Need help with alien wire

[s20700134]

For the death of me, I can't seem to get the 3 core wires to sit side by side while I clapton the stretched Clapton around them. I've tried taping the end, as well as using a swivel. One of them always seems to stack on top pretty much forming a triple fused.

Plz halp

 

[nabibrian]

@BUDKISS

 

[BUDKISS]

Ghee... thanks J3rian. Appreciate the referral. My kids call my the "master builder "(like from the Lego movie)... not sure how accurate that is but i DO love building and I get a real blessing by passing on my work to others.

@s20700134 I have a coil porn thread that might offer some help in building. I also have a custom coil service in unlisted vendors if you want to buy coils. Love to help you find that perfect vape experience.

As far as your question... The alien is one of the harder coils to do for a couple reasons... sort of advanced stuff. BUT i believe anyone can make it with practice. Some of the biggest challenges with the alien wire are keeping the core wires parallel and not twisting and getting the outer wrap (alien) to wrap tight.
A few suggestions... straighten your wire first. This makes it straight and stiff. Use tape to secure both ends and/or use a ball bearing swivel to secure the loose end. Make sure your clapton is perfect and wrapped counter clockwise (and do the final alien wrap the opposite direction). GO SLOW. You can't really undo and start over with this wire so mistakes are costly. Practice with 3 core 24 and like 30 or 32 outer first.... once you master that then try 26x3 core, then 28x3 core, then finally move down to 30 (which is super hard).

Alien is a great vape and a tough build. I hope i was of some help.

 

[s20700134]

T

Ghee... thanks J3rian. Appreciate the referral. My kids call my the "master builder "(like from the Lego movie)... not sure how accurate that is but i DO love building and I get a real blessing by passing on my work to others.

@s20700134 I have a coil porn thread that might offer some help in building. I also have a custom coil service in unlisted vendors if you want to buy coils. Love to help you find that perfect vape experience.

As far as your question... The alien is one of the harder coils to do for a couple reasons... sort of advanced stuff. BUT i believe anyone can make it with practice. Some of the biggest challenges with the alien wire are keeping the core wires parallel and not twisting and getting the outer wrap (alien) to wrap tight.
A few suggestions... straighten your wire first. This makes it straight and stiff. Use tape to secure both ends and/or use a ball bearing swivel to secure the loose end. Make sure your clapton is perfect and wrapped counter clockwise (and do the final alien wrap the opposite direction). GO SLOW. You can't really undo and start over with this wire so mistakes are costly. Practice with 3 core 24 and like 30 or 32 outer first.... once you master that then try 26x3 core, then 28x3 core, then finally move down to 30 (which is super hard).

Alien is a great vape and a tough build. I hope i was of some help.

View attachment 29234

thank you so much for taking the time to explain. The swivel I tried using was a cheap wal Mart
One so I would spin, catch, and spin again. I'll definitely try it again when I have work again and have time to fuck around. I feel I'm in the same boat as you. I'm passionate about building and tinkering. I get so much pleasure out of
It. I recently fixed a broken axis v1 with a green screen that's been sitting at the shop collecting dust.

 

[BUDKISS]

here is a 30g (x3) alien wire (34g outer wrap ) staged with 24g Ni80.

 

[itsmenotyou]

here is a 30g (x3) alien wire (34g outer wrap ) staged with 24g Ni80.
View attachment 29391

I hate you in the best way

sent from a dumb operated smart phone

 

[BUDKISS]

I hate you in the best way
sent from a dumb operated smart phone

Dude... (or dudette)...
I would be happy to hook you up.

 

[kickboxerwalker]

now i really feel like a loser cuz im using 3 ballbearing swivels in series to act as fail safes and going very slow, and still cant go more than an inch before the core twistes and the alien is over.

 

[AnthonyLouis]

@kickboxerwalker you might be pulling back to far on the drill.... If you pull back to hard you'll jam the ball bearing and your wires will go all honkey dorrey . Happened to me a bunch of times and I've wasted so much wire (and lost my temper x 10) before I noticed I was pulling back to hard with the drill... You want the wire to be tight but the ball bearing on swivel to be relaxed

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[CrazyChef]

Your ball bearings might be getting worn out. I was having a similar problem - the core wires were twisting. I sprayed the swivels with WD-40 and that helped for a little while, but I eventually had to switch to a new set of swivels. They don't last forever, especially with the amount of use I put them through. Also, make sure you're using good quality swivels. If you paid $3.97 for 100 swivels, then they're probably not very good swivels.

Swivels also have a tension rating. I keep a pretty good amount of tension in my core wires to keep them straight. Use swivels that can handle the stress that you're putting them through.

