A hot spot happens when one, or more, areas of a coil heats up faster than the rest of the coil.
Hot spots look like this on a coil that is being dry burned.
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You do not want that.
If you see one or more hot spots on your coil take your tweezers and very gently strum across the coil the coil. Gently!!! ---> you don't want to damage the coil!!! Pulse the coil to see if the hot spots are gone. If not then strum the coil again. Repeat as needed. That will work out any hot spots. Like so:
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When you dry burn a new or used coil - you want to see a smooth, or even, glow from the inside wraps to the outer wraps.
When you clean your
coils, and dry burn, between wick changes, use a brush to remove any gunk from the coil. Do not use a metal brush as those will damage a coil. I use brushes like these.
View attachment 988925
Those are excellent for cleaning both the outside and inside of a coil. Don't use those on a hot coil!!! Run some water over your coil to cool it down, then use the brush. After brushing pulse your coil so any remaining water evaporates (dull orange).
And again, when dry burning a coil, depending on the coil 10w - 20w is plenty. Any more than that is total overkill. Exotic
coils will require a higher wattage versus simple round wire.
When doing a dry burn... pulse the coil 0.5 - 1 second at a time... until you see the coil getting to a dull orange color. At that point run the coil under some water and repeat the dry burn.
Hope that helps!!!