its the only one I don't use dedicated.
Which one could depend on what flavor, what atty.

I usually use wattage but I like Replay. And I like manual TC to set temp then set watts at a higher wattage than needed for that temp so it uses the extra for ramp up to the set temp, then the watts setting holds the temp.

SS can't handle dry fire temps like the other 2. I set watts pretty low w/ long button presses to watch the color slowly change/rake-repeat till low soft orange in the middle wraps. I get fewer cleanings w/ss since its less tolerant to heat. So yeah, you can dry fire ss to clean it but works better if you use like a wire brush under running water first. Then fire it to dry it up/clean remaining.

Ramp up would be ss>nichrome>ka.

 

[dubya314]

I am not a TC guy at all, but I think OP said Nichrome doesn't do TC. Don't most if not all TC mods register Nichrome?

 

[VapeOn1960]

Thank you all so much! I totally get it. Yes... sometimes I feel like kanthal is slow to ramp up. From what you all said, I think Ni80 is going to work well for me. Will eventually try SS. I don't have any mechs (but wish I did) so all regulated mods. I made a twisted pair (26 ga kanthal) and it's really slow to ramp up. Might try that again with 28 ga Ni80. So which has lower resistance... Ni80 or SS? I agree that even though I'd like to try TC, I switch up tanks often and it would be a hassle to keep track of things using TC. When I get around to trying SS, I will give TC a try (in one tank so I only need to remember settings for that tank) For now (low budget) going to get some 26ga and 28ga Ni80. Thanks again!

 

[VapeOn1960]

I am not a TC guy at all, but I think OP said Nichrome doesn't do TC. Don't most if not all TC mods register Nichrome?

No. They do for nickel (like N200) but that's different. This much I do know:
Ka and Ni80... wattage only
Nickel and titanium... TC only
SS wattage or TC

 

[dubya314]

No. They do for nickel (like N200) but that's different. This much I do know:
Ka and Ni80... wattage only
Nickel and titanium... TC only
SS wattage or TC

Ah, didn't know that. I gave TC a few tries long time ago, not for me. I'm on mech's alot more than regs, so I guess that is a big part for me. Do you have a rough Idea of what ohms you are looking to get?

 

[VapeOn1960]

Do you have a rough Idea of what ohms you are looking to get?

I have RTAs, RDAs and RBAs so a wide variety of applications. None of them will be super low ohms though.

 

[nadalama]

Thank you all so much! I totally get it. Yes... sometimes I feel like kanthal is slow to ramp up. From what you all said, I think Ni80 is going to work well for me. Will eventually try SS. I don't have any mechs (but wish I did) so all regulated mods. I made a twisted pair (26 ga kanthal) and it's really slow to ramp up. Might try that again with 28 ga Ni80. So which has lower resistance... Ni80 or SS? I agree that even though I'd like to try TC, I switch up tanks often and it would be a hassle to keep track of things using TC. When I get around to trying SS, I will give TC a try (in one tank so I only need to remember settings for that tank) For now (low budget) going to get some 26ga and 28ga Ni80. Thanks again!

For the same wire gauge and number of wraps, stainless has lower resistance, by quite a bit. If you want coils in the range of, say, 0.25 to 0.5 ohms, N80 works well. For future reference, even though your favorite build on regulated might be a bit higher, if you use mechs, you'll get better performance from the device if you go a bit lower resistance on your coils. 0.25 down to 0.15 works best, imo, if you're kind of a middle-of-the-road vaper. Anything higher than 0.35 and it feels like you have to drag the vapor out of a mech. Another PITA. lol

I was really nervous about building below 0.3 ohms, but once I tried it and realized that my mech squonkers and tubes performed so much better, I got over the nerves. You just have to make sure you use good batteries, like the Molicell P26A or Samsung 20S, and make sure the wraps on them are in perfect shape.

 

[VapeOn1960]

If you want coils in the range of, say, 0.25 to 0.5 ohms, N80 works well.

