i think ive decided....

[Michael7]

i think ive decided....om my last thread I think I've finally decided what my new setup its gonna be. Please criticize and help finalize a few things.

mod - sentinel m16 clone from ebay

batteries - Sony vtc5 from mt baker

Charger - xtar vp1 from amazon? Please give and advice on reliable places to buy from

tank / rba - kayfun 3.1 clone from eBay or aqua clone. Really undecided, just want something easy to build that I don't have to worry about leaking if it tips.

Wire - 28 & 30 gauge on order from temco

Wick - organic or sterile cotton

Multi meter - from harbor freight for reading ohm. Do I really need a specific ohms meter

I know its not recommended for a beginner to jump to a mech, but I've spent the last 2 week reading so much my gf says its like I'm not even home anymore. After reading so much mechs seem fairly simple. Buy good batteries and a charger , know the continuous amp limit, know how to use ohms law to figure out how many amps the coil is drawing and leave a safety margin to protect the battery. Know how to properly build and test coils.don't over drain or over charge batteries .

Anything else I'm missing?
Thanks

 

[Vaslovik]

Sounds to me like you are doing fine. I got into mechs and RBA's about five weeks into vaping, and have never regretted it, a year later I'm still with it. Mt. Baker is a very good supplier and they ship fast, so you are good there, the Kayfun 3.1 seems quite popular on here, though I can't speak to how it performs, the xtar vp1 is a good choice for a charger, I'd have one if I were not so poor right now, and you are getting your kanthal from Temco, another good choice, that's where I get mine from, and they have been good so far.

However...I have a Sentinel clone and the 510 threads are aluminum, which really doesn't last very long. Hope that's not the case with yours. As for a multimeter I've not used one myself, I have a nifty little device that shows ohms and remaining battery voltage that I've been quite pleased with:



Sounds like you have been doing your homework, just make sure you check for hard shorts and ohms before putting your atty on your mech, and you should be fine. Spare batteries might be a good thing to invest in, I have 8 of them I rotate through my mechs.

 

[dice57]

Looks good to me, would go with the Kayfun instead of the Aqua, while the Aqua is a great rba, it's not something I'd recommend for a first rba purchase. It's is meticulous to build, but it does vape damn fine.

a dedicated ohm meter for atomizers are what I prefer to use, just makes everything easier. I bought my Xstar VP1 from RTD Vapor. It's a great charger, also have the Efest LUC V4, that I use for 26650 batts.

 

[soulcatcher]

Yeah, def look for SS threads (in the very least) as aluminum is much softer than SS. And on top of that many atty's 510-threads are SS so you could have SS on Aluminum which is far from optimal. So def verify what it is made of if you wanna go that route.

I looked at telescoping mods at first as well, but realized that in a mech I would really only run 18650 batts so I did not need that adjustability and I think that the one piece tubes look super clean on a mod vs telescoping. YMMV

A decent multimeter will work, and is good for testing batteries, though a dedicated 510-threaded ohm reader is very convenient when building.

I know a lot of people shy away from fast-tech because of the wait times, but my last 3 orders (w/ items in stock and ready to ship) my ship time has been right about 1 week. Returns are easy, and you can tell pretty quick is a product is a hit or a miss by looking at the comments and/or reviews.

Aside from those tips it sounds like you are def headed in the right direction. -Best of Luck-

 

[Michael7]

Dam didnt even think about it being ss on alum not a good combo at all. Thanks for the heads up I might just go with a panzer clone instead.any other cheap clone ideas? And I appreciate the words of encouragement I was Thinking of going the vv/vw route at first but after some reading mechs seem like they can do it all if needed and Im that person that always breaks everything. And Mechs seem much more reliable. How pocketable are mech without having to worry about firing accidentally? I'm hoping to be able to vape on the way to work and leave it in my pocket during the day or my car until I go on break.

