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The Official Steam Engine Thread

mach1ne

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update: @Guyando115 has brought it to my attention that there is a steam-engine app on google play store, which is a pay version of the website i link to below throughout the tutorial. it apparently doesnt have all the features that the web site does, and it wont allow you to follow along with the tutorial here at all. if you are using a mobile device, just go to the steam engine page in your browser and skip the app download :cheers:

steam engine is a site that hosts a series of essential tools for anyone who vapes. it covers wire building and coil wrapping, an ohms law and battery draw calculator, and an e-liquid tool. its a lot to take in at first, so this thread is going to try to cover the basics, and provide a place to consolidate as much info as possible. feel free to ask for help, help out, or add to the tutorials or tips. im going to try to cover wire wizard and quickly explain the ohms law calculator to get things started.

wire wizard is a wire planning tool that helps you spec out a build 'on paper'. it does a lot of math to give you a very good estimate of your builds final resistance, and lets you tinker with all the details to make sure you get your target. there are a lot of options and variables to play with/get overwhelmed by, so lets get into it. this is usually the first step i take in making anything.
coil_setup.JPG
here is where you choose the size of your coil. the inner diameter is the size of the object (coil jig/mandrel, screwdriver, drill bit etc) you will wrap your wire around to make a coil. basically the idea is to choose the size that works best for your atomizer, but you can tinker with it a little to adjust the final resistance as well. most atomizers are fine with 3mm coils, so thats a good place to start if you are unsure.

wraps is the amount of times you wrap the coil around the object above. one full wrap ends with the 'legs' pointing in opposite directions. most coils in dual coil atomizers have the legs pointing in the same direction, resulting in a half wrap. if you can count 5 wraps on the 'front' (both legs pointing away from you) its a 4.5 wrap coil (also referred to as a 5/4 wrap).

diameter and wraps can both be adjusted to change the final resistance of a build, but keep in mind that there is a balance of coil mass and output power dictating how well it will vape. throwing a couple extra wraps onto a coil will make it take longer to heat up, or require more power to heat up at the same rate. on a regulated mod, this is easily overcome by turning up the power, but it can be wasteful for battery life and end up transferring a lot of heat into your hardware and cooking your juice long after you stop vaping. on a mech mod, increasing the mass this way will raise the resistance and cause the build to pull less power from the batteries, which makes ramp up even worse (similar to turning down the wattage on a regulated mod). in contrast to that, you can make a coils a little smaller and it will lower the resistance a bit, as well as the mass, which will increase the speed it heats up (on a mech mod).

leg length is something i just ignore. changing it doesnt really change your final resistance in any meaningful way, or give you a more accurate estimate. the same goes for wire spacing. i have never changed those values and my output from wire wiz is always nearly dead on accurate.

wire_builder_round.jpg
in the wire builder menu, you can choose between a variety of core configurations, as well as wire type (round or ribbon) and size (awg). it also shows you the actual size of a given gauge in mm. you will need this info later for certain builds (alien variants all require a bit of math based on core width and decore size, or trying to match ribbon and round wire size etc). larger wire/lower gauge is lower resistance (can carry more current. think of a large diameter water hose compared to a small one), with high gauges being higher resistance.

wire_builder_ribbon.jpg
the ribbon wire size selector will let you input any size of ribbon or square/rectangular wire.

wire_builder_cores.jpg
the core config menu lets you choose between parallel, twisted, clapton or staggered fused clapton. each option has its own set of options, depending on the specific variables for that build type.

wire_builder_materials.jpg
here is where you can choose the metal that your wire is made from. make sure to always get this right because the various metals we use all have different resistances, and making a mistake with this will give you an inaccurate final resistance.

parallel.JPG
here you can choose two (or more) different 'things' to run parallel (wrapped side by side around your coil jig 'object' from the first steps). in those drop down boxes, you can choose to set up two different clapton wires if you want, or as many as you want to run, by hitting that small box with the + in it, which will add another box like the two in the picture. adding core wires will divide your final resistance by the number of core wires (if they are all the same gauge, the math is more complex for mixing different types/gauges etc).

