5 Best Types of Coil for Tattoo Machines

Are you wondering what type of coil is best for tattoo machine? If YES, here are 5 best coils to use for your tattoo machine. According to statistics, around 30-35% of Americans have at least one tattoo. Most people can think of numerous friends, family or celebrities with tattoos.

Currently, the trend is on the rise and giving way to growth in the tattoo industry as a whole. In modern America, tattoo has become a cultural norm in many ways. Most people select an artist, bring their design, and let the artist work their magic.

Coil tattoo machines are some of the most popular in the industry and they function through electromagnetism. They come with coils made from a conductive cylindrical center post that are then wound with an insulated copper wire. Note that the coils are not active until attached to a power supply. Tattoo machines can feature one, two, three, or more coils – with two being the most common.

Most coils on the market have a general composition. Notably, the cylindrical center post is made of conductive material and comes with a top and bottom that protrude slightly from the center, similar to a spool. Even more like a spool, each post is wound with an insulated copper wire. The wire is threaded through one of two entry points at the base of the post.

Carefully and purposefully the wire is then wound up and down the post in the same direction, to achieve a certain number of wraps. Wraps are the number of layers of wire – standard machines can have anywhere from 6-12 wraps.

The amount of wraps tends to determine how much force the machine has, as the electromagnetic coils will be stronger with more wraps. The wire is then threaded through the other entry point. With the wire threaded, these entry points acts as a positive and negative lead.

Have you ever had a coil tattoo machine suddenly lose power only to start working after a few days, or had your armature bar stick to the coils or the contact screw and stay stuck? The problem may have gone immediately or randomly, or your machine may have had an attitude adjustment after a few quick slams against a table top or other hard surface… or it may have just stopped working altogether. Why does this happen?

Have it in mind that it is more or less due to poor hysteresis, which is a delay between the electromagnetic field breaking and the coils’ magnetic state dissipating mid cycle, when the machine is turned off, or not dissipating at all. Ideally, this problem is due to poor material in a coil’s core that prevents its domains from returning to a random state when the electromagnetic field is broken.

Note that a slight build up of residual magnetism–which is more or less an issue with cheaply-made coil tattoo machines–prevents the domains of the coils’ metal cores from returning to their natural, uncharged states. Sometimes giving your machine a good smack can realign the domains and demagnetize the cores.

Degaussing is a less traumatic, but also much more costly, alternative option for fixing this issue that involves demagnetizing by the use of electric coils. Overall, aside from going for a quality coil tattoo machine, the best option yet is to replace the coil with a better one. Nonetheless, here are top coils to use for your tattoo machine;

What are the Best Coils for Tattoo Machine?

1. Taone Professional Tattoo Coils 28mm

Taone is a well renowned company that has been selling tattoo supplies for more than 10 years. For more than decades, the company insists on holding a consumer-oriented principle to continuous innovation by offering a wide range of selections to customers throughout the world in more than 30 countries.

The Taone professional tattoo coils are made of high quality steel core and copper wire, powerful and long lasting. The Top and bottom use wood as heat insulation, with a transparent cover, ensuring better insulation and beautiful appearance.

2. Precision High Performance 12 Wrap Coil

This 12 Wrap Coil for tattoo machines is made with copper wire. Note that the capacitor used for this coil is 47V-35uF.  The dimensions of the coils are listed under the specifications below. In order to mount this coil to your tattoo machine, M4 Metric Screws are required (M4 refers to the diameter of the threading (4mm) and the distance of each thread is 0.7mm). Other specifications include;

• Total Height of Coil: 32mm
• Height of Wrap Portion: 28.5mm
• Width of Each Coil: 21mm
• Total Width: 43mm
• Iron Caps Width: 9.5mm
• Capacitor Size: 47V-35uF
• Material: Copper Wire
• Diameter of Internal Threading: 4mm
• Thread Length: 0.7mm
• Screws Required: M4 Metric Screws (Not Included with 12 Wrap Coil)

3. Eikon Device Crown Standard 10 Wrap Coils with 1” or 1-1/4” Core

For over 20 years, this company has been advancing tattoo equipment by providing industry-leading innovation and high quality supplies at an affordable price. The Eikon Crown Standard Coils V2 is made to improve the tattoo machine’s function and performance, resulting in better control and smoother operation. It comes with a crowned front coil core that helps eliminate magnetic sticking to prevent any inaccurate readings during setup.

The Crown Standard Coils are designed, developed, and manufactured with 1018 low carbon steel cores and 24 AWG copper magnet wires by Eikon in Canada. They are prewired and ready to install; mounting hardware and instructions are included (capacitors must be purchased separately). Other specifications include;

• Core Height Options: 1” or 1-1/4”
• Core Diameter: 3/8”
• Core Material: 1018 low carbon steel
• 10-wrap; 24 AWG copper magnet wire
• Crowned front coil core designed to eliminate magnetic sticking
• Ready to install; mounting hardware and instructions included
• Prewired capacitor recommended for use (sold separately)
• Available in 8 wrap

4. HM Tools & Dye Pre-Assembled Set of 10 Wrap Coils

Note that these pre-soldered HM 10-Wrap Coil Sets are ready for convenient installation onto your tattoo machine. Every preassembled set comes with two durable iron coils that are hand wound with high quality isolated wire. The 8mm diameter cores are 32mm long and have a standard M4 thread size. This item is priced per one pre-assembled set of two coils. Other specifications include;

• Core Length: 32mm
• Core Diameter: 8mm
• 10-wrap; high quality isolated coil wire
• Equipped with fibre washers
• Standard M4 thread size
• Ready to install
• HM Tools & Dye owned and operated by tattoo artists
• Manufactured in Madrid, Spain
• Price per one set of pre-assembled coils
• Available in 25mm and 28.5mm length

5. Precision Medical Clean & Polished Coils

This Clear Tattoo Coil Cover is ideal if you want your coils to have a clean, polished look. You cut the cover to fit perfectly on your 8 wrap, 10 wrap or 12 wrap coils and seal it on with a heat gun. Note that a quantity of one (1) means you will receive one foot of coil cover. If you need more, please choose a larger quantity. Other specifications include;

• Quantity: 1 foot of cover
• Cut to fit
• Use with 8 wrap, 10 wrap or 12 wrap coils
• Clear
• Adhere with heat gun

Despite all these differences in the number of coils, core heights, coil shapes, and wrap counts, all coils share a common purpose: to conduct power from a tattoo power supply unit, which charges the coils and turns them into the electromagnet that powers every coil tattoo machine.