Entering into vaping from smoking, smokeless tobacco, hookah, or not as a previous tobacco user can be a bit overwhelming, especially the market and devices now currently available. When I started the market was very limited compared to now, though I entered just slightly before the advent of cost affordable variable wattage hit the market, Variable Voltage (VV) was readily available, and only a couple Variable Wattage/Variable Power (VW) devices were on the market (namely the Evolv Darwin). There are all types of device genres out there, and constantly evolving from the generations of devices before them, I remember cig-a-likes were the only thing on the market affordable, home made mechanical designs diagrams for the DIY minded, up to the Ego Class, to mods, to today what we have currently available, this isn't that type of walk in the past, this is a help blog for those that know how to use a search form in a website forum, yet the principles behind Variable devices are the same, and "YOU" as the "End User" have to do the experimenting. vaping is distinct and unique to the end user, though many may fall into the same juices, devices, juices, PG/VG ratios, coil types, the list of variables is long and like playing a Pachinko machine when conversing with a person from behind a computer screen, so I'll give some basics that come to play.
Standard Output non-variable device = this device will output depending on its model 3.2 to 3.3 volts (basic cig-a-like device) to 3.7nominal volts (Ego Pen Device Class) to 4.2 volts decreasing as charge of a battery decreases (Mechanical Mod), the only way to affect the output of these devices is to change the resistance or your atomizer, lower Ohm coil = higher wattage, higher ohm coil = lower wattage, basically a pedal bicycle in analogy
Variable Voltage = this type of device can contain a Buck Circuit (allows to lower voltage below the current charge level of the battery), a Boost Circuit (allows to draw more amps from the battery to convert to voltage and boost it onto the current charge level of the battery, thus go higher than what the battery can output), these are also affected by Ohm's of the coil, higher or lower voltage will increase or lower ending wattage at the coil itself, basically this is a stock, entry level Chevy Sub-Compact car with just a manual transmission, meaning you have to do all your calculations yourself and adjust everything manually, Ego Twist Pen Devices, the Original Innokin iTaste MVP Version 1, Original Vamo, and the higher end Original Provapes Provari, Provari 2, Provari Mini, and Provari 2.5.
Variable Wattage = variable wattage or variable power (both apply to this) are very, very, very similar to variable voltage as a variable wattage device adjusts voltage to reach a set wattage setting. A simple formula to figure wattage is Voltage X Voltage/Resistance=Watts (Power). A VW device reads the resistance of your coil, then basically does the formula in reverse knowing what watts you have set and the Ohm reading of the coil, ie 12watts X Resistance=Needed Voltage to reach set wattage. Variable Wattage is basically in analogy the above mentioned Chevy Sub-Compact upgraded with an automatic transmission and cruise control module, it does all the calculations and adjusts itself to what the user sets for wattage.
Temperature Control = this again is another evolution from variable wattage, or additional module to a variable wattage control chip, set your wattage, set your temperature cap, and the mod adjusts on the fly, spiking initial ramp up at full set wattage, reaches temperature cap, starts throttling and ramping itself up (pulse width modulates) the voltage to maintain the temperature cap. It does this by reading the resistance of the coil hundreds of times a minute, as the coil heats, resistance increases, reach a certain resistance, the chip can logically guess the temperature of the wire with a margin of error plus or minus (+/-), not accurate but close. This requires exotic metal coil wires that the variables of this resistance vs temperature algorithm can be closely guessed, namely Pure Nickel (very low resistance wire and very soft) to Titanium Grade 1 (T1) (semi low resistance a much harder wire) to Stainless Steel Wire (low resistance metal that is also very hard), they are just now getting close to making TC viable with the use of NiChrome (NickelChromium) and Kanthal A1 (an alloy wire with very high resistance, space heaters and other heating elements have used this alloy for years, and so have e-cigs). The benefits of TC is it, if set right, can prevent the formation of formaldahydes, diacetyl (pop corn lung causing agent), AP (another pop corn lung causing agent), and the biggest factor everyone talks about like it is the most important but only a side effect, can help prevent the burning of your wicking, scorching of wickings such as silica and ekowool causes formaldihyde to form, scorched cotton and such other wicking material that sharp, painful scorched feeling on a dry hit, that is formaldihyde in the vapor aerosol you are feeling.