twisted.JPG
the twisted wire menu will only let you twist 4 wires together at max, but you can choose all the familiar options (single, twisted, clapton etc) from the dropdown box, so you could technically choose twisted again to get more if you need them. the pitch is the amount of space between your twists. its not super important to get perfect here. if it throws an error, its because your wire is thicker than the twist pitch (impossible in the real world), just increase it until it stops showing the error.

clapton.JPG
the clapton tool allows you to choose a core (again, parallel, twisted, clapton etc), and a wrap wire (which could also be twisted/parallel etc). this is the section i use to do most of my builds. you can set up some complex stuff in here by choosing parallel as the core and then adding in whatever/how many you want with that little + button...2 round wire cores for fused claptons, three for aliens, mix ribbon and round for a framed staple etc. the wrap wire has such a small effect on the final resistance that there is virtually no difference here in wrap wire between alien, clapton, staggs, pitchforks, etc. as long as i set up my core wires exactly, i can just set the gauge/material on my wrap wire and get an accurate resistance estimate no matter what my actual wrap will be (half staggered, spaced, tightly wrapped etc).

sfc.JPG
this is for staggered fused claptons. by default, it assumes that you have two spaced clapton wrapped cores of some kind, with another wrap wire fusing them together in between the spaces...it limits you to only two cores or stacks (could be single wire, or parallel, twisted etc), with no way to input anything in between (like an ssfc which is a ribbon stack stuffed into a regular sfc).

results.JPG
this is the final output box that tells you some important things. your resistance is only for a single coil. if you are planning to use more than one coil in the build, divide this number by the amount of coils (for a dual coil setups, divide by two, quad coils divide by four etc). the width is only accurate if you arent using ribbon wire (as of this post, it calculates the ribbon on the wrong axis, so 2 pieces of .5 x.1mm ribbon are calculated as being 1mm wide, but we stack them on their sides, so 2 .5 x.1mm ribbons should be .2mm wide - edit - @Pegleg Meg came up with a smart solution here). the length is important to note, so you know how much wire to build. its also for one coil only, so you should multiply it by the amount of coils you want (they have a unit converter there), and add an inch or two to that total (the parts you clamp into your drill and swivels are unusable)...and consider making extra if you arent sure its going to come out perfect. i like to shoot for three coils on hard builds in case i make a mistake (usually the mistake will be confined to one coil, or i can work around it). take note of the surface area and mass as well. with experience you will get a feel for that balance of mass and power i was talking about earlier. i will follow up this post with some pics of builds set up in wire wiz, and the actual coils with their actual (real life) resistance for reference.

if anyone wants to cover the temp control results window, how to use it for dna mods and escribe, heat flux and heat capacity, and anything else i missed, that would be great :cheers:

links to all the 'official' threads are collected here, have a look through the rest for tips on everything from beginner to advanced builds, and even coil photography.
 
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Mykreign

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Funny you put this together becuase I was just wondering if there was a way to tell if you coil is going to be able to wick effectively? I'd guess you'd have to compare your heat and surface area from a coil you know works?
 

mach1ne

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here are some comparison shots of wire wiz and the actual builds:

12 ply alien staple
ww_alienstaple.JPG
alienstaple.JPG
this reads .12 ohms on usaohmmeters meter (supposedly the most accurate).

heres a set of framed staples
ww_fs.JPG
forgot to screencap the top section but it was 4.5 wraps 3mm and came to .1ohms
fs.jpg

and an alien framed staple
ww_afs.JPG
afs.jpg
.12 ohms

half-dub using the staggered fused tool
ww_halfdub.JPG
halfdub.JPG
.11 ohms

quad fused clapton setup in the crazy two decked thor tank.
ww_quad_fc.JPG
quad_fc.JPG
.2 ohms on the dot
 
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mach1ne

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the ohms law calculator is a quick way to figure out how many watts or amps you are going to draw from your unregulated mods. at this point, you should be coming in with a thorough understanding of the differences between single/parallel/series battery configurations if you are using, or planning to use a mech or otherwise unregulated mod.