 

[kickboxerwalker]

Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck these Fucking Alien wires. i have now wasted 10,000 feet of kanthal on these damned aliens and i have yet to get a single alien wire over 2 inches to come out. ive spent hundreds of dollars on kanthal, swivels, a vice, drill, pliers new toothless and nylon pliers, cutters even paperclips and still no fucking aliens will come out. i am fucking done with these God forsaken aliens. FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CrazyChef]

That's EXACTLY how I was feeling before I had my "AHA" moment. Then it just got easier and easier after that. Now I can run the drill at full speed when making them.

Stick to it - it WILL come to you.

 

[kickboxerwalker]

i cant afford to wait that long. i started vaping to save money on smokeing. now im addicted to cloud chasing. ive spent thousands of dollars in a matter of months on new devices, juices, craploads of wire. only to throw it all in the trash. 10k feet of kanthal. can you do the math on that? its a small fortune. and all alien building has given me is constant headaches from angry outbusts. im done with aliens. im not spending another 6 months and $2000 on it. im not.

 

[CrazyChef]

Well, if you really wanna try 'em, I now a guy who sells 'em...

 

[Whiskey]

Well, if you really wanna try 'em, I now a guy who sells 'em...

......................................

 

[kickboxerwalker]

im dont buy premade coils. i always make my own. besides an alien is just a pretty fused clapton, or so ive heard.

 

[CrazyChef]

......................................

Yeah, I wasn't sure if I was bending the rules a little too far there.

 

[CrazyChef]

besides an alien is just a pretty fused clapton, or so ive heard.

Absolutely not.

The alien has unique properties all it's own. That's why they're so popular. Why would anyone put themselves through the rather steep learning curve and frustration to build these things if it was only a glorified FC?

 

[Whiskey]

Yeah, I wasn't sure if I was bending the rules a little too far there.

juuuuuuuuuuust a tad

 

[CrazyChef]

Another one that has a bit of a learning curve, but is well worth it, is the staple coil. Or any if it's variations (framed staple, alien framed staple, etc.).

Granted, there are many "coil porn" builds out there that people like to "ooh & aah" at, but some of them have some really interesting characteristics.

One style that is fairly popular that has NO benefits whatsoever is the staggered fused Clapton. Completely useless.

 

[kickboxerwalker]

i get that. and yeah ive done the staggered fused claptons, they are good but more for looks. ive done the staple coils, it was a challenge but overcame it. i dont see why your comment about the selling of a coil is such a big deal. its not like your advertising someones business, but its no matter. i got a 4 wrap out of that 2 inch piece of alien. maybe ill try to get another piece to come out so i can try it.

 

[kickboxerwalker]

ok, so 2 4wrap 26/36 2.4mm coils ohms out to 0.07, too low to fire. so i tried one and it was good. went ahead and made a 4wrap 24/34 and it takes a few seconds to warm up but it produces well. i was wrong, its nothing at all like a fused clapton. its somehow smoother and the flavor is more crisp. i stand corrected. now if only i could get more than 2 inches to come out.

 

[CrazyChef]

now if only i could get more than 2 inches to come out.

That's what SHE said!

 

[kickboxerwalker]

speaking of she, my fiance just pointed out the problem with my aliens that i was apparently too stupid to realize. because my drill uses a guick release detachable chuck, it cant keep even pressure on the wires. everytime i move the clapton further from the drill, the line twists causing the core to bunch up. SOB, i really do need a different drill. screw B&D.

 

[Phx]

A little help please.

I'm fairly new to vaping. I started last November, and started building a couple of weeks after. I've bought clapton wire, but the local vape store doesn't have anything else, except kanthal. I want to start wrapping my own wire, but so far I took a shortcut. I ordered Alien wire off ebay, from China. The manufacture is Demon Killer Wick n Wire. It says it's 0.3*0.8+32ga, so I assumed it was three 0.8 flat wires wrapped with 32gauge. (shrug) Tonight I decided to unwrap a piece so I could plan to start out on my own. This Alien wire is 1 flat wire wrapped with 32g, so I'm assuming that 0.3*0.8 is the gauge of the core wire and not 3 wires. lol Now I really feel like an idiot..!! Could someone please tell me in a couple short tips where to start. No need to go into detail.

ie Step one: buy this gauge wire
Step two: start practicing dumbass

Basically that's it I guess. Any and all tips would be apprecited. Thanks in advance..!!

 

[s20700134]

Here's a link to a good tutorial video

My advice is use ni80-36g and 26g.
And start with using a cheater clip to hold the wires side by side and prevent them from stacking.
Also, having equal tension(no slack in either of the 3 core wires) is very important to make it easy.
Also, when you wrap the final alien(after the decore and stretch) let the drill do the work.
Edit: What I mean by letting the drill do the work is, hold your wrap wire with very little tension and almost(but not quite yet) on the verge of going slack. GO SLOW

 

[Phx]

Here's a link to a good tutorial video

My advice is use ni80-36g and 26g.
And start with using a cheater clip to hold the wires side by side and prevent them from stacking.
Also, having equal tension(no slack in either of the 3 core wires) is very important to make it easy.
Also, when you wrap the final alien(after the decore and stretch) let the drill do the work.
Edit: What I mean by letting the drill do the work is, hold your wrap wire with very little tension and almost(but not quite yet) on the verge of going slack. GO SLOW

 

[Phx]

Thanks..!!

