Kanthal Is A Brand...Nichrome Is An Alloy

[Rixter]

If I'm reading the information on this link correctly, Kanthal is a brand, not just a type of resistance wire. They produce several different types of resistance heating alloys, including several grades of FeCrAl (what we vapers commonly call "Kanthal"), NiFe, CuNi, and NiCr (which is...yep, Nichrome).

Who knew?

[Bushwick]

I always wondered about that. I thought it was a bit funny that NiChrome was always referred to by the metals it's composed of while kanthal was always "kanthal". Glad to know my suspicions weren't just me being slightly insane.

[iheartvape]

hmm.. i never knew this either.

[jasonculp]

I did a lot of research on this during the big GPlat discovery. There are about as many different alloys of resistance wire as there is clones coming out of china.

[Rixter]

I guess the most important thing to look for when buying resistance wire is that when it's labeled simply "Kanthal", it might not be FeCrAl (Kanthal A-1). Be sure to check it's composition in the product's description.

[jasonculp]

I really don't have enough experience with it and I just have to trust my vendor. I have only used Kanthal A-1. They did offer other types of resistance wire but nothing too exotic. While reasearching what is what I ran into the middle of the G Plat thing. It was too wild when they figured out it was just 316-317L stainless welding wire. What made it even stranger is the alloy that makes up the GPlat is the same alloy I sell tons of (well pounds of) in gaskets they use in the petroleum/electrical generation/fertilizer industries.