ohmslaw.JPG
in the resistance box, you input your builds resistance (in ohms). in the voltage box, you input your mods output voltage. the amp/current and power/wattage draw are calculated and will fill in automatically. if you are using a single battery mod, your output voltage is (at 100% efficiency) 4.2v (some people use 3.7v per battery because thats closer to what hits your coils in reality, because no circuit can work at 100% efficiency in real life. i use 4.2 for a bit of extra margin for error). its the same on a parallel setup, no matter how many batteries you have in parallel. on a two battery series setup its double that, so 8.4v (or 7.4v accounting for inefficiency as above). on a regulated series/variable voltage mod, you can just input whatever voltage you have it set to.

the point of this is to find out how many amps you draw at a given voltage and resistance, so that you know if your build is going to be safe for your batteries. always use good batteries from a trusted source, and know your batteries cdr limits, in whatever configuration you have them. look up 'battery mooch' for all the info you need on what batteries to use and why.
 

mach1ne

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Funny you put this together becuase I was just wondering if there was a way to tell if you coil is going to be able to wick effectively? I'd guess you'd have to compare your heat and surface area from a coil you know works?
yeah i imagine its a matter of inner diameter (wick volume) and the rate at which the juice vaporizes. im not sure how to use wire wiz info to figure it out, its one of those things that i sorted out via experience/mistakes/suffering :cheers:
 
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mach1ne

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Great idea mate ...thanks for taking the time to put this together it’s gonna be a really handy guide :cheers:
thanks man, i hope other people come fill in the blanks. i dont really use the other tools, and i left out some details on temp control and stuff that i dont really use or know how to explain to someone. hopefully it helps somebody somewhere :cheers:
 

Letitia9

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thanks man, i hope other people come fill in the blanks. i dont really use the other tools, and i left out some details on temp control and stuff that i dont really use or know how to explain to someone. hopefully it helps somebody somewhere :cheers:
Thank you for taking the time to do this. You should ask the mods to pin the thread, very useful tool.
 

mach1ne

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Member For 4 Years
ok i decided to try to figure out the mod range tool. its an interesting little tool that will help you figure out if your regulated mod will be able to fire a build the way you want. the only problem i can see with this is that the list of mods to choose from is a little out of date, and i am having trouble importing one i just made (it shows up in my list of options, but when i click it, it does not load the settings correctly, so i just input the info manually and scrapped the presets). the other problem with this, is that you have to know the amp limit of your chipset/mod. there are a lot of mods that dont list this in the specs, and im not sure how/where to find it otherwise aside from just googling or asking on the forums.
mod_range.JPG
my eleaf invoke preset is not loading properly, so i input the wattage/voltage/amp limits and resistance range manually (i found all of this info with google). what the tool does is calculate and graph out the the wattage it can output, at a given resistance, within the chipsets amp limits, into one handy chart. according to the 'optimal resistance' output window, the mod can hit its max power of 220w anywhere from .1 to .29 ohms before it encounters either its amp limit, or max voltage limit. the sweet spot is likely the 'easiest' resistance to work at with regard to pushing your batteries amp/voltage limits in either direction. this is handy if you like a certain build at a certain voltage/wattage, and you arent sure if the mod will be able to do it. this mod has an abnormally high amp limit, so it can do pretty much whatever i want it to....lets input the joyetech cuboid specs into the tool and see how it looks compared to the invoke...
cuboid_mod_range.JPG
the cuboid was kind of a famous disappointment because of its paltry amp limit. compare the range which the cuboid can hit 200w to the range the invoke can do it. the cuboid can only fire from .32 to .4 ohms at full power, and everything else higher or lower than that is running into an amp or voltage limit. its really only a '200w' mod under very specific circumstances, and everyone was pretty pissed off about it when it was new. it works great as a regulated series box, with series style builds (in the .3 to .4 ohm range), but beyond that it can just barely fire a .2 ohm build as hard as a single battery mech mod. meh.

its a handy tool to make sure a mod will do what you want it to do/is not flat out lying on the box where it says '200w' or whatever, as long as you know the amp limit , output voltage, and resistance range of the mod.
 
