Newbie coil builder - what to start with??

[FurryWhiskers]

I am new to coil building - and sub-ohm vaping - but I've been at it for a couple of months now and I am finding myself drawn to the DIY (tinkerer) side of things. I have no intentions of entering cloud chasing competitions, but I do enjoy trying to create the biggest clouds I can - but mainly I love loads of flavour.

I have just bought a selection of wire and spent hours watching youtube vids but I want to know, for a noob, what type of coil setup would you recommend I start with? Obviously something not too difficult, but also something a little challenging would be great. As I say, I want flavour first - then clouds - both would be wicked

In terms of my hardware, I have a RX200 and my only dripper is a Royal Hunter. I also have an Uwell Crown with RBA section, but I assume that wouldn't even come into the equation when it comes to coil building.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me

 

[collateral diarrhea]

What kind of wire to you have? I'd say start off simple and progress from there. You can start off with something like a 5-wrap 26AWG dual coil, then maybe try twisting some wire and making a dual twisted build. YOur equipment will handle pretty much any kind of build with easy so play around. Once you get a good hand of doing a dual 26AWG coil you'll be ready to move onto claptons and things like that.

 

[pixelzombie]

I started with a few single wire coils and then used pre-made clapton wire and made coils from those. The flavor from claptons tastes better to me than single wire coils. Last week I made my first fused clapton using 26/36 kanthal wire from Temco and they are a huge improvement in flavor, such a smooth taste. That is my go to build for now.

 

[FurryWhiskers]

@collateral diarrhea I've got a few reels of wire, as follows (but I can always order more if needed):

• Kanthal A1 ... 24 AWG
• Kanthal A1 ... 28/29 AWG
• Kanthal A1 ... 34/35 AWG
• Kanthal A1 Ribbon ... 20 AWG
• Kanthal A1 Ribbon ... 0.4mm x 0.1mm

• Nichrome 80 ... 26 AWG (somehow I've ended up with two reels of this, doh!)
• Nichrome 80 ... 24 AWG

• Stainless Steel 316L ... 28/29 AWG

• Titanium Grade 1 ... 28 AWG (Ordered but not received yet - my brother uses titanium on TC and flavours are really clean and crisp)

I agree with starting simple, I don't want to jump in the deep end and waste a load of wire with a crap build - but I guess practice makes perfect. I think I will start as you say @collateral diarrhea - with a couple of twisted coils, and (hopefully quickly) move on to a fused clapton as @pixelzombie suggested for a good, smooth flavour.

Thanks for the advice - Is it possible to fit any of the mentioned coils in a Crown RBA deck? It's tight, but if it will fit, I guess it will be ok right? Or perhaps it wouldn't draw the juice through quick enough .... again, noob so not sure lol

 

[pixelzombie]

You might have to ask on youtube. Some of the reviews of the Crown might mention it in the video.

 

[collateral diarrhea]

@collateral diarrhea I've got a few reels of wire, as follows (but I can always order more if needed):

• Kanthal A1 ... 24 AWG
• Kanthal A1 ... 28/29 AWG
• Kanthal A1 ... 34/35 AWG
• Kanthal A1 Ribbon ... 20 AWG
• Kanthal A1 Ribbon ... 0.4mm x 0.1mm

• Nichrome 80 ... 26 AWG (somehow I've ended up with two reels of this, doh!)
• Nichrome 80 ... 24 AWG

• Stainless Steel 316L ... 28/29 AWG

• Titanium Grade 1 ... 28 AWG (Ordered but not received yet - my brother uses titanium on TC and flavours are really clean and crisp)

I agree with starting simple, I don't want to jump in the deep end and waste a load of wire with a crap build - but I guess practice makes perfect. I think I will start as you say @collateral diarrhea - with a couple of twisted coils, and (hopefully quickly) move on to a fused clapton as @pixelzombie suggested for a good, smooth flavour.

