Finally bought a mech and I have a few questions

[JoppaRoadCruiser]

So after a few months of reading around this place in regards to battery safety, mechanical mods, etc. I finally decided to purchase a mech mod. Saw that vape royalty was having a sale and I picked up a hcigar stingray clone for $39. Anyways I have a few questions in regards to batteries and chargers.

First, I plan on using sony vtc5 18650s. I want to go with the best batteries and the general consensus around here seems to be these are the best. One thing I'm confused about is button top vs. flat. On kidney puncher I see they have two versions of the vtc5s...flat and button top. What should I order? What is the big difference? Advantages/Disadvantages? Of all the reading I have done around here I couldn't find a good explanation.

Next, I plan on buying a good Xtar charger. Looking at going with either the VP1 or the WP2. I see the main difference is the digital screen that shows what your battery level is at. Is that the only big benefit of the VP1 over the WP2? I also plan on buying a smok omnitester to measure my voltage when firing and general battery level voltage. If I have this device could I just save money and go with the WP2 charger? As far as an ohms meter is concerned, I already have one. Bought one from my local vape shop a few months back.

Last thing, what is everyone's favorite site to order rebuildable supplies from (wire, cotton, batteries, chargers, battery holders, etc.) I been looking at kidney puncher and they seem pretty legit. I have found some sites that offer lower prices on the chargers but kp seems really competitive so far. Would like one site to use instead of multiple ones.

Anyways can't wait to jump into the mech world. Still very cautious but finally feel confident enough with my knowledge to try mechs. Also this community has been awesome. So much knowledge here. A few months ago I found this link and it has been a tremendous resource for battery and mech education.
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...shop-new-experienced-vapers.html#post12059672
So far I have read all the links and videos contained in that post. Still searching and learning too. Thanks in advance for replies.

 

[G-weezy]

Having multiple Stingrays, I'm using the VTC5 flat tops. They seem to line up better on the bottom cap. Can you get both styles?

For Kanthal eBay is the cheapest I've ordered from. Temco @ 100ft under 8 bucks.

Cotton. CVS, Walgreens etc. Make sure it's 100% organic.

Can't comment on the charger. I have a Nitecore i4. Got that on eBay.

By the way welcome to the mech side.

 

[JoppaRoadCruiser]

Thanks man. Yeah I'm pretty excited about this purchase. I purchased a patriot clone a few months back with intentions to use it on my mvp. Just never ended up working that great and I felt too limited. So I just put it away for when I finally decided to pick up a mech. Really looking forward to getting into rda's and rba's and coil building. I see a kayfun purchase in the near future...or a russian 91%. Probably will go with a genuine on those though.

 

[G-weezy]

Those are good. Look into Taifun GT as well. I'm a fan of the Taifun and Fogger.

Gets addicting building coils and finding the right setup. On the Patriot clone I drilled the holes out. Running dual parallel coils. Best vape I got. Still go back to that coil all the time.

 

[Drizzledog]

Flat top battery vs. button top battery = dimensions, just as the name describes. Positive terminal is either flat or has a button. I use button top because its easy to visually see the polarity of the battery (this really only matters with a vv/vw mod because in a mech, polarity doesn't matter). No problems with button tops on my sentinel clone, youde udt-v12, hana clone, infinite stingray, JD tech stingray.

Chargers, I have a nitecore and it hasn't burned down the house yet....pick one within your budget and needs.

I got my last spool of wire from kidney puncher because its down the road from where I live. KP is more expensive than someone on ebay or any other industrial wire supply shop tho. If you're new to rebuilding, it might be a good idea to purchase smaller spools to try out different alloys and gauges (wire diameter). Once you've found something you like, then get a large spool......unless it's dirt cheap then by all means. 101vape is a decent place to look also.

Wick: I like to use cotton. Personally I'm not worried about organic or not because I can't taste the difference, but you might. My favorite at the moment is cellucotton. I bought it at a beauty supply store like Sally's. It's basically a long rope of cotton that's very easy to build with. 10 feet of cotton rope for $2.50.

Knowledge: The knowledge required build atty's for a mech mod is quite minimal. You know the battery voltage (3.6-4.2 volts) and your battery's continuous discharge current (sony vtc4/5 = 30 amps). Solve Ohm's law to determine the minimum coil resistance for your battery's continuous current rating. Example:

volts = current * resistance ==> solved for resistance ==> resistance = volts/current

 

[Baditude]

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...43-batteries-chargers-multi-meters-forum.html

E-Cigarette Forum - Baditude - Blogs

RTD Vapor

 

[Blind Squirrel]

I have 2 authentic Stingrays. I Love these things! I have had a chance to closely examine/use an Infinite Stingray clone and it was pretty much spot on. You could tell the difference upon close inspection, but it was done very well and even the threading was the same. I prefer to use flat top batteries (I only run in 18650 mode) as it allows the button to sit deeper into the mod. It just looks cleaner to me. I am using an Efest LUC V4 charger and it works very well for me. You can charge 4 batteries at a time (with reverse protection), connect it to a car lighter port, and selectable charging rates (0.5A, 1A, or 2A).

