Wanting to try RBA - Nichrome V Kanthal

[Ancient Hermit]

Hi all,

Thought I would try a cheapo Octo RBA quite soon, I'm trying to do a "one stop shop" too, and wanted some Kanthal 0.2 for it, but for right now can only get my hands on Nichrome 0.21 - would that get me by for learning to coil the thing? Just while I try to source the Kanthal when there is time for that.

Never been here before, hence daftish newb question! 

Not had time to look into the differences yet, but want to get something that can work if at all possible. Other choices are .15 and .25, I tend to favour higher res rather than lower.
Should I maybe go .25 for longer life? (assuming I have the characteristics of the sizes the right way around in my head - possibly not!) ???

[fred]

One-stop-shop here

Thinner wire, higher resistance (with the same number of coils)
More coils, higher resistance.

[Ancient Hermit]

Jul 25, 2013 22:07:00 GMT fred said:

One-stop-shop here

Thinner wire, higher resistance (with the same number of coils)
More coils, higher resistance.

Thanks for very quick reply Fred, appreciate it, I just read about expansion in nichrome and it has me a bit bothered (not very newb friendly I suspect), so I may just have to go to another place which has some Kanthal stock! Oh Gawd! 

There is always something isn't there! LOL 

[fred]

I've only recoiled 2 heads so far, using 0.16 nichrome - not a problem.

When I suddenly added wick & wire to an order several months back, all they had was 0.16 nichrome, so that's what I got.

I don't really know what the difference between nichrome & kanthal would be. May try kanthal when my 5m has run out

[Ancient Hermit]

Jul 25, 2013 22:23:52 GMT fred said:

I've only recoiled 2 heads so far, using 0.16 nichrome - not a problem.

When I suddenly added wick & wire to an order several months back, all they had was 0.16 nichrome, so that's what I got.

I don't really know what the difference between nichrome & kanthal would be. May try kanthal when my 5m has run out

I was reading here earlier and someone said that nichrome has a greater expansion rate under heat, so it might well make a coil go less tidy, and so keeping a good shape to the coil might be harder from what I could understand. Also some say flavour is cleaner with Kanthal, so I think I shall go there in preference.

The out of stock thing is exactly what I am facing, so yanked the wick and the nichrome out of that sellers basket and put kanthal and wick in the competitor's one. Was actually cheaper too! LOL 

I'm having to shop with 4 new retailers tomorrow just to get the stuff I want to be in stock! Silly situation really!   This all started wanting to do my first go at mixology, and has ended up here so I got a dripper for testing juices! What a shinyitis snowball that was!   Shall be able to get a 4 way supplier review out of it too!

[rich64]

Read a discussion on another forum with kanthal coming out on top

Have you tried the meshcompany for kanthal as i bought some kanthal .20 there a couple of weeks back and cant speak highly enough of them(there on ebay also)

[Ancient Hermit]

Jul 25, 2013 22:37:20 GMT rich64 said:

Read a discussion on another forum with kanthal coming out on top

Have you tried the meshcompany for kanthal as i bought some kanthal .20 there a couple of weeks back and cant speak highly enough of them(there on ebay also)

No, not tried, as this is my first ever purchase. I went to another supplier and they had some Kanthal 0.20 like I wanted in the first place, so I threw it in the basket along with some other bits I was buying from them anyway.

I'll maybe try other sizes over time to see if I need higher resistance too. I tend to like a 2.5-2.8 res in my protank, so I can learn in that, and then when I get a bit of time I shall go get an octo RBA from fasttech I guess. Not sure it's worth spending a whole lot on a first go with these things!

Thanks for the info, I will look into that as I go along. 

[rich64]

Jul 26, 2013 13:02:59 GMT Ancient Hermit said:

Jul 25, 2013 22:37:20 GMT rich64 said:

Read a discussion on another forum with kanthal coming out on top

Have you tried the meshcompany for kanthal as i bought some kanthal .20 there a couple of weeks back and cant speak highly enough of them(there on ebay also)

No, not tried, as this is my first ever purchase. I went to another supplier and they had some Kanthal 0.20 like I wanted in the first place, so I threw it in the basket along with some other bits I was buying from them anyway.

I'll maybe try other sizes over time to see if I need higher resistance too. I tend to like a 2.5-2.8 res in my protank, so I can learn in that, and then when I get a bit of time I shall go get an octo RBA from fasttech I guess. Not sure it's worth spending a whole lot on a first go with these things!

Thanks for the info, I will look into that as I go along. 

Interested to see how you get on.

I ve struggled to get past 2 ohms with .2 Kanthal on my pro tank (normally get 1.8)

That said im still fairly new to it also and practicing one per day just now so hopefully get the 2.2 i want in time

[blakey]

If you're coiling a silica attie then you'll notice no difference between kanthal or ni-chrome

If you're wicking a genesis attie then kanthal all the way or better still kanthal ribbon wire.

[Ancient Hermit]

Jul 25, 2013 22:37:20 GMT rich64 said:

Read a discussion on another forum with kanthal coming out on top

Have you tried the meshcompany for kanthal as i bought some kanthal .20 there a couple of weeks back and cant speak highly enough of them(there on ebay also)

I went for a look see over at The Mesh Company, and I have to say that once I have worked out which size of wire I want by getting the odd metre or two from regular vaping retailers and trying it, then that's the place where I plan to go, for quite a lot of whichever size it turns out to be! 

Thanks for the tip off on them, a truly great resource!

[Ancient Hermit]

Jul 26, 2013 15:50:57 GMT blakey said:

If you're coiling a silica attie then you'll notice no difference between kanthal or ni-chrome

If you're wicking a genesis attie then kanthal all the way or better still kanthal ribbon wire.

Interesting. What allowances should you make for the different form with that then?

[blakey]

None, just wrap it flat and even and look for a wire with a similar ohm per meter as the one you are using now

[Ancient Hermit]

Jul 26, 2013 16:27:08 GMT blakey said:

None, just wrap it flat and even and look for a wire with a similar ohm per meter as the one you are using now

Thanks for the heads up! I'm off to dig a little deeper into this one I think! 

[rich64]

Jul 26, 2013 16:21:40 GMT Ancient Hermit said:

Jul 25, 2013 22:37:20 GMT rich64 said:

Read a discussion on another forum with kanthal coming out on top

Have you tried the meshcompany for kanthal as i bought some kanthal .20 there a couple of weeks back and cant speak highly enough of them(there on ebay also)

I went for a look see over at The Mesh Company, and I have to say that once I have worked out which size of wire I want by getting the odd metre or two from regular vaping retailers and trying it, then that's the place where I plan to go, for quite a lot of whichever size it turns out to be! 

Thanks for the tip off on them, a truly great resource!

Aye Ancient Hermit as i say i cant fault them and what i like most was they sent me some kanthal ribbon wire as a freebie with my first order(was nt getting it free that i was impressed with but it shows they are here for the long term )

as for the kanthal ribbon wire....i really like it but i done the first few coils on kanthal wire before using the ribbon until i had got my head round the idea of it all

cheers

[300]

I use ni-chrome & kanthal, no probs with either.

You'll need an extra turn with ni-chrome compared to kanthal of the same gauge to achieve similar resistance, more surface contact with your wick.

No need to flame ni-chrome to remove tension as some like to do with kanthal.

Take your pick, i doubt you'll tell the difference.