Wicking for TC

[longy01]

I was going to order some from stealthvape the other day, but didn't realize how much more expensive it was. £ 8.99. More than twice as much as ni200.

Can I just correct myself. Grade 1 Titanium wire is £6.99 for 10m and not £8.99. I was actually viewing it on e bay at the time and on there it's £8.49, but that includes free postage. Apologies.

 

[Mr Numpty]

All wire benefits from a clean and titanium has either titanium oxide (not titanium dioxide) on the surface and graphits is used as a lubricant with Ti drawing (I think)

We give ours a polish with 3 sets of felt pads which takes off the majority of any dust or oil. I've got some photos on a different machine I'll post shortly. I make a point of changing the felt pads regularly with new ones I make myself out of sheet felt.

For certain wires like ni200 ribbon, the wire can be noticeably oily so those spools are soaked in containers of isopropyl alcohol for a few weeks the respooled while they're still wet helping the felt pads catch the oil. In the case of Ni200 ribbon and Ti wire we also white glove the wire as it's fed through the respooler. It's actually quite handy doing that to control the wire tension too.

Our Ti is certified medical grade and we've published the datasheet. The main things that makes grades 1 to 4 titanium differ are the gas levels. Oxygen levels are of interest to us because with the potential worry of TiO2 forming on the wire surface the amount of oxygen present in the wire will greatly affect the rate at which it oxidises.

So less oxygen the better.

In the datasheet you'll see the target gas levels and the actual gas levels.

Medical grade Ti seems to have much lower gas levels.

We were a bit hesitant about selling Ti wire so bought the best we could. Of particular interest is the finish. Ours has a finish that's called bright. As opposed to acid washed. It's our understanding that bright Ti wire has a further advantage to acid washed with regards to oxide formation.

All titanium annealing is done under vacuum or in an argon filled furnace btw. Some vendors seem to make a marketing point of the annealing process to make it sound more special than it might necessarily be.

Ultrasonic cleaning, now that's an idea. Something so obvious I can't believe I'm not doing it. And I will.

So, to recap medical grade 1 is better than grade 1, at least on paper.

Different finish as far as I know to all the other Ti wire out there

It costs more

We give it a polish

And some love

Thanks very much for taking the time to give a full response, much appreciated. I look forward to trying your Ti wire out and am happy to hear you'll be giving the ultrasonic cleaning a bash. TCW Co don't state whether their finish is bright or acid washed, but you do, so that's a plus in my book. They also continue to say that their Ti technical specification will be "coming soon", but it's been a while and it hasn't appeared. I'm going to have to deduct them a point for that.

Genuinely, thanks for caring about what you sell and doing what you think is right.