What gauge of wire do you use?... and why?

[XRaptureX]

I've spent the last couple of months experimenting with wire. Between all the different gauges, and different builds, I feel I'm no closer to finding my sweet spot. It feels like I'm on a never ending quest to find that perfect balance between flavor and vapor production. It just never ceases to amaze me how complex this little hobby can be.

After finally getting the chance to work with 22 gauge wire, I wasn't as impressed with it as I thought I would be. My hope was that at 9 wraps it would perform about as well as a 26 gauge parallel coil of the same length and resistance. ( by length I'm referring to the overall surface area ) It didn't. The vapor production and flavor was much better on the parallel coil, and my rda didn't heat up nearly as bad. Go figure.

Now, keeping in mind that most coils I build generally fall in the range of .2 to .4, I'm curious to see what gauge of wire most people seem to gravitate towards. Also, do you get better results with dual single coils, or dual parallels? The possibilities here are simply endless, and I don't think I'm going to live long enough to try them all. A little feedback from the community on this will go a long way.

End of line.

 

[Ryedan]

My hope was that at 9 wraps it would perform about as well as a 26 gauge parallel coil of the same length and resistance. ( by length I'm referring to the overall surface area )

So you mean both coils had the same total wire surface area? How are you calculating the surface area?

 

[XRaptureX]

So you mean both coils had the same total wire surface area? How are you calculating the surface area?

I'm eye balling it. Is that exact, probably not. I'm really just talking about the total length of the coil from the first wrap to the last wrap. I realize there's probably a lot more to surface area than just that one measurement.

The purpose of my buying 22 gauge wire was to see if I could make something that would perform like the parallel coil and be easier and faster to build. It allowed me to keep the same resistance and would end up being about the same overall length.

End of line.

 

[Revelene]

For standard, plain coils? 22g. I tend to have several different sizes and types of wire on mine at the same time... I'm crazy like that lol

I suggest experimenting with different diameter. 9 wraps with 22g seems excessive to the point where I think your diameter is too small.

 

[XRaptureX]

For standard, plain coils? 22g. I tend to have several different sizes and types of wire on mine at the same time... I'm crazy like that lol

I suggest experimenting with different diameter. 9 wraps with 22g seems excessive to the point where I think your diameter is too small.

It feels like every time I think I have a handle on this someone throws a new term at me. Lol. What do you mean by diameter? Are you referring to what I'm wrapping it around?

End of line.

 

[Revelene]

It feels like every time I think I have a handle on this someone throws a new term at me. Lol. What do you mean by diameter? Are you referring to what I'm wrapping it around?

End of line.

The inside of the coil. Try changing up the size of whatever you are wraping your coils around. Try something thicker and use less wraps.

 

[XRaptureX]

The inside of the coil. Try changing up the size of whatever you are wraping your coils around. Try something thicker and use less wraps.

What I built today was 9 wraps of 22 around a 3mm screwdriver. It came out to .28. Every time I've gone smaller than that I don't feel like I have enough cotton in my build. I've never considered going thicker than that. Most likely because I don't currently own a thicker screwdriver. Would it be worth going thicker than that? What would be the advantage?

End of line.

 

[Visus]

Heat retention in 22ga is by far greater than higher gauge wire and would need a 26mm+ huge atomizer to add air insulation for cooling I would suspect.

I use 26ga as it is a perfect balance of surface area quickly heating delivering awesome warmth/flavor with byproduct decent huge cloud.. Its heat retention while much greater than 28ga it's tolerable and has becomes my standard.. I vape @ .5-1ohm on a single coil mainly 40-70 watts and enjoy 26ga more than any other wire.. I do use 28ga and enjoy it just not as much as 26ga..

This is a huge reason why people who vape TC love it, the surface area of a tc coil is massive and delivers ungodly amounts of flavor and dialed warmth if set up properly..

I used to vape a 3ohm 30ga coil (great surface area) and laughed at people vaping sub ohm because I blew as much vapor cloud and flavor was superb but the vape was anemic. It has no substance per se' it as if all the substance is fakery and the flavor not as profound once wrapping a nice 26ga .5-1ohm.. That 30ga 3ohm vape has a whole different profile in how the molecules are formed without presence per se'.. Tootle puffing is and can be as intense at low wattage as sub ohm in vapor production and flavor but the vapor/flavor is just not right IMO.. It's strange, you do feel the heat and blow a cloud tasting it but felt nothing if I could explain it..

I do understand your search lol..

