Using lighter on Kanthal - normal for them to burn black?

[kc0716]

I am trying to build my very first set of homemade coils using 28 gauge kanthal.

I've watched some videos of people torching/using lighter on them to make the "springy-ness" go away before they wrap the coil.

However, when I try this, they turn black/burned and I have to wipe it off with cloth.

Is this normal behavior?

 

[Pensilac]

It happens quite frequently when I torch mine but as you mentioned, it wipes right off. I've never noticed any weird taste or anything afterwards so I haven't worried too much about it.

 

[SkvLTD]

I'd honestly stick to a gas stove or get a proper torch than subject anything to the lighter fluid burn off.

 

[Pamailman]

If you use butane instead of a propane lighter you shouldn't have this problem.

 

[Myk]

Everything turns black from a lighter. Didn't you see the snowball melting videos going around this winter claiming the snow was plasticized from chemtrails?

 

[Kryyptyk]

It's perfectly normal for the kanthal wire to darken or blacken. I've used butane torches, normal BIC style lighters (which also use butane by the way), and gas stoves. They all heat the wire equally, and the effects are the same.

The only method I wouldn't recommend is using the Zippo style lighters, the liquid fuel that they use can deposit residues on the wire.

 

[bcastela]

I find that if you use the blue part of the flame (closest to the lighter) it takes longer to heat but leaves no residue.
A torch is ideal. Faster and cleaner

 

[Mitey F]

It's perfectly normal for the kanthal wire to darken or blacken. I've used butane torches, normal BIC style lighters (which also use butane by the way), and gas stoves. They all heat the wire equally, and the effects are the same.

The only method I wouldn't recommend is using the Zippo style lighters, the liquid fuel that they use can deposit residues on the wire.

Not really. If you heat the wire to red hot, they are all acheiving the same purpose of taking out the "springy-ness" of the wire, however with a torch you will not get black deposits. Go grab a pane of glass and heat it with a torch for 5 seconds, then do the same with a Bic. The Bic will leave the sooty residue while the torch will not. It has to do with how the butane is mixed with air, and the fact that a torch will have a more consistent air/fuel ratio than a Bic.

 

[crxess]

You will also NOT get the Black with a Bic or any other Butane torch/lighter - if you pass the wire through the Blue of the Flame(The hottest point)
I know, I have and use 3 Butane units.
Still, never hurts to wipe after burning - Dust in the air, etc.

 

[suspectK]

I use 26awg.. no torch, no lighters.. electricity won't leave any residue..visual or nonvisual... with the exceptions of oxides from the metal itself.

37, ph0n3 h0m3.

 

[oplholik]

I buy the annealed wire, no need to torch.

Kanthal Wire 34 Gauge RW0075 - 100 FT 0.15oz Series A-1 Resistance AWG

 

[Kryyptyk]

Not really. If you heat the wire to red hot, they are all acheiving the same purpose of taking out the "springy-ness" of the wire, however with a torch you will not get black deposits. Go grab a pane of glass and heat it with a torch for 5 seconds, then do the same with a Bic. The Bic will leave the sooty residue while the torch will not. It has to do with how the butane is mixed with air, and the fact that a torch will have a more consistent air/fuel ratio than a Bic.

I was referring to the heating efficiency and the performance of the wire, not the soot deposits. However, when using a BIC lighter, you pass the wire through the base of the flame. The blue flame burns just as hot as a torch, and leaves minimal deposits. Any excess burn off can be wiped away. If a vaper is really that paranoid about a bit of microscopic soot on their coil wire, they probably shouldn't look at their coils when they're covered in gunk. They might have a nervous breakdown.