Watts, Ohms, Temp, Resistance - I'm so confused!

[Bellerine]

Let me preface this by saying: I don't understand the technical aspects of vaping, and I really don't want to know any more than is necessary to make it enjoyable. I understand this is a passion and a hobby for some - that's great, and I hope you'll use the knowledge you've acquired in your passion to give me second grade explanation. I just want to vape.

I used VV eGo batteries for the last four years (eGo C Twist) with Vision vivi nova mini clearomizers (or similar.) This setup was perfectly good for me, but they've become unreliable as they've dwindled in popularity.

With the help of kind ECF members, I went with a recommended new set up of:
Joye eVic-VTC mini 60W and uwell Crown.

There is a TON of settings. I don't understand the relationship between them, or where to even begin to find a good setting. Guessing isn't getting me anything but a sore throat and headache.

Which mode? Temp control, power, bypass? In each, what is the relationship between temp, power, coil, and amp?

Help? Please? Even just a starting point ...

P.S. I've watched a couple videos (also sent to me by a kind forum member) and I am no closer to understanding. There seems to be an assumed basic knowledge level which I don't possess. The videos also show a slightly different screen (options) than mine came with.

 

[seminolewind]

Geez, you poor thing. It has become really confusing. If you'd like to simplify things, get an 1taste spinner or an ego twist VV. And a 2-3ml tank and atomizers,let's say at 2.5 ohms. Now you will have just one thing to adjust. The dial on the bottom that goes from 3 volts to 5 volts and can easily be adjusted to what you like.

I would put that other thing away until you can figure out all this other stuff. I've been thru it all and I just want simple. For me it's an istick 30 watt. I can adjust the strength by watts or volts. Doesn't matter. It's a measurement . Then add a straight forward atomizer/tank with no air adjustment. Just a 1.8 or 2.0 atomizer thing.

Ohms is resistance. volts are power. watts are output, I think. I'm sure there are far better explainers to help explain.

Or you can take all that stuff you have, and find a B&M shop, and take it there and they will help you. And buy some e-juice just to be nice!

 

[wwdragon]

I am with you on this, Don't understand a thing but I like my vape lolll. So I went about bought a Sigelei Mini 30W. All I have to do is adjust the watts and by itself it adjusts the voltage for me, nice and simple. I am too old to start learning a whole bunch of new tricks lol

 

[DaveP]

It's all magic until you understand what's going on underneath the hood. Technically, all you need to know is that you turn it up to create a stronger vape and down to create a milder vape.

Volts, amps, and watts are all a measure of the energy that creates a vape. A good analogy is a hose with water flowing through it. The hose is analogous to a wire carrying current. Water pressure is like the voltage moving through a wire. Volume of water entering and leaving the hose is amperage or current. The size of the hose determines how much water can flow through it in a certain amount of time (coil wire diameter).

In an ecig, the size of the wire in a coil affects the heat it can produce with a given voltage. Smaller wire can carry less current, so we get more heat with lower voltages. Larger wire can withstand more current, so we need higher voltages. We choose the wire in a coil by the atomizer we use and the heat we want to produce to atomize the juice in the space allowed by the size of the atomizer body, coupled with the MAH rating of the battery.

When we want to atomize lots of juice and make clouds, we choose a mod with a battery that can provide higher current to create more heat. That usually means a lower resistance coil that will heat up faster and atomize more juice, since we are limited in the voltage we can produce. To do that we need a battery that can provide more amperage (MAH).

Just like our water hose, if we want more water/current flow we need a larger conduit. That usually means larger wire with more turns to get the right resistance and apply heat to the wick. The longer the wire in a coil, the higher the resistance, so we need more voltage to make it atomize the juice. Low resistance = higher heat for a given voltage. We generally have to stay in a certain voltage range that the mod can provide.

To answer one of your questions, "what is the relationship between temp, power, coil, and amp?", I'll try to do that in ecig terms.

Temp is the temperature of the coil wrapped around the wick. Higher equals more heat. You want to stay in a range that isn't too hot to prevent the creation of acroline and other chemicals that are harmful. If your mod supports a temp setting, you choose the temp and it chooses the voltage to provide that temp.

Power is a relationship between voltage and resistance across a coil. More power is created by raising voltage or lowering resistance.

The coil is inside your atomizer. It's equivalent to the coil inside an incandescent light bulb. The higher the watt rating, the hotter it gets and the more light it produces. In an ecig, resistance can be varied to create a cooler or hotter vape. Voltage can also be varied to do the same.

Amps refer to the capacity of the battery to produce electron flow in the coil and produce heat. MAH (milliamp hours) is a measure of how long a particular battery can produce a certain amount of current flow in a coil. A 650mah battery will not last as long on a charge as an 1100mah battery. Higher is better.