 

[JoppaRoadCruiser]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Stingray should be on my doorstep tomorrow.

 

[JoppaRoadCruiser]

One area of the mech mods I still feel uncomfortable with are hard shorts. I understand that a short is just the current traveling along an unintended path. I.E. not making it to the coil.

Anything touching the coil will cause this. Do shorts ever just spontaneously happen? If I wrap a coil, throw it on the ohm meter, and everything is ok....do I need to worry after that (well granted I don't drop it and damage the coils). What about shorts in the body of the mod? I've read a few threads around here about someone having a spontaneous short in the body of their mod. I believe it was the positive 510 pen touching the threading. He sanded it down and stopped this.

Anyways this is the one area that still freaks me out a little. Should I just purchase a short safety fuse to go in my stingray? And will there be any fitting issues? Do any of you stingray owners use a short fuse?

Oh and Bad thanks for everything. I've gleaned so much knowledge reading your blog posts.

 

[Vaslovik]

I've never yet had a spontaneous hard short, but I can think of how it could happen. My first RBA was an AGA-T2, and it had those thumbscrews on the positive post, which would sometimes come loose, and were a hassle to deal with. Tiny little buggers they were, and getting the three of them tightened right was a PITA. I went to an RSST and that problem was a thing of the past.

I find that once I've locked down the coil legs and checked for ohms and shorts I don't have problems at all.

Congrats on getting your mech, the Stingray is very popular and for good reasons.

 

[Tom Fuller]

Flattop or button seems to be less important than if it fits well. Just don't over tighten the mod so you don't damage the battery. Nitecore chargers are very popular. I use a cheap trust fire charger and just pull them off as soon as they are done charging.

As far as battery life your coil build will determine your battery drain. I personally run a huge macro compressed 1.3~1.4 oHm 28 gauge kanthal 2 3mm silica wicks fit loosely. Anyway some call this high of ohm a no mans land due to the low voltage and amp draw of this build. Meaning it no where near utilizes the potential energy of the battery. (Vtc5 2600 mah 30a). However here is the upside. I use one battery and vape about 6-8 ml of liquid on that one battery. I am also way inside the safe zone. Keep in mind you can "control" temp at the coil with how much vacuum you pull. Slow inhale equals less fresh coil air. Fast inhale means the coil won't be as hot. With my macro coil setup I have zero worries about frying a battery it chucks vapor with the best of them and slowing my draw lets it be as dense as a sub build.

Just my $2,000.00 (inflation is a beetch)


Live Long and Vape!

 

[JoppaRoadCruiser]

I've never yet had a spontaneous hard short, but I can think of how it could happen. My first RBA was an AGA-T2, and it had those thumbscrews on the positive post, which would sometimes come loose, and were a hassle to deal with. Tiny little buggers they were, and getting the three of them tightened right was a PITA. I went to an RSST and that problem was a thing of the past.

I find that once I've locked down the coil legs and checked for ohms and shorts I don't have problems at all.

Congrats on getting your mech, the Stingray is very popular and for good reasons.

Thank you. This is going to seem like a stupid question but when you say "checked for ohms and shorts" is that just putting your atty on the ohm meter and making sure it reads correctly? What would indicate a short? Is there another way of checking for shorts before putting it on the mech?

 

[Michael7]

Thank you. This is going to seem like a stupid question but when you say "checked for ohms and shorts" is that just putting your atty on the ohm meter and making sure it reads correctly? What would indicate a short? Is there another way of checking for shorts before putting it on the mech?

Been wondering same mysef, best I can find is that if the ohm / multi meter jumps around or doesnt read that's a tail tell sign of a short. Would like to a experienced answer

 

[Tom Fuller]

Thank you. This is going to seem like a stupid question but when you say "checked for ohms and shorts" is that just putting your atty on the ohm meter and making sure it reads correctly? What would indicate a short? Is there another way of checking for shorts before putting it on the mech?

I'm guessing you have a regulated mod. Most have the ability to read ohms. If the ohm read out displays a fault you know something is wrong. Shorts usually come from long coil tails touching the chimney or barrel of the atty. so as long as the ohms read what you intend your good.


Live Long and Vape!