Dam I'm excited to get this going already , I don't have my wire yet but took apart one of my old kanger coils and re used the wire with cotton just to mess around and so good so far lol

Thanks again

 

[bayclown510]

I have a sentinel clone it works well for the price I paid I love the look of it and the button is Realy good I think it's a great first mech but just be careful with screwing it together with the battery in

 

[Michael7]

Went with a panzer clone from the eBay,so we'll see how the quality is, should be here Saturday, got the batterys. Just waiting to purchase the charger and kayfun.....found out I forgot to pay my state taxes so its gonna be another month before I can get those.....But one thing I havnt read much about is carrying batteries safely, they came in a plastic case is that going to be okay to put in my pocket or leave in the car? I understand not to put them in pockets unprotected with keys, change , etc. As I found out with a 9v that was in a coat pocet with keys. Woke up next morning and couldnt figure out why my pocket was so hot lol

 

[Ed_C]

If You're thinking of going sub-ohm you might want to find something better than a Harbor Freight DMM

 

[Michael7]

If You're thinking of going sub-ohm you might want to find something better than a Harbor Freight DMM

Any suggestions on good reliable brands / models. I figured there wasn't much of a difference as I've generally had good luck with HF. don't really want an ohm meter for now as I feel the multi meter more multi purpose.
Thanks

 

[OUV8P12]

get yourself a 510/ego threaded ohm meter as pictured above by Vaslovik
it will make life a lot easier. you can pick one up on ebay for 10-15 bucks.

 

[mullidan]

Batteries as powerful as the ones these mods use I would highly recommend that you DO NOT leave them in a hot car, or anywhere else similar. You can pickup plastic battery boxes at various stores/ebay that hold 1+ 18650/18500/18350/etc.. per container.

A good read can be found on this very forum under the rebuildable-atomizer-systems **Sub-Ohm Vaping** Discussion, Safety, Battery Info, & Warnings

Congrats on your Panzer clone mod!

 

[JoppaRoadCruiser]

Man this is a great thread. I'm in the exact same spot as you in regards to finally stepping into mechs. I believe I'm going to go with a hcigar stingray clone and run sony vtc5s. Looking at the same charger as well. A few months ago I bought a tobeco patriot clone and just wasn't having much luck with it since I was running it on my mvp. Just decided to put it away and wait until I get a mech or dna device that could deliver power to get the dripping experience.

One thing that does bother me about dripping is the fact that I need to start buying different nic strengths of the same juices. I run 18 mg through my carto tanks and everyone I've spoken with at my local vape shop says to go down to 6 for dripping. Thats the big drawback to dripping imo and has kept me from picking up a mech. Well that and the somewhat dangerous nature of them if you aren't well read on batteries, etc. After a few months of research and reading through some excellent battery tutorials on here, I finally feel comfortable jumping into a mech.

Looks like you made a good choice too. Enjoy man. Look forward to other recommendations as well. This place is great. I've learned so much within the past few months on this forum.

This is a great collection of posts I found on here a while back and bookmarked.
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...shop-new-experienced-vapers.html#post12059672

 

[mullidan]

... I was Thinking of going the vv/vw route at first but after some reading mechs seem like they can do it all if needed and Im that person that always breaks everything. And Mechs seem much more reliable. How pocketable are mech without having to worry about firing accidentally? I'm hoping to be able to vape on the way to work and leave it in my pocket during the day or my car until I go on break.

Dam I'm excited to get this going already , I don't have my wire yet but took apart one of my old kanger coils and re used the wire with cotton just to mess around and so good so far lol

Thanks again

FWIW I have a Innokin VTR and I swear they milled it out of a solid block of SS. Feels like it weighs at least a pound. Make sure you tighten your belt before you put it in your pocket.. lmfao.

As far as your question about how pocket-able are mech mods. Thats the beauty of mech mods! If you want a super compact mech you could go with the 18350 battery and some sort of a RDA. If your big pimpin you can whip out the innokin SS juice holder to refill. e.g. I've seen a 4Nine in 18350 mode with a RDA on it and it looked around 4-5" in overall length.

In other words, there are many different options available to you for compact carry. The provari in 18350 with a RDA or a nano KF would give you you the best of it all since it is a well built, compact, VV/VW device w/ 510 threads. I nearly went this route before going with the VTR+Aerotank combo which is also compact ( ~ size of a pack of cigs ) but it weighs a metric ton.

 

[mullidan]

Man this is a great thread. I'm in the exact same spot as you in regards of finally stepping into mechs. I believe I'm going to go with a hcigar stingray clone and run sony vtc5s. Looking at the same charger as well. A few months ago I bought a tobeco patriot clone and just wasn't having much luck with it since I was running it on my mvp. Just decided to put it away and wait until I get a mech or dna device that could deliver power to get the dripping experience.

