Why a mechanical mod?

[JD4x4]

Let me ask this though- those of you who have tried many devices across the board- what makes your juice taste the best?

Taste is super-subjective.. but for me it was cartos without fillers (clearos, RBA's) and most importantly variable voltage. Currently my main setup is eGo Twists with CE4's. eGo's because of the form factor, Twist for VV, CE4 for top feed but not overly hot and reasonable juice reservoir. Your experience WILL likely vary, but ya gotta dial in your wattage preference for any given juice/carto combo, & the easiest way is with variable voltage, imo.
My LavaTube & VAMO work well, but the Twist is simple & small.

 

[Bosco]

Let me ask this though- those of you who have tried many devices across the board- what makes your juice taste the best?

I only have 3 ego-twists, a knock-off regular ego and a USB passthrough . but I haven't noticed any difference between PV's in terms of flavor/vapor. As long as the device is the correct resisitance - any of my pv's will perform well. What makes the difference is the device. For my money, nothing tastes better than dripping with a good atty . . I like the Cisco Spec LR 2.0 from Avid Vapor.

Compared to dripping, the mini-novas and Kangers that I use are cooler and less intense. I like them, too, and use them all the time - but all things being equal, dripping is the best flavor.

I have an RBA, too - a cheapie I got from GotVapes - but I prefer the Cisco Spec atties . .I've only made 2 coils so far and I'm probably not too good at it .. maybe my opinion will change when I get better at it.

 

[tartanraven]

I use nothing but mechanicals (Precise+, Dingo, The Natural) and RBAs (own 9 AGA-Ts) I vape at .7ohms and use MNKE 18650's and AW IMR 18350s
As for vape consistency, the MNKE put out 30amp continuous, so there is no noticeable drop-off in voltage. The ever-popular AW IMR only puts out 10amps continuous.
Juice flavour.....a genesis style RBA fitted with a U-wick wrapped at .7ohms (21 watts on a fresh battery) puts out obscene amounts of vapour and the taste surpasses any carto/clearo that I've tried

That is some serious CHOO CHOO going on. I can let it burn through an entire tank like that with NO dry hits whatsoever..it just never stops.

 

[SissySpike]

Mechanicals are nice they do require some maintenance. I clean my switch contacts once a week and disassemble and clean the entire mod giving special care to any threading once a month. This prevents voltage drop. Your biggest enemy with Mec mods Alu is great for conducting power but its easy to strip or damage threads on alu. Copper and brass are great but oxidase very quickly. SS is most commonly used but is probably the least conductive. This is where the cheaper knock off fall short The tolerances in a good mec mod are very tight. Hard for the Chinese to pump out a 1000 a week with quality specks.
Genys and RBA are great they are affordable these days The clones aren't to bad. You can use organic cotton yarn or juke for wicks kanthel and ss mesh are very affordable on ebay. You can make your own ceramic wicks from bubble stone from any pet store. If you do it wisely this is the most economical. Fell free to PM me if you have any questions or need a little help getting going chances are any trouble your having Ive already made the mistakes;-)

 

[tartanraven]

my rule is to clean all of your contacts weekly at least...as for threads on mecchys...use a thin film of Noalox to make them smooth and enhance condutivity..also use Noalox on firing pins for the same reason. Most people dont realise that the casing on a mecchy is part of the circuit.

 

[Schnarph]

Y'all, I'm poor like whoa. So I shouldn't be looking at all the pretty, pretty mods but of course, I am anyway. I see the point in getting a mod, it seems to me they would be more durable plus the batteries for them appear to be much cheaper to replace than having to replace an eGo battery.

But why would you want to choose a mechanical mod vs something like a Vamo? What is the best way to go when you are on a serious budget? Is there some advantage of a mechanical that you can't get with a mod like a Vamo or a Provari (which I can only admire from afar, lol).

When I read this OP I totally identified with it. Especially the first two sentences and the last part in parentheses. I have seen a lot of good advice in here for somebody with money to spend, but let's not forget the part about "the best way to go when you are on a serious budget". I have asked similar questions before and received answers like the ones in this thread, all of which were very informative but none were going to be useful in the near future. When you ask for advice here, you will get definitely get some. The part about being poor and on a serious budget seems to go right over many experienced vapors heads. I wish I could be more helpful myself, but the best advice I have gotten regarding my budget problems and desire for a good mod is to get a Vamo for $40 and wait until there is money for something great. Gotta start somewhere.

 

[Hello World]

But why would you want to choose a mechanical mod vs something like a Vamo?

