Someone gave me a bunch of wire scraps

[VapeOn1960]

So early in my vaping journey, a guy (on another forum) decided to help me. It all started when I was looking for mods... was going to get a few internal (LIPO) battery mods. He insisted that I consider removable battery mods (18650) One day he sent me a PM and said if I ordered some mods like that he would give me a couple 18650 batteries. So I did and he also sent me a battery charger too (god bless you Martin) Anyway, months later (we had became very good friends outside of the forum) and he sent me some more stuff (a couple RDAs and a bunch of wire "scraps"... mostly just 1 foot or so) Anyway, I'm learning about the different kinds of "fancy" wires (mostly have just used simple round wire and single core claptons) Just for fun (I actually forgot I had these... just dug them out of a box and since I'm doing lots of building now, thought I should give them a try) Here's the list:
Tson Dianz SS tiger
Geek Vape juggernaut
Lighting Vapes Ni80 fused clapton (26/36?)
Geek Vape caterpillar SS (28 x 4 + 30)
Geek vape SS MTL (28 x 2 + 28)
Vandy Vape juggernaut
Geek Vape staggered staple Ni80
I know... not complete info (they were just wrapped in paper and some don't say what material they are. I Know he liked Ni80 and some SS (don't think he was into kanthal but can test that with a magnet)
He also gave me a plastic "pill box" with some Pre-wound coils (all kanthal... verified this) they mostly seem to be twisted wire coils (except one is fused clapton for sure)
And... the end of a spool of Tson DianZ "quad" 28ga x 4 (4 wires "twisted"?)
I'll play around with these... just wondering if anyone has any comments/suggestions. Not expecting much response but if anything strikes your interest let me know. I have a couple RTAs, a couple RDAs and several RBAs (probably too small to use any of these wires but I have simple round wire for those)

 

[nadalama]

What kind of feedback are you looking for?

I can say that the GV SS 28x2/28 isn't just for MTL - that would make a fine coil for any atomizer up to about 50 watts, and would make a great staged coil if wrapped in parallel with some 26ga SS or Ni80.

Don't like twisted wire. The times I've tried to use it, all I got was heat and juice popping all over my lips. Not for me.

Also don't like Kanthal. Takes more patience than I have. lol

 

[MyMagicMist]

Lighting Vapes Ni80 fused clapton (26/36?)

Might be interesting to try that.

Not delved too far into "fancy" wire myself. Recently, give more thought to trying Ni80, if even only simple single strand coils. Currently got limited space to set up and be involved with building. Also a bit "shy" with it. Fingers aren't the most dexterous.

 

[VapeOn1960]

What kind of feedback are you looking for?

Good question (don't have a good answer) One question is about "twisted" wires (I have only tried this once... made my own twisted pair 26 ga Kanthal... turned out OK but should have used thinner wire and not Kanthal... very slow ramp up) I have no idea how a "quad" twisted wire will work (I think it's Ni80) Just was curious about any comments/suggestions about some of these wires (or even just some conversation about different kinds of wires) Now that I'm really getting more into building, I dug these out of a dusty box. I do have a few RDAs so might play with these for those. Doubt I will use them for my small RTAs or RBAs. Honestly, this was just a "shoot the bull" thread... hey it's been kinda slow around here.
One specific thing I might try is my Axial RDA. Did a dual coil (very simple clapton coils) It's OK but mounting two coils sharing the same mounting sucks (won't really bother doing that again) Want to try doing a big single coil (3.5 or even 4 mm ID) Of the wires I mentioned, what's a good choice for that? Maybe the Lighting vapes Ni80 fused clapton 26/36 (or would that be better for my small single coil RDA... Cthulhu Mjolnir... can anyone actually pronounce that?)
@MyMagicMist , my fingers and building skills are fine BUT my eyesight is slowing getting worse but I have some really strong reading glasses for that.

 

[gopher_byrd]

Fused Clapton is my go to and easily made. They won't be super big in a small RDA. I use Ni80 in my mechs and SS in my TC mods.

The juggernaults, tiger, caterpillar, and staples will want some power behind them.

Best thing to do is wrap some up and try them out. Learn by doing...

 

[VapeOn1960]

@gopher_byrd , thank you. By "easily made" do you mean easier to wrap?
I'm aware that the "fancier" coils will need more power (I assume because of higher mass)

 

[Just Frank]

What kind of feedback are you looking for?

I can say that the GV SS 28x2/28 isn't just for MTL - that would make a fine coil for any atomizer up to about 50 watts, and would make a great staged coil if wrapped in parallel with some 26ga SS or Ni80.

Don't like twisted wire. The times I've tried to use it, all I got was heat and juice popping all over my lips. Not for me.

Also don't like Kanthal. Takes more patience than I have. lol

Ive noticed that companies have a weird idea of what MTL wire should be. I don't consider 2x28/38ga fused clapton wire to MTL. Somebody posted a "Little MTL Alien" at Reddit coil porn, which was 6 wraps of 3x29/38ga N80. I thought it was an alien but not little or an MTL coil lol.

I'm not a big fan of twisted wires either. It's just not as pleasant as other varieties.

A lot of the coils and wire that were made years ago were fancy looking just for the sake of being fancy looking. People would buy that stuff because they looked cool. The problem with most of it is, Chinese companies would use overly large wires. Their go-to Clapton wrap size was 32ga. I got some Vandy Vape SFC wire one time (didn't know any better )and it was like 2x26/30ga. It was pretty sloppy but the wire was just huge. When I think of older coils and wires like that, one word comes to mind: Inefficient. Why use that fancy looking crap when there's no real benefit..

My best advice to new builders is to try fused claptons or aliens if you can get them. Pay attention to the wire sizes, and stick to Coilology or Wotofo. You should be able to get a pretty good bench mark with those wires. They're not the absolute best but not too bad either.

 

[gopher_byrd]

@gopher_byrd , thank you. By "easily made" do you mean easier to wrap?
I'm aware that the "fancier" coils will need more power (I assume because of higher mass)

I meant easy to actually make the fused Clapton from bare wire. My go to is 2x26/38 Ni80. A drill, wire, and a few ball bearing fishing swivels are all you need. I'm a half blind, fat, bald, shaky handed, cranky old fart. If I can make them you can too. I just don't have the time to get into the fancier stuff like @Just Frank makes. Those are works of art.

 

[VapeOn1960]

I do feel like I'm ready to make my own "fused clapton" wire (and coils of course) I'm very good with tools. I have seen some of the wires people make (on the other threads)... very impressive!