 

[fropit]

Definitely look into the taifun gt it is really easy to build on and works flawlessly I love mine. The kayfun is great too but I do like the tai fun just a wee bit more. Keep on vaping on


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JoppaRoadCruiser]

I'm guessing you have a regulated mod. Most have the ability to read ohms. If the ohm read out displays a fault you know something is wrong. Shorts usually come from long coil tails touching the chimney or barrel of the atty. so as long as the ohms read what you intend your good.


Live Long and Vape!

I've got an actual ohm meter. When you say fault do you just mean the reading changing...i.e. ohms continuing to climb?

 

[Tom Fuller]

I've got an actual ohm meter. When you say fault do you just mean the reading changing...i.e. ohms continuing to climb?

Yes that would be a problem. So ideally you want to put your atty all the way together just don't fill. Check it on your ohm meter. Keep in mind if you are expecting a 1 ohm coil and it read .3 you have a short. If you are intending on going super low ohm like the .1 to .3 range you will need an ohm meter that can read that accurately and a clear understanding of the way the batteries work. So at sub ohming amp loads are super high so long inhales are bad in the battery. Keep it around 4-5 seconds. If your ohm reader shows like 9.9 ohms or does not read, one of the legs may have come off.


Live Long and Vape!

 

[JoppaRoadCruiser]

Yes that would be a problem. So ideally you want to put your atty all the way together just don't fill. Check it on your ohm meter. Keep in mind if you are expecting a 1 ohm coil and it read .3 you have a short. If you are intending on going super low ohm like the .1 to .3 range you will need an ohm meter that can read that accurately and a clear understanding of the way the batteries work. So at sub ohming amp loads are super high so long inhales are bad in the battery. Keep it around 4-5 seconds. If your ohm reader shows like 9.9 ohms or does not read, one of the legs may have come off.


Live Long and Vape!

Got ya. Thanks man.

 

[Kyi]

I recently purchased a bunch of stuff to get into mechs myself. XTAR VP1 charger, Sony VTC5 batteries, and the Tree of Life clone. I already have a little bit of experience with rebuilding but I use them mostly on my regulated mods and feel very comfortable doing so. I know they won't fire if there is a short and I've made plenty of builds that have worked well on my KFL's and mini drippers like the IGO-S. I find that once I have the coil assembled and checked to make sure its "safe" and then set it up, it never randomly shorts. At least, it hasn't happened to me yet, but I can't imagine that it will short unless something gets bumped or shifted around, which I guess could happen if you remove the top cap for some reason or drop your mod. I usually check my resistance after putting the top cap on in case anything gets moved around and if it's still fine, then I'm good to go. With mechs, I guess I feel like I need to make extra sure just because of the lack of safety features, but after all this research, being a paranoid person myself, I feel like it's safe for the most part if you are just careful. To me, it's kinda like you feel really comfortable walking the tight rope knowing there's a net below you in case you fall. And you can do it without the net below you but it just seems a lot riskier.

I mainly got a mech mod because I bought a Magma RDA recently and while I have it setup with a 1.5 ohm dual coil, my current devices just don't have the power to give me a satisfying vape from it. Once I get my mech, I'm gonna redo my build and hopefully it will make this dripper come to life.

 

[JoppaRoadCruiser]

I recently purchased a bunch of stuff to get into mechs myself. XTAR VP1 charger, Sony VTC5 batteries, and the Tree of Life clone. I already have a little bit of experience with rebuilding but I use them mostly on my regulated mods and feel very comfortable doing so. I know they won't fire if there is a short and I've made plenty of builds that have worked well on my KFL's and mini drippers like the IGO-S. I find that once I have the coil assembled and checked to make sure its "safe" and then set it up, it never randomly shorts. At least, it hasn't happened to me yet, but I can't imagine that it will short unless something gets bumped or shifted around, which I guess could happen if you remove the top cap for some reason or drop your mod. I usually check my resistance after putting the top cap on in case anything gets moved around and if it's still fine, then I'm good to go. With mechs, I guess I feel like I need to make extra sure just because of the lack of safety features, but after all this research, being a paranoid person myself, I feel like it's safe for the most part if you are just careful. To me, it's kinda like you feel really comfortable walking the tight rope knowing there's a net below you in case you fall. And you can do it without the net below you but it just seems a lot riskier.

I mainly got a mech mod because I bought a Magma RDA recently and while I have it setup with a 1.5 ohm dual coil, my current devices just don't have the power to give me a satisfying vape from it. Once I get my mech, I'm gonna redo my build and hopefully it will make this dripper come to life.

Thanks for that. One other question though...what strength of nic do you use in your drippers and kfl? I currently vape 18 mgs out of my carto tanks but from what people have told me at the vape shop they all step down to 6 mg for dripping.