OHM's Law calculators let you play around with the numbers and see how they change with the variables. Change the variables and see what happens to the numbers.

Ohms Law Calculator

 

[DaveP]

I am with you on this, Don't understand a thing but I like my vape lolll. So I went about bought a Sigelei Mini 30W. All I have to do is adjust the watts and by itself it adjusts the voltage for me, nice and simple. I am too old to start learning a whole bunch of new tricks lol

And that's all you have to do. If you want to change the range of heat and produce more vapor, you just buy a lower resistance atomizer and screw it in place. Once in that range, you just turn the watts up and down to suit.

 

[Gazoo2You]

With the help of kind ECF members, I went with a recommended new set up of:
Joye eVic-VTC mini 60W and Uwell Crown.

There is a TON of settings. I don't understand the relationship between them, or where to even begin to find a good setting. Guessing isn't getting me anything but a sore throat and headache.

Which coil are you using with the Uwell Crown? Stainless Steel, Kanathal or Nickel?

 

[Gazoo2You]

Which coil are you using with the Uwell Crown? Stainless Steel, Kanathal or Nickel?

IF using the Ni200 coil (0.15ohms) , I happen to like it best at 540F and about 40-50 watts - bearing in mind that it's different with TC
On their regular Kanathal coils (0.5ohms) , I like mine at about 0.9ohms 18-25 watts.
I am not fond of the Uwell Crowns Kanathal 0.5 coils, personally but you likely already know what kanthal settings you like.
The Stainless Steel coils (0.25) can be used in either POWER or Wattage, whichever term you prefer, unless you have a proper mod to do SS well in TC.
I dont have the evic Mini TC but as long as it's been updated to the latest firmware, the latest about Dec 20th or so, people like SS in TC on that one. I am just not familiar with the settings of their SS crown coils but guessing I would start at about 450F and slowly take it up until you find the right spot for yourself

 

[Bellerine]

IF using the Ni200 coil (0.15ohms) , I happen to like it best at 540F and about 40-50 watts - bearing in mind that it's different with TC
On their regular Kanathal coils (0.5ohms) , I like mine at about 0.9ohms 18-25 watts.
I am not fond of the Uwell Crowns Kanathal 0.5 coils, personally but you likely already know what kanthal settings you like.
The Stainless Steel coils (0.25) can be used in either POWER or Wattage, whichever term you prefer, unless you have a proper mod to do SS well in TC.
I dont have the evic Mini TC but as long as it's been updated to the latest firmware, the latest about Dec 20th or so, people like SS in TC on that one. I am just not familiar with the settings of their SS crown coils but guessing I would start at about 450F and slowly take it up until you find the right spot for yourself

Thank you!

It has a SS .25 in there now, though it's reading at Coil 0.28. I'm finding 450 too hot. Currently at 400 degrees and 50 watt. Maybe I'll try to increase temp and reduce watts?

It also came with a Ni coil. Haven't tried it yet, but thanks for a starting point when I do!

 

[Bellerine]

It's all magic until you understand what's going on underneath the hood. Technically, all you need to know is that you turn it up to create a stronger vape and down to create a milder vape.

Volts, amps, and watts are all a measure of the energy that creates a vape. A good analogy is a hose with water flowing through it. The hose is analogous to a wire carrying current. Water pressure is like the voltage moving through a wire. Volume of water entering and leaving the hose is amperage or current. The size of the hose determines how much water can flow through it in a certain amount of time (coil wire diameter).

In an ecig, the size of the wire in a coil affects the heat it can produce with a given voltage. Smaller wire can carry less current, so we get more heat with lower voltages. Larger wire can withstand more current, so we need higher voltages. We choose the wire in a coil by the atomizer we use and the heat we want to produce to atomize the juice in the space allowed by the size of the atomizer body, coupled with the MAH rating of the battery.

When we want to atomize lots of juice and make clouds, we choose a mod with a battery that can provide higher current to create more heat. That usually means a lower resistance coil that will heat up faster and atomize more juice, since we are limited in the voltage we can produce. To do that we need a battery that can provide more amperage (MAH).

Just like our water hose, if we want more water/current flow we need a larger conduit. That usually means larger wire with more turns to get the right resistance and apply heat to the wick. The longer the wire in a coil, the higher the resistance, so we need more voltage to make it atomize the juice. Low resistance = higher heat for a given voltage. We generally have to stay in a certain voltage range that the mod can provide.

To answer one of your questions, "what is the relationship between temp, power, coil, and amp?", I'll try to do that in ecig terms.

Temp is the temperature of the coil wrapped around the wick. Higher equals more heat. You want to stay in a range that isn't too hot to prevent the creation of acroline and other chemicals that are harmful. If your mod supports a temp setting, you choose the temp and it chooses the voltage to provide that temp.

