Can I sub ohm

[Susan~S]

As you are new to mech mods and rebuildables I highly recommend you spend some time with Baditude (our resident battery expert) and visit his blogs. Make sure you purchase an ohm reader and a voltmeter or DMM so you can measure your builds, check for shorts and measure the remaining charge on your batteries.

Baditudes Blogs. The blogs regarding mods and rebuildables are listed below:

BATTERIES

9. Battery Basics for Mods: IMR or Protected ICR?
* Another essential read to understand which batteries are safe to use in mechanical and regulated mods. Includes a frequently updated list of recommended safe-chemistry, high-drain batteries with their specifications.

11. Deeper Understanding of Mod Batteries Part 1
* For those who want to learn the differences between IMR, IMR/hybrid, and ICR batteries. What do those numbers and letters on batteries mean? What's an amp rating?

17. Purple Efest Batteries Not As Advertised
* A cautionary blog that reveals that the purple Efest batteries may not have the specifications advertised. Also includes a commentary on "continuous discharge ratings" vs "pulse discharge ratings" of battery specs.

OHM'S LAW

14. Ohm's Law for Dummies (Vapers)
* My attempt at explaining Ohm's Law in layman terms and how it relates to vaping.

16. Explain it to the Dumb Noob: Ohm's Law Calculations
* As simple as it is to use, some people have a tough time grasping the concept. Warning: Includes graphic photos of mod explosions.

MECHANICAL MODS & REBUILDABLES

7. Information Resources for Your First RBA
* An essential read and reference guide for someone new to rebuilding coils. Includes a multitude of useful links on battery safety, mod safety, coil meters, coil building, and the differences in the three types of RBA's.

15. Inexpensive Mechanical Mod and RDA Setup
* A response to the frequently asked question on how to get into rebuildable atomizers with a mechanical mod inexpensively. Includes a list of commonly used tools and supplies for rebuilding and where to find them.

BATTERIES - WHERE TO BUY

Only buy batteries from a reputable supplier (not ebay or Amazon) as there are many counterfeit batteries being sold. Here are several reputable battery suppliers in the US.

* RTD Vapor
* Illumination Supply
* Lighthound
* Orbtronics

COILING CALCULATOR

Here are a few links for you regarding building coils and getting the resistance just where you want it:
1. Steam Engine
2. Coil Toy Calculator

Make sure to check your build with an ohm reader or DMM BEFORE putting it on your mod and firing it.

 

[DaveSignal]

My regular all-day-vape builds are 24 gauge. I usually build them as sleeper coils (one wire for dual coils), but you can do it with two separate coils as well if you think it would be too hard to build the coils right on the deck.

It is 6 wraps of 24 gauge around a multimeter probe (probably approximately 5/64). I only really count the half wraps, so some people would call this a 6/5 wrap. Clocks in at .21 ohm every time. It is a fantastic vape. It heats up immediately, makes great vapor + flavor, does not get hot, and stops making vapor as soon as I take my finger off the switch on my mech mods. My RDAs all have great airflow.

 

[Hex13]

I have a nemi clone and I run .5 for my work setup. Reduce the size of your wire and build smaller coils. My RDAs would heat up until I started using 28g kanthal on a 2mm coil. Now I can run 5 or 6 wrap dual coils and not have too many issues. Also if your airflow is closed, coils heat up hotter and faster - open it up a bit.

 

[elenamylove]

I found when I was using NiChrome 26 awg coils my RBA and RDA would get really hot... Just part of the game when using thinker wire unfortunately, just make sure that's the only part getting hot Took longer to heat up but stay hot longer inside your setup... I got the stuff to sub ohm, dna30 box, 50 watt box and a 70 watt box but I stick to 1.2-1.6Ω w/28awg wire coil builds, they heat up faster and just work great!

Main thing is safety - Invest in a good Ohm meter - USA OHM METERS This meter is pretty darn accurate (+/- 0.018Ω) vs others I seen on the markets. And for $22 bucks its peace of mind.

Good luck!

 

[DaveSignal]

As you drop the gauge of the wire, the resistance needs to be lower because the wire is thicker and needs more power to heat up + less wraps to cool down in reasonable time.