Better taste of flavors. Also, I can really shorten the length of the mod down with 18350 batteries when going out to keep it as small as possible since there is no circuit board eating up 1 - 2 inches of the tube, and approx. half the weight.



Mechanical on the right.

 

[genoxy]

Tartanraven, that is a SICK amount of vapour!!

I'm curious though, why is a Z-Atty Pro made for ProVari yet will rewick over 1.5ohms and not below that.

Can someone explain the wicking technique required to go below or about the required ohms for a mechanical?

Als I am not tech savy so a mech isn't for me right?

 

[donnah]

Tartanraven, that is a SICK amount of vapour!!

I'm curious though, why is a Z-Atty Pro made for ProVari yet will rewick over 1.5ohms and not below that.

Can someone explain the wicking technique required to go below or about the required ohms for a mechanical?

Als I am not tech savy so a mech isn't for me right?

My zap is always coiled at 1.2ohms.. it's the same principle as every other genesis style rba. I use 30g kanthal ..3/4 wraps to get it there (actually it's reading 1.1 at the moment) When setting up for a mech, I use 28g with the same number of wraps to get me right below 1ohm. I don't usually use anything above 1ohm in the mech because I can feel the voltage drop quicker.

How it wicks has nothing to do with an individual rba and everything to do with the wick you put in it. Theres lots of variations (loose rolled, tight rolled, hollow, solid) and they all seem to work. People complain of a burnt, metallic flavor/hit and think it's not wicking. But whenever I get that, I most always find a loose spot on my coil, where the wire isn't touching the wick. When I pick one up that's been sitting (say over night) I always tilt it to get the juice flowing before I use it.

I've recently began experimenting with a hybrid wick... a string of silica in the middle of the mesh, to help wicking. I like it so far. I roll my wicks every which way.. some solid and tight, some loose and hollow. I think the loose and hollow work best for me. I also cut the bottom (that goes into the tank) at an angle.

 

[genoxy]

That makes more sense to me now, thanks Donnah

So what would a ZAP straight out of the box ohm be?

 

[TomCatt]

Most genesis atties do not have a wick and coil installed when received (out of the box). It is up to the user to make the wick and coil.
The ones that do have a wick and coil installed are from China and IMO, not usually worth using.

SS mesh wicks have a steep learning curve to set up correctly. Do not expect to get a genny style atty and be vaping from it immediately if you've never made a SS wick before.


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

 

[genoxy]

From what I've read and reviews I've seen the ZAP comes with a wick preinstalled. Mine should be here next week so I can confirm this.

Understand RBA's are not plug and play but isn't that part of the fun?

 

[tj99959]

First you need to understand that just like anything else not all mechanical mods are created equal. There are some really good ones, but there are also a lot that are just a POS. Also not all 3.7v mods are mecanical mods.

In the end what we buy for a mod should satisfy our needs instead of just buying a mod because it looks cool, and then trying to modify our needs in order to use the mod. So ask yourself if a mechanical will properly power what you intend to use, or would something else do a better job.

RBA's are not for everyone. I know lots of folks that want no part of them. Extreme low resistance is also not for everyone. I know plenty of folks that use 2+ ohm coils in their RBA's. So again, what you need to properly power what you use should guide your choice .... not what someone else says is cool or macho.

 

[SissySpike]

First you need to understand that just like anything else not all mechanical mods are created equal. There are some really good ones, but there are also a lot that are just a POS. Also not all 3.7v mods are mecanical mods.

In the end what we buy for a mod should satisfy our needs instead of just buying a mod because it looks cool, and then trying to modify our needs in order to use the mod. So ask yourself if a mechanical will properly power what you intend to use, or would something else do a better job.

RBA's are not for everyone. I know lots of folks that want no part of them. Extreme low resistance is also not for everyone. I know plenty of folks that use 2+ ohm coils in their RBA's. So again, what you need to properly power what you use should guide your choice .... not what someone else says is cool or macho.

I agree 100% but thats the cool thing about genys you can play around with different wire size and coil wraps to find what is perfect for you.
As to the cost statements what did you spend on Cigs per month/ per year? So investing in a good Mech device and geny is still money ahead. But I would recomend a VV or VW, VV/VW combo over a mech if you are on a tight budget it just gives you more flexibility
and options for running around and vaping at home.

 

[pianoguy]

I originally became interested in mechanical mods back in early 2010 when the threat of an FDA ban was in the air. I wanted a robust device that would last indefinitely, or that I could repair myself if need be. Money was not the issue, but the REO Grand I eventually bought turned out to be an extremely economical choice. Even though the up-front expense seemed high, it has cost me about 16 cents a day to own it, and it gets cheaper every day. I beat the REO like a red-headed stepchild - it's been dropped, kicked, dunked in paint, subjected to water, mud, sawdust, oil - you name it. A quick bath and it is good to go.

