Batteries & rda materials

[truebenny]

Hello to all members of the vape community,

I wanted to know what types of batteries, and brand wise too, to buy when it comes to mechanical mods such as Grand Vapor Private v2 or the Caravela. Furthermore, Here are some questions I would like answers to:
1. What does IMR stand for?
2. What battery size would fit a 18650/18350 mod?
3. When does the kicker come in to play? and, what does it do?
4. Is it more effective(an all-around usage) to purchase a higher voltage discharge and higher capacity battery? or should I use a lower/higher value batteries for different scenario, such as using different atomizer?

Now onto RDA materials. I understand that gennys uses metal mesh and drippers uses cotton balls. Both uses kanthal wires to build the coils. Here are several questions I have for you guys:
1. What a typical, or standard, gauge kanthal/wick should i buy?
2. Should I buy a bulk purchase of kanthal/wick that comes with varies gauge sizes?
3. Which of these do you prefer for flavor and cloud: cotton, silica, or ekowool?
4. Are marine grade SS the best out there? How about titanium mesh/wire, if its affordable?
5. lastly, how viable are SS cable/ropes for genny builds?

thanks hguys !

 

[Nate Rager]

1. What does IMR stand for?
IMR refers to the chemistry of the battery. Taken from another thread:"If you take away one thing from this thread, remember this: The term "IMR" simply indicates that LiMn2O4 is a major component of the cathode. It does not necessarily indicate that a cell has exceptional rate capability or improved safety characteristics, properties often incorrectly associated with cells with the IMR designation."

2. What battery size would fit a 18650/18350 mod?
18650 and 18350 are the battery sizes in this format aabbc [aa=width] [bb=length] [c=shape]
so....an 18650 is 18mm wide, 65mm long and the 0 signifies a round battery.

3. When does the kicker come in to play? and, what does it do?
A kick is a tool used to turn a mechanical mod into a regulated mod. It gives it some of the functionality of the variable mods on the market while keeping the form factor of your favorite mechanical (if it fits).

Is it more effective(an all-around usage) to purchase a higher voltage discharge and higher capacity battery? or should I use a lower/higher value batteries for different scenario, such as using different atomizer?
Most importantly is the amp limit of the battery. I recommend sony vtc4 or vtc5 batteries. For a long time the go to standard was AW IMR high drain batteries.

1. What a typical, or standard, gauge kanthal/wick should i buy?
I use many gauges and types. But a good middle of the road kanthal gauge to use would be 28. For wick I recommend organic cotton balls. Just tear a piece off, wick your coil, vape away.

2. Should I buy a bulk purchase of kanthal/wick that comes with varies gauge sizes?
That is up to you. I find the best prices by buying 100ft rolls for less than 10 bucks.

3. Which of these do you prefer for flavor and cloud: cotton, silica, or ekowool?
Cotton

4. Are marine grade SS the best out there? How about titanium mesh/wire, if its affordable?
I am not sure what you are referring to here. If you are talking about SS mesh for wicks, it is extremely cheap.

5. lastly, how viable are SS cable/ropes for genny builds?
Lots of people swear by it. Not my thing though.


I am going to recommend you watch some videos on youtube about coil building.

 

[Baditude]

Nate Rager covered your questions well.

IMR = The "I" actually is meant to refer to "lithium". The "M" refers to "manganese", the mineral added to the lithium battery chemistry to make it safe chemistry and high drain. The "R" either means "rechargeable" or "round", depending upon who is the battery expert.

 

[truebenny]

4. Are marine grade SS the best out there? How about titanium mesh/wire, if its affordable?
I am not sure what you are referring to here. If you are talking about SS mesh for wicks, it is extremely cheap.


I am going to recommend you watch some videos on youtube about coil building.

I've read somewhere on reddit that they are using titanium instead of SS... so I was just curious to ask.
And I've watched plenty of youtube video on building RDA, just wanted to verify on certain things since answers would be quicker in a forum.

 

[Sean Brown]

How do you not get the scratchyness from the cotton? I find that I can also taste the cotton when I use it am I using too much and need to back down the amount I use or is that normal par the course?

 

[Baditude]

How do you not get the scratchyness from the cotton? I find that I can also taste the cotton when I use it am I using too much and need to back down the amount I use or is that normal par the course?

Too much or too little cotton affects the flavor and the overall vape experience. Take note of how much cotton is used in the different tutorial videos. Then use your results as you gain your own experience making cotton wicks. Also be certain to use only organic cotton as wick material. Other cotton may have bleach or other substances in it that you don't want to vape.

 

[TomCatt]

How do you not get the scratchyness from the cotton? I find that I can also taste the cotton when I use it am I using too much and need to back down the amount I use or is that normal par the course?

Since using cotton wicks, I find that if I vape with a silica wick I get 'scratchyness' - throat irritation. I don't get this with cotton.

 

[Elfsong]

2. What battery size would fit a 18650/18350 mod?
18650 and 18350 are the battery sizes in this format aabbc [aa=width] [bb=length] [c=shape]
so....an 18650 is 18mm wide, 65mm long and the 0 signifies a round battery.

good info. I knew the "18" was the diameter but never connected the "65" to length. Question though; is that the length of the cell itself or entire battery? I ask because i have an "imr18650" which measures closer to 67-68.

 

[Nate Rager]

Batteries don't really follow any strict standards. Some manufacturers will make the battery actually match the numbers, some are off by a few mm.