This tutorial is going to show you how I like to use my Helio clone. I have had 3 different versions of Helio clones now. I hated the first 2 because the adjustable airflow was messed up on both of them, and now finally, the third time was the charm because this most recent Helio I have been working with is far better.

The Helio is a rebuildable dripper that features a double center post and 2 negative posts, which is ideal for dual coil setups. The problem I encountered is that it only has airflow on one side, rather than airholes on either side, so if you build a dual coil in the traditional sense – IE one coil on either side, then you will end up with one of your coils getting very little of the air intake.

So what I ended up doing to circumvent this is to build both coils on the same side, so they can both get directly exposed to the airhole, which should create a more even vape.

Now to kick it up a notch from the typical boring dual coil setup, I built it with dual twisted kanthal coils. This results in a fairly low-ohm end result, so you must proceed with caution if you are going to attempt this setup.

This is an incredibly easy setup to build. It is ideal for taking short hits that provide a great throat hit and massive vapor. This also creates a much hotter vape than usual, which I think is kind of a nice change of pace from what I am typically used to.

What You’ll Need

Helio – I use this exact Helio Clone that I picked up for about $7 on Fasttech. Some other Helios are not set up in the same way, so I highly recommend this one, or another one that features a large front airhole.

Kanthal – I used 28 gauge twisted kanthal. This is the exact kind I buy, from Temco on eBay.

Cotton – I use either organic or sterile cotton balls

1/8 drill bit – pick these up super cheap from any hardware store or walmart

Nail clipper

Pliers

Ceramic Tweezers, if you want to make your life easier

As far as a device to use this on, I really prefer it on a Duke, as I think it can pump out a lot of power to heat the coils very quickly. I have used this setup on a DNA30 and a mech mod and it is still good, but doesn’t compare to using it on a Duke.

With all that out of the way, let’s get on with the tutorial.

NOTE – This is a low sub-ohm build. It is extremely dangerous to build coils like this without the proper knowledge and equipment. You MUST have at least 30amp batteries to run this coil and it is still dangerous, so please do not attempt this build if you don’t know what you’re doing.

The Coils

The idea here is to create 2 super nice twisted kanthal coils. This build will end up super low ohm, and I find that it is best for really short pulls. If you try to take a long pull off this setup, you will very likely get a dry hit.

So what we’re going to do is build 2 equal length coils of twisted kanthal wrapped around a 1/8 drill bit. If you don’t use twisted kanthal for this tutorial, you will need to dramatically change the amount of wraps you are using, so I highly recommend using twisted. If you haven’t ever twisted kanthal before, check out this guide to get you up and running in just a couple minutes.

The first thing you will need to do is take out your 1/8 drill bit and make 6 wraps of 28 gauge twisted kanthal around it. Repeat this process twice so you have 2 coils. Your coil should look something like this:

Note that the above picture is from a different tutorial and is only 5 wraps. For this you will want 6. It doesn’t matter if the coils are completely touching each other at this point because you can adjust them once they are connected.

Now, take each coil and carefully connect it to the Helio so that both are connected on the same side. The 28 gauge twisted should fit easily through the holes in the posts and attaching it shouldn’t be much of a problem.

You will want to space them so that they are not touching any of the posts, and they are not sticking out so far that they come into contact with the top cap. As long as you cover those 2 bases you should have no problems.

Once you have them connected, they should look something like this:

Now at this point, it is imperative that you CHECK YOUR OHMS. Mine clocked in at 0.4 ohms. If you have anything lower than that, I would recommend you restart and try again until you get to at least 0.4 ohms.

Once your ohms check out and you have something that looks similar to mine above, you are ready to dry fire the device.

Fire the atomizer until both coils glow orange. They should both heat up evenly from the inside out. Once they have been heated to glowing, you can use a pliers to pinch them together so that all the coils are touching – or even better, if you have a ceramic tweezer you can pinch them while firing the device. Just be careful.

The Wick

Setting up the wick is super easy for this build. Take a long strand of cotton and roll it between your fingers. Remember we are using wider coils, so you will want to make sure you have a wide enough piece of cotton to fit snugly between both coils.

Once you’ve rolled your cotton, thread it through the first coiland then straight across through the second coil. For me, I got about halfway through the second coil and had to use a tweezer to ease it the rest of the way through. Once you have it all the way through, continue to pull it through, lightly rolling it between your fingers on both ends as you do it until you reach a point where you feel the wick is pretty snug in between both coils. Then clip of most of the excess on either side.

You should have something that looks like this:

Now take both ends and carefully fold each end underneath the coil it is closest to. Once everything is tucked into place, liberally saturate the wick until it won’t accept any more juice. You should end up with something that looks like this.

At this point you’re basically done. When I put the top cap back on, I like to position the air hole right in between both coils. There’s really no perfect place to put it to get it directly on to each coil, but this seems to be the most logical placement for it.

Now you’re ready to vape. Here’s a preview of mine:

The Bottom Line

You’ll see in the video that on a Duke, this build instantly produces a massive amount of vapor, and I only need to take small puffs to get a really large hit. That is pretty much how I would suggest using this setup. It provides a much hotter vape than you might be used to as well. If you try to take really long drags, it might not end well for you. On a mech or lower powered device you may be able to take slightly longer drags.

As far as the wick goes, you definitely don’t have to run 1 wick through both coils – you could easily do a separate wick for each one. I haven’t had any problems doing it with 1 wick so I never felt the need to test with 2 separate wicks.

Overall this is a stupid simple setup that will give you a little different experience than you are probably used to. When I first set it up, I built it intending to use it on a Mech, but I found it didn’t really shine until I tried it on the Duke.

If you have a Duke or any OKR / T-10 device, I strongly recommend giving this one a whirl. Just make sure you have the correct equipment and practice extreme caution as this is a very low ohm vape.

Have fun and be safe!