What equivalent could I use instead of 22G kanthal with 26G SS316L for a mech?

[conanthewarrior]

Hello everyone, where I recently got back into vaping the only wire I had left was 22G kanthal, some 28 and 30G NiFe52, and some 27G Ti 01.

For my Kndred V2 with the vector RDA I have been getting a lovely vape with a 2MM ID 5 Wrap 22G kanthal build, coming in around 0.25 or so.

I received some SS316L 26G for use for both watt mode and TC mode for my devices that support it, so using steam engine last night I calculated an 8 wrap 26G SS316L coil should give a similar heat flux to the 22G kanthal, but the vape wasn't quite there. Today I tried a 7 wrap build with the wire for lower resistance hoping this would give a better vape, but it still wasn't there- it was producing vapour nicely but the flavour wasn't as full as with the kanthal build.

Where the 26G is a fair bit thinner than the 22G I thought it would heat up a lot faster so the extra wraps would be fine, also the surface area of the 7-8 wrap SS316L coil was about the same in size as the 22G kanthal 5 wrap.

So is there a way to get a comparable vape with the SS316L on my mech, or should I just stick with what is working well the kanthal, as I have switched back to a Kanthal build where I am using the Kindred V2 as my all day vape.

For regulated I wouldn't care, as I can build the coils however many wraps I want and just adjust the power and let TC do its thing, but for a mech it is a bit more intricate getting things right. Could it also be where the 22G coils have more mass they are producing heat better for my vaping vs the thinner wire?

 

[John R]

Nichrome has greater resistance than SS316L

 

[conanthewarrior]

Nichrome has greater resistance than SS316L

It's not the resistance I am so much worried about, it was working out how to get a similar vape from a thinner gauge wire compared to a thicker one. In theory according to steam engine the builds need only 4 Watts difference for the same heat, at those resistances there shouldn't be a massive difference but it seemed the SS316L was lacking a bit.

I might try a larger ID coil with less wraps with the SS316L, but I did really only buy the SS for TC so if I have to stick with kanthal I won't be too bothered as I have loads of the 22G left for making coils.

 

[MTB Vaper]

On mech I only bother with N80/N90. If It ain't ramping up fast with a fresh battery, I pull out a wrap or two using pliers with coil on a rod..
Dont really have much experience with kanthal on a mech, cause kanthal tastes like shyte to me.