I stumbled onto an old post on ECF, where this guy made a coil very different from the normal coils we are used to. They came up with the name “Taco coil” because it’s shaped like a Taco shell.
Intrigued, I had to give it a try even though the follow-up comments in the post weren’t very positive. I’ve only built the one and I have to say I’m impressed after two days vaping it in an Elder Dragon RDA. I used 24 gauge SS316L, and my coil came out to 0.33 Ohms. I’m vaping it VV at 4.3V. The flavor is great, clouds are thick, and I’ve experienced zero problems thus far.
For now, I side with the ECF OP and not the negative commenters.
Specs:. Single coil, SS316L, 6 loops, 1.5 mm loop ends, 9 mm straights, ~2mm taco bend(bent around the edge of a metal ruler), legs cut at 5mm.
I made a spreadsheet to input parameters and calculate total single and double coil Ohms value of final coil and the Total length of wire needed to build a single coil to those specs. Free to anyone who requests it, it’s written in Google Sheets.
Next I build a set of coils to use in the Valhalla V2 to see how that goes.
Yes, and yes. It couldn’t be easier to take the cotton out. Putting new cotton in seems a little quicker. You can spread out the grain like your doing a Scottish roll but the ends stay fluffy since your not stuffing it through a closed circular coil. It might be harder to figure out how much to put in and I haven’t tried it on large coils yet, or more than this one time.
To be clear, I still have tails I place into the well slots in the deck.
Feeding the beast with an appropriate mod/RDA setup. Featuring dual Taco coils. SS 316L Clapton 28/36, 0.50 Ohms, VV 8.4V. So far it’s doing very well.
Build specs. I used a 4.762mm (3/16") diameter for the Taco fold.
I tried to go very big on my first build attempt but sadly it didn’t go well. I tried too big and the coils wouldn’t fit. Also I tried a 4-36/40 Fused Clapton and it’s very wonky to use a flat material when making a Taco coil. It can be done and might have worked just fine if I hadn’t made the legs too long.
I build a jig for this coil. I took a small piece of scrap 1×2 wood and drew two parallel lines, Xmm apart(equal to the length of the straight between the loops). I marked spots along one line 5mm apart. Same for the other line but I shifted the start point 2.5mm so the marks are staggered. I tapped small wire finishing nails along each mark. It’s quick and easy. Zig_zag the coil wire between the nails keeping it tight. I’m thinking I might make an adjustable jig that can be used for any distance straight between loops coil design.
Oh this is nice! Stove top coils are convenient for testing too but you have to have an appropriate deck and I don’t always want to use those attys that I have. Something that works in an Elder Dragon would be great. Thx, Jim.
I know I have small wire finishing nails somewhere because I got them for another type of vape project. I love projects like this, I’m going to try it.
Okay, I should try before I speak but i got to thinking. The hottest part of the coil is at the top and the Taco doesn’t have a top, it’s open. I suppose you can make sure it’s pinched closed enough to distribute heat as far to the top as possible. I was just thinking how that affects the final flavor outcome? But @JiM210 seems to be happy with it. Anyone else try it yet?
@muth My thoughts are a bit different. The top is open, allowing for cotton up top to retain extra juice that can quickly trickle back down via “gravity feed”. When I load it with cotton I use enough that I have to push it down into the taco. I push about 1/8” of cotton that is sticking up above the coil tips back down even with them. Yes, I do pinch the top a little to help hold some tension on the cotton. I form the taco around a rod, the size selected to allow some of the coil tips to curve a little over vertical back towards each other. Just a few degrees past vertical. I hope that helps. Taco Tuesday starts in a few hours.
