Cool Vape Coil Builds

Building coils can help you save money

So you want to learn how to build a coil, but you don’t even know where to begin. That’s okay, because you’re in the right place. Welcome to coil building 101: an introduction to coil building.

Building coils can help you save money, rather than buying disposable coil heads every week. It’s also a fun hobby that vapers not only take pride in, but get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. The best way to get good at it is through repetition. You’ll be building and wicking in no time.

What you’ll need:

Resistance wire – kanthal, stainless steel, nickel, nichrome, etc.

Flush cutters – wire cutters that can cut close in small spaces

Tweezers – preferably ceramic tipped, to pinch your coils while pulsing

Small metal rod – a small screwdriver, or coiling tool

Organic cotton – or whichever wicking material you prefer

Scissors – to trim your cotton

Other (optional) accessories:

An ohm reader – or a mod that accurately detects resistance

A coil jig – it can make your life a little easier

A second vape – to vape on while you’re building those coils, silly

Micro and macro… it's not economics

building-coil

Micro and macro coils are some of the earliest and most common coil builds. They are created by taking a single piece of wire, and wrapping it around a screwdriver, drill bit or coil jig. The difference between a micro and a macro coil is the inner diameter of the coil. It’s that simple.

The part of the coil that goes directly into your atomizer’s post holes are called leads.

Micro – A micro coil build is a coil that has an inner diameter of 1-2 mm.

Macro – A macro coil build is a coil that has an inner diameter that’s larger than 2 mm.

The bigger the inner diameter of the coil, the higher its resistance, and vice versa. Likewise, the thicker the gauge of wire used, the lower the resistance will be. We recommend using some basic 26 or 28 gauge kanthal for your first few coil builds.

Twist it up!

twisted-wire

If you want to get a little bit fancy, you can always do a twisted build. This is when you simply twist two strands of wire together into one single piece of twisted wire with a drill, or by hand. Last but not least, take the twisted wire and continue building your regular macro coils with it.

Twisted wire was the original way of increasing surface area without dropping drastically in resistance. This has a positive impact on flavor, and is much easier to build than claptons.

Single or dual?

Single vs dual coil builds

You might have noticed that many coil builds have not one, but two coils, known as dual coils. Dual coil builds obviously create more vapor than a single coil. When doing a dual coil build, it’s essential for both coils to be identical in size and form, to ensure that they heat up properly.

With two identical coils, the resistance should be exactly one half of each coil’s resistance. In other words, if you did a dual coil build using two 0.6 ohm coils, your build should be 0.3 ohms. If you take out one of those coils, your resistance will go back up to 0.6 ohms.

Coil building 101

Warning: We highly recommend being well versed in Ohm’s Law and battery safety before even attempting to do your own coil builds.