Okay, now that we have a basic understanding of the basics, here is the gist that you the end user must wrap your mind around. Many atomizer attachments, namely these newer generation sub-ohm clouding tanks (sub-ohm is any resistance below a full ohm) which are high output, great flavored devices that produce large clouds due to heat and inhale technique (straight to lung compared to mouth to lung inhale (what most cigarette, pipe, and hookah users are used to), produce this. It is all in the wattage and heat these devices create that cause this, but even a basic Ego Twist with a Mini Protank 3 going to follow the same principle. "What Wattage, Voltage, Temperature do I set?" Though a coil head may have printed on its side the optimal wattage settings it can sustain, taste of the end user is still subjective to that end user.
Set your battery device to its lowest setting with a fresh, primed coil in your atomizer, now we take baby steps learning to walk. Juices, coil resistance, nicotine level, PG/VG ratio, airflow, voltage/wattage/temperature all play big factors affecting the next. With a fresh coil, just like a fresh motor in a car, you need to break it in to get to optimal performance so we do not damage it off the starting line, lowest power setting and every few minutes step it up a notch or two (dial potentiometer reostat ego twist class vv device) a couple voltage, wattage or temperature notches (digital screen with push button devices) breaks the coil in gradually. After about a half hour the coil can generally be ramped up higher once the cooling system (the airflow in tandem with the wicking speed, liquid evaporating and being hit by cooler air disipates heat quickly) thus a key element the wicking is wicking at its fastest by this time (the thermostat in the engine has been fully opened up allowing free flow of the liquid in the cooling system to move unrestricted as much as possible). Now depending on VG content, higher power makes these vape better, higher nicotine lower output works best here, different juice flavors have there own sweet spot, so thus we have to experiment "Ourselves" of what settings works best for our current juice, nicotine level, VG percentage, and juice flavor, there no one all catch all Silver Bullet Setting, because every individual is different in their tastes, these settings are unique again to the end user. Step up gradually, start to get a harsh hit (scratchy hit) or get an almost dry hit, back it back down a couple notches, that is the sweet spot, it is not about oh, running a Evic VTC Mini /w Ego One Mega kit with the Titanium Coil, yeah dude I use 430F, max wattage, max airflow, you'll be good dude, or you are on a Sigelei 150watt with a TFV4 with the Quad Coil, take it max to 150 dude you'll be set, or Nautilus Mini with the 1.8ohm head on an iStick30watt, 20watts dude, you'll be good, doesn't work like that.
Examples.
My Kayfun V4 and Russian 91% Rebuildable Tanks - restricted airflow, I use higher 12mg 50/50 and 60VG/40PG liquids in them, generally unflavored or tobacco juices, on a Nickel TC 0.2ohm coil, I run them at 15watts max output at a temp of 380F (unflavored) to 450F (tobaccos with rich, very bold, or very sweet tones, bland tobaccos about 400 to 420F), on my SVD 2.0 or Provari Mini 2.5 with a 1.5 to 1.8ohm Kanthal A1 or NiChrome 80 coil, between 8 to 12watts (SVD 2.0) or 3.3 to 3.6volts (Provari)
My Subtank Plus Tanks (sub-ohm tank), OBS Crius or Griffin Sub-ohm RTA tanks - medium airflow tanks capable of sub-ohm ranging in 0.2 to 0.4ohm range (Nickel or Titanium) coils, 30 to 40watts set at 450F to 500F TC, or with Nichrome 80 coils in the 0.4 to 0.7ohms range 30 to 70watts, using a 6mg nic juice, 70VG/30PG to 80VG/20PG
My Rebuildable Dripping Atomizers (RDAs, generally reduced chamber flavor atomizers like the Quasar and Derringer RDA) - Generally use Nichrome 80 24awg on a 2.5 or 3.0 mm diameter ohming in around 0.3 to 0.6ohms, about in the 50 to 75watts range, using a 3mg juice, 80VG/20PG to max VG.
