Working with Titanium wire.

[Mr Numpty]

Having made a lot of different titanium builds now and experimented with different gauges and build styles I thought I'd write down my personal recommendations in case anyone new to titanium is interested in avoiding some of the pitfalls I've had to work through.

- Spaced coils vape better, gunk less, stay shinier and last longer than tight coils. I'd go as far as to say that tight coils are best avoided with titanium.

- Clean the shit out of your wire before coiling. The more you clean it the better your juice will taste. I rub maybe 10 times with an alcohol soaked swab then wash in soapy water then rinse. Worth the effort.

- Don't heat/dry burn it at all, to any extent whatsoever. It doesn't need it and removes the associated risks.

- Don't waste energy trying to counteract its springy tendencies. Coiling with titanium is already a slow process, don't waste any more time fighting it than necessary. Just accept that the internal diameter of your coils will be 0.25mm larger than your mandrel, plan for it and you'll have a much less stressful time.

- A coiling jig is all but essential. Hand wrapping kanthal is easy peasy but is a recipe for poorly performing coils with titanium. This is again due to its springy properties and is highlighted when it comes to stretching your coils. Wrapping on a coilmaster gives nice tight coils that will form perfect spaced coils when stretched. Hand wrapped ones will not achieve even spacing unless you have jedi-level skills.

- Spacing your coils. This is the most crucial step, especially if building dual coils. Go slow and proceed with caution. You're going to stretch your coil on the jig but if you overstretch them there's no going back. Make sure you get a finger nail between the first and second wrap at each end and on both sides of each end - that's 4 fingernails. Decide what length you require and start with a small stretch. Let it come back together then push together with the jig and then assess its length and spacing. Repeat gently until you're happy then do the other coil to an exact match.

- The greater the spacing the better they perform in all respects. Go for as much spacing as you can get away with.

- Keep your wicks loose. There should be no resistance to pulling your wicks through whatsoever. Seriously.

- Try to install your coils without adjusting them at all during or after. Make your coils to suit the post width, fit them and don't fuck with them. If you've lost spacing between the first and second wrap, a gentle tweak with a fine screwdriver is ok but when nothing is touching, just leave it, even if it's not perfect. As long as it is spaced it will work fine.

Hey, that's what I have concluded from the many spiky pits I have fallen into when using titanium. Make of it what you will.

 

[schlinky]

Rob was good enough to get some Ti 0.5 in the post so if RM does their bit I might have some titanium arriving tomorrow so lets talk coils....

With Kanthal I like a 1.5ohm microcoil at 12w, how do I translate that into titanium?

I've done a fair bit of research thus far on Ti coils, I won't be making a microcoil, instead stretching it out so there's 2 or so mm between each wrap but how many wraps and what sort of resistance/wattage should I be aiming for to mimic the setup I like with Kanthal?

Maybe it doesn't work like that, some enlightenment from those of you who are further down the road would be good

Thanks

 

[Mr Numpty]

Rob was good enough to get some Ti 0.5 in the post so if RM does their bit I might have some titanium arriving tomorrow so lets talk coils....

With Kanthal I like a 1.5ohm microcoil at 12w, how do I translate that into titanium?

I've done a fair bit of research thus far on Ti coils, I won't be making a microcoil, instead stretching it out so there's 2 or so mm between each wrap but how many wraps and what sort of resistance/wattage should I be aiming for to mimic the setup I like with Kanthal?

Maybe it doesn't work like that, some enlightenment from those of you who are further down the road would be good

Thanks

A 1.5 Ohm coil at 12 watts doesn't translate into titanium in any real sense. However, if you build a Ti coil at, say, 0.15 Ohms, you can adjust the watts/joules, airflow and temp settings to pretty much mimic a wide range of kanthal resistance coils, including the vape experience from a 1.5 Ohm coil at 12 watts. That's one of the best things about temp control - different vape experiences with the same coil.

You can use the Steam Engine calculator to find out how many wraps etc.

 

[Mr Numpty]

...how many wraps and what sort of resistance/wattage should I be aiming for ...

I should stress, in case there's any confusion, I'm not suggesting you build your coil/s to 0.15 Ohms. That was just an example to illustrate a point. I don't know what resistance will best suit your set up.

 

[schlinky]

I should stress, in case there's any confusion, I'm not suggesting you build your coil/s to 0.15 Ohms. That was just an example to illustrate a point. I don't know what resistance will best suit your set up.

Hehe, nor do I!

I guess I'll just try something and see how it goes!

 

[schlinky]

So I'm cleaning this wire with an alcohol solution then rinsing with water and alot of the shiny coating is coming off leaving a matt finish that kinda looks like oxidation (I haven't installed the wire or fired it) is this normal?

Btw I assume it's ok to fire it with some dry cotton inside the coil to make sure it works?

 

[Mr Numpty]

Mine does that. Seems to work OK.

 

[gary68]

Gonna have to try the spaced route again. My current coils are tight 0.2ohm and gunked up to fuck. Seen a guy wrapping coils on a kuro in parallel then separating them to make perfectly spaced coils.... Gonna give that a go

 

[gary68]

Scratch that plangonna wrap them tight and stretch as Numpty does it... What a fucking fiddle parallels are with titanium

 

[Mr Numpty]

Btw I assume it's ok to fire it with some dry cotton inside the coil to make sure it works?

Personally, I err on the side of extreme caution and don't heat the wire in any way until it's juiced up. If the coils give an ohms reading on a meter or atty, there's no reason they shouldn't work.