Long time lurker ready to RBA?

[Sknawt]

Hello EFC; long time listener, first time caller.

I've been vaping for a year with various vw/vv mods. Yesterday, I was back in my hometown which has a VERY good vaping shop. While there, I decided on picking up an RBA; the IGO-W to be precise. The shop employee asked if I had a mech mod at home and if I had a protected IMR battery(which I do) so he hooked me up with building me the atty so it would be ready-to-go. I got back home, did a couple of hours of research, tested the RBA he built me and was a bit freaked out. He built me a .3 ohm atty and didn't even ask if my AW IMR was 2000 or 1600 mAh... Anyways, I'm so glad I didn't fire it up on my 2000 battery and just wanted to say thanks for all the great information on here; literally could've saved my life.

I do however have a couple of questions:

1. When checking with a multimeter a 3.7 battery that is being used, at what voltage do you safely stop using it and put it to charge?
2. How do I safely carry backup batteries so they do not short?

Thanks once again, EFC!

 

[Baditude]

1. When checking with a multimeter a 3.7 battery that is being used, at what voltage do you safely stop using it and put it to charge?

A freshly charged battery should read @ 4.2 bolts off a quality charger. You can run them down safely to 3.4 - 3.5 volts.

2. How do I safely carry backup batteries so they do not short?

Get some plastic battery cases like these from RTD Vapor: Battery Cases. I also highly recommend you get a Vape Safe Mod Fuse for a mechanical mod. These fit on the bottom end of the battery via the magnet.




I get so disgusted when I read of these vapor shops who sell pre-made sub-ohm coil RBAs. What he did was pure negligence. He knew full well this was your first RBA, yet did what he did. It is this type of inexcusable business practice which could cause the use of mods to be outlawed by the FDA. It only would take one well-publicised accident with severe battery failure to gain national media attention and put the FDA on alert and make the decision to ban mods because consumers "can't be trusted to use them safely". It may only take one incident to affect all the rest of us.

Thank goodness you are a safe vapor, had some knowledge of proper batteries to use, had a multimeter, and checked the coils prior to use. I would either return the RBA to the vendor and have him re-do the coil or demand a refund.

I would NOT call this vaping shop a VERY GOOD shop if they promote unsafe vaping habits for their customers. I don't care how good their gear or prices might be, SAFETY should always be the number one priority in vaping.


Here, I'll toss you some freebies for being a wise vapor:

Battery Basics for Mods: IMR or Protected?

Mechanical Mod Proper Usage Guide

Advice & Tips for New RBA Users

 

[suspectK]

3 deciohms..sounds like a good few puffs on a fully charged battery...lol

Typically, I charge my batteries at 3.3 volts or above. I don't like to go any lower than that, and I'm only using regulated PVs. With a mechanical and subohm coils I'd keep it around there, but would stay in the habbit of properly discharging the batteries once a month. The discharge rate is 3.7 volts and capacity 4.2.

They make plastic cases to carry batteries. If i wasn't on phone, I'd be a good person and point you to them. I know smoktek.com has them, so you can see what they look like. I use an ego case or an empty, dry pocket. A plastic ziplock bag in good condition will work well also.

 

[Ryedan]

I got back home, did a couple of hours of research, tested the RBA he built me and was a bit freaked out. He built me a .3 ohm atty and didn't even ask if my AW IMR was 2000 or 1600 mAh...

Welcome to ECFSknawt. Wow, this i scarey. Good for you for doing the research and protecting yourself. I just wonder how many people are out there vaping on this setup who don't have a clue about what they have.

Wow.

 

[Baditude]

Welcome to ECFSknawt. Wow, this i scarey. Good for you for doing the research and protecting yourself. I just wonder how many people are out there vaping on this setup who don't have a clue about what they have.

Wow.

This is the fourth time I have read of a vapor shop in Southern California make Sub-Ohm Coils for a first time RBA user in the last 6 weeks. The first one that I read about was a brand new vapor who received a new mech mod and new RBA with a Sub-Ohm coil and made a post wondering why his spring had collapsed and why was his battery and mod too hot to touch. The kid didn't even know what a multimeter is or what one is used for.