So as you can see, me as a single end user I am all over the board, I vape various liquids depending on my device, mood, flavor (generally unflavored, tobaccos, fuits, candies, and coffee flavors, rarely savory deserts, bakeries, creams, custards, or yogurt flavors), various nicotine levels, and narrow down my atomizers I am still pretty much zig and zag on my voltage, wattage, temperature settings, yet I have been doing this long enough I've learned what to guess at to where I will be when I begin vaping.
Standard Output non-variable device = this device will output depending on its model 3.2 to 3.3 volts (basic cig-a-like device) to 3.7nominal volts (Ego Pen Device Class) to 4.2 volts decreasing as charge of a battery decreases (Mechanical Mod), the only way to affect the output of these devices is to change the resistance or your atomizer, lower Ohm coil = higher wattage, higher ohm coil = lower wattage, basically a pedal bicycle in analogy
Variable Voltage = this type of device can contain a Buck Circuit (allows to lower voltage below the current charge level of the battery), a Boost Circuit (allows to draw more amps from the battery to convert to voltage and boost it onto the current charge level of the battery, thus go higher than what the battery can output), these are also affected by Ohm's of the coil, higher or lower voltage will increase or lower ending wattage at the coil itself, basically this is a stock, entry level Chevy Sub-Compact car with just a manual transmission, meaning you have to do all your calculations yourself and adjust everything manually, Ego Twist Pen Devices, the Original Innokin iTaste MVP Version 1, Original Vamo, and the higher end Original Provapes Provari, Provari 2, Provari Mini, and Provari 2.5.
Variable Wattage = variable wattage or variable power (both apply to this) are very, very, very similar to variable voltage as a variable wattage device adjusts voltage to reach a set wattage setting. A simple formula to figure wattage is Voltage X Voltage/Resistance=Watts (Power). A VW device reads the resistance of your coil, then basically does the formula in reverse knowing what watts you have set and the Ohm reading of the coil, ie 12watts X Resistance=Needed Voltage to reach set wattage. Variable Wattage is basically in analogy the above mentioned Chevy Sub-Compact upgraded with an automatic transmission and cruise control module, it does all the calculations and adjusts itself to what the user sets for wattage.
Temperature Control = this again is another evolution from variable wattage, or additional module to a variable wattage control chip, set your wattage, set your temperature cap, and the mod adjusts on the fly, spiking initial ramp up at full set wattage, reaches temperature cap, starts throttling and ramping itself up (pulse width modulates) the voltage to maintain the temperature cap. It does this by reading the resistance of the coil hundreds of times a minute, as the coil heats, resistance increases, reach a certain resistance, the chip can logically guess the temperature of the wire with a margin of error plus or minus (+/-), not accurate but close. This requires exotic metal coil wires that the variables of this resistance vs temperature algorithm can be closely guessed, namely Pure Nickel (very low resistance wire and very soft) to Titanium Grade 1 (T1) (semi low resistance a much harder wire) to Stainless Steel Wire (low resistance metal that is also very hard), they are just now getting close to making TC viable with the use of NiChrome (NickelChromium) and Kanthal A1 (an alloy wire with very high resistance, space heaters and other heating elements have used this alloy for years, and so have e-cigs). The benefits of TC is it, if set right, can prevent the formation of formaldahydes, diacetyl (pop corn lung causing agent), AP (another pop corn lung causing agent), and the biggest factor everyone talks about like it is the most important but only a side effect, can help prevent the burning of your wicking, scorching of wickings such as silica and ekowool causes formaldihyde to form, scorched cotton and such other wicking material that sharp, painful scorched feeling on a dry hit, that is formaldihyde in the vapor aerosol you are feeling.