 

[IMFire3605]

Down about 0.3ish??? :/

Haven't built down that low in months myself, but with how hot that resistance gets I always used a cheap scribing tool which is in the 4mm to 4.5mm range, didn't like 20 and 22 awg myself, so for my low macro coils like that I used parallel 24awg around that scribe at around 9/8wraps, brought me down into the 0.2 to 0.25ish range most times. Extra diameter helps with wicking flow as it is not as compact as with a 3mm. Now anymore if I am going down near 0.25 to 0.3 range I use just a dual coil (regular) at a 5/4 or 6/5wrap on each coil around a 3mm or my scribe.

I've got 24, 25, 26, 28, 30, and even 32awg and flat ribbon 0.1x0.5mm ribbon wire on hand at all times, depends what my fancy is to build most times. My best flavor and cloud chaser setup is a single 24awg core/28awg wrapper Clapton single coil on a Derringer 2mm 8/7 wrap sitting on my IPV3 set at 65watts. If you are looking for that billowing cloud while still trying keep flavor outstanding, a dual Clapton coil might work for you better, takes a while to heat up but when they do they are stellar. The core wire does most the heating while the wrap wire does most of the vaporizing and they will suck a wick dry in a heartbeat due to the liquid is pulled into every crevice of the wire for vaporizing which gives massive clouds and tremendous flavor all at once.

 

[XRaptureX]

I do understand your search lol..

The 26 gauge parallel coil that I built last week was probably the best experience I've had yet. It came out to .22 ohms. It was 6 wraps for the total of 12 loops. It's just such a pain in the ... to build. The one thing that I really have liked about the 22 gauge is how easy it is to work with. It stays where I put it. The 26 gauge was a little bit more difficult, and building that coil without getting the wires overlapping... maybe I just need a little practice.

On a separate note... I do get a kick out of big clouds. The issue that I'm having is not the amount of vapor that's being produced though, but the density. Once that 26 gauge parallel coil really broke in it was giving me a really good amount of density. I really thought I was going to be able to obtain that using the 22 gauge without having to do a parallel build.

End of line.

 

[Ryedan]

I'm eye balling it. Is that exact, probably not. I'm really just talking about the total length of the coil from the first wrap to the last wrap. I realize there's probably a lot more to surface area than just that one measurement.

The purpose of my buying 22 gauge wire was to see if I could make something that would perform like the parallel coil and be easier and faster to build. It allowed me to keep the same resistance and would end up being about the same overall length.

Actually a two wire parallel 26 gauge coil with the same ID as a single wire 22 gauge coil with the same number of wraps will have very similar surface area. You have very well calibrated eyes . The parallel coil will heat up faster than the 22 gauge coil.

I haven't tried this experiment myself so I can't say what my results were. I have noticed that a pair of twisted wires compared to a similar but thicker single wire gives me only slightly better flavor. It was not enough to make me want to start twisting wires all the time so I didn't pursue dual wires any further. I know @Boden has a lot of experience with this so maybe he can help you more.

Good luck with it

 

[XRaptureX]

Down about 0.3ish??? :/

Haven't built down that low in months myself, but with how hot that resistance gets I always used a cheap scribing tool which is in the 4mm to 4.5mm range, didn't like 20 and 22 awg myself, so for my low macro coils like that I used parallel 24awg around that scribe at around 9/8wraps, brought me down into the 0.2 to 0.25ish range most times. Extra diameter helps with wicking flow as it is not as compact as with a 3mm. Now anymore if I am going down near 0.25 to 0.3 range I use just a dual coil (regular) at a 5/4 or 6/5wrap on each coil around a 3mm or my scribe.

I've got 24, 25, 26, 28, 30, and even 32awg and flat ribbon 0.1x0.5mm ribbon wire on hand at all times, depends what my fancy is to build most times. My best flavor and cloud chaser setup is a single 24awg core/28awg wrapper Clapton single coil on a Derringer 2mm 8/7 wrap sitting on my IPV3 set at 65watts. If you are looking for that billowing cloud while still trying keep flavor outstanding, a dual Clapton coil might work for you better, takes a while to heat up but when they do they are stellar. The core wire does most the heating while the wrap wire does most of the vaporizing and they will suck a wick dry in a heartbeat due to the liquid is pulled into every crevice of the wire for vaporizing which gives massive clouds and tremendous flavor all at once.

I bought some 26/30 clapton wire and it drove me nuts. It popped, a lot, and I just got tired of getting hot juice in my mouth. I think I was at .35 with that one. It really turned me off to clapton wire. Anybody else had that issue?

End of line.

 

[Canadian_Vaper]

24g micro, 6 wraps 7/64 (2.78mm) I vape 5-6 range.

