is this safe? new to mech mods

[ilovewillies]

Hi,

Just became a member!

Have been vaping for a few years, ego-t batteries with stardust's. I live in Shanghai China atm, and am tired of getting bad ego-t batteries that fall apart or just stop working after a week of use. Mods appeal to me as i'm a practical person and enjoy tinkering.

So I have ordered an smpl and a velocity rda and VTC5. Have done a lot of research already into safety, such as using good battery, not building a coil that draws more amps than the max continuous discharge of the battery, check rda and the mod itself for shorts etc. So here are my questions:

Firstly is the velocity rda 100% suitable for the smpl mod? From photos it looks like the pin on rda sticks out plenty on the rda?

Secondly, and i haven't found any info on this online, what causes an rda to short circuit? As in what must i avoid when making the coil and assembling it on the deck. Must it not touch the posts or the side of the rda at all?

That's all wanted to ask... i've ordered quite a lot of extra things to get started: a digi d2 charger, some 24 and 26g kenthal, japanese cotton, an ohm tester and a normal multi-meter, basic tools for cutting and making coil etc. Oh and also an RTA called Silverplay mini. Bare in mind all of this comes from taobao, which is the biggest online shopping mall in China and there's a million billion fake counterfeit things on there. Everything will be fake (what you call clones?) but quite positive the batteries are real as i've paid a lot of them, the seller has good reviews saying geniuine and i will visially inspect them carefully when they arrive.

BTW my user name is a joke, i don't really love willies.

 

[State O' Flux]

Hi,

Just became a member!

Welcome to the asylum, Willies lover...

Have been vaping for a few years, ego-t batteries with stardust's. I live in Shanghai China atm, and am tired of getting bad ego-t batteries that fall apart or just stop working after a week of use. Mods appeal to me as i'm a practical person and enjoy tinkering.

So I have ordered an smpl and a velocity rda and VTC5. Have done a lot of research already into safety, such as using good battery, not building a coil that draws more amps than the max continuous discharge of the battery, check rda and the mod itself for shorts etc. So here are my questions:

Firstly is the velocity rda 100% suitable for the smpl mod? From photos it looks like the pin on rda sticks out plenty on the rda?

Secondly, and i haven't found any info on this online, what causes an rda to short circuit? As in what must i avoid when making the coil and assembling it on the deck. Must it not touch the posts or the side of the rda at all?

That's all wanted to ask... i've ordered quite a lot of extra things to get started: a digi d2 charger, some 24 and 26g kenthal, japanese cotton, an ohm tester and a normal multi-meter, basic tools for cutting and making coil etc. Oh and also an RTA called Silverplay mini. Bare in mind all of this comes from taobao, which is the biggest online shopping mall in China and there's a million billion fake counterfeit things on there. Everything will be fake (what you call clones?) but quite positive the batteries are real as i've paid a lot of them, the seller has good reviews saying geniuine and i will visially inspect them carefully when they arrive.

BTW my user name is a joke, i don't really love willies.

From the way your post is written, you seem to be a pretty sharp guy, with a decent understanding of safety issues. What you have on order is "copacetic"... no real red flags there. You're efforts to obtain genuine batteries... lets just say that I wish more people would follow your lead, as pushing a battery beyond safe limits is probably the number one fail of new mech users.

So... rather than waste your time on stuff you probably already know, I'll attend to your two main concerns.

1. Sure, a Velocity will be fine. Of the clone Velocities I've seen, they all have a small amount of 510 pin "protrusion" adjustment... and that will vary by manufacturer. Once you get the RDA in your hands, you can disassemble it, and have a much better understanding of my comments.
You should have no troubles fine tuning the RDA to the mod and battery.

2. Once again, you've got a pretty good view of the potential shorting issues. If the positive side of the coil contacts the base ground... boom, you've got a dead short.
It's actually a bit less likely with some RDAs to short to the cap... as they can be fully insulated by o-rings. Each RDA should be considered as an "individual, case by case" concern in this regard.
Remember that the position of a built and installed coil can be adjusted. You have 3 axis to fine tune... for best air flow, for best wick to juice deck positioning, relative angle and so on.

You may find the information at the end of the sigline hyperlinks below... useful.

Cheers,
SoF

 

[ilovewillies]

The steam engine guide is very useful, thanks! I''ll aim for 0.6 ohms. If do two builds, one with the 24g and one with 26g that both are 0.6ohm, the 24 comes to 74mW/mm^2 and 26g to 148 mW/mm^2. So basically both can give me same resistance and amp/power draw... but the 26g gives me a much warmer vape?

Orders should arrive tomorrow, quite excited. It shouldn't be too hard for a mech mod to beat the experience of a fake chinese ego with stardust.

 

[edyle]

Hi,

Just became a member!