One thing that does bother me about dripping is the fact that I need to start buying different nic strengths of the same juices. I run 18 mg through my carto tanks and everyone I've spoken with at my local vape shop says to go down to 6 for dripping. Thats the big drawback to dripping imo and has kept me from picking up a mech. Well that and the somewhat dangerous nature of them if you aren't well read on batteries, etc. After a few months of research and reading through some excellent battery tutorials on here, I finally feel comfortable jumping into a mech.

Looks like you made a good choice too. Enjoy man. Look forward to other recommendations as well. This place is great. I've learned so much within the past few months on this forum.

This is a great collection of posts I found on here a while back and bookmarked.

Joppa, I haven't spent too much time reading about the RDAs, but the comment that you can only use 6mg of nic in your (dripping) juice seems odd. Couldn't you just make it 100% PG, 80p/20v ?

 

[JoppaRoadCruiser]

Joppa, I haven't spent too much time reading about the RDAs, but the comment that you can only use 6mg of nic in your (dripping) juice seems odd. Couldn't you just make it 100% PG, 80p/20v ?

I believe its due to the fact you are taking much bigger and denser rips. Don't think the pg/vg comp has anything to do with it. Even when I tried running some 1.4 ohm single coil builds in the patriot at around 8-9 watts on the mvp, the hits really knocked me on my .... Great flavor but I could feel quite the nic throat hit. Definitely got more nic. So I couldn't imagine doing ones on a .8 ohm build or lower on 18 mgs.

 

[Michael7]

Joppa- great link, def lose some sleep tonight checking it out. It's been a downhill slope ever since I started my search for a new mod.reading before work,breaks,lunch, and all night. I'm justone of those ppl that when I get set on something that's all I focus on for awhile.and I'm in the same boat about the liquid as I just bought a bunch but figure when I finally get everything I should be about out and if not I can still use it on my twist.

Mullidan- lmao a ss brick, the vtr is one sleek ... mod tho, I though about one before getting set on a mech , and I tried a shop owners provari and just wasn't that impressed, but it was prob just how he had it setup.the DNA30 seem like the best of both worlds but the price tag is just to far out there.

 

[Aesop]

I've had 2 of the VP-1 (brother stole the first one), and they are a great charger. They are dedicated lithium battery charger, so they can bring a battery back from the dead. I bought my first from Amazon ($60 at the time) and 2nd from FastTech ($32, but they can't sell anymore due to MAP violation).

I've used multimeters, the Vamo, and the SVD to check ohms. Now I use the Smoktech Omnitester (~$20). It's a good ohmmeter for your atty, voltmeter for your mod, and can test voltage drop under load.

I picked up my Sony VTC5 from Vapor DNA, they have a 3 pack for ~$30; and you can save a dollar on a Smok Omnitester when you buy the batteries. I just go to their store in Torrance, CA; so I don't know how they are about shipping.

As others mentioned above, the M16 is a good mod, but the aluminum one is a bit fragile. I have a brass one I picked up from FastTech that works very well. My usual recommendation for a first mechanical mod is that, the Astro, or the Atom; all nice telescopic mods.

Both the KF and Aqua are good RTA's. My preference is for dual coil dripper, so I prefer the Aqua or its big brother the Fogger V4. My recent love is the UD AGA-T7; it's very easy to build on, can easily do single or dual coils, vapes like a dripper, but is PITA to fill (requires a syringe with metal needle).

I would recommend also getting a cheap IGO-W (~$10). 3 post dripper are a great way to learn coil building. The IGO has a hole-in-post setup that makes placing coils very easy. It's also good to have a 2nd atty handy while your building on the first As a side note, I vape well above 6mg on 0.4 ohm RDA, but I wouldn't recommend it to others.

Also get a cheap butane torch (Harbor Freight has a $7 one). I use it heat my wire before building to make it less springy and burnoff excess oils, then after I wrap I compress the coil in pliers and fire it up to help it keep its form. Tweezer, flush cutters, probes...there's a lot of tools you can get, and it just gets neverending