Battery and Coil Testing

[tayone415]

So after about 2 months my 510 eleaf Ohm/Voltage reader went bad, since it's now reading .03-.04 ohms higher after testing it against 2 of my local B&Ms ohm readers. I build low where it does make a big difference for me with safety I run a Sony VTC5 with 30 amp continuous output and a 60 amp burst and I try not go over 30 amps continuous. The shop I bought it from said he would exchange it for one they are using since they ran out of new ones to sale. My reader reads .18 ohms and one shop reads .15 ohms and the shop that said they were going to exchange it reads .14 ohms.

I also bought a tank o meter style device. It had no instructions on or on the box or on the stores website, and I told the guy I vape under .2 ohms and my build was either .14-.15 ohms or .18 ohms and he didn't tell me not to use it on a build under any ohms and after I got the 2nd reading the it melted on the inside in a certain area that it doesn't read the voltage drop anymore just the battery voltage.

Is a multi-meter going to be more accurate and have longer lasting accuracy? Can I test voltage drop with a multi-meter? Is there something that's better or easier to use since a multi-meter would be a pain to test batteries with?

TIA

 

[Myxlpyxlx]

Even Fluke meters have a .2% accuracy variance. Things like humidity and air pressure can change a build. You are worried about shaving the hair off a hair when you have already been playing with fire to begin with. Even my Fluke ohm meter would swing a few ten thousandths outside a controlled environment.

 

[tayone415]

I'm still within my battery's limits of 30 continuous amps and under 60 amp burst since I don't drag for over 10 seconds have a small safety for error at .17-.18 ohms even without calculating in voltage drops so I wouldn't say I'm playing with fire but just killing the life of my battery. I only use VTC5s that don't get hot and if I feel my mod getting to warm or my firing button getting to warm I set it down. But, everyone has their own opinion for safety, if I was using a non sony VTC battery then I would say I was playing with fire.

 

[Myxlpyxlx]

I aim at .2 when I build a cloud coil myself. I use the 35A purple efest a lot as well as the vtc5. I also blast air up into the tube and hit the contact with cleaner when I change out batteries on that rig too. Getting down that low though safety becomes relative to the margin of limits of the gear used.

 

[tayone415]

I aim at .2 when I build a cloud coil myself. I use the 35A purple efest a lot as well as the vtc5. I also blast air up into the tube and hit the contact with cleaner when I change out batteries on that rig too. Getting down that low though safety becomes relative to the margin of limits of the gear used.

That's why I'm looking for better gear and peoples suggestions. Also what I been researching on the Efest 35A battery is that it is a 35A pulse and a 20 A continuous battery so I think a .26 ohm build was pushing it to the max continuous if I remember right but the purple 30A battery prints on the battery itself it can pulse 60 watts for I think 75 seconds. But, I'm waiting for the VTC6s to come out that 2 shops said there coming out.

 

[Myxlpyxlx]

Actually the 35A has a 70A pulse rate.

 

[Ryedan]

So after about 2 months my 510 Eleaf Ohm/Voltage reader went bad, since it's now reading .03-.04 ohms higher after testing it against 2 of my local B&Ms ohm readers.

How do you know which meter is correct, is the shop's meter calibrated?

Is a multi-meter going to be more accurate and have longer lasting accuracy? Can I test voltage drop with a multi-meter? Is there something that's better or easier to use since a multi-meter would be a pain to test batteries with?

IMO for resistance you're probably better to go with a 'black box' style ohm reader like the Eleaf. I've found it hard to get reliable resistance readings using probes simply because it's so hard to get good stable contact with them. I would however not expect any of these meter to be accurate to +-0.02 ohm and I would do my best to calibrate whatever I was using if I built setups that low in resistance. If you're convinced your meter (whether this one or the next one) is off by +0.035 ohms, subtract that from the reading. You still won't know if the reader goes off of calibration over time though unless you do something to check its calibration occasionally.

In the end you need to satisfy yourself that you will not be building dangerous setups. Any meter can go off calibration, no matter how expensive it is. If you aim for 0.15 ohms and your meter changes one day and reads +0.10 ohms and you don't realize it, your coil will actually be 0.05 ohms. You need to be 'with it' enough to catch that if it happens. You can learn all about meter accuracy and error here. If one day you end up going too low because your process let you down, IMO you did it wrong by not knowing your process and hardware well enough.