Have been vaping for a few years, ego-t batteries with stardust's. I live in Shanghai China atm, and am tired of getting bad ego-t batteries that fall apart or just stop working after a week of use. Mods appeal to me as i'm a practical person and enjoy tinkering.

So I have ordered an smpl and a velocity rda and VTC5. Have done a lot of research already into safety, such as using good battery, not building a coil that draws more amps than the max continuous discharge of the battery, check rda and the mod itself for shorts etc. So here are my questions:

Firstly is the velocity rda 100% suitable for the smpl mod? From photos it looks like the pin on rda sticks out plenty on the rda?

Secondly, and i haven't found any info on this online, what causes an rda to short circuit? As in what must i avoid when making the coil and assembling it on the deck. Must it not touch the posts or the side of the rda at all?

That's all wanted to ask... i've ordered quite a lot of extra things to get started: a digi d2 charger, some 24 and 26g kenthal, japanese cotton, an ohm tester and a normal multi-meter, basic tools for cutting and making coil etc. Oh and also an RTA called Silverplay mini. Bare in mind all of this comes from taobao, which is the biggest online shopping mall in China and there's a million billion fake counterfeit things on there. Everything will be fake (what you call clones?) but quite positive the batteries are real as i've paid a lot of them, the seller has good reviews saying geniuine and i will visially inspect them carefully when they arrive.

BTW my user name is a joke, i don't really love willies.

1: "Firstly is the velocity rda 100% suitable for the smpl mod? From photos it looks like the pin on rda sticks out plenty on the rda?"

You have to check the centerpin yourself.
Why did you choose to get a smpl for your first mech mod?

2: "what causes an rda to short circuit? As in what must i avoid when making the coil and assembling it on the deck. Must it not touch the posts or the side of the rda at all?"

There are many ways to short a circuit.
Sometimes if your coil is sticking out too far, when you put the topcap on, the topcap touches the coil and you get a short at that point.

On the smpl, when you screw down your rda, if the centerpin gets pushed up, or if the centerpin indents into the top of the battery, you could get a short there.

3: if you are tired of ego batteries failing maybe you should just get a mech an a kick module; that's what i use.

 

[State O' Flux]

The steam engine guide is very useful, thanks! I''ll aim for 0.6 ohms. If do two builds, one with the 24g and one with 26g that both are 0.6ohm, the 24 comes to 74mW/mm^2 and 26g to 148 mW/mm^2. So basically both can give me same resistance and amp/power draw... but the 26g gives me a much warmer vape?

Unless you've used these heat flux values before, and prefer them... I think you'll find these values to be on the cool side. As an example, I build RDAs to obtain a 275-300 mW/mm² HF, RTAs typically a bit cooler, around 250 mW/mm², plus/minus. Granted, "heat" is an individual preference... but highs and lows for most I've surveyed (that actually understand what they are trying to achieve) still run within a relatively common range.

Think in terms of wire 'mass'. Less mass (thinner wire), for a given OL derived wattage and net resistance, is quicker to heat and will heat to a higher average temperature... and of course, the inverse is true for thicker - greater mass - wire.
HF, as expressed in (mW/mm²) milliwatts per millimeter squared, is not so much a relatable temperature value, as it is representative of electrical potential in the circuit.

If you have a dial or digital caliper, measure your wire thickness and compare it to the value Steam Engine offers as a default for the gauge and type. Frequently, you'll find the wire is not a match for the average... and can effect the resultant actual vs. calculated values, sometimes dramatically.

You start with the Ohm's law calculated, available wattage for a given net resistance. From there, you adjust wire gauge, and if necessary, the net resistance, to obtain a desired heat flux.
While working towards that perfect HF... keep in mind that obtaining a high coil surface area, along with minimal heat capacity and leg power loss are secondary (and with coil surface area, for some, primary) goals.

If you wish to discuss this further, please read my guide and all related blog articles in there entirety... and contact me via personal message.

SoF

 

[anavidfan]

Many people use mechs and have for years with no problems. They, like myself read and learned a lot as we progressed.

The "Simple" is very popular and as safe as any other device if used properly and matched with the right atomizers. The positive pin is very important, its placement etc. I dont have experience with direct to battery contact setups , but here is a great thread, filled with a lot of information and people that would be happy to help.

Hybrid Mech Mods Info and Safe Usage

 

[mhertz]

[...]
Why did you choose to get a smpl for your first mech mod?
[...]

A direct-to-battery mod like the smpl is fine as first mod IF having done the proper needed "homework" first... It was my first mech too...

To the OP, I have 4 clone velocities from 2 different manufacturers and all have protruding and adjustable center pin, and I didn't have to adjust them, as they already protrude and e.g. just 1mm or more is enough. Before using a new atty on a direct-to-battery mod, i'll first match them up against a battery and check for light between battery and atty at the sides of pin.

