Best wire? Wire recommendation?

[Damiandbg]

I've reached a point where I am gonna give building my own coil a go. I have ordered an MTL RTA and now i just need the gear. I wanna build coils around 1.2-1.8ohms

Which wire is best for this? so many to choose from I am completely lost.

Oh and which cotton?

Does brand really matter?

 

[scottish-jim]

Hello Damiandbg

It might help if you could let us know which MTL RTA you've ordered. Some are suited to a 2.5mm Internal Diameter Coil and some are suited to a 3.0mm Internal Diameter Coil.
A 10 meter coil of wire is quite cheap and will last for a long time so maybe get one of each, 26awg and 28awg, and have a play.
To get a 1.2 ohm coil I'd probably suggest using a 26awg wire or for 1.8 ohm a 28awg wire. For beginners making basic round wire coils for MTL I'd stick to Kanthal A1 (KA1) for the wire type.

Cotton for vaping can be a big topic on it's own but a simple "rule" is to use Unbleached Cotton. Brand is not necessarily important for a beginner so long as it's Unbleached Cotton. A good starting point would be to get some Muji Cotton. It comes in little squares and is easy to cut into little strips for wicking. It's relatively cheap and the bag will last rather a long time. Mine is over a year now and I've got maybe a fifth of the bag left.

Some useful links for you:

• Steam Engine | Use this page to help work out the details of the coil you want to make.
• Stealthvape | A very popular vendor for wire with consistent high quality products.
• Muji | Buy the cotton direct from Muji. Maybe not the quickest delivery but I could send you a few pads to get you started.

You've made a great choice to go to RTA's. It's a little bit of a learning curve but there are lot's of experienced RTA users on POTV to help answer any questions that arise. There's no such thing as a daft question so ask away.

Good luck

 

[rew]

28g kanthal wire from Stealthvape would be a good starting point.

 

[Crewella]

As @rew says, 28 AWG from Stealthvape is a good starting point. If you buy from Stealthvape, you can also get a small free pack of Muji cotton (under free stuff) which will get you started.

 

[Damiandbg]

Hello Damiandbg

It might help if you could let us know which MTL RTA you've ordered. Some are suited to a 2.5mm Internal Diameter Coil and some are suited to a 3.0mm Internal Diameter Coil.


Cool. Thank you for your help. I've ordered the Hellvape MD. Saw it up for really cheap and thought I'd give it a crack as of it's not for me I haven't really lost out.

 

[Simon G]

The best wire is SS, but you won't be wrapping a 1.8ohm coil with it, so you'd have to get that idea out of your head.

I agree with everyone else though, 28awg Kanthal (or nicrhome) and a muji pad is a good place to start, you can always experiment later to find your 'best'

 

[Damiandbg]

Been checking out Stealthvape and Steam engine. This might seem like a dumb question but is there a reason why non of you have suggested 30 or 32 awg as it would require less wraps according to steam engine?

I presume this because a longer coil would have more contact with the cotton and thus create more vapour?

 

[Simon G]

Been checking out Stealthvape and Steam engine. This might seem like a dumb question but is there a reason why non of you have suggested 30 or 32 awg as it would require less wraps according to steam engine?

I presume this because a longer coil would have more contact with the cotton and thus create more vapour?

Personally speaking... it's too thin and a pain in the arse to work with. ... and the amount of wraps for me is dictated by the deck, I don't worry too much about resistance 'targets' ...

presuming you aren't using a mech?

 

[Crewella]

Been checking out Stealthvape and Steam engine. This might seem like a dumb question but is there a reason why non of you have suggested 30 or 32 awg as it would require less wraps according to steam engine?

I presume this because a longer coil would have more contact with the cotton and thus create more vapour?

I have used 30 and 32 AWG, but like Si says, it's too light and springy and can be a pain to work with. And yes, too narrow a coil can not be ideal, as you say.

ADDED: you may want to go on and try all these things for yourself, I did. We're just suggesting a good place to start.

 

[Crispycritters]

Been checking out Stealthvape and Steam engine. This might seem like a dumb question but is there a reason why non of you have suggested 30 or 32 awg as it would require less wraps according to steam engine?

I presume this because a longer coil would have more contact with the cotton and thus create more vapour?

30 and 32 awg will make high resistance coils easily, but you nailed it - the skinny width of the wire combined with a low number of wraps means little coil to cotton contact and minimal vapour. Also, because of the low mass of the coil it may overheat even at low MTL power settings and burn the cotton/cook the juice. You could make a twisted 32awg coil which would probably be good, but other than that I wouldn't bother.