For voltage I always use my DMM. I find I can get repeatable readings and pretty much any meter is accurate enough for vaping use. There are plenty of different screw on meters out there which are more convenient, but I don't know which are the better ones. Checking batteries is easy. Voltage drop is a bit harder, but I manage it OK. Something like a Kayfun needs to be checked after the coil is installed but before the atty is assembled. With a dripper the posts are exposed when you take the cap off.

 

[tayone415]

How do you know which meter is correct, is the shop's meter calibrated?



IMO for resistance you're probably better to go with a 'black box' style ohm reader like the Eleaf. I've found it hard to get reliable resistance readings using probes simply because it's so hard to get good stable contact with them. I would however not expect any of these meter to be accurate to +-0.02 ohm and I would do my best to calibrate whatever I was using if I built setups that low in resistance. If you're convinced your meter (whether this one or the next one) is off by +0.035 ohms, subtract that from the reading. You still won't know if the reader goes off of calibration over time though unless you do something to check its calibration occasionally.

In the end you need to satisfy yourself that you will not be building dangerous setups. Any meter can go off calibration, no matter how expensive it is. If you aim for 0.15 ohms and your meter changes one day and reads +0.10 ohms and you don't realize it, your coil will actually be 0.05 ohms. You need to be 'with it' enough to catch that if it happens. You can learn all about meter accuracy and error here. If one day you end up going too low because your process let you down, IMO you did it wrong by not knowing your process and hardware well enough.

For voltage I always use my DMM. I find I can get repeatable readings and pretty much any meter is accurate enough for vaping use. There are plenty of different screw on meters out there which are more convenient, but I don't know which are the better ones. Checking batteries is easy. Voltage drop is a bit harder, but I manage it OK. Something like a Kayfun needs to be checked after the coil is installed but before the atty is assembled. With a dripper the posts are exposed when you take the cap off.

All 3 meters were box 510 readers, that I don't know if it could be calibrated. The 2 at the shops were different by .01 ohms and because of my build I know there's no way it's impossible to be a .18 and I changed batteries in the meter and all screws are still tight and couldn't be tightener.
For the most part I know what range my builds should be around since I do mostly the same builds, it's just when it comes to trying other builds I need more accuracy, and I know the reader isn't 100% accurate, but at one point was on point with certain readers since I checked after a coil was built for me when I'm too lazy to do it myself. So I normally leave leave at least .02 ohms for error when building. I checked it with and without the cap which usually makes no difference with my RDAs so far.

 

[Equilibrium]

.1 anything - is just too close to a short for me to be comfortable with. I know my MM is .2 off and I figure that in when I build but I'll just stay well within the safe zone of my VTC4's at .5 ohm and above. I've seen the emergency room enough in my life...

 

[Ryedan]

All 3 meters were box 510 readers, that I don't know if it could be calibrated. The 2 at the shops were different by .01 ohms and because of my build I know there's no way it's impossible to be a .18 and I changed batteries in the meter and all screws are still tight and couldn't be tightener.

I doubt these meters can be easily corrected internally. When I say calibrate in this case I mean checking them at the minimum resistance you're going to use against a known good meter and then simply adding or subtracting the error each time you use the meter.

For the most part I know what range my builds should be around since I do mostly the same builds, it's just when it comes to trying other builds I need more accuracy, and I know the reader isn't 100% accurate, but at one point was on point with certain readers since I checked after a coil was built for me when I'm too lazy to do it myself. So I normally leave leave at least .02 ohms for error when building. I checked it with and without the cap which usually makes no difference with my RDAs so far.

That you know what range your typical builds are really helps, but those new builds are where you'll need to be more careful. If you feel a 0.02 ohm safety margin is enough for your comfort zone then so be it. It would definitely not be enough for me if that was all I was relying on.

One thing I would do is buy a cheap atty and set it up between 0.10-0.15 ohms and write down what the meter said it actually was after correction. I would put it in a safe place in my rebuildable tool kit and it would become my meter calibration check tool, never to be vaped. As long as that atty didn't change I would have something to check the meter with and be reasonably sure the meter had not changed.

I would build at 0.20 ohms minimum for a while until I got to know the system well enough to make me comfortable in going any lower.