As long as you always check your atty on an ohm-meter before mounting on the smpl, then you'll have no shorts there and will be fine(with propper batteries inserted correct and propper build of course!)...

Make sure to as said learn ohms law and use steam-engine for max surface-area under wanted heat-flux, and use original batteries, like samsung 25r/30q, lg he2/he4/hg2, sony vtc 4/5 etc.

 

[ilovewillies]

The smpl and rda. Looks like the pin protrudes about 1mm.

Smpl has a slightly different switch from what i've seen on youtube of clones, all copper switch with a circular piece of plastic around it.

It feels ok when pressing it, but have no experience with other mods to compare what is better or worse. Want to find a mech mod/hybrid mod with vent holes at the top for extra safety.

Rest of things haven't arrived yet so will just have to be patient! BTW what website do you use to add photo's that aren't huge?

It's heavier than an ego-t! lol. Are these things indestructible for the most part? I'm wondering how durable the switch is in particular. There might come a time when it's hard to get one of these in Europe where i'll move back to eventually, so would hope it wont break within a year.

 

[mhertz]

Yeah, the switch comes in varies versions, mostly brass switches with either c-clip with full or halv waves and spring, a screwed-in pin instead of c-clip for easier maintenenance, with either spring or magnet and two in all copper, a c-clip and a screwed-in, but yours is the first i've seen, but they simply added some plastic to stop messing up the battery-wrapper when tightened...

Most mechs are very good holding up and can be fixed yourself. Copper can e.g. get messed-up threads when dropping mod with atty on though. Second, most smpl's aren't true one-piece tube and topcap, but the top-cap is press-fitted on(except infinite's) and if dropped the top-cap can get pushed out a bit, but reports state that it can be bashed in OK afterwards...

Btw, in fasttech etc. you can get replacement switches and also in packs of 5, but first read the discussions on there page to find out better if it will fit your type, but they are cheap anyways...

 

[edyle]

The smpl and rda. Looks like the pin protrudes about 1mm.

Smpl has a slightly different switch from what i've seen on youtube of clones, all copper switch with a circular piece of plastic around it.

It feels ok when pressing it, but have no experience with other mods to compare what is better or worse. Want to find a mech mod/hybrid mod with vent holes at the top for extra safety.

Rest of things haven't arrived yet so will just have to be patient! BTW what website do you use to add photo's that aren't huge?

It's heavier than an ego-t! lol. Are these things indestructible for the most part? I'm wondering how durable the switch is in particular. There might come a time when it's hard to get one of these in Europe where i'll move back to eventually, so would hope it wont break within a year.

In terms on indestructability, most tube mechs are basically indestructible;

.

Again, I'll ask the question again:
Why did you choose a smpl for your first mech?
It is a genuine question and not a comment or criticism or some sort of rhetorical snipe.

1: the title of the thread starts with "Is it safe?"
2: your original post says you have been using ego batts
3: you mentioned 0.6 ohms.

 

[bky16]

Moving from a ego to a mech MOD is quite drastic IMO. Getting a regulated MOD, IPV D3, would be nice. Further, you can have a test bed for a new build on a RDA...
After almost a year with regulated MOD, I ordered a SMPL just yesterday... Lol

 

[ilovewillies]

I chose the smpl because apparently the direct connection reduces voltage drop. Also aesthetically prefer something that is just a tube rather than something more ornate/complex.

The praxis v2 is one will try to get too, since it has vent holes at the top but that is also a hybrid. Can see the dangers of using a hybrid as a first mod if one doesn't know the dangers of using the wrong atty with it but in my case was aware already.

 

[ilovewillies]

Everything arrived. Made a .55ohm build. It did work very well, but button has been a nightmare.

It got stuck at one point after pushing in and had to quickly unscrew it to stop it firing. Then later on it fell apart (all of this within a couple of hours of use). Reassembled the switch but now the mod fires if i simply turn the mod upside-down. The switch is easy to rebuild but still gravity will fire it. It also has a magnet ring in it which i didn't realize it should have.

That is so dangerous that it's unusable completely.

Also want to ask, is it normal for the same build to show a different resistance after using it? When i first put the coils into the rda it shows a bit over 6 ohm, after heating the coils and squashing them together it showed around 5.8, now 5.5 after vaping on it a bit.

The batteries look real, no red flags visually. But i've noticed just two hours of use, a fully charged vtc5 from around 4.2 volts down to 3.55. Do mech mods really drain juice that fast?

 

[Bad Ninja]

Everything arrived. Made a .55ohm build. It did work very well, but button has been a nightmare.

It got stuck at one point after pushing in and had to quickly unscrew it to stop it firing. Then later on it fell apart (all of this within a couple of hours of use). Reassembled the switch but now the mod fires if i simply turn the mod upside-down. The switch is easy to rebuild but still gravity will fire it. It also has a magnet ring in it which i didn't realize it should have.