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zephyr

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ok i decided to try to figure out the mod range tool. its an interesting little tool that will help you figure out if your regulated mod will be able to fire a build the way you want. the only problem i can see with this is that the list of mods to choose from is a little out of date, and i am having trouble importing one i just made (it shows up in my list of options, but when i click it, it does not load the settings correctly, so i just input the info manually and scrapped the presets). the other problem with this, is that you have to know the amp limit of your chipset/mod. there are a lot of mods that dont list this in the specs, and im not sure how/where to find it otherwise aside from just googling or asking on the forums.
View attachment 102337
my eleaf invoke preset is not loading properly, so i input the wattage/voltage/amp limits and resistance range manually (i found all of this info with google). what the tool does is calculate and graph out the the wattage it can output, at a given resistance, within the chipsets amp limits, into one handy chart. according to the 'optimal resistance' output window, the mod can hit its max power of 220w anywhere from .1 to .32 ohms before it encounters either its amp limit, or max voltage limit. the sweet spot is likely the 'easiest' resistance to work at with regard to pushing your batteries amp/voltage limits in either direction. this is handy if you like a certain build at a certain voltage/wattage, and you arent sure if the mod will be able to do it. this mod has an abnormally high amp limit, so it can do pretty much whatever i want it to....lets input the joyetech cuboid specs into the tool and see how it looks compared to the invoke...
View attachment 102338
so the stats are mostly the same (20w max difference, same resistance range and max voltage) aside from the amp limits. the cuboid was kind of a famous disappointment because of its paltry amp limit. compare the range which the cuboid can hit 200w to the range the invoke can do it. the cuboid can only fire from .32 to .35 ohms at full power, and everything else higher or lower than that is running into an amp or voltage limit. its really only a '200w' mod under very specific circumstances, and everyone was pretty pissed off about it when it was new. it works great as a regulated series box, with series style builds (in the .3 to .4 ohm range), but beyond that it can just barely fire a .2 ohm build as hard as a single battery mech mod. meh.

its a handy tool to make sure a mod will do what you want it to do/is not flat out lying on the box where it says '200w' or whatever, as long as you know the amp limit and resistance range of the mod. this info is usually available via some google, but if its not, the tool is pretty much useless for that mod.

Invoke only goes up to 8 volts though...right? Or do I need to update mine? I couldnt find any update last time I looked (sorry for off topic)

Thank you for all this work you're putting in, by the way!
 

mach1ne

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Invoke only goes up to 8 volts though...right? Or do I need to update mine? I couldnt find any update last time I looked (sorry for off topic)

Thank you for all this work you're putting in, by the way!
i actually couldnt find any official statement on the max voltage, so i assumed it was just whatever the batteries can do on their own. some mods can go up to 9.5v with two batteries, using black magic and witchery, but most seem to cap at 8.4v.... i just went to check mine to be sure, and you are right. it caps out at 8v (on the screen. i have no way to actually test it and get evidence). i will fix that post and update the chart...thanks for the heads up :cheers:

edit - i just checked my cuboid and it seems to hit 9v before it hits 200w on one of my series builds..ill re-do the chart for that too. i guess the writeup on the tool is still useful, but being in such a rush to get the post finished that you fuck up your own charts is sloppy :p
 
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mach1ne

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So how do I teach Wire wizard that the Width of a 12ply .4×.1 staple isn't 5mm and the Thickness isn't .3mm? :grumpy:
lol i dunno man. i just do that part in my head. somewhere, there is a change-log/future updates list that says they are aware and intend to fix that issue, but i think i saw that a year ago for the first time sooooo........do the math in your head :huh:
 

Vape Fan

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Nice thread. Good info here. Thanks to all that took the time and effort to create and mature it thus far !

