Keep reading that dry burning coils, nickel ones in particular is dangerous. Anyone got any thoughts on this as we all do it
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Hello, welcome to the forum!
I keep dry burning my mesh coils to clean them when I replace the cotton. That nickel can be a problem is new to me but quite possible, it’s worth digging a bit deeper. But I do know that titanium coils mustn’t get too hot or they will produce titanium oxide which is poisonous to humans.
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Kanthal, SS316L and N80 should be fine with a dry burn, I am not sure on Ni200 but it could be a problem? But certainly titanium should only be cleaned and only heated slightly if at all. If you take that metal near a glow, it will oxidise and the white material that forms on top is toxic and should not be inhaled.
This is also why titanium should only be used in TC mode, as it will never get hot enough to oxidise. There was some discussion on SS having a similar reaction if burned too much, but SS certainly does not produce toxins when heated or it wouldn’t be used in food production.
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Nickel and titanium are potentially dangerous if heated past a certain point. Stainless steel too but not as bad IIRC. Those are all considered TC capable materials. You can use SS in wattage mode though, while Ni200, and Ti are supposed to be TC only.
I mainly use N80 and try to keep my coils from glowing too brightly. When I work on them, I usually do it in a dark or dim room. Some people don’t GAF though. I just watched a FOWTB video on YouTube where he had problems with some coil clout aliens. His solution to uneven glowing was dry burning at over 100W. That’s something I’d never do personally. I’ve never been a fan of trying to get coils to turn colors and all that jazz.
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Good points.
I only use single coils for my RTAs as all my tanks are MTL.
I use Clapton wire and normally kanthal but i thought id try some Clapton Ni-80 and that’s when I started seeing all the concerns about dry burning which is a worry
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It is better to be safe than sorry! I tend to only use SS, as I do have a few mods that feature TC and other bells and whistles and I did want to try them, so after looking about I decided SS was the better idea and have stuck with it since.
It is all probably a lot safer than smoking so as long as you are a bit careful, it minimises risk if nothing else.
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Kanthal and N80 are pretty durable materials. They can handle heat pretty well.
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I use mostly single wire coils now, but when I was making fancier wires I would never dry burn to clean my coils. I found the flavor to be rather muted after cleaning/dry burning and rewicking the coils with fresh cotton. I thought that maybe it was me or my choice of wicking material, so I tried with Cotton Bacon, Muji pads and a few others, but it was the dry burning that left my juices tasting flat and muted.
Then again, I’ve got weird taste buds so YMMV. That’s my two cents on the issue.
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Very interesting.
I only dry burn when setting up the coil so it’s even.
I don’t bother doing it when it gets dirty as you say the flavour gets muted.
Wire is so cheap that I just make a new one.
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The nice thing about using mesh coils (not sub-ohm) is the fact that they ramp up incredibly fast, even at low power. A one second tap on the fire button a few times does the trick.
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This used to happen to me too but it was chinese wire or coils usually. Some brands are better than others that’s for sure. Since I’ve been making my own coils (or rather since a friend sent me some of his hand made coils), I noticed that the quality was a lot better. I can use coils for months on end now. I try to get the best wire I can and make my coils out of that.
I like to use really fine clapton wraps. Sometimes the little clapton wraps break before I end up changing the coil. I use a magnifying tool to always inspect them before re wicking. I know what you mean though… Some people can detect things others can’t. Some people think all coils taste the same… Strictly mesh coil people like to think it’s superior to wire etc. Everybody’s different and preferences are all over the place.
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Welcome and glad you joined.
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all wire regardless of make should not be glowed anyways, it releases compound in the metal… These are not the conditions you’d be vaping in so there for it is not required, use a brush or change them all together. You can achieve an evenly burning coil by wrapping it spaced and heating it slightly, inserting a rod and squeezing the spaced coil together with your tweezers and you’ll have for the most part an even heating coil. There will be hot spots in fancier coils, but for claptons and fused it’ll be fine if you did it right. As far as fancier coils, they are just for show and instagram pictures. Vaping a gargoyle hoof triple sow cow 360 nerf herder isn’t going to make it taste better. So keep it simple.
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I disagree. I do agree that there’s lots of coils that I just consider showboat coils. Some of them definitely give me better flavor than others. They don’t seem to help as much for low wattage vaping because not much metal mass is needed. From mid to high range (I know everybody defines this differently), the right coil can make all the difference in the world.
Last week I saw pictures of an interlock alien build. I’ve never made them so I spent a few days making them and getting used to it. I should’ve tried the coils sooner because it was a waste of time. Regular alien coils vape better than those interlocking ones.
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I also disagree. First it depends on how you’re defining “glowed” and the wire type. T1 should definitely be approached with caution when heating. But with extremely low wattage (12-15 watts) .a dull, barely perceptible glow, as opposed to a bright orange, can be achieved on T1 safely. I used to fire mine in a dark room to determine the onset of the glow before backing off. Kanthal when heated, unless there are new studies, does not convert any ferrous compounds significant enough to pose a health risk. But even so, glowing any coil to fusion reactor levels is probably not wise.
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First and foremost go do some research on Nickel. It is highly toxic to humans and should not be glowed EVER.
There are temperatures to watch, true but just don’t. Ever get a seriously massive brain cell-killing headache? Don’t ever overheat your Nickel. Once you glow it, it’s done. Do not use it.
Anyway, we have discussed this in the past and it was quite the hot topic in 2015.
here are some links. They might be old but they are still relevant.
this is a very good post with excellent references I wonder if @Pro_Vapes will stop in to say a thing or two. I hope everything is well with you sir.
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This is good advice. I use a brush and hot water and sometimes I’ll put it in the ultrasonic cleaner and sometimes I just don’t care and toss it.
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So what is the recommended way to get rid of hot spots on a new coil then ?
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Best way is to heat the coil slightly in a dim room, as hot spots will show and glow ever so slightly before the rest of the coil gets hot enough to even turn golden (in SS’s case anyway, you will have to let others with experience with others chime in on their best practices). Warming the coil to check out hotspots is not dry burning it. You can see hotspots even in a lit room before the coil will glow entirely, and sometimes a bit of colour wont hurt. Dry burning is the act of glowing the coils red hot, not just gently heating them - even titanium can be heated gently (even to a warm glow), it will be during use anyway.
There are tricks you can try to minimise any hotspots before you even attach to the atomiser. If you tap the coil lightly (back and forth) with a small but quite sturdy tool (like a watch hammer), right after coiling, while still on the jig or screwdriver, this can spring the metal back and forth enough to relieve any hotspots (this works on gargoyle hoof triple sow cow 360 nerf herders too) - some builders who wind with a drill or other automated method will find they have to do this to free the coil, and it is this action, not the precise winding, that frees any hotspots.
You can strum the coil with nylon plyers and ceramic tweezers to work out any imaginary hotspots (where they usually form) to free them up pre-warm too. I do this even though I will give my coils a dryburn too usually - people can tell me not to and that it is bad for me, well I thank them for worrying about me but I can taste the metal otherwise.
Edited to add, if you are sticking to Kanthal and N80 (N80 is not Nickel, it is Nichrome), you really have nothing to worry about in my opinion. It is only the TC only metals (Ti, Ni200) that should be approached with caution when heating, but of course, any of the above is just opinion, you will have to find your own fact.
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So Ni80 is ok then?
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