A few random titanium build questions

[vapellie]

Heya apes,

So you know some days just don't want to go as they should? I have done a few titanium builds in my crius and they've been fine, maybe just lucky, who knows.

So I decided to do a fresh coil and wick yesterday and just couldn't get it right at all. Even dumbass things like losing the ability to remember how many wraps I'd done, lol! So a few questions that dawned on me as they occurred to me.

I was aiming for 7 spaced wraps, but how spaced to they need to be and why space them for TC but not kanthal?

Dry burning to check for hot spots, yay or nay? I heard to try it in low lighting with low wattage but was told that was a bad idea to fire it at all, but if you don't how do you know if the coil is behaving correctly?

And how do you make dual coils burn evenly?

And why such minimum wicking?

And why did one leg of my build burn very brightly (i.e., before I binned it and started again)?

And why must titanium be so damn springy?!

Thanks guys, I'm doing ok with my builds but often it feels more luck than judgement and I like to understand WHY as much as how, so one day I too can be a Vape guru!

 

[wraith]

I'm a noob at titanium builds as well (though I have read up on it a lot) so take everything I say with a pinch of salt.

I think using spaced coils is more for nickel builds than titanium because contact coils create problems with the resistance. I just make titanium coils like I do Kanthal (non-spaced clapton, fused clapton, whatever) and they seem fine.

I do dry burn, very carefully, in the dark at under 10w to ensure the coils are 'right'. The reason not to is that heating titanium can cause a white powder (titanium dioxide) to form which is though to be carcinogenic. This does not form until above 600c so a very dull red glow should be well below that. Also if titanium catches fire it is impossible to put out without a specialist extinguisher but again you should never be getting it hot enough for that to happen.

Annealed titanium is not really that much springier than Kanthal.

I got my info initially from this article, backed-up by other sources..

https://www.craftvapery.com/blog/joshs-definitive-guide-to-temperature-control-with-titanium-wire

 

[scrumpox]

Great answer from @wraith

One thing to mention straightaway is that I've given with Titanium because NiFe30 is soooooo much better for TC IME. I gave up building with Ni200. In truth I've thrown my Titanium wire into a drawer, it might re-emerge one day. The springiness is a PITA.

The thing with TC is that it's working on an estimated temp across the entire coil, based on the resistance, and with close formed coils the heat differential between the centre and outer wraps can be pretty high ... with spaced builds the heat is more evenly spread so you'll get more accurate TC. After understanding this from TC I've actually taken spaced coil builds into my non-TC vaping too, so I don't think it's particular to TC, or mandatory except for Ni200 where the wire is so soft it can actually fuse the wraps together.

Do you strum your coils @vapellie ? This helps with tuning them and identifying if a leg is not attached properly ... if you install both coils identically, you should get the same notes or audible ring. It seems to settle the metal down, as if by magic taking some tension out. Remember that you've deformed a wire into a spring and when you attach the legs some tension is added to this spring, the vibrations from strumming just seem to relax the coils. I don't know how else to express it.

Whilst Ni200 required very much less wick, I found wicking with Titanium not as fussy, and with NiFe30 I can wick much like I wick kanthal.

Finally, just to demonstrate how anal I am, I record every build on my vaping spreadsheet, so I know what has worked before and what hasn't. When you have a lot of atties and lots of different wire, it's tough to remember what build was working well in it a few months back, or what build you haven't tried yet.

 

[danb]

@vapellie , In addition to @scrumpox 's NiFe30 suggestion, I will also mention NiFe48. It's a great non-springy alternative to Ti (and works well fired in Ti mode). It's 50% more accurate than NiFe30 and almost as accurate as Ti, so it's good for dual coils, especially if you're tight on space.

 

[scrumpox]

Where do you buy your NiFe48, @danb ?
How's the price compared to Stealthvape's NiFe30? (I paid £3.99 for 10m)

 

[danb]

Where do you buy your NiFe48, @danb ?
How's the price compared to Stealthvape's NiFe30? (I paid £3.99 for 10m)

http://www.zivipf.com/epages/638622...h=/Shops/63862298/Categories/Heizdraht/NiFe48

6€ + 3€ EU shipping for 10 m, so about £6 delivered. I use it for all my dual coils because I don't really like doing more than about 8 wraps per coil, which comes out too low for comfort with NiFe30.

Would be great if @stealthvape stocked it...

Note: It's Nifethal52 on steam engine

 

[stealthvape]

http://www.zivipf.com/epages/638622...h=/Shops/63862298/Categories/Heizdraht/NiFe48

6€ + 3€ EU shipping for 10 m, so about £6 delivered. I use it for all my dual coils because I don't really like doing more than about 8 wraps per coil, which comes out too low for comfort with NiFe30.

Would be great if @stealthvape stocked it...

Note: It's Nifethal52 on steam engine

Working on something slightly different rather than following the crowd but it's taking some time. A new wire can take a couple of months from making enquiries to being on the shelf it's a drag

 

[vapellie]

Thank you everyone! I've not used nife anything yet as I haven't done my research. What setting would you use with it, ni or ti? Sorry if that's a dumbass question! I'm currently on an iStick tc60...

 

[vapellie]

Oh and @stealthvape how is your titanium v2 coming along?! Was forced to order elsewhere and ended up with icky wire and it doesn't have your lovely magnets! Will teach me for straying!

 

[stealthvape]

The V2 is sounding like it's almost ready. I'm just getting the supplier to check it themselves before they ship.

No magnets with Titanium, they just fall off. Not that it stops me trying to stick one on each reel I pack