Hello fellow Vaper'z I was smoking two packs a day when I was introduced to vaping .

[KrusZty]

I was given a SUBOX Mini and a handful of e-liquid'z, and I never looked back , It'z been 4 monthz today sense I've smoked a cigarette and now I can't stand the smell of those thingz, I got my taste and smell back, food taste better and I feel a lot better every day. Now I'm learning to DIY and joined this web sight to learn how to get better and safer with all partz of vaping, I would like to thank ECF for building such a great web sight, I look forward to making new friendz and learning how to prefect my DIY E-liquidz and stay safe with all the different
thingz that go along with vaping , like battery care and charging , keeping your mod dry and all the other thingz I don't know about. Thank You, Your new Vaper KruZty

 

[Two_Bears]

I was given a SUBOX Mini and a handful of E-Liquid'z, and I never looked back , It'z been 4 monthz today sense I've smoked a cigarette and now I can't stand the smell of those thingz, I got my taste and smell back, food taste better and I feel a lot better every day. Now I'm learning to DIY and joined this web sight to learn how to get better and safer with all partz of vaping, I would like to thank ECF for building such a great web sight, I look forward to making new friendz and learning how to prefect my DIY E-liquidz and stay safe with all the different
thingz that go along with vaping , like battery care and charging , keeping your mod dry and all the other thingz I don't know about. Thank You, Your new Vaper KruZty

Welcome. There are lots of mind helpful people here to help.

 

[KrusZty]

Welcome. There are lots of mind helpful people here to help.

Thank you Two_Bears, as I look around this web sight I'm finding all kindz of help and important information on thingz like battery safety and DIY ideaz , I've got the right place to learn about vaping Thank you !

 

[Susan~S]

Hello and welcome to the forum @KrusZty. Glad to have you here!

Lots of info for you regarding batteries. I'll follow this with links for DIY.

Charging/Chargers

• Here are some safety guidelines I like to follow:
  1. Always use the charger that comes with the battery.
  2. Plug the usb into a wall wart. Plugging it into your computers usb port takes the battery much longer to charge and if the batteries protection fails you could risk blowing your computers motherboard.
  3. Don't leave the battery charging when someone is not around to unplug it when it is done charging. I also do not charge it overnight for the same reason.
  4. If your mod takes an 18650/26650 cell use a free standing charger to charge.
  5. Transport batteries/cells in a case. Never loose in your pockets/purse where they could come into contact with coins/keys.
     
  6. Battery Chargers. From one of @Baditudes blogs: "Get the best charger that you can reasonably afford. Statistically most battery incidents occur while charging. Pila, Xtar, and Nitecore Intellicharger are the most recommended brands."
     Battery Basics for Mods - The Ultimate Battery Guide

Battery Manufacturers vs Re-Wrap Resellers

Quoting @Baditude.

"There are only a few battery manufacturers in the world who make their own "cells", including LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sanyo, and Sony.

All the other brands on the market buy the second and third tier cells from those manufacturers and re-wrap them under their own brand. These are "second and/or third tier cells" which did not meet the higher standards of the original manufacturer. So, in order to compete with the original manufacturers' batteries (first tier), these other companies feel obligated to publish specifications which are inflated to make them appear superior to those of the original manufacturer.

* (AW is Andrew Wan, a former Panasonic employee who branched out to create his own "brand" of batteries. He allegedly has agreements with the major cell manufacturers to purchase first tier batteries from them. Not all batteries are created equal, so AW tests these batteries for quality. The best get chosen to be AW brand, and are re-wrapped as AW.)

Why pay more for a pretty wrapper or inflated specifications for a battery which is actually a second or third tier battery, when in most cases you can pay less for a first tier battery from the original manufacturer?

Do your research before you buy. Decide what battery to buy depending upon the application that you will use them."
​

Battery Safety - CDR (continuous discharge rating) vs PDR (pulse discharge rating)

• Mooch on this. => Battery pulse ratings are useless!
  
• Baditude on this - 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. => Purple Efest Batteries not as Advertised

Battery Safety with Regards to Regulated Mods

Quoting @Mooch.

"We see people saying that they can use any battery in a regulated mod because the mod will protect it. Completely untrue. The mod will protect itself. It has no idea if the battery is being stressed too hard or not. And a battery being stressed too hard will have a shortened life and, if stressed hard enough, can vent or worse.​

Some mods might monitor the battery voltage drop but that doesn't tell you how badly the battery is being overstressed as different batteries have different voltage drops. Some mods can monitor the temperature of the circuit board but that doesn't tell you the temperature of the battery, no matter how close you mount the board to the battery.

You must still select a battery that can handle the current the mod draws without overheating."

Calculating Battery Current Draw for a Regulated Mod​

Batteries & their CDR (Amps)

• Here are links to some of @Mooch's blogs:

• There are no 18650 batteries with a genuine rating over 30A!
• 18650 Safety Grades -- Picking a Safe Battery to Vape With
• Links to all his battery tests to date: List of My Battery Tests

And a couple from @Baditude

• Baditude's Blog - Table of Contents
• Battery Basics for Mods - The Ultimate Battery Guide

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
  • Orbtronics
  • IMR Batteries
  • Liion Wholesale

 

[Susan~S]

For all things DIY head on over to the DIY ELiquid Forum. Lots of great info in all the "stickies". Below is the information I often give to members new to DIY.

• Dannyv45's blogs will give insight into all aspects of DYI, from steeping to what supplies to have on hand to a basic walk through mixing your first E-juice. => dannyv45 - Blogs
• Hoosier's blogs concentrate on fine tuning your mix and give insight on additives. =>Hoosier - Blogs
• For a juice mixing calculator consider using eJuiceMeUp
• If you are interested in mixing by weight (vs volume) here is a great video: How to Use an eJuice Calculator and Mix with a Scale

Here are some threads you may like to read through for different flavoring companies. Many of the posts include recipes and comments about a specific flavor.

• Flavor Arts (FA) - Flavour Art Thread also see HIC's Recipes/Notes - HIC's "My notes on"
  
• The Flavor Apprentice (TFA) - The Flavor Apprentice Flavoring Thread => Also see Bill's Magic Vapor's Blog & TFA Flavor % Recommendations
• Inawera (IW) - Inawera - a few reviews
• Capella (CAP) - DIY Capella's Recipe Thread v2.0 & List of Capella Flavor %'s
• Hangsen (HS) - The Hangsen Thread
• Flavor West (FW) - Flavor West DIY flavor review
• VapingZone (VZ) - New Super Concentrated Flavors & New Super Concentrated Flavors - Part 2

DIY Recipe Sites & Misc Links

• E-Liquid Recipes <= Feel free to post your recipes here for all members to enjoy and comment on.
• TPA/TFA Recipes only! <= ECF Thread
• FlavourArt.uk Recipes
  
• Le DIY Pour Les Nuls - Great French site (in English)
• Reddit Recipes - Read the Sidebar
• EcigExpress Archive Cookbook
• EcigVape
• UK E-Liquid Recipes
• kritikalmass - E-Liquid Recipes
• One Stop DIY Shop - Recipes