FT helps lazy guy take over

I was looking through the different gauge Kanthal that FT is now selling (in the past I have only noticed the really thin stuff on their site), but they finally seem to be selling the thicker wire ( lower gauge???.....confused). They are using some strange gauges. I think they have wire that is around 26.5AWG, some around 22...i don't know, but is is pretty thick (they use metric to describe it...0.54mm I think).

BUT (long story short) I ended up ordering 5m of the 26.5AWG (about $3) and I saw their pre-wrapped coils (again in the past they only sold the the 32AWG+ pre-wrapped coils).

1.1ohms
$3.08 Pre-Coiled Wires for Rebuildable Atomizers (50-Pack) 50-pack - 1.1ohm / 0.3mm dia. / 30*20mm leads at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping

1ohms
$3.16 Pre-Coiled Nichrome Wires for Rebuildable Atomizers (50-Pack) 50-pack - 1.0ohm / 0.4mm dia. / 30*30mm leads at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping

0.6ohms
$3.19 Pre-Coiled Wires for Rebuildable Atomizers (50-Pack) 50-pack - 0.6ohm / 0.5mm dia. / 25*25mm leads at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping

I did buy my 5m of Kanthal, but couldn't resist getting some of these pre wrapped coils (I bought the first ones, 1.1 ohms). I generally enjoy making coils, but sometimes lazy guy takes over. 50 pre-made coils for $3???? Of course I going to get them

 

the 0.3mm diameter is a real pain, hard to put some wick thru there

 

Its the wire dia.

 

I used both kanthal and nichcrome, nichcrome gives a more sharp taste(metalic) that alot dont like, i like it tho, with menthol that is

 

I bought some Nichrome.
I found it less forgiving to work with and that the liquid would spit a lot more. A few times I was hit in the face by juice lol.

Can't say I noticed much difference with taste.

 

yeah, I assumed 0.3 was the wire diameter. I hope so. 0.3mm diameter coil would be a major pain to thread.

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The only bad thing I have heard about nichrome is that the thinner stuff tends to melt (pop) more than the same diameter Kanthal. But I must admit I haven't looked into it much. I suppose if I don't like it, I can just use it as back-up coils.

One of the main reasons I did buy it is that I hope the ohms are more consistent then my coils. Rarely do I wrap a coil spot on to the 'planned' ohms. I am often 0.2 ohms or so out. I especially tend to overshoot i.e. If I try to wrap a 0.7 ohm coil (using the steam coils calculator), I will often get 0.9-1.0 ohms. I suspect it might be that I wrap it a little too loose around the screwdriver.......it's a mystery.

 

ahh oki thx

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well i bought some precoiled NR wires from FT some time ago, for my Ithaka and the diameter of the coils is for sure bigger then 0.3 LOL, but its stil so tiny thats its close to impossible for me to get some wick thru there

 

Yeah, it is had to tell from their picture and I couldn't see the diameter of the coil at all. But they do tell you the length of the leads.

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Thanks for this V. I found it really helpful. His description of Nichrome giving 'brighter' taste was interesting. In fact I found his music analogy good (Kanthal has higher bass, and Nichrome higher treble). I like the 'tangy' juices, so I am hoping I don't notice the metallic taste that some people talk about. Even if it is terrible, $3 is no great loss. I think we have all spent much more than that on things that turned out to be crap.