Using 2x24ga + 1x32ga SS317L Fused Clapton and http://www.steam-engine.org/wirewiz.html , do I have the wire type plugged in correctly?
tcr.png
The results: TCR in vaping range 879 ×10-6 = 88 (or 0.00088-0.00092 for 317L) according to my quick look around? If I wanted to give TCR a go, I’d set TCR at 88 and adjust from there?
 

zephyr

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Nice thread. Good info here. Thanks to all that took the time and effort to create and mature it thus far !

Using 2x24ga + 1x32ga SS317L Fused Clapton and http://www.steam-engine.org/wirewiz.html , do I have the wire type plugged in correctly?
View attachment 102539
The results: TCR in vaping range 879 ×10-6 = 88 (or 0.00088-0.00092 for 317L) according to my quick look around? If I wanted to give TCR a go, I’d set TCR at 88 and adjust from there?

Appears so, set to 316L, did you mean to have one 24awg core and one 25awg core?
 

St.Roostifer

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Question for the experts. :wave:

Confused on where to ask this because it really doesn't have anything to do with steam engine but can't help but think it does, a little anyway.

One thing I've found confusing about using TCR with SS is the difference between my mods running in TCR mode with the same juice. On my Nebula's, they ramp at a 65w preset that's not adjustable and I usually end up setting the temp at 350°F. Not sure where the TCR is set at and I'll have to plug them into the compy later today to hopefully find out. On my Tesla 150's I usually run at 40W and 450°F and the preset TCR is .00088. Last night for shits and giggles I was thumbing through the Tesla manual and their recommendation for SS was .00150 so for shits and giggles again, I changed the TCR to .00150. Huge difference. The Tesla now runs at 30W and 350°F. The vape feels about the same with possibly a touch thicker cloud despite lower wattage and temp.

So now that I'm thoroughly confused, any ideas as to how to explain this in a way I might understand? I'm sick and under the weather ( heading to the doctor in a few hours) so I'm thinking there's some obvious thing I'm missing.

To add to the confusion, I was looking at DJLSB's site and his chart shows TCR settings for SS to be a .00092 which coincides with steam engine.

Really confused on this. For the time being I'm going to stick with the .00150 setting since it gives me about the same vape ( maybe a bit warmer) using less wattage and temp.
 

mach1ne

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@St.Roostifer sorry you have been left hanging here man. i have almost no experience with tc outside of my hohm wrecker g2, which required a few mins of setup and i never thought about it again. tbh i would prolly have to find the manual again to even be able to adjust it right now. hopefully someone will show up to help (or at least tag someone who might know the answer). we still need a bit of help with the tc chart at the top of wire wiz (how to read it, how to use it with dna/escribe etc) as well.
 

PoppaVic

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What I find fun is: wespeak of a TCR as an integer, but we seem to need values that are decimal fractions... If you write some manufacturers, you'll be told "SS316 has a TCR of 105" 0 well, ok.. Umm.. We threw away a bunch of zeroes - and no one simply writes this in the 'manual', (leaflet, fold-out - whatever)..

BTW, it's nice that there is a linux Escribe beta, but.. Man, I wish 'beta' here meant it was complete. (I may need to bloody reinstall vbox or whatever and find a doze iso)
 

St.Roostifer

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@St.Roostifer sorry you have been left hanging here man. i have almost no experience with tc outside of my hohm wrecker g2, which required a few mins of setup and i never thought about it again. tbh i would prolly have to find the manual again to even be able to adjust it right now. hopefully someone will show up to help (or at least tag someone who might know the answer). we still need a bit of help with the tc chart at the top of wire wiz (how to read it, how to use it with dna/escribe etc) as well.
Thanks for the reply. :cheers:

Recently switched back to Kanthal. Sticking with wattage/custom curves and it's working out quite well for me.:)
 

PoppaVic

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Ha ha, who doesn't like a good old BFH? :D
Omg.. too many to even notice. Government. U's, Parties, Deans? If shit works, it just works - but it doesn't mean it ALWAYS works, (and then they swarm to 'explain' it...)