So a 26 gauge needs to be a lower resistance than 28 gauge to get the best vape. And 24 gauge needs to be lower than 26. etc. If you try to build a 24 gauge coil at the same resistance as the good vape you were getting with a 28 gauge coil, its going to take too many wraps or too large a diameter and isn't going to work perfectly.

 

[FFPetz]

If you wanna play around with changing your flavor and cloud production, you could always look into changing your coil size. I like to run my coils in the 3/16th area and add a wrap or two to keep the resistance up.

The other thing to look at are "nano" coils, around 1/16th in diameter with the cotton wrapped around the outside. A dual 10 wrap will clock in somewhere around 1 ohm and imo blows most 0.2 ohm build out of the water.

It can be more about surface area and warm up times than it can be about sheer power.

 

[WharfRat1976]

It's pretty funny talkin about wire. People say "bigger gauge" meaning thicker wire which is technically an oxymoron since bigger gauge would be 32awg over 26awg and of course 32awg is not bigger than 26awg...

 

[The Torch]

It's pretty funny talkin about wire. People say "bigger gauge" meaning thicker wire which is technically an oxymoron since bigger gauge would be 32awg over 26awg and of course 32awg is not bigger than 26awg...

Here's how it works:

To make steel wire, the wire is heated and pulled through several "dies" (or holes) of smaller and smaller diameter. Gauge 24 would be the equivalent of passing through 24 dies in succession. After 28 passes (or gauge 28) your wire will have a smaller diameter than after 24 passes and so on.

Just remember that and never be confused about the meaning of gauge size again.

 

[nomad23]

Thanks Cullin, the ohm meter is in my shopping cart at Amazon.com awaiting my next paycheck. I really figured reading thru forums about the subject that using my vamo till I could get the ohm reader would suffice. Also I had a question concerning the ohm and voltage meter. Is there certain ones I should stay away from? Does price play a huge factor in function and reliability? To be honest I was hoping to spend my money towards new rdas. I fully understand the safety aspect must come first. I'm in love with the vape an rda on a mod gives you.. I can never go back to a ego battery pushing a clearo. I will get what I need to safety vape my clouds, I promise. Thanks again for all the advice and understanding..

 

[FFPetz]

I picked one up at my B&M for $20. I can post a picture if you want. I've played with a couple and they usually read close enough. Biggest thing for me was it had to read to the hundredth decimal place. (had one that only read tenths, gets a little sketchy when you go below a 0.3)

 

[nomad23]

Thanks for all the advice and information. Sorry if I'm not replying to each message individually. I reply to one then realize there are five more. This is my first interaction in this kind of setting. Pleased to see a community of knowledgeable and kind people that I pull resources from. I am reading each post and trying to soak up the info. Thanks again for the advice and information.

 

[FFPetz]

Everybody's here to help, share and get knowledge, its no problem!

 

[The Torch]

Don't worry nomad. No one can answer them all. Here's another very important point on safety (I wasn't going to get into this here, but I prefer to mention it now that we're into multimeters):

Price wise for a meter, it's like everything else; the more you pay, the more reliable and precise they tend to become, but there's quite a curve to it when it comes to reading low resistance. Anything under 500$ will pretty much have the same precision on ohm readings and anything past the first decimal will always be doubtful unless you pay 1000$. Yup, I said it, none of your precious meters are reliable enough to really read past tenths of an ohm despite other claims.

The reason for this is that you need a very high input resistance inside your meter to read very low ohms, which means you need a very sensitive circuitry and that comes at a price and with some bulk to it. To make you feel better, the precision at that stage (based on personal experience only) is most often about +/- 0.1 to +/- 0.2 ohms, with the rare meter seemingly able to read to +/- 0.02 ohms with some repeatability, but don't quote me on this as it can vary greatly from one meter to the next. That is why most manufacturers of safe devices stay away from supporting lower than 0.5 ohm builds... the measurement precision just isn't truly there yet.

Also, when using an ohm meter, lead quality will impact your measurements. Cheap leads add resistance to the circuitry, so always check your basic reading by putting your leads together and factor in any base reading when checking your coils. It's also good practice to wiggle the leads around when taking your base reading to find out if there is anything loose that could cause a faulty reading. I've thrown away more than one set of leads because of that, and this type of defect can rarely be detected when reading voltages, which is what most people use multimeters for.

