Rebuildable Atomizers – Vaping Abbreviations, Tips & Tricks Part V
This topic inevitably means taking a quick look back at vaping history. Not that many years ago, tanks were virtually nonexistent; when the first clearomizers arrived, they were a real sensation. Even just 7 years ago, the selection was modest: plenty of vapers were dripping, and the reservoirs were stuffed with cotton — almost tampon-style. That was when German and Greek vapers in particular started experimenting.
The first rebuildables were DIY creations, lovingly handmade by tinkerers and sold on vaping forums. Building coils was incredibly fiddly. You needed patience and a sharp eye. I bought myself a Bulli back then too, a rebuildable made by a Berlin hobbyist. For nostalgic vapers and anyone interested in vape history, here’s a video about the Bulli. In short, the build it came with tasted excellent — after all the cotton-wick stuff, it was a revelation — but I sold it on (without the coil, of course). Building your own coils is for people with practical skills and a serious amount of patience.
Today there’s such a huge range of good tanks, and replacement coils cost just a few francs, so rebuildables are really only for people who are handy and enjoy tinkering. If that’s not your thing, you won’t be missing out on flavour with modern coil heads. Besides, it’s simply more convenient to screw in a fresh coil than to mess around with wire and cotton first.
If you really want to try it, definitely go for a model that offers both options — a rebuildable deck and stock coils. If you don’t manage to get a build working, it’s much less annoying: just pop in the ready-made coil of your choice and you’re good to go.
What do you need for coil building?
- Wire – as a beginner, I’d choose classic 0.35mm Kanthal wire
- Cotton – today you can get cotton made specifically for atomizers
- There are also builds using silica wick
- You can also get ready-made packs with wire and cotton
For this, you might also want a coiling jig or simply a tool kit. Back then, we were still making do with watchmaker’s tools.
One of the few things that really sets a rebuildable apart from off-the-shelf products is that you can experiment with it. Some people are already doing quad builds; the Clapton coil was invented at some point by someone at home on a rebuildable setup and is now sold as a prebuilt coil — and so on and so on.
But there’s always a “but”: if you invent the next ultimate build, that build will be available tomorrow as a retail-ready coil! So if you can’t or don’t want to build your own coils, don’t worry. The whole e-cigarette industry is still evolving, and there’s no end in sight.
Next week, in Tips and Tricks – E-Cigarette Abbreviations Part IV, we’ll cover the stuff vape dreams are made of — e-liquid! And don’t worry: we’ll come back to some topics in more detail later on.
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