Why ss316l and not 317l for MTL?

[MiscoDatt]

On pretty much every thread I’ve read for people using SS coils, 316l seems to be the wire of choice. I was looking on steam engine and checking out all the wires on the wizard and 317l seemed to me to be the obvious choice due to the slightly higher resistance?

I decided to buy a spool of 317l 28 awg and I’ve been blown away. So clean and quick to heat up. I’m guessing in the real world the difference between the two is negligible and people use 316l for the sake of it or am I missing something?

As you know I’m really new to all this and a total beginner with building myself, but I am loving it and wish I’d done it sooner.

I’d be grateful for people’s input on why I don’t see or read more people using this grade for MTL builds.

Cheers

 

[Ment]

Because of the lower resistance, SS coils need to be much bigger than Kanthal so are unsuitable for traditional MTL.

 

[zouzounaki]

Because of the lower resistance, SS coils need to be much bigger than Kanthal so are unsuitable for traditional MTL.

That’s not true, I use stainless steel most of the time, and prefer it to the higher resistance ni80. I also favour fewer wraps in a coil. SS coils are very suitable for mtl.

 

[Deleted member 58360]

Because of the lower resistance, SS coils need to be much bigger than Kanthal so are unsuitable for traditional MTL.

That doesn't help with the original question though, which was about 2 grades of stainless steel...

 

[nwhornet]

That doesn't help with the original question though, which was about 2 grades of stainless steel...

316/316L is normally the SS profile/TCR loaded onto TC capable mods as default. It's also generally the SS used for stock coils.

 

[MiscoDatt]

316/316L is normally the SS profile/TCR loaded onto TC capable mods as default. It's also generally the SS used for stock coils.

Ah ok that makes sense!

Because of the lower resistance, SS coils need to be much bigger than Kanthal so are unsuitable for traditional MTL.

From what I’d been reading I know most mtl is Kanthal but I just wanted to try some different wires and get a feel for them as I’m just starting my building journey. So I got some Kanthal, SS and some of that coilology mtl Clapton stuff.

I like to vape at 1ohm or anything within .5 of that and so 9/10 wraps of ss317l 2.5 ID 28 awg really isn’t that big, fits perfectly in my little galaxies even when spaced. I saw your “caterpillar” coil on one of the threads so I know where you’re coming from though.

 

[nwhornet]

Ah ok that makes sense!



From what I’d been reading I know most mtl is Kanthal but I just wanted to try some different wires and get a feel for them as I’m just starting my building journey. So I got some Kanthal, SS and some of that coilology mtl Clapton stuff.

I like to vape at 1ohm or anything within .5 of that and so 9/10 wraps of ss317l 2.5 ID 28 awg really isn’t that big, fits perfectly in my little galaxies even when spaced. I saw your “caterpillar” coil on one of the threads so I know where you’re coming from though.

28AWG, 2.5mm dia, 8 wraps will be around 0.8ohm in 316L/317L so little difference.

 

[MiscoDatt]

28AWG, 2.5mm dia, 8 wraps will be around 0.8ohm in 316L/317L so little difference.

Agreed. As I stated in my first post I’m guessing the difference is negligible but it just seemed to me that if you were going for higher resistance coils using SS317 would be the natural choice but google doesn’t show people use it.

It’s like with the Kanthal wires; I noticed most people use 26 or 28 Kanthal and few go for the 27 which seems like the perfect blend to me.

 

[Deleted member 54254]

Simple answer availability.

 

[zouzounaki]

Why do people think enormous coils are needed? See below, 4/5 wraps of 316L 30awg on a 2mm screwdriver. It’s a bit manky, and was spaced when I made it, but seems to have closed itself a bit. It’s 0.5 - 0.65 Ω perfect at 14w.

I rarely have more than 5, sometimes even 4 wraps is plenty. Depends on the wire gauge.