Okay, now that we have a basic understanding of the basics, here is the gist that you the end user must wrap your mind around. Many atomizer attachments, namely these newer generation sub-ohm clouding tanks (sub-ohm is any resistance below a full ohm) which are high output, great flavored devices that produce large clouds due to heat and inhale technique (straight to lung compared to mouth to lung inhale (what most cigarette, pipe, and hookah users are used to), produce this. It is all in the wattage and heat these devices create that cause this, but even a basic Ego Twist with a Mini Protank 3 going to follow the same principle. "What Wattage, Voltage, Temperature do I set?" Though a coil head may have printed on its side the optimal wattage settings it can sustain, taste of the end user is still subjective to that end user.
Set your battery device to its lowest setting with a fresh, primed coil in your atomizer, now we take baby steps learning to walk. Juices, coil resistance, nicotine level, PG/VG ratio, airflow, voltage/wattage/temperature all play big factors affecting the next. With a fresh coil, just like a fresh motor in a car, you need to break it in to get to optimal performance so we do not damage it off the starting line, lowest power setting and every few minutes step it up a notch or two (dial potentiometer reostat ego twist class vv device) a couple voltage, wattage or temperature notches (digital screen with push button devices) breaks the coil in gradually. After about a half hour the coil can generally be ramped up higher once the cooling system (the airflow in tandem with the wicking speed, liquid evaporating and being hit by cooler air disipates heat quickly) thus a key element the wicking is wicking at its fastest by this time (the thermostat in the engine has been fully opened up allowing free flow of the liquid in the cooling system to move unrestricted as much as possible). Now depending on VG content, higher power makes these vape better, higher nicotine lower output works best here, different juice flavors have there own sweet spot, so thus we have to experiment "Ourselves" of what settings works best for our current juice, nicotine level, VG percentage, and juice flavor, there no one all catch all Silver Bullet Setting, because every individual is different in their tastes, these settings are unique again to the end user. Step up gradually, start to get a harsh hit (scratchy hit) or get an almost dry hit, back it back down a couple notches, that is the sweet spot, it is not about oh, running a Evic VTC Mini /w Ego One Mega kit with the Titanium Coil, yeah dude I use 430F, max wattage, max airflow, you'll be good dude, or you are on a Sigelei 150watt with a TFV4 with the Quad Coil, take it max to 150 dude you'll be set, or Nautilus Mini with the 1.8ohm head on an iStick30watt, 20watts dude, you'll be good, doesn't work like that.
Examples.
My Kayfun V4 and Russian 91% Rebuildable Tanks - restricted airflow, I use higher 12mg 50/50 and 60VG/40PG liquids in them, generally unflavored or tobacco juices, on a Nickel TC 0.2ohm coil, I run them at 15watts max output at a temp of 380F (unflavored) to 450F (tobaccos with rich, very bold, or very sweet tones, bland tobaccos about 400 to 420F), on my SVD 2.0 or Provari Mini 2.5 with a 1.5 to 1.8ohm Kanthal A1 or NiChrome 80 coil, between 8 to 12watts (SVD 2.0) or 3.3 to 3.6volts (Provari)
My Subtank Plus Tanks (sub-ohm tank), OBS Crius or Griffin Sub-ohm RTA tanks - medium airflow tanks capable of sub-ohm ranging in 0.2 to 0.4ohm range (Nickel or Titanium) coils, 30 to 40watts set at 450F to 500F TC, or with Nichrome 80 coils in the 0.4 to 0.7ohms range 30 to 70watts, using a 6mg nic juice, 70VG/30PG to 80VG/20PG
My Rebuildable Dripping Atomizers (RDAs, generally reduced chamber flavor atomizers like the Quasar and Derringer RDA) - Generally use Nichrome 80 24awg on a 2.5 or 3.0 mm diameter ohming in around 0.3 to 0.6ohms, about in the 50 to 75watts range, using a 3mg juice, 80VG/20PG to max VG.
So as you can see, me as a single end user I am all over the board, I vape various liquids depending on my device, mood, flavor (generally unflavored, tobaccos, fuits, candies, and coffee flavors, rarely savory deserts, bakeries, creams, custards, or yogurt flavors), various nicotine levels, and narrow down my atomizers I am still pretty much zig and zag on my voltage, wattage, temperature settings, yet I have been doing this long enough I've learned what to guess at to where I will be when I begin vaping.