 

[nomad23]

I will keep all that in mind when searching for my test gear Torch. on the subject of leads are you referring to the post the wire goes into or the wire itself? stupid question I know just wanting to make sure im following what your saying. by the looks of my rda, the post that I attach my wire cant be replaced so im assuming your referring to coil when you say lead.. but that's why im asking cuz im not positive...lol. the only reference ive heard about to leads, is the straight part of the coil that you attach the wire into your post holes on the rdas.

 

[The Torch]

I will keep all that in mind when searching for my test gear Torch. on the subject of leads are you referring to the post the wire goes into or the wire itself? stupid question I know just wanting to make sure im following what your saying. by the looks of my rda, the post that I attach my wire cant be replaced so im assuming your referring to coil when you say lead.. but that's why im asking cuz im not positive...lol. the only reference ive heard about to leads, is the straight part of the coil that you attach the wire into your post holes on the rdas.

I really meant the test leads that come with the multimeter, but any point where there could be a connection fault is a possible cause for a bad reading. If your coil is not screwed in just right, you will get a higher ohm reading than you should. If the contact point you use to take a reading is dirty, you are likely to get a false (higher) reading. If the wire of the test leads from your meter are not fixed properly on either of their connection ends (meter side or point side) you will get false or fluctuating reads (much more common than most people think!) Any contact or connection point that is not 100% solid or clean will influence the actual reading versus the real resistance. Whatever influences an ohm read will make it seem higher than it actually is. A short will give a lower read, but any short is a concern to start with anyways.

I'll just have to take some time and write an entire article on this unless one already exists somewhere.

 

[nomad23]

There's a lot more than just how low your buil ohms are; Bigger gauge wire will take more time to heat up, and will also take more time to cool down. Even 26 gauge takes a long time to reach temperature. Dual coils also mean you are sucking double the amps on a mech mod than you would take if you were running only one of those coils. This also means your battery charge will last half as long.

It's easier to deal with one coil and 28 gauge + wire IMO. You might want to experiment with coil diameter. Smaller diameter will mean more concentrated heat and more wraps for the same resistance, but more risk of going for a dry hit if you chain vape (still much safer than venting a battery, though.) You can get even more heat out of a 30-32 gauge build with low ohms, but the downside is the coil will not likely live as long. Experimenting is part of the experience since everyone has different taste. It still doesn't hurt to ask questions and learn from other people's experience.

You said it..what I love about this site. I like the vapor production of my 6/7 wrap nano coil on a1/16 o.d. diameter. The issue I have with that build is the wick goes dry quick. I did one build with the wicks going thru the nano coils and it held up well.. I forgot exactly how I wicked it.. for some reason I can't get Dragon wicks to work worth a darn. The production just isn't there. My build now is a juice hog. It's 24 gauge kanthal single coil on a 1/8th o.d. screwdriver. Not sure if you count it as a micro coil because of the I.d. dia. I did this to get a bigger wick. (I use boiled cotton balls) but it's 8 coils touching. Huge clouds but went thru 20mg juice in 24 hours.

 

[nomad23]

I really meant the test leads that come with the multimeter, but any point where there could be a connection fault is a possible cause for a bad reading. If your coil is not screwed in just right, you will get a higher ohm reading than you should. If the contact point you use to take a reading is dirty, you are likely to get a false (higher) reading. If the wire of the test leads from your meter are not fixed properly on either of their connection ends (meter side or point side) you will get false or fluctuating reads (much more common than most people think!) Any contact or connection point that is not 100% solid or clean will influence the actual reading versus the real resistance. Whatever influences an ohm read will make it seem higher than it actually is. A short will give a lower read, but any short is a concern to start with anyways.

I'll just have to take some time and write an entire article on this unless one already exists somewhere.

Ok I follow you now... didn't even think about the meter Leads, never used one..

 

[nomad23]

As you are new to mech mods and rebuildables I highly recommend you spend some time with Baditude (our resident battery expert) and visit his blogs. Make sure you purchase an ohm reader and a voltmeter or DMM so you can measure your builds, check for shorts and measure the remaining charge on your batteries.

Baditudes Blogs. The blogs regarding mods and rebuildables are listed below:

BATTERIES

9. Battery Basics for Mods: IMR or Protected ICR?
* Another essential read to understand which batteries are safe to use in mechanical and regulated mods. Includes a frequently updated list of recommended safe-chemistry, high-drain batteries with their specifications.

