Twisting coils

Evening island time…

Started to make coils with some twisted wires
32gx3 and 34gx4
Twisted wire is hard to coil and hard to mount
too springy

Any advice please?

lambu

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after u twist the wire…heat red hot with a torch…it will anneal it if u twist in like 3 foot lengths heat the whole wire…get it red hot a few times…then should not be springy an be workable…

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I assume you’re talking about SS, which is pretty springy. You could also use a different material, like ni80 or ka1 if you don’t need TC.

I’m not a big fan of heating any wire until it glows red hot. It’s not such a big issue to deal with the springiness if you’re using spaced coils.

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I’m a lover of twisted wire for coils. The small amount of work is a pittance when you’re rewarded with some great flavor! That being said, I tend to stick to 26 or 28 gauge for my twisted wire needs, as it’s a little less springy and more firm than the higher gauge wires. That being said, let’s move on to the good stuff!

Working with higher gauge wires and twisting it can make for some challenges. When I wrap triple-coiled wire, I start with an inner diameter one size smaller than my target. For example: If I want an inner diameter of 3 mm, I wrap the twisted wire on a 2.4 mm mandrel. The wire will spring out to about 3 mm(depending on how much pressure you place on the wire as you’re wrapping it around the mandrel, it might spring over or be slightly under the target diameter) Once you’ve got the coils wrapped, mount them into your atomizer(RDA, RTA or RDTA) clamp the wires tight enough to get a solid contact, but not so tight that it deforms the wire. Pulse the wire to a dull orange glow in a dark-ish room(No direct light on the coils and your hand hooding the deck of the atomizer should give enough shade) Once the wire has been heated in this matter, it should be annealed enough to get your final shape and diameter. Using your mandrel of the desired diameter, insert the mandrel into the coil and pull the mandrel away from the deck of the atomizer. This will tighten the coil to the mandrel. Then, using tweezers(preferably ceramic but not vital) you can squeeze the coil to get the length/width correct for your atomizer deck. If you’re not using a spaced coil then prepare to work out a good amount of hot spots. Take your time, remember to squeeze and/or strum the coils to work the hot spots out(Again, using a darkened area helps here to not take the wire to hotter temps)

Hope this helps and hopefully it’s a little clearer than mud. Hit me up if you’ve got questions-Cheers!

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I’ve had good result using 1 26g wire twisted with 2 or 3 34g wires. Flavor is equal and the larger wire helps with the springyness.

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That. Is. BRILLIANT! I’m just wicked pissed I didn’t think of it myself!

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Sorry, forgot to mention i was using Kanthal A1.

Nice one, thx. Will try it and report back.

I dont use TC so i will try other material like NiCR as well.
Is ther any discussion of potential health issues of the different
wire material ?

Thanks for your help.

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The best article(my opinion, take it as you will) that references materials safety is this one, written by Dr. Farsalinos. Dr. F is all about honest and open research into the potential risks in using e-cigarettes and has quite a lot of great information on his site. I urge anyone that hasn’t given his site a look to do so.

http://www.ecigarette-research.org/research/index.php/research/research-2015/212-db

The short answer? Dry burning/overheating metals can cause fatigue which could introduce metal particles into the user. Try to keep metals used for wrapping coils below a “bright red” glow.

As for specifics for the safety of the wire types we use, there really hasn’t been a decent study done yet. I do know that wires like titanium(Ti) and nickel(Ni200) absolutely should not be used in anything other than temp control, as excessive heating of these materials causes the formation of Ti oxide(a carcinogen) and nickel oxide(also a bad one to breathe). Also, there could be a potential for allergic reactions with certain metals. For example: I’m fairly allergic to nickel, so I’ve never even considered using Ni200 in TC and I’ve stayed away from nichrome just to be on the safer side,

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The smaller the gauge wire the more springy it will become.
I personally wouldn’t twist anything smaller than 27-28gauge.
You may get away with twisting Kanthal at higher gauges as it’s much harder than Ni80 and Stainless steel but I’ve never tried.

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