Besides, it's not PC or whatever the latest is.. SJ? I just want shit to work. To me, vaping means "I am not smoking" - it's a TOUGH haul, but it works. As a hobby, it doesn't compare to reloading and shooting and smithing.But, boy... it beats rolling a smoke or stuffing a pipe.

What bugs me is when the TC shit of a DNA "doesn't work", but I can fake it with VW/wattage. "you are doing it wrong". OK. "Which it, goddamnit?"

I am a sorry bastard: I can make Kanthal work in VW; my SS316 is supposedly "bad-llama".. Wtf..

BTW, I prefer a "BFG" - a hammer works, but it's sooo slow ;-)
 

KingPin!

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Question for the experts. :wave:

Confused on where to ask this because it really doesn't have anything to do with steam engine but can't help but think it does, a little anyway.

One thing I've found confusing about using TCR with SS is the difference between my mods running in TCR mode with the same juice. On my Nebula's, they ramp at a 65w preset that's not adjustable and I usually end up setting the temp at 350°F. Not sure where the TCR is set at and I'll have to plug them into the compy later today to hopefully find out. On my Tesla 150's I usually run at 40W and 450°F and the preset TCR is .00088. Last night for shits and giggles I was thumbing through the Tesla manual and their recommendation for SS was .00150 so for shits and giggles again, I changed the TCR to .00150. Huge difference. The Tesla now runs at 30W and 350°F. The vape feels about the same with possibly a touch thicker cloud despite lower wattage and temp.

So now that I'm thoroughly confused, any ideas as to how to explain this in a way I might understand? I'm sick and under the weather ( heading to the doctor in a few hours) so I'm thinking there's some obvious thing I'm missing.

To add to the confusion, I was looking at DJLSB's site and his chart shows TCR settings for SS to be a .00092 which coincides with steam engine.

Really confused on this. For the time being I'm going to stick with the .00150 setting since it gives me about the same vape ( maybe a bit warmer) using less wattage and temp.

It really comes down to how good the chip is and ground on the 510, also the quality of the metal you are using there is quite a wide range across mods mate ...there is no absolute answer I’ve found some just can’t hack tiny resistance changes very well
 

Vape Fan

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More wire = higher resistance, right? Using the Wizard. Why, with "coil parameters" the same, do I get a lower resistance using:
316L 24x2 + 1x32 fused clapton
vs
just a single wire 24g kanthol
?
Does ss make that big of a difference? Or do I have something plugged in wrong....
Is this how it's entered for fused?
wwss.png k24.png
 

gopher_byrd

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SS has less resistance than Kanthal to begin with. A fused clapton has two current carrying wires in parallel, coupled with the lower resistance of the SS your fused clapton made with SS will be way lower than a single coil Kanthal as the chart proves.
 

mach1ne

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More wire = higher resistance, right?
you are thinking length/inner diameter. the more length/wraps/inner diameter the coil is made of, the higher the resistance. however, if the coil is made from twice as much wire per inch (2x24g vs a single 24g) it will be lower resistance per inch. think of a cross-section of a cut in half wire. the more metal in the cross-section, the lower the resistance.

the resistance of stainless steel is also much lower than ka1, as @gopher_byrd said, which you also have to take into account. you definitely have steam engine set up properly for a fused clapton. if those are the wires you have around to work with, i suggest trying the ka1 for a fused clapton and the stainless for a single core clapton. if you want stainless fused claptons, grab some 28 gauge ss.
 

Vape Fan

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you are thinking length/inner diameter. the more length/wraps/inner diameter the coil is made of, the higher the resistance. however, if the coil is made from twice as much wire per inch (2x24g vs a single 24g) it will be lower resistance per inch. think of a cross-section of a cut in half wire. the more metal in the cross-section, the lower the resistance.

the resistance of stainless steel is also much lower than ka1, as @gopher_byrd said, which you also have to take into account. you definitely have steam engine set up properly for a fused clapton. if those are the wires you have around to work with, i suggest trying the ka1 for a fused clapton and the stainless for a single core clapton. if you want stainless fused claptons, grab some 28 gauge ss.
Knowing id/wraps/gauge/length affects resistance > I said more wire but meant. more mass = higher resistance? Aside from resistance differences between ss vs ka 1, I see now from your explanation how more wireS, as in my ss wizard example, translates to lower resistance because there's less resistance in more cores vs 1.