Rebuildable atomizers had much the same appeal. I spent a good chunk of change on my Chalice atomizer, but I'm not sorry I did, and there are much cheaper alternatives available now. I can rebuild it for next to nothing, and tailor it to my liking. I build a new coil about once a month which costs about 3 cents in materials. And I use cotton balls to make my wicks - a cheap bag of cotton balls will probably last a lifetime.

 

[donnah]

From what I've read and reviews I've seen the ZAP comes with a wick preinstalled. Mine should be here next week so I can confirm this.

Understand RBA's are not plug and play but isn't that part of the fun?

yes they do.. many people redo the coil first thing but I used mine for a few weeks because I was new and actually seeing the coil and watching Zen's video on exactly what to do really helped me more than anything else. The zap is probably the most "plug an play" there is and was an excellent "learner" device for me.

 

[badbadivy]

Ivy, if you look in the PIF forum there is a contest thread there, it is where members list contests the different vendors are having. Yes I know it is a long shot, but I am in the same boat you are, I couldn't afford a good set up, but thanks to the wonderful vendors here at ECF I won both my iHybrid and my GG Stealth.

There is so much good info in this thread. Thanks so much everyone for the help and advice! Nancy, thanks for the info on contests! I will go see if I can win something.

 

[tj99959]

I agree 100% but thats the cool thing about genys you can play around with different wire size and coil wraps to find what is perfect for you.
As to the cost statements what did you spend on Cigs per month/ per year? So investing in a good Mech device and geny is still money ahead. But I would recomend a VV or VW, VV/VW combo over a mech if you are on a tight budget it just gives you more flexibility
and options for running around and vaping at home.

But that's just the point, not everyone will like a "Genney". Maybe someday Keith at Empiremods will produce drip shields for them so that they can at least be laid on a table without leaving a puddle behind.

 

[michliu]

OP - you had originally asked the question of choosing between a Vamo and a mechanical on a very tight budget. My recommendation to you would be to purchase a Vamo, they are a little over $30 at vaporbreak, if you can wait for the shipping from China. Fasttech has batteries for $5-10, a good nitecore charger for $15, and vivi novas for under $5. Again, you will need for wait for shipping from China, but shipping is free. I have ordered from both companies and it takes about 3 weeks. Like many others on the thread, I vape almost exclusively on gennies and mechanicals. The gennies give a great vape, but they wear out just like everything else. Insulators and orings wear our, threads get stripped, etc. I still have the original heads on my Vivi Novas I bought 9 months ago, and I used them exclusively for 5 months, rebuilding the wick and coils each week, though I had to replace one of the plastic tanks eaten away by a cola juice. Wire is cheap at Temco Industrial, under $10 for 100 feet that will last you a very long time. And I use cheesecloth or cotton yarn, Peaches N Cream from Walmart for $1.50, for my wick.

If mechanicals and rebuildables are where you want to go, the China GG and the Sigelei #8 are good, inexpensive mechs, around $35-40. The Igo-L dripper and the Aga-T's are good choices and will help you get the most out of your mechanical. There are plenty of places that sell them when they are in stock. For even cheaper, the Chinese DID clone I picked up from Fasttech for $9 is perfectly fine. You'll need to get mesh if you go the genny route, and the cheapest I've seen is Steam Monkey.

Hope this helps in finding your budget vape. Good luck!

 

[qorax]

Q. Why a Mechanical Mod?
A. Simple, b'coz it is beautiful and vapes too darn good!

My trusted companion...



DESCRIPTION:
Satin finished 'brushed' High Gauge Stainless Steel Body Tube*. Chromed plated 'shiny' Brass bottom Cap, 510 Head and Firing Button. Diamond cut Stainless Steel Firing Lock Ring. Reinforced Bronze 'internal' Contact Pins, Posts and Springs. Sealed 510 Contact Point. Extended Firing Pin Drive (to reduce chances of erroneous firing while not in use, even when kept 'unlocked'). Laser drilled Vent Holes (qty-4) at bottom cap. Laser cut Airway Channels (qty-4) at 510 Head. Non Fingerprint design/machining. Pictured in 18650 mode.

Needless to say, "I am loving it".
__________________________________________________ ____________
*Sectional, twin tubes for accommodating 18650, 18500+Kick or 18350 batteries