What kind of wire is suitable for mechanical mods?

[Dan_V]

About nine years ago, I started vaping on a mechanical mod, and continued to do so for a few years. In those early days I only knew of Kanthal. Later, the wires started changing to more exotic materials (stainless steel, titanium, Nichrome, etc), and people were twisting, weaving, using flat ribbon wire, mesh and all sorts by then.

To take advantage of bigger coils and different materials, I ended up using regulated mods and atomisers with bigger holed connection posts. But I never liked temperature control. Eventually I stopped making my own coils and ended up buying them pre-made. Claptons, staples, etc, made out of Ni80 and similar. Which I just used in Wattage mode. The ones I purchased are all quite low resistance that I wouldn't want to risk using in parallel configuration with a mechanical (obviously).

My question is twofold...

1. Is Kanthal considered 'healthy'? Or put another way, are there any specific risks associated with it?
In other words - is it still considered a 'respectable' material for vaping on?

2. Unregulated vaping uses wattage mode only. There is no temperature control with these. From what I've read, Kanthal is listed for straight-up wattage vaping, without temp control. Is kanthal the only choice for mechs, or are there other materials that are suitable?

Those are the main questions for now. But I would also like to know if Kanthal can be bought in a flat/ ribbon style form. I have a lot of difficulty getting round wire into these more modern atomisers to clamp it, as the holes are wider, and more oval in shape. The wires slip out easily, and that is not something I can risk, if I decide to get another mechanical mod. Which makes me wonder if these kinds of atty are suitable for use on a mech at all.

Thanks for reading. I look forward to reading your helpful replies.

 

[Toots]

I use kanthal, stainless steel, nichrome on my mechs. Most others need temp control.
https://temcoindustrial.com/ has selections of kanthal, nichrome, and ribbon wire.
https://wireoptim.com/ has selections of kanthal, nichrome, stainless steel, ribbon, hybrid and other wires, even mesh for mesh attys.
Hope that helps some. Hope you find something you like and enjoy the adventure.

 

[zoiDman]

About nine years ago, I started vaping on a mechanical mod, and continued to do so for a few years. In those early days I only knew of Kanthal. Later, the wires started changing to more exotic materials (stainless steel, titanium, Nichrome, etc), and people were twisting, weaving, using flat ribbon wire, mesh and all sorts by then.

To take advantage of bigger coils and different materials, I ended up using regulated mods and atomisers with bigger holed connection posts. But I never liked temperature control. Eventually I stopped making my own coils and ended up buying them pre-made. Claptons, staples, etc, made out of Ni80 and similar. Which I just used in Wattage mode. The ones I purchased are all quite low resistance that I wouldn't want to risk using in parallel configuration with a mechanical (obviously).

My question is twofold...

1. Is Kanthal considered 'healthy'? Or put another way, are there any specific risks associated with it?
In other words - is it still considered a 'respectable' material for vaping on?

2. Unregulated vaping uses wattage mode only. There is no temperature control with these. From what I've read, Kanthal is listed for straight-up wattage vaping, without temp control. Is kanthal the only choice for mechs, or are there other materials that are suitable?

Those are the main questions for now. But I would also like to know if Kanthal can be bought in a flat/ ribbon style form. I have a lot of difficulty getting round wire into these more modern atomisers to clamp it, as the holes are wider, and more oval in shape. The wires slip out easily, and that is not something I can risk, if I decide to get another mechanical mod. Which makes me wonder if these kinds of atty are suitable for use on a mech at all.

Thanks for reading. I look forward to reading your helpful replies.

Kanthal A1, Stainless Steels and NiChrome 80 are all fine for Non-Temperature Control setups. Just make sure a build can't exceed the Amp Draw from your Battery(s) and the are fine for Mech Mods also.

Near Pure Nickle Alloys such as Ni200 can only be used with TC.