 

[CrazyChef]

I agree with what @s20700134 says. Once you get past that point, you'll have more advanced questions. M.Terk's tutorial is the same one that I like to point people to when they first start making aliens. It helped me immensely when I was first learning to do them.

 

[optimusxcrime]

wow, first of all.... they're a few of you so to make this simple...
THANK YOU ALL VERY VERY MUCH.
i'm so glad i stumbled upon this thread you have no idea. i was in the same boat, except i didn't burn thru 10k feet of kanthal - thank heavens. but i have wasted plety until reading this thread which has been a god send to say the least. i actually got a few hundred feet of cheap Chinese kanthal and nichrome to use for the purpose of learning. so i wouldn't waste my good kidney puncher wire. i too could only get roughly an inch or two before my core wires bunched up on me. i had too much tension in my core wires/swivel and drill. and also too much tension in my outter (wrap) wire. best advice just keep the core wires and swivels straight, not tight. and let the drill do the work was great advice. just try to keep the wrap wire straight, not tight. as you only have to feed the drill and the drill will do the rest.
i can now make beautiful, perfect aliens...i can feed the wrap wire down to the very end and not waste ANY of it.
i was ecstatic i jumped up and kissed my girl after my first successful run. unfortunately she wasn't as thrilled as i was.

anyway, i owe you all a great big THANK YOU.....you guys rock!!
cheers!

 

[s20700134]

My buddy Tommy Khol told me of a way to cheat and use 2 cores that I've gotten down. It makes it so much easier since there isn't a 3rd core to to worry about stacking. It also makes it usable in more applications as it doesn't ohm as low.
@Optimus Crime check out the build tutorial I made for it. You can also make it a stitched alien very easily for extra fanciness.

http://vapingunderground.com/thread...core-stitched-alien-coil.271230/#post-1366426

 

[martnargh]

still working on aliens also ive only made one successful run and they looked terrible to say the least (by successful i mean vapable).
going to try tomorrow to get some ss aliens down hopefully i can get the 26g then maybe i want to try for some 28g.

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[s20700134]

If you can make fused builds you can learn to do dual core aliens/stitched aliens @martnargh

 

[martnargh]

i do fused claptons on a regular basis, its my go to build.

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[s20700134]

 

[dindaleon]

I hope not to be off topic here, but I only have 22g and 32g wires. Can I make an alien wire with these? What would the difference be between these and 26g/36g?

 

[CrazyChef]

Yes, you can. You'll just have a pretty low resistance.

 

[Dutch0hms]

I hope not to be off topic here, but I only have 22g and 32g wires. Can I make an alien wire with these? What would the difference be between these and 26g/36g?

U could do a single coil 22g/32g alien probably, almost sure duals would ohm out too low.

 

[CrazyChef]

I hope not to be off topic here, but I only have 22g and 32g wires. Can I make an alien wire with these?

A single coil, with a 3.0mm inside diameter, 4/5 wraps, would come to about 0.11Ω using 22 and 32 gauge kanthal A1 wire.

 

[MannyScoot]

This is as close as I have gotten.....SS316 (9)wrap on a 4.5mm..... ohming at .29


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[whiteowl84]

If you haven't gotten it down yet, I'll do a picture tutorial for you.
The alien wrap you'll need to figure out from a video but I can show you how to set it up to be as easy as possible to keep the cores tight and straight.
I'd suggest getting really good at fused clapton first (if you aren't now).

The easiest to do IMO is using 26 for the decore and 32 for the wrap over 2 24awg frames. Then try 34. Then try 3 26awg cores.
The critical part is stretching the decore so you don't need any tension on the wrap. You just guide it on.

 

[MannyScoot]

If you haven't gotten it down yet, I'll do a picture tutorial for you.
The alien wrap you'll need to figure out from a video but I can show you how to set it up to be as easy as possible to keep the cores tight and straight.
I'd suggest getting really good at fused clapton first (if you aren't now).

The easiest to do IMO is using 26 for the decore and 32 for the wrap over 2 24awg frames. Then try 34. Then try 3 26awg cores.
The critical part is stretching the decore so you don't need any tension on the wrap. You just guide it on.

Thanks man, I have been watching some videos and ordered different SS316L wire in different gauges, I'm waiting for it to arrive and I'll get cooking..... I wrote down the gauges you suggested...... After hurricane Mathew passes the wire should be here on Monday 10.10

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[whiteowl84]

Just have a few tricks I developed over the past week or two that should help alot. I was right where you are. Get some paperclips handy.