I don't build wire yet and no time to do it. I just wrap it. I have those 2 ^ wire types and was looking at options for my dual atties. Looking like ka1 for now. I don't know if anything can be done with the 2x24/x32 ss to get the resistance up for my dual use around 2-2.5Ω, without making too big. But I can use it in single mode.
 

Vape Fan

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Checking out some wire for resistance versatility around my vaping range.
If using this Staggered Fused Clapton 316L SS (28x2/32)32 ,

seems this wouldn’t be accurate since the cores primary wrap is woven and not individually wrapped ?
SFC.png

Would 1 wrap of that spooled wire be about as wide as paralleled 24g? I don’t know the width of any so using diameter ?
(28x2+32+32=1.045 ea wire dia totaled), vs (24x2=.511x2=1.022) ?
 
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mach1ne

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Checking out some wire for resistance versatility around my vaping range.
If using this Staggered Fused Clapton 316L SS (28x2/32)32 ,

seems this wouldn’t be accurate since the cores primary wrap is woven and not individually wrapped ?
View attachment 106619

Would 1 wrap of that spooled wire be about as wide as paralleled 24g? I don’t know the width of any so using diameter ?
(28x2+32+32=1.045 ea wire dia totaled), vs (24x2=.511x2=1.022) ?
on an sfc, the wrap wire diameter will be added into the width 4 times, because each core is wrapped, then both wrapped together. on a regular fused clapton, the wraps are only around the outside of the cores, but the sfc has wraps going in between the cores as well. steam engine has the width right at 1.45mm, a little wider than 2x24. if you can find that sfc wire with a better wrap gauge (36 or higher) it will be closer, and vape better. always try to find wire with 36 or higher wraps. 32 gauge wrap will never improve your performance compared to 36 or higher. i dont know why these companies keep making wire with wraps like that, its like the people making that stuff dont even vape/have no idea what they are doing wrong lol....:sad:
 

mach1ne

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just a quick update for anyone following along. @Guyando115 has brought it to my attention that there is a steam-engine app on google play store, which appears to be a pay version of the website i link to throughout the tutorial. it apparently doesnt have all the features that the web site does, and it wont allow you to follow along with the tutorial here at all. if you are using a mobile device, just go to the steam engine page in your browser and skip the app download :cheers:
 
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Vape Fan

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I have a ? about post #4. Ohms Law.
First time using a mech mod. DNA and meter both say the coil is .36. Single battery = Samsung 30T. Data sheet for 30T is 3.6v nominal. Peak 4.2v
Please explain.....that 4.2 has margin vs 3.7. "if you are using a single battery mod, your output voltage is (at 100% efficiency) 4.2v (some people use 3.7v per battery because thats closer to what hits your coils in reality, because no circuit can work at 100% efficiency in real life. i use 4.2 for a bit of extra margin for error).

When I plug the resistance/voltage into the calculator, it gives me current/watts> If I vape the same atty/same coil w/regulated at a lower wattage than what the calculator gives me, might I want to build higher? I'll try it @ .36 and see how I like it, just wondering what to expect.

EDIT: I think I have it. The higher 4.2v calculates higher current/higher wattage(power) than 3.7, so the margin is the difference, for safety when building. Right?
 
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zephyr

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I have a ? about post #4. Ohms Law.
First time using a mech mod. DNA and meter both say the coil is .36. Single battery = Samsung 30T. Data sheet for 30T is 3.6v nominal. Peak 4.2v
Please explain.....that 4.2 has margin vs 3.7. "if you are using a single battery mod, your output voltage is (at 100% efficiency) 4.2v (some people use 3.7v per battery because thats closer to what hits your coils in reality, because no circuit can work at 100% efficiency in real life. i use 4.2 for a bit of extra margin for error).