Perfect... Ni80 it is (won't need anything lower resistance than 0.25)

 

[Just Frank]

Ka is good for keeping the resistance high for series devices but I don't like how long they take to ramp

I think kanthal is good for series as well. The ramp up time is fine for me. With kanthal cores, I don't need to use as many wraps per coil vs N80, N90, or SS. I'd love to use N80 but the wraps needed gets out of hand with it (for the coils I like to make). It's just easier to keep metal mass down and resistance up with kanthal. I don't know if I'm making sense lol.

I also use kanthal cores for my mesh-like coils. The resistance gets super low if I use anything else. The coils I make fire really quick and give awesome flavor. An example would be a 20mm piece of ka1 SFC: 12x32/38ga. The resistance is around .09Ω for something like that. I've gone as far as using 34ga cores but it's pretty difficult to pull off cleanly. I like that the resistance is above .1 with 34ga cores but it's way harder to make.


For most regular coils I prefer N80 & N90. I'm talking for single or dual coil atomizers. Kanthal comes in handy sometimes though.

 

[MyMagicMist]

After seeing the good words, might consider trying NiCh80 more so here. Usually like my Kanthal but who knows, might like the NiCh once I give it more of a shot. I have used it a little and really didn't have any kind of opinion on it.

 

[Just Frank]

A few years ago when I was first considering using N80, I referred to it as "Ni80". Somebody commented saying Ni is short for Nickel as in: Ni200. Also said: It's just N80 or NiCr 80.

Since then, it bugs me to see: Ni80 lol. I even see companies doing it, but it looks wrong to me . I see it so much that I'd say probably most people call it Ni80. Why that bothers me as much as it does is beyond me though. I don't know if what I was told was correct, but it turned into my truth I guess. It's kind of weird and not that big of a deal. Just thought I'd share.


I had another thing that bothered me but I was wrong. Saying "An RTA" is fine, but I thought it was wrong before. . Saying the letter R sounds like it starts with an A, Arrrr, so it's okay to do (as it was pointed out to me). "An rebuildable tank atomizer" doesn't have the same ring to it lol.

 

[nadalama]

A few years ago when I was first considering using N80, I referred to it as "Ni80". Somebody commented saying Ni is short for Nickel as in: Ni200. Also said: It's just N80 or NiCr 80.

Since then, it bugs me to see: Ni80 lol. I even see companies doing it, but it looks wrong to me . I see it so much that I'd say probably most people call it Ni80. Why that bothers me as much as it does is beyond me though. I don't know if what I was told was correct, but it turned into my truth I guess. It's kind of weird and not that big of a deal. Just thought I'd share.


I had another thing that bothered me but I was wrong. Saying "An RTA" is fine, but I thought it was wrong before. . Saying the letter R sounds like it starts with an A, Arrrr, so it's okay to do (as it was pointed out to me). "An rebuildable tank atomizer" doesn't have the same ring to it lol.

In my neck of the woods, back about junior-high-school time, "an RTA" would be correct, as would "an SQL" or "an HOA," even "an herb." We were definitely taught that the sound determines the article that preceeds it, not the actual letter.

I think I have probably referenced "Ni80" myself, but you're right - nickel and nichrome aren't the same. I'll have to pay more attention!

There are all kinds of spelling and word usage things that just bug me to death. It's one of the few manifestations of what little OCD I possess.

 

[VapeOn1960]

From the periodic table of elements... nickel:

And Chromium is Cr.

 

[VapeOn1960]

Does it matter? Not to me. "NiChrome" was used for years in toasters... many now use "Kanthal".
What does matter (for vaping coils) is to know the difference between plain nickel (N200, Ni200) and NiChrome (Ni80/90) Some people do have an issue with plain nickel (I wouldn't know... have always avoided it) I guess Kanthal has iron, aluminum and something else?

 

[Just Frank]

NiChrome (Ni80/90)

STOP IT!!! It's just N80/N90!! Jus kiddin'

I can use every popular metal type too without problems. I'm really glad I don't have a nickel allergy because I love using Ni80 and Ni90 . I used to think stainless steel was the best because it had the coolest name for a wire. It's still pretty good but I like my resistance stable and get great flavor from... well you know. Kanthal has it's uses as well.