 

[whiteowl84]

I've done this twice now...every time switching pages I'll loose what I've typed so I'll post pictures first.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Sorry about 5 being wierd...my phone did that. Feel free to browse my bucket to see it.

I'm using 4 28awg cores but it's the same for 1 or more cores. The only time I double the wire through the swivel is with ribbon. If you do that with round wire, it tends to try to "scissor" or cross each other.

1. Straighten your wires. Doesn't take many turns to stiffen them. Fold them over.

2. Grab with pliers making sure that the folded portion is on one side or the other. You don't want them on top of the cores.

3. If the folded portion is on the right side of the cores, twist the swivel counter clockwise. You want your twist to be as natural as possible.

4. + 5. Apply paperclips to hold the cores straight and bind the end going in the chuck with 38 or 40. Flatten with pliers. Smaller is better because it's easier to conform to the wire so there's less play.
You can put this in the chuck really hard...I do. Same for ribbon. If it's bound up, you just have to pay attention to where the chuck is biting at. Obviously you don't want the chuck to bunch up the cores.

6. This is how far I stretch it. This is about as far as you can go with it. The benefit to going this far with it is that you don't need tension to make the alien. You just guide it on there.
Stay about 10 degrees infront of your alien. If you're going too slow, it will start clicking before it overlaps.
Go slow till you get better. This will make you more aware of what is happening before it overlaps and helps keep the core straight.

If you notice your cores starting to shift, stop and squeeze them straight again.

The cheap swivels from Walmart worked for me but I found better ones at a fishing store. Keep wd-40 on them.

Make sure that your decore is a perfect clapton. A gap in the clapton may cause an overlap.

You may be wondering what I hang my wire on to get started. I either hang it on the paper clips, slide it between the cores or tape it to the chuck.

 

[Dutch0hms]

I'm using 4 28awg cores but it's the same for 1 or more cores. The only time I double the wire through the swivel is with ribbon. If you do that with round wire, it tends to try to "scissor" or cross each other.

1. Straighten your wires. Doesn't take many turns to stiffen them. Fold them over.

2. Grab with pliers making sure that the folded portion is on one side or the other. You don't want them on top of the cores.

3. If the folded portion is on the right side of the cores, twist the swivel counter clockwise. You want your twist to be as natural as possible.

4. + 5. Apply paperclips to hold the cores straight and bind the end going in the chuck with 38 or 40. Flatten with pliers. Smaller is better because it's easier to conform to the wire so there's less play.
You can put this in the chuck really hard...I do. Same for ribbon. If it's bound up, you just have to pay attention to where the chuck is biting at. Obviously you don't want the chuck to bunch up the cores.

6. This is how far I stretch it. This is about as far as you can go with it. The benefit to going this far with it is that you don't need tension to make the alien. You just guide it on there.
Stay about 10 degrees infront of your alien. If you're going too slow, it will start clicking before it overlaps.
Go slow till you get better. This will make you more aware of what is happening before it overlaps and helps keep the core straight.

If you notice your cores starting to shift, stop and squeeze them straight again.

The cheap swivels from Walmart worked for me but I found better ones at a fishing store. Keep wd-40 on them.

Make sure that your decore is a perfect clapton. A gap in the clapton may cause an overlap.

You may be wondering what I hang my wire on to get started. I either hang it on the paper clips, slide it between the cores or tape it to the chuck.

Great little pic tutorial for those who need it !

 

[SandroDK]

My first Alien Clapton ever, made it today with the first try
3 x 26GA Kanthal + 36GA nichrome 80

 

[MannyScoot]

My first Alien Clapton ever, made it today with the first try
3 x 26GA Kanthal + 36GA nichrome 80

Looks great.....

I left mine a bit loose on the outside wrap to let more juice into the cotton.... Working good....


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[SandroDK]

Looks great.....

I left mine a bit loose on the outside wrap to let more juice into the cotton.... Working good....
View attachment 65863

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You reduce surface area with this outer wrap. wraps must have 0.1mm spacing, so u get maximum surface area. Is your coil 3 core as mine?

 

[MannyScoot]

You reduce surface area with this outer wrap. wraps must have 0.1mm spacing, so u get maximum surface area. Is your coil 3 core as mine?

I ribboned it.....

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[optimusxcrime]

Greetings and salutations!

Still goin' strong makin' the alienwire.
I owe everything to this thread, for sure!

These are 28g kanthal x3 [core]
36g Nichrome (N80) [outer wrap]
They clock in @ .32 ohms each
.16 ohms dual - and the vape is unbelievable.

Thanks again guys. You're in my thoughts every time I build these beauties!!