When I plug the resistance/voltage into the calculator, it gives me current/watts> If I vape the same atty/same coil w/regulated at a lower wattage than what the calculator gives me, might I want to build higher? I'll try it @ .36 and see how I like it, just wondering what to expect.

EDIT: I think I have it. The higher 4.2v calculates higher current/higher wattage(power) than 3.7, so the margin is the difference, for safety when building. Right?

Right. No battery will actually put forth 4.2 volts under load, so if you use Ohms Law assuming 4.2 volts, your current will always be higher in your calculator than in real life - that is the margin

It's a pretty big margin though - I go with 3.7 because I've never had a mod go above 3.6 volts under load with a full battery - but some mods Can, and many will go higher under lighter loads ( higher ohms) so that number (3.7) may not be a good estimate for everyone. I build at around 0.2 and my batteries usually sag down to 3.7 just from the load, according to Mooch's tests
 

Vape Fan

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I didn't see a nominal voltage rating for this battery by Mooch. He lists the spec sheet tho, so I'll keep 3.6v that they list, as that.
 

zephyr

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I didn't see a nominal voltage rating for this battery by Mooch. He lists the spec sheet tho, so I'll keep 3.6v that they list, as that.

Afaik all 18650s are either 3.6 or 3.7 nominal voltage, which only means that the batteries are rated to operate Somewhere Around There lol

The voltage drop under load is what needs to be considered, I believe - like those charts where Mooch tests batteries at 20, 30, 40 amps etc, when he determines their continuous amp ratings - even the top 18650 batteries (rated above 20 amps) sag down to 3.7 volts under a 20 amp load, and that's without a mod being involved

Here is an example chart - check out the current (10 or 20 amps) and where the voltage is right at the beginning of his test, when batteries are fully charged

https://www.reddit.com/r/electronic...an_the_2500mah_vtc5a_run_for_longer_than_the/

Here's the battery I use for 20 amp builds
(Credit to Mooch)
9E73FF5F-7E3D-40D0-B6E1-0DA7A8A60B45.png

I've gone over 20 amps before, but dang man look at that voltage sag...
 
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Carambrda

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To people who are still new to the mech, Mooch recommends to use 4.2 volts for calculating Ohm's law. This is to add a bit of extra safety margin. The datasheet of the Samsung 30T lists the nominal voltage as 3.6 volts. Refer to section 3.2 in the datasheet:
img_4998-jpg.649539

Now, let's assume for a moment that you're drawing 30 amps and the battery is fully charged. Mooch's pulse-current graph for the Samsung 30T clearly shows that near the end of a 5 second pull at 30 amps the voltage is still about 3.75 volts:

img_5002-png.649535


In this same graph, we can also see that near the start of the pull the voltage is about 3.85 volts (still assuming 30 amps and the battery fully charged). So during this 5 second pull it averages out to something like at least 3.8 volts... definitely higher than the nominal voltage of 3.6 volts, and that illustrates why we have to recommend to use 4.2 volts for calculating Ohm's law until after you completely figured it out.
 

Vape Fan

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To people who are still new to the mech, Mooch recommends to use 4.2 volts for calculating Ohm's law. This is to add a bit of extra safety margin. The datasheet of the Samsung 30T lists the nominal voltage as 3.6 volts. Refer to section 3.2 in the datasheet:
img_4998-jpg.649539

Now, let's assume for a moment that you're drawing 30 amps and the battery is fully charged. Mooch's pulse-current graph for the Samsung 30T clearly shows that near the end of a 5 second pull at 30 amps the voltage is still about 3.75 volts:

img_5002-png.649535


In this same graph, we can also see that near the start of the pull the voltage is about 3.85 volts (still assuming 30 amps and the battery fully charged). So during this 5 second pull it averages out to something like at least 3.8 volts... definitely higher than the nominal voltage of 3.6 volts, and that illustrates why we have to recommend to use 4.2 volts for calculating Ohm's law until after you completely figured it out.
Yep. Reviewed all that again yesterday :cheers:
 

Vape Fan

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Is there a way to save the build settings in WW so you can link or otherwise share it?
 

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