Vape Kit & Where To Get it

Vaping wire

Wire for coil winding is normally formed by wrapping single cores together in a variety of different styles, which maximises available surface area for the wick, whilst preventing resistance dropping too low for the mod's specifications. For simplicity we'll stick mainly to common fused claptons - i.e. an inner core (aka "kernel") of two or more parallel round wires with a outer 90° wrapping of a finer round wire.  These are denoted as  (inner core wires) + outer wire, e.g. (24x2)+36 with wire sizes in AWG (American Wire Gauge).  So our (24x2)+32 will be two 24ga (0.51mm) wires in parallel which is wrapped with a 32ga (0.20mm) outer wire. 

There are a number of different ways of denoting fused claptons for example 26x2+36, (26x2)+36, (2x26)+36 and 2x26(=)+36 all refer to the same thing.

Flat cored claptons are becoming more common.  These have a single flat "ribbon" wire core (see pic below on "Pre Wound Coils" section) with the same 90° style of outer winding as conventional multi-cored claptons 

Wire is mostly made from Stainless Steel (SS316L), Kanthal A1  or Nichrome (Ni80).  I've tested all using otherwise identical coils in power mode & found no noticeable difference in the heatup time or any other aspect of the vaping experience.  However, be aware that some mods (including Geekvape Z50 and Thelema Solo Quest) can deliver significantly less power when using SS316L wires (see the Mod Box Guide, scroll to "Inaccuracies").  Some prefer to avoid Ni80 owing to concerns over nickel allergy although I have no info on credibility, but certainly it doesn't appear to affect me.   I've found widest-gauge Kanthal wire quite stiff/difficult to bend accurately at smaller diameters. SS316L seems softer and noticeably easier to bend, but also easier to distort out of shape when threading or removing cotton wicking.

Some claptons I've tried for Direct to Lung, i.e. "sub ohm" tanks (σ denotes overall wire cross section dimensions)

• (24x2)+32  the heaviest gauge wire I've tested (σ 1.4 x 0.9mm).  A physically large wire with long heatup/cooldown times and no apparent advantages for its thick gauge, but otherwise does the job.

• (26x3)+36 tri-cored clapton (σ 1.5 x 0.7mm). Great on build decks if it happens to conveniently fit, but its large width can make it tricky to conveniently fit between terminals on some tanks where the inter-terminal gap doesn't conveniently accommodate the desired number of turns

• (26x2)+36 (σ 1.1 x 0.7mm) my usual go-to fused clapton - a brilliant all-rounder IME 👍

• (28x2)+30 (σ 1.2 x 0.8mm) fused clapton - also excellent - generally indistinguishable in use from (26x2)+36 above 👍

• (0.3x0.8mm)+32 (σ 1.2 x 0.7mm) flat core clapton. IME another great wire for our purposes 👍

• (26x32x2)+32 (σ 1.42 x 0.81mm) staggered fused clapton - a wide wire but works very well if the build deck terminal gap conveniently fits the number of wraps you intending to use

For MTL vaping (see this page for a description of MTL/RDL and DTL), I've used 26x2(=)+36 very successfully, but finer claptons (e.g. 30x2+38, σ 0.7 x 0.5mm) and even single cored wires are available if desired. Note: MTL wires are not recommended to get the best vape quality from DTL tanks.

When buying wire or ready-made coils, especially from Wish/Aliexpress/etc, be aware that their name for wire types can be totally different to our own conventions.  Look carefully at the vendor's picture, as that's what'll be delivered.

See WireBuddy for wire dimensions/RTA fitting

For more info on coil choice, see the FAQ page

For sources, see below for pre-wound coils below⬇️

Vaping Cotton

Used to form the wick, and threads through the coil centre.  It's supplied in several forms including

• Thread - long lengths of cotton. Like shoelace below, may be specced for a particular coil diameter

• Shoelace - short lengths of thread terminated at one or both ends with a piece of plastic film, supposedly intended to assist with initial threading through the coil

• Bacon - effectively thick strips of cotton thread. Your own judgement is employed to tear off a narrower strip to fit your own inner coil diameter.

If you're new to building RTAs, I suggest looking for thread or shoelace which is specified to match the intended inner diameter of your coil. (say 3.0mm for most Direct to Lung "sub ohm" tanks). Bacon will certainly do the job, but it can be just that bit more tricky so I'd avoid it.

👓 Sources

Search terms "cotton bacon" (best for Wish), "cotton vape wick"

Aliexpress, Wish, Amazon, Ebay, ElementVape, Creme De Vape, etc.