Clapton Coil on wool and yarn

[Colonelboom]

0.3 Kanthal core with a Clapton Coil in 0.3 Kanthal round the outside. Registering 0.9ohms

Because of the way the clapton coil is formed you get a much higher surface area and as a result higher resistance than a simple twisted wire setup, downsides are that it is not a vapour whore on a mech - even at 0.9ohm. You do get a good flavour from it though, very punchy indeed, however the hassle and time it takes to setup I would think makes it a less attractive option compared to a twisted coil that can be done in seconds.

Put simply, to wind the clapton coil is an utter bitch. You get a decent rhythm going at a decent speed, your hand can keep up without getting chewed to pieces and then for some unexplained reason you get a kink and it goes to hell.

If I had a way of clamping the feed wire at a specific angle that moved as the coil extended it would be a whole lot easier, or even if I fashioned something that held the core taught while winding which I think would stop the kinks from being able to form... It looks good though



coiled using standard cotton wool



then threaded with the yarn I am trialling (which is really good actually)

 

[brighton guzzi]

You wound that by hand?

Must have taken ages.

I like twisted, into the drill and seconds later its done - this Clapton coil looks a right pain to do!

Why Clapton? Coz it looks like a guitar string?

Cheers

 

[Colonelboom]

It is wound on a drill the same really as a twisted coil. The problem is that you have to hold it all at a very specific angle in order for the coils to come out the right way and any slight deviation from that angle (or kink) just throws the whole thing out. Where I picked the idea up from, there were people reporting it took them 45 minutes to get a 5" length and while mine was not that long I did have quite a few duff lengths that just had to be totally restarted.

Clapton is just the name given because the guy who thought it up to try was looking at a guitar string and thought that might be a good way to increase surface area

 

[Tutterz]

Yarn you say? Tell me more

 

[Colonelboom]

One of the products I am trialling for sale at the moment, 100% cotton natural yarn, 5 threads in total and pretty good so far. I get a tiny bit of the cotton flavour on the first few drips and then once it has swelled up a bit and saturated it works really well.

Being yarn it should be much better than a straight cotton wool wick, particularly reducing the risk of burning on a semi dry wick. So far so good too

 

[Colonelboom]

Im going to try this one in a bit I think. 2 x 0.3 Kanthal twisted coil with a clapton coil over the top of that, 3 x 0.3 kanthal strands in total but the clapton obviously adds more length than the twisted. One thing I have noticed is that most atty's will not allow this gauge wire to get trapped under the screws or in the slots, the way around it from what I can see is to unfurl the clapton section from the core into two strands and fix them in that way instead.

My Trident should easily allow this, not sure if the Fatty will do though - only one way to find out.. If I manage it I will update this post with the resistance and then post the results.

One other thing to note, it is springy and not at all like a micro coil yet - once it is on the atomiser I will heat and crimp it all together tightly. I have found this to be the simplest way.

 

[Tom D]

Looks neat, i get that by using the centre core wire to drop the resistance enables the fancy effect, but the centre wire never touches the wick so is wasted energy really or am i missing something.

 

[Colonelboom]

It's all about surface area I think. The outer coils are vastly larger than even a twisted coil so they take longer to heat across their entire surface.

 

[Tom D]

Might have a go at one, i can see it taking ages to heat up n i reckon i might need at least 1 more hand to make this easier.

 

[Colonelboom]

3 hands would have made it a doddle

Pop that coil on a dna20 or 30 mod and you would be laughing IMO. A mech just cannot drive it properly I think.