Don't get overwhelmed, we're using a lot of acronyms which you'll get used to after not long. In deciphering other people's questions and explanations, you'll figure things out as you go. Everyone was where you're at, at one point or another. Stuff will start clicking and you'll have a bunch of "aha!" moments and all will be well again.
Here's a quick terminology cheat sheet I'd recommend you copy into a notepad app on your phone and/or on your computer to help you out until you are more familiar with everything:
Vape Styles:
General Terms:
- Loose - More airflow
- Restricted/Tight - Less airflow
Different Vaping Styles:
- MTL - Restricted Mouth-To-Lung (like sucking a golf ball through a garden hose)
- DL/DTL - Direct Lung/Direct-To-Lung (like sucking a grain of sand through a garden hose)
Examples:
- Loose MTL (may be denoted as LMTL), would mean there's more airflow than you would expect from a general Mouth-To-Lung vape style. Instead of a golf ball, maybe a grape.
- Restricted DL/DTL (may be denoted as RDL or RDTL), would mean there's less airflow than what you would expect for a Direct Lung/Direct-To-Lung vape style. Instead of a grain of sand, maybe a small bearing.
Coils:
- Ohms - The resistance of current in a conductor (coil) when introduced to electricity. In general, Wattage and Ohms/Resistance work like a teeter-totter. A low Ohm coil (0.1 or 0.2 Ohms) will generally require a higher Wattage to heat it up enough to vaporize the ejuice. Inversely, a higher Ohm coil (1.2 or 1.6 or even a 2 Ohms) requires lower wattage to properly vaporize it.
- Low Ohms/High Wattage = Generally Direct Lung/Direct-To-Lung
- High Ohms/Low Wattage = Generally Mouth-To-Lung
- Drop-ins/Drop-in Coils - Prebuilt coils that you can simply screw in or "drop" into an atomizer specific to that coil type. Many prebuilt coils are cross compatible with other atomizers or tanks, but many are also not. It's good to know which prebuilt coils are compatible with your tank.
- PnP - Plug-n-Pull - Often referred to as Drop-ins or Drop-in Coils for PnP tanks or pods.
Atomizer (aka Tank/RTA/RDTA/RDA/RBA/SRDA/Subohm/etc):
- Tank - General term for any atomizer that holds juice w/in a tank system.
- Sub-ohm - Is/was often referred to generally as a "sub-ohm" tank for prebuilt coils/drop-in coils meant for Direct Lung vaping, but as Hawise mentioned, many Mouth-To-Lung vape coils are now below 1 Ohm, making them also sub-ohm. If an atomizer (tank) does not mention RTA, RDTA, RDA, RBA, or SRDA, then it is a tank that's meant to use prebuilt, drop in or screw in coils with dimensions specific for that tank.
- RTA - Rebuildable Tank Atomizer
- RDTA - Rebuildable Deck Tank Atomizer
- RDA - Rebuildable Deck Atomizer
- RBA - ReBuildable Atomizer
- SRDA (rare) - Semi-Rebuildable Deck Atomizer
**If a tank/atomizer mentions RBA, RDTA, RTA, RDA, or SRDA in its name, then it is a rebuildable deck atomizer. This is completely separate and non-related to any mention of "MTL" or "DL". The Hellvape Vertex MTL RTA you posted about, it's an RTA - that's a "Rebuildable Tank Atomizer" with wires and cotton that you will need to manually cut, place, screw in, burn off, drum, wick, trim, fluff, situate, saturate with juice, reassemble, and hope all of that went well, to properly install it. It's a trial and error process. As others have mentioned, I'd suggest starting with a drop in coil MTL tank. The Zenith II with prebuilt drop in Z-coils would be a great start. In fact, the entire Innokin CoolFire Z80 Kit would be even better. I own two of them and will likely be purchasing more. They're rather inexpensive and they're stellar in quality, simplicity, and performance.
**
Now, to more directly address your questions:
The Drag X Plus is a sub ohm device
VooPoo makes mods for the very basic, general vaper. The Drag X Plus might be considered a sub-ohm device, but it isn't necessarily defined as that. I just threw on the Zenith II MTL/RDL (Mouth-To-Lung/Restricted Direct Lung) with a 0.8 ohm coil on the Drag X Plus and it's vaping it just fine. However, higher ohm coils, more specifically rebuildable deck atomizers, might not be handled all that well with the Drag X Plus. The 1.6 ohm coil for the Zenith II might not even be able to handle it. Or if it does, maybe not all that well. Or it might run the mod/battery hot even. So in general yes, it's for DL vaping with lower ohm coils, but it isn't restricted to just that.
Hellvape Vertex MTL RTA is, well, MTL right?
Yes, it's likely going to have a very tight draw - probably more so than you'd get from a cig.
Very likely, unless you spin and cut (or buy) a thinner gauge wire and spin it with an Inner Dimension (ID) of 3mm or 3.5mm, 10 or so times. I don't see the Drag X Plus performing to this configuration all that well. This would produce a loooooot of resistance. I just threw on an RTA that's 30 or 32 gauge, 3mm ID with 7 or 8 turns. The coil readout is 0.8 ohms. It's vaping, but I don't think it's optimal.
And am I right in thinking wattage would be set differently between the two?
Definitely. But again as I mentioned just above, they're cross compatible to a certain point of resistance. I would suggest the Innokin CoolFire Z80 mod or a dual battery mod if you're going to go to really high ohms.
Also, with the juice, can you use a 70/30 with both sub ohm and MTL?
Definitely.
I'm thinking of buying a shortfill with a nic shot, but obviously don't want to get something that isn't going to work as well as something else.
If you're planning on dabbling into salt nic juices, you'll have to ask someone else about that. I have no knowledge or experience with salt nics.
Out of interest, what would you recommend given the direction I'm looking in?
Definitely the Innokin CoolFire Z80 Kit with the Zenith II tank (or Zenith Pro or Zlide) for MTL vaping. The drop in Z-coils are tried and true for performance, longevity, and offer a very wide range or ohms for experimentation (0.3 to 1.6 ohm coils). Once you establish what you like, that will give you a better direction of where you want to head. The CoolFire Z80 mod will likely handle pretty much anything you throw at it with or w/out the Zenith II, Pro, or Zlide tank attached. If you wish to try any of those 3 tanks, your Drag X Plus should work decently well, but I'm not sure about the 1.6 ohm coils.
Does anyone else have the Drag X Plus (not Pro) with a 1.6 ohm drop in tank that can verify this?