That is so dangerous that it's unusable completely.

Also want to ask, is it normal for the same build to show a different resistance after using it? When i first put the coils into the rda it shows a bit over 6 ohm, after heating the coils and squashing them together it showed around 5.8, now 5.5 after vaping on it a bit.

The batteries look real, no red flags visually. But i've noticed just two hours of use, a fully charged vtc5 from around 4.2 volts down to 3.55. Do mech mods really drain juice that fast?

Don't take this the wrong way but this is exactly why mechanical mods are marketed as "advanced user items", and this is exactly how people have catastrophic failures with their mechanicals.

Before I buy any mechanical, I examine breakdown pics and make sure I fully understand the design.

If gravity is causing your mod to fire and it has magnets instead of a spring they are installed incorrectly.

 

[sig-cmt]

The switch is easy to rebuild but still gravity will fire it. It also has a magnet ring in it....

You mean two ring magnets? If one is missing, start looking around for it...

...is it normal for the same build to show a different resistance after using it?

Typically rises. Plus/minus 0.05 ohm is well within the accurancy range of what you are likely using to measure resistance.

...two hours of use, a fully charged vtc5 from around 4.2 volts down to 3.55. Do mech mods really drain juice that fast?

Depends on your build and how often you vape. But generally, yes (the twisted 22g KA1/26g Ti1 @ 0.08 ohm dual build on the Velocity below is a certified battery drainer). It's why many users of tube mechs carry spare batteries in a pouch, or a caddy while on the go.

 

[edyle]

I chose the smpl because apparently the direct connection reduces voltage drop. Also aesthetically prefer something that is just a tube rather than something more ornate/complex.

The praxis v2 is one will try to get too, since it has vent holes at the top but that is also a hybrid. Can see the dangers of using a hybrid as a first mod if one doesn't know the dangers of using the wrong atty with it but in my case was aware already.

The mod/rda I use is a true hybrid direct connect, and not like the smpl or praxis which are merely mods without centerpin.
I use a nemesis with a 3d rda; direct m20x0.5 threading connection.

 

[KenD]

You mean two ring magnets? If one is missing, start looking around for it...


Typically rises. How are you measuring resistance? Multimeter? External ohm meter? Plus/minus 0.05 ohm is well within the accurancy range of most measurement tools.


Depends on your build and how often you vape. But generally, yes (the twisted 22g KA1/26g Ti1 @ 0.08 ohm dual build on the Velocity below is a certified battery drainer). It's why many users of tube mechs carry spare batteries in a pouch, or a caddy while on the go.

View attachment 518320

Are you doing 0.08 with a single battery mech!? Even with HB2's, man.

Sent from my M7_PLUS using Tapatalk

 

[sig-cmt]

Are you doing 0.08 with a single battery mech!? Even with HB2's, man.

I understand the concern (and rightfully so). A 0.08 ohm build is normally vaped like this...

...but what is pictured is a test build for a local comp (copper SMPL+ with an unplated negative will eventually be used) fired with short, infrequent pulses.

 

[mhertz]

Personally, my limit is 0.09 for single cell mechs with a samsung 25r. I'm now running 0.12, but I just mean that I theoretically would not go under 0.09, and have only run a 0.09 shortly one time, but rebuilt because of not completely happy with it(first time making dual parallel 22g macros KA1)

I don't recommend this to other mech users, and the recommendation to go by CDR is good in general for people, but my personal stance is that vaping is pulsing, but however, we cannot just go by pulse-ratings in general as there's no standard for how long pulses are tested at, but we can however, for each cell, check the battery specs, to see what the pulse-ratings corresponds to, e.g. the samsung 25r is 5sec pulses of 45a and 100a for 0.5sec etc. Those values are the ones I personally use as max values, but again, not recommending out to people! When I say max values, then I mean also max values with also time to quickly dump the cells out if stuck fire-button!

This obviously applies, that I a) don't ever leave a "loaded" mech/atty unattended and so take the cells out if going out and b) I make sure to be on the lookout for that if any stuck firebutton, then I quickly needs to take the cells out.

That's just me though

And for the third time, the above is my own usage and not my recomendation!

Btw, I always say to myself, I never want/need to go lower than this, but then after trying a quick time a little lower build, then it's hard to go back to the older builds, since the warmth and thick dense vapor is just so fulfilling, so my limits has gradually dropped lower and lower down I must admit, and i'm no cloud-chaser at all, but just love to inhale/exhale nice thick dense vapor very much

 

[sig-cmt]

I don't recommend this to other mech users...the above is my own usage and not my recomendation!

Ditto.

...I always say to myself, I never want/need to go lower than this, but then after trying a ...lower build ...it's hard to go back to the older builds

Same here