11. Deeper Understanding of Mod Batteries Part 1
* For those who want to learn the differences between IMR, IMR/hybrid, and ICR batteries. What do those numbers and letters on batteries mean? What's an amp rating?

17. Purple Efest Batteries Not As Advertised
* A cautionary blog that reveals that the purple Efest batteries may not have the specifications advertised. Also includes a commentary on "continuous discharge ratings" vs "pulse discharge ratings" of battery specs.

OHM'S LAW

14. Ohm's Law for Dummies (Vapers)
* My attempt at explaining Ohm's Law in layman terms and how it relates to vaping.

16. Explain it to the Dumb Noob: Ohm's Law Calculations
* As simple as it is to use, some people have a tough time grasping the concept. Warning: Includes graphic photos of mod explosions.

MECHANICAL MODS & REBUILDABLES

7. Information Resources for Your First RBA
* An essential read and reference guide for someone new to rebuilding coils. Includes a multitude of useful links on battery safety, mod safety, coil meters, coil building, and the differences in the three types of RBA's.

15. Inexpensive Mechanical Mod and RDA Setup
* A response to the frequently asked question on how to get into rebuildable atomizers with a mechanical mod inexpensively. Includes a list of commonly used tools and supplies for rebuilding and where to find them.

BATTERIES - WHERE TO BUY

Only buy batteries from a reputable supplier (not ebay or Amazon) as there are many counterfeit batteries being sold. Here are several reputable battery suppliers in the US.

* RTD Vapor
* Illumination Supply
* Lighthound
* Orbtronics

COILING CALCULATOR

Here are a few links for you regarding building coils and getting the resistance just where you want it:
1. Steam Engine
2. Coil Toy Calculator

Make sure to check your build with an ohm reader or DMM BEFORE putting it on your mod and firing it.

Yea sir, thanks for the info, I have baditude in my saved pages to check out. I'm currently checking my build with my vamo. I read on several sites that it will suffice until I can get an ohm meter. I have an ohm meter in my shopping cart.. just waiting on cash.. Thanks again

 

[dice57]

vape is all about balance. From wicking, air supply, juice ratios, batts, gear, and most importantly, experience and skill.

A 0.3 ohm coil should heat up like pretty dang quick, unless, you have a large amount of wire to fire up, or the wire traps aren't super secure, or batts have no balls.

Heating issues, often are a mixture of bad wire traps, uneven coil wraps, improper wick and or air supply, improper densities of wick at coil, and or in wick/juice channels.

Vape is progressive, the more one vapes, the better their skills and knowledge becomes. And yeah, get a fraking ohm meter, not many devices will show an accurate readout of ohms. 0.3 could be anywhere from 0.256 to 0.355, and still read 0.3 on a mod.

Sounds to me you are pushing your vape beyond ones current vape skills and knowledge. Slow down, optimize what you have, enjoy, then try again.

A year ago, was pushing 15 watts on a reg, went to mechs, and improved me builds and wicking techniques. Today, a casual vape is 30 watts, average vape range 60-75 watts, and have some stuff the breaks 100 watts and more.

As one ups their vape, so to speak, many inconsistencies' that were within tolerances of their current level, can rear their ugly heads and have multiple issues, causing the dilemma faced. Every single aspect and property of what makes vape happen, becomes critical when pushing the vapelope, or something like that. Wire tension, wick densities, secure traps, cleanliness of all current contact points, juice ratio's, air, ........

Balance I tell ya, balance.


Vape long and Prosper.!!!!

 

[nomad23]

I have a nemi clone and I run .5 for my work setup. Reduce the size of your wire and build smaller coils. My RDAs would heat up until I started using 28g kanthal on a 2mm coil. Now I can run 5 or 6 wrap dual coils and not have too many issues. Also if your airflow is closed, coils heat up hotter and faster - open it up a bit.

That's pretty close to the build I'm using on my 30g I think it's 7/8 wraps on a 5/64th I.d. running at .8ohm I need to get some 26 and 28 gauge wire. I have a 8 hole adjustable air flow top cap. I made a 2 hole stainless steel top cap. The holes are 1/8th dia. It gives me plenty of air. It might be to much.. but most all my builds push clouds I can't see thru.