Atomizers and Coil Heads: Abbreviations, Part IV
Coils or Coil Heads
Coils, or coil heads, are the heart of every atomizer, no matter the model! These days, there’s a huge range of pre-made coils available, even for atomizers that were originally designed as
rebuildables. What matters to you is the ohm rating – in other words, the coil’s resistance, and whether your battery or mod is suitable for sub-ohm vaping, for example.
Anything under 1 ohm is considered sub-ohm!
Here’s the key overview:
- 1.5 to 1.8 ohms is ideal for older, low-output standard batteries with no electronic controls; this range is especially well suited to MTL (mouth-to-lung) vaping.
- 0.5 to 1.2 ohms is ideal for modern devices and usually needs 20–30 watts of power.
- 0.1 to 0.5 ohms needs devices that can deliver more than 30 watts and shouldn’t be the first thing beginners try.
The Wire Inside the Coil Head
At its core, a coil is basically wire. In the early days of vaping, Kanthal wire was pretty much the only option. Since then, the range has expanded massively. Kanthal is still the “standard” wire type and is usually what you’ll find in coils unless otherwise stated. Stainless steel (SS), nickel (Ni200) and titanium (Ti) are now also very common, because their higher temperature coefficient makes them suitable for temperature-control vaping. It’s important to point out that nickel and titanium must ONLY be used in temperature control, while stainless steel works both in temperature control and in regular wattage mode. That’s why we always recommend Kanthal or stainless steel coils for beginners: they’re the most straightforward to use.
What Do Coil Abbreviations Mean?
- Ni stands for nickel. You’ll often see it on coils in the 0.1 to 0.15 ohm range. The wire is nickel and is intended only for temperature-control vaping.
- Ti stands for titanium, and here too we’re in the sub-ohm range, usually around 0.3 to 0.5 ohms. Titanium coils are very smooth in flavour – but remember: anything anyone tells you about flavour is subjective and simply the opinion of the person saying or writing it. Another vaper may feel completely differently, and neither of them is wrong. Like nickel, titanium wire is only for temperature-control vaping.
If nothing is stated, it’s usually Kanthal inside.
Airflow on Tanks
Modern tanks usually let you adjust the airflow at the bottom of the tank – in my opinion, that’s a “must-have” – and here again, it comes down to personal preference.
What’s the Practical Difference Between Sub-Ohm and Non-Sub-Ohm?
Supposedly, classic vaping – drawing the vapour into your mouth first – calls for higher-ohm coils, while sub-ohm coils are for direct-lung vaping. That’s the theory. But it is just that: theory. You can still draw vapour into your mouth perfectly normally with sub-ohm, and whether you inhale it all the way into your lungs is really a matter of personal preference.
You can get a good look at the differences between individual coil heads here with the Kanger, or here with the Melo range.
In the next post, we’ll continue with atomizers and the thinking behind them, because so far we’ve only scratched the surface. Then we’re moving on to rebuildables.
