Older Folks and Vaping Front Porch - Part Three

PapaSloth;14829349 said:

Wolfenstark;14828955 said:

Currently at dual build 1Ω I'm finding 30-35 watts is vapeable but strong. They have 8 wraps and Im wondering if the coils are quickly vaping the cotton they are directly in contact with and then it gets harsh and it takes time for the liquid to get into the part of the cotton that was just vaporised by the coils.

On another one single at 1.5Ω and 14 watts I can keep on vaping and it doesn't get stronger like the cotton is getting dry it keeps going.

So your 45-58 watts at 4 wraps has me thinking - Is that just the way it goes when using higher wattage , are you with that set-up able to vape many times or do you need a break to let the liquid in the wick get into where the coils have vaporised it ?

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It all has to do with how hot the coils and wicks get. This partly depends on the wattage, but also depends on how the power is spread over the wicks, how the airflow moves around the coils to keep them cool, and how much juice is in the wicks. When you heat juice past its boiling point, the power is carried away from the coils in the form of steam until all of the juice has boiled off.

Airflow depends on the physical air channels in your atty, the positioning of your coils, and how you vape (mouth hitters move less air past the coils, so they'd use a tighter draw at lower wattage. Lung hitters suck a lot of air past the coils, so they'd use more air with a more open draw at higher wattage).

Juice flow depends on the construction of your atty. For Kayfun-style attys, it depends on how deep the juice channels are, how big the bubble is in the tank, and how hard you draw when you vape. It also depends on the position you hold the atty in, and the thickness of your juice. Then, there are the wicks themselves, and how they carry juice to the coils. Fatter wicks carry and hold more juice, but can also get choked if the coil is too tight. No juice is drawn into the evaporation chamber when you're not actually taking a puff. The juice that's already in there might equalize in the wick somewhat, but to draw more juice in, you have to take a puff. So, if you can't chain vape three or four puffs without the juice starting to taste burnt, it means your wattage is too high for what your atty and build are capable of providing. Some people take priming puffs to deal with that, but the only real fix is to deepen your juice channels, change your vaping style, or to buy a different atty.

Finally, there's how the coils spread heat over the wick. That depends on how much wire you're using, the gauge of the wire, whether you have a contact coil or a spaced coil, and the diameter of the coil. Contact micro and nano coils use a small amount of wire to concentrate heat into a small area of wick, while multi-strand twisted, spaced, macro coils spread the heat over more area. Single coils concentrate heat into one area while two or more coils spread the heat over more areas.

All of the above factors determine how much wattage you can use to vape before the juice starts tasting harsh or burnt. Some of them can be affected by your build, but many of them are determined by the construction of your atty. The Big Buddha was designed to support more power with deeper juice channels, a dual build deck, and a much more open draw than most Kayfun-style attys, so it's a good match for what I'm looking for in terms of my vaping style. If someone who takes mouth hits picked it up and tried it, it probably wouldn't work at all for them. The draw would be way too open, the coils would take too long to heat up, and the juice would start to taste scorched almost immediately (not enough air flowing past the coils). On the other hand, I had an opportunity to try out someone elses Taifun GT, and I could tell immediately that it was perfect for someone who takes mouth hits, but it was a total fail for someone who takes lung hits.

When I vape, I get a pretty massive hit of vapor, and I can take two or three puffs before I have to put the atty down for a while. This is not because the wicks are dry or the flavor starts to taste harsh, it's because I've just gotten a massive hit of nicotine and I'm done for a few minutes, at least. Every time I take a puff, I get a little bubble of air coming out of the evaporation chamber, so it seems like I could usually chain puff if I wanted to. But, I'd probably keel over from having too much nicotine if I tried.

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