 

[IMFire3605]

If you have issues with it, takes a bit to learn to wick them properly to reduce gaps that will pop and spit with claptons. I like them for the purpose the are suited for as they are much easier to make the wire compared to a wickless double helix coil. Maybe try a triple braided wire, quite similar to a twisted wire, but has more valleys and such for juice to be pulled into but still uses the same concepts of a clapton or standard twisted wire. Still a dual parallel, or dual triple parallel is hard to beat some times *shrugs*, been where you are at, decided long ago to quit chasing that rabbit down its hole toward wonderland

 

[Big Me]

In my RTAs, my preference is a 0.8Ω dual coil, 2.4mm ID, 10/9 wrap using 28AWG (0.32mm) . I run them on regulated devices at 25W.

On my dripper, it's a 0.4Ω dual coil, 2.4mm ID, 7/6 wrap using 26AWG (0.4mm). I use the dripper on my mech mod. If I do use it on a regulated device, it's usually around 35-40W.

Each build gives me the flavour, vapour and warmth that I prefer.

The gauge I use will depend upon what resistance I'm aiming for.

 

[Revelene]

What I built today was 9 wraps of 22 around a 3mm screwdriver. It came out to .28. Every time I've gone smaller than that I don't feel like I have enough cotton in my build. I've never considered going thicker than that. Most likely because I don't currently own a thicker screwdriver. Would it be worth going thicker than that? What would be the advantage?

End of line.

Advantage? More room for wick, less wraps, and sometimes better overall performance. There are a lot of variables so a straight cut answer is impossible.

I do believe it would be worth a try. I believe that I have a 4mm diameter on most of my coils. I just use random size screwdrivers and random metal cylinder-like objects to make coils... whatever I have near me.

Experimenting is part of the experience.

 

[Revelene]

I bought some 26/30 clapton wire and it drove me nuts. It popped, a lot, and I just got tired of getting hot juice in my mouth. I think I was at .35 with that one. It really turned me off to clapton wire. Anybody else had that issue?

End of line.

My daily driver (and cloud comp champ) is a fused clapton. Same concept but flattened a bit and something else may be different but they are basically the same.

You might need to practice wicking. I personally think that wicking is harder than making a coil. Why? Because you can see when a coil looks off... but you cannot really see a wick being off. You gotta check for clumps and loose fibers, you need to find the right amount of wick (too little causes spitting and popping, and too much causes dry hits and burning), you need to have enough wick out both ends to collect the juice (but not too much or it won't wick properly to the coil), and so many more factors...

Honestly, popping and spitting is good (to a degree). If you have a sub-ohm build and it barely hisses... you have too much wick in the coil.

 

[XRaptureX]

Advantage? More room for wick, less wraps, and sometimes better overall performance. There are a lot of variables so a straight cut answer is impossible.

I do believe it would be worth a try. I believe that I have a 4mm diameter on most of my coils. I just use random size screwdrivers and random metal cylinder-like objects to make coils... whatever I have near me.

Experimenting is part of the experience.

Interesting. Another reason that I bought the 22 gauge wire was so that I could increase my wraps. It seem to be the general consensus that I would get better vapor production if I increased my surface area. Different people have different points of view though, and I would be curious to know why you feel less wraps is the better way to go. Not challenging, just curious.

End of line.

 

[Revelene]

Interesting. Another reason that I bought the 22 gauge wire was so that I could increase my wraps. It seem to be the general consensus that I would get better vapor production if I increased my surface area. Different people have different points of view though, and I would be curious to know why you feel less wraps is the better way to go. Not challenging, just curious.

End of line.

More surface area is generally good and I'm actually with them for increasing surface area, but in a different way.

Increasing your coils diameter will actually increase your surface area (think larger wraps). I say use less wraps because by using a larger diameter, you will use more wire causing a higher resistance. With thick wire , like 22g, a higher resistance will increase heat up time, even cause the coil to actually only work optimally with the center most wraps (causing poor performance).

For experimenting purposes, try 4mm with 9 wraps. If it seems weak, try 8 wraps. Even try 5mm. Just experiment and find what works best for you. I personally like a fast performing coil build but nice and cool. I vape straight to the lungs. The type of inhale that you do will affect heat as well. I would never do a mouth to lung hit on sub-ohm. Also, make sure that your atty of choice has adequate airflow as well (and centered on your coil or to the bottom half of your coil. The coil should be visible and close to the air hole).

Hope this helps.

 

[XRaptureX]

I vape straight to the lungs. The type of inhale that you do will affect heat as well. I would never do a mouth to lung hit on sub-ohm.

O...M...G! I read this and decided to go into my bathroom, in front of the mirror, and do a little experiment. I took a drag like I normally would and exhaled it in front of the mirror. Then I did a second and focused on actually doing a lung hit. The difference in the amount of vapor I exhaled, and the density as well, was significant. I've been mouth to lunging a .2 ohm coil. It appears the issue I've been having with vapor density wasn't my coil, my mod, or even my wicking. Turns out it was me. (Facepalm!) Gonna definitely try that 4 millimeter idea though. I'd like to see my coils wick a little faster.

End of line.