Thanks for the advice - Is it possible to fit any of the mentioned coils in a Crown RBA deck? It's tight, but if it will fit, I guess it will be ok right? Or perhaps it wouldn't draw the juice through quick enough .... again, noob so not sure lol

There's enough variation to start making all kinds of funky things. Once you get the coil wrapping, fitting and wicking to a point where you can do it comfortable with a dual coil i reckon you'll be ready to move onto claptons. First you can start by ordering ready-made clapton wire and start messing around with that, then you can try making the wire yourself etc. Personally I don't make my own claptons as it is too much hassle for my sausage fingers, and i don't drip anywhere near as much as some of the guys here. If you want to try the best claptons you can possibly get, PM @cloudcuckoo and he should be able to sort you out. I kid you not, i used one of his claptons for about 5 months and it outlasted my RDA, then i removed it and stuck it into another one and used that for about a month before finally throwing it out because a mid-post in my RDA went wonky and warped the coil too much.

There's a good Youtuber that goes by the name of "The Art of Vaping", he has all kinds of tutorials for funky coils, i'd say have a look at those as well once you get the basics down.

Regarding the Crown, i don't own the RBA for it but i hear from others that it is a bit on the small-ish side. IMO best way to play around with coils is in an RDA as it gives more space. RDAs are also friendlier to beginners for the same reason.

 

[OccultScientist]

If you want to try the best claptons you can possibly get, PM @cloudcuckoo and he should be able to sort you out. I kid you not, i used one of his claptons for about 5 months and it outlasted my RDA, then i removed it and stuck it into another one and used that for about a month before finally throwing it out because a mid-post in my RDA went wonky and warped the coil too much.

I was going to mention @cloudcuckoo. So far the coils I've got from him have taken a battering and show no sign of needing replacement any time soon. Plus great flavour of course!

 

[cloudcuckoo]

@collateraldiarrhea
@OccultScientist
Cheers for the kind words chaps, always appreciated.

@FurryWhiskers , you got a good selection of wire there bud. Plenty to keep you going. Next time you do an order pop some 26g kanthal in there, thin enough for pretty builds, thick enough for work with and you can dual coil without going daft low, even if running parallel coils.

The gear you have at hand is great stuff to have. The hunter gives you plenty of build options and I'd def have a crack rebuilding the crown with something nicer. First proper deck I built on (excluding the smok octopus) was a subtank mini. Building in a small space is great practice and make you really work on the detail. If you want I'll happily rebuild the crown, never done one and always enjoy a new build. Had a quick google to have a look at it and reckon a 30/38g fused Clapton coiled to about 0.8 is def on the cards.

For your first few builds, in particular if building Clapton/multistrand coils I'd stick to kanthal, its very stable, forgiving and easy to work with. N80 is harder to set up, gets hotspots easier and bounces around a lot before settling down, also its easy to go lower than you predicted.

YouTube wise, squidoode on the art of vaping covers lots of stuff really well but don't feel pressured into buying vices/clamps/swivels/nylon pliers etc - I have a work around for most of those and you're always welcome to ask. As is anyone.

Trevor Jones' vids are def worth a watch, he covers basic builds better than anyone, without trying to sell you anything. Love his vids.

With the wires you have I'd prob agree with twisting some 28/29 gauge. Or even just parallel it. Maybe even do a zipper coil, single coiled to start with. Any easier build which looks nice and performs OK.

 

[FurryWhiskers]

@cloudcuckoo Thanks for the great advice ... obviously a pro going by the recommendations. I appreciate you taking the time to help me out (as I do all those who have been willing to respond). I may take you up on the Crown build sooner rather than later as I probably can't wait until I'm competent enough to build them myself lol - I was particularly interested in the fused clapton as it goes cos I reckon the flavour and clouds would be superb. How would we go about doing that?

I've been watching squidoode on YouTube and agreed, they are great vids - unfortunately I have already ordered a few extra tools after watching them ha ha ha ... A vice, some swivels and a pair of nylon jaw pliers ... I couldn't resist for the sake of a few quid on Amazon. I don't think I've seen any Trevor Jones yet so I will check him out later this evening... especially if he's good at covering the basics.

 

[cloudcuckoo]

No probs bud, if you fancy the crown build just inbox me saying so - will be gratis as its just a fun little thing to do. It'll me a tiiiiiny little thing but should work well. No real reflection on how good fuseds can be but def something not many crowns get treated too.

You brought tools *face palm* lol, if you decide to buy any more toolstation do a nifty selection and they aint vape based so no premium prices.

To me a single fused Clapton (26/38 or 35) all kanthal, 5wraps on a mech/unreg box is just bliss.