I'm not really sure about Titanium? I only used it once (6AL4V?) and it had a Funky Taste I tossed it after about 1/2 a tank. That was a long time ago. And you don't hear much about Titanium builds much anymore.

 

[ShamrockPat]

I'm not really sure about Titanium? ........ And you don't hear much about Titanium builds much anymore.

And I'm running a 26g 5 wrap Titanium build right now in a boro at 26 watts in Replay. 0.2Ω build.

 

[zoiDman]

And I'm running a 26g 5 wrap Titanium build right now in a boro at 26 watts in Replay. 0.2Ω build.

It sounds like Ti runs a Tad Lower in the Ohms for the same size build as a 316/316L SS. I run about the same on with a 3mm ID SS Coil and the Ohms come out to about 0.4 ~ 0.36Ω.

Is Ti easy to work with? I recall mine was a little Springy. But in all honesty, that was a Long Time ago. And I don't know if I was using a Decent Quality Ti Alloy?

 

[ShamrockPat]

Is Ti easy to work with? I recall mine was a little Springy. But in all honesty, that was a Long Time ago. And I don't know if I was using a Decent Quality Ti Alloy?

Temco TI01. Not spring enough for me to notice. Spaced coil tension build. I can hold the coil vertical and the rod won't fall out. Low glow ~10 watts to burn of any machine oils and human salts.

All these TC materials have a 'sort of' TC built in. If you think Power=voltage squared / resistance, as the coil resistance rises, the volts required will drop.

* It is better for the less understanding to just say 'must be used in TC'

 

[zoiDman]

Temco TI01. Not spring enough for me to notice. Spaced coil tension build. I can hold the coil vertical and the rod won't fall out. Low glow ~10 watts to burn of any machine oils and human salts.

All these TC materials have a 'sort of' TC built in. If you think Power=voltage squared / resistance, as the coil resistance rises, the volts required will drop.

* It is better for the less understanding to just say 'must be used in TC'

Sounds like this Ti Alloy is pretty Normal.

 

[bombastinator2]

Mech scan do pretty much anything except nickel and there’s no point to it anyway afaik. Lots of people are allergic and it doesn’t add much of anything. Plus its expensive. I’m not over fond of mechs myself. There are safety issues and while there used to be a big size difference that as grown much smaller. The only advantage i see in mechs is that they’re hard to police. Thats about it reall so while i have one i see no reason to use it currently.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

1. Is Kanthal considered 'healthy'? Or put another way, are there any specific risks associated with it?
In other words - is it still considered a 'respectable' material for vaping on?

The vast majority of factory coils are still using Kanthal. I use mostly Kanthal in my rebuiildable.
Is it "safe"? No clue.

2. Unregulated vaping uses wattage mode only. There is no temperature control with these. From what I've read, Kanthal is listed for straight-up wattage vaping, without temp control. Is kanthal the only choice for mechs, or are there other materials that are suitable?

People use Kanthal, Ni80, SS and other wires in their mech setups.

also like to know if Kanthal can be bought in a flat/ ribbon style form.

Yes, you can get Kanthal ribbon wire. Though I have no idea where Brits buy their vaping wire. This is largely a US forum so you'll have to seek out popular sources on UK-based venues like
planetofthevapes forum or reddit's vapingUK subreddit.

I have a lot of difficulty getting round wire into these more modern atomisers to clamp it, as the holes are wider, and more oval in shape. The wires slip out easily, and that is not something I can risk, if I decide to get another mechanical mod.

Yeah, newer rebuildables are made assuming you will be using the specialty vape wires like claptons and such. Most of us left here at ECF are old-schoolers so we still use round wire but the majority of vapers who use rebuildables and are active on the vaping sites are using the specialty wires. The market caters mostly to the profitable sector, in any market.

However as long as it clamps down on it, there should be no issues. The screws usually go the whole way through the mounting hole, and cover the whole inside of the hole, so using round wire should not be a problem.