Power is a relationship between voltage and resistance across a coil. More power is created by raising voltage or lowering resistance.

The coil is inside your atomizer. It's equivalent to the coil inside an incandescent light bulb. The higher the watt rating, the hotter it gets and the more light it produces. In an ecig, resistance can be varied to create a cooler or hotter vape. Voltage can also be varied to do the same.

Amps refer to the capacity of the battery to produce electron flow in the coil and produce heat. MAH (milliamp hours) is a measure of how long a particular battery can produce a certain amount of current flow in a coil. A 650mah battery will not last as long on a charge as an 1100mah battery. Higher is better.

OHM's Law calculators let you play around with the numbers and see how they change with the variables. Change the variables and see what happens to the numbers.

Ohms Law Calculator

THANK YOU!!!!

I still don't completely understand, but much better than I did before. I actually printed that out. Seems like the kind of thing I'll have to reread a few times ... plus analogies work great for me.

Really appreciate your taking the time to lay that all out!

 

[suprtrkr]

Thank you!

It has a SS .25 in there now, though it's reading at Coil 0.28. I'm finding 450 too hot. Currently at 400 degrees and 50 watt. Maybe I'll try to increase temp and reduce watts?

It also came with a Ni coil. Haven't tried it yet, but thanks for a starting point when I do!

The wattage doesn't make a lot of difference in TC mode, above some minimum value. It's more like a speed limit than a power setting. In TC mode, the mod measures the temp of the wire and holds it there. In other words, it uses full power (whatever watts you set) to get the wire to your set temp, then either reduces or pulses the power to hold it there for as long as you hold the button. Once the wire reaches temp, the set watts is meaningless; the mod takes over and uses whatever watts are required to hold temp (not exceeding your setting, but that's meaningless because it actually needs less at that point, not more.) The real utility of the watts setting is to avoid long ramp time, waiting for the coils to get to vapor temp. Small mass coils heat and cool quickly, large mass coils heat and cool slowly. In practice, a 5/4 wrap 28ga slick coil can get by on 20 or 30 watts, but quad fused 24/28 Claptons need a lot of watts to heat up without unacceptable delay.

In practical terms, for the non technical user, more watts is better. On a small coil, the difference between 20 and 90 watts is imperceptible; so it hits temp a handful of milliseconds faster, so what? But if you change coils to something bigger, you've still got enough watts set to fire it without annoying delay. Either way, you won't burn the coil or scorch your juice because the mod backs off the power at temp. For the rest of it, you're on the right track. Set watts high enough to avoid the ramp time, then use the temp setting to find the vape you want. TC is a godsend for the non technical user. Get on the stainless coils and enjoy

 

[Skold]

Hey who cares about popularity? I have been sub ohming for most of my time vaping an recently used twist models.
I find that 4.2 - 6v is actually very satisfying. Before that I was using 60w models an found you had to use 10mg strength liquids an it's not half as satisfying as a higher strength with a low voltage. If you were a heavy smoker just make sure your battery is 900 or higher.

 

[GeorgeS]

As a beginner with new equipment there's a few ways you can start.

• "Power mode" is fairly similar to your twist - starting with a well primed Kanthal coil installed start with a low wattage (~10W) and take a few pulls. Not enough vape? Bump it up 5W and try again. I have no personal experience with the Crown so don't know if it has a 'sweet spot' for power however using the try-adjust-try cycle you'll likely find a power setting that meets your needs.
• TC mode can be a bit more complicated but follows a similar route/path. Here you have THREE settings to fiddle with. The 1st and most important is the "wire type", this MUST match the atomizer coil your using. 2nd is the Temperature setting and last is the power setting. With a well primed Ti or Ni coil that is at ROOM TEMPERATURE (and the mod set to the proper wire type) start with a temperature of 350F and ~10-20W of power. Make note that at 10-20W it may take a second or two (or more) for your atomizer/coil to reach the temperature set point you have. You may (or not) get some vapor with this setting or get a BUNCH of vapor. If your getting a BUNCH of vapor something is very likely wrong: be it your wire setting or your mod got a bad read on the coil resistance. If your getting "some" vapor you just need to bump the temperature up 10F at a time (vape-adjust-vape) until your getting the flavor and vapor production you like. As your raising the temperature you may need to bump up the power to remove whatever heating delay that might be.

Personally, I run most of my single coils at 15-25W and dual coils at 20-30W and just use the temperature setting to adjust for vapor/flavor. With TC there is nothing wrong with pressing/holding the fire button as the TC will limit the atomizer/coil temperature.

The #1 and #2 issues to keep an eye on is the displayed coil resistance (which can be locked on the Evic Mini) and making sure your using the correct wire type for the atomizer/coil your using.

 

[Skold]

Think like many people on here you have took on too much to soon lol