I drained an 18650 to the point that it wasnt producing any vapor anymore, then tried it a few more times to try and figure out why it was doing that. I am using on a mech mod, and have no way of testing the remaining voltage on the battery. Is there a risk that I've ruined the battery? When is the best time to switch out a battery on a mech?
Should I just switch batteries once it stops producing vapor?
Yes there is a chance you've ruined that battery.
Before I got my first mechanical mod I got a DMM. Something
as inexpensive as this will do a great job at checking battery voltage for you. Tha battery should come off the charger at 4.2V +-0.05. Less is better than more here. If you should have a charger that overcharges batteries you will want to know that. They won't last long if that happens and if they go too high in voltage they become a bit scary to use.
A DMM will also allow you to check battery voltage as the cell discharges in use. I can almost always tell when my batteries get to about 3.7V. I can do that because when I first started to use mech mods I checked battery voltage a lot until I got to know what they vape like at around 3.7V. If you run the battery down to very low voltages all the time you'll destroy your batteries quite quickly. Take one down past around 2.5V and if you don't have a good charger it will be toast. Any lower than that and it's anyone's guess. Depends on how low, how good the battery is (was) and how good your charger is.
With a mechanical mod you also want to check atty resistance. Shorts can cause your battery to heat up and vent which is dangerous.
Hope this helps a bit