 

[suspectK]

It's scary to think about. If that's the fourth time you've heard something like this, imagine how many people using this type of advice/builds that don't use ecf..

 

[Sknawt]

Double post.

 

[Sknawt]

Thank you all for the great and timely advice. I'm fortunate enough to have so many veteran vapors to ask advice from!

Unfortunately, there are tons of similar shops opening in the greater Los Angeles area. I have no doubt that there are many uninformed RBA users who frequent these shops. The owners are doubtlessly greedy and evil, if not, uninformed themselves; the latter being highly unlikely. I will never take my business back to that shop or any of them for that matter as I'm not bothered to find out their ethical practices.

The scary part is that these shop owners are not only putting their customers at risk, but anyone who comes within close proximity to them. I don't know if I should file some sort of business complaint or what the right thing to do is. What do you guys think?


@Baditude You were actually the one who provided the information I gathered during my research. Your blog posts are definitely being put to good use. Thank you.

 

[Scarey]

Welcome to ECFSknawt. Wow, this i scarey. Good for you for doing the research and protecting yourself. I just wonder how many people are out there vaping on this setup who don't have a clue about what they have.

Wow.

Hey! That's not me! I think you meany "Scary." One means frightening; the other means a heavy metal fan named Carey. I know it's easy to mix the two up, but...

 

[Scarey]

This is the fourth time I have read of a vapor shop in Southern California make Sub-Ohm Coils for a first time RBA user in the last 6 weeks. The first one that I read about was a brand new vapor who received a new mech mod and new RBA with a Sub-Ohm coil and made a post wondering why his spring had collapsed and why was his battery and mod too hot to touch. The kid didn't even know what a multimeter is or what one is used for.

Jeesh! Good thing that dude had a hot spring in his mod...

 

[Baditude]

The scary part is that these shop owners are not only putting their customers at risk, but anyone who comes within close proximity to them. I don't know if I should file some sort of business complaint or what the right thing to do is. What do you guys think?

@Baditude You were actually the one who provided the information I gathered during my research. Your blog posts are definitely being put to good use. Thank you.

Thanks, Sknawt. Glad that my blog perhaps saved you an unfortunate incident. That was my intention in creating my blogs. I'm all about safety ever since I had a battery go into thermal runaway. It's scary !

I don't have an answer. I know that my local AltSmoke vape shop in my city has a strict policy for their staff to not make a coil under 1.0 ohm. It would be nice to somehow encourage these Californian shops to voluntarily do the same, but they likely would ignore that suggestion unless somehow pressured by some type of authority. Obviously there is no authority to govern the safe use of vaping products until the FDA's deeming regulations go into effect.

I'd like to hear how other vapors feel about going about this.

 

[suspectK]

I'd like to go in this direction to handle this issue.

 

[Sknawt]

I think that may be illegal. Not to mention there will also be collateral damage to adjacent businesses D: If I had a melted battery laying around, I would go to the shop and pretend it was their fault, but I'm not a great actor.

Jokes aside, maybe an anonymously shipped box with a melted battery inside, along with a note stating how dangerous what they're doing is and Baditude's mechanical mod related blog posts printed out incase they are truly uninformed?

 

[suspectK]

Too passive aggresive for my taste..

 

[Baditude]

I think that may be illegal. Not to mention there will also be collateral damage to adjacent businesses D:

Jokes aside, if I had a melted battery laying around, I would go to the shop and pretend it was their fault, but I'm not a great actor. Maybe an anonymously shipped box with a melted battery inside, along with a note stating how dangerous what they're doing is and Batitude's mechanical mod related blog posts printed out incase they are truly uninformed?

May or may not work. Li Ion batteries are sold on websites that have warnings and disclaimers that they can be dangerous if not used safely. They'll likely disregard any wrong doing on their part and say, "Let the buyer beware".

If they are uninformed, providing some printed material might open their minds to be more safety conscious and change their business practices.

My experience from this forum is that the people who do Sub-Ohm fall into two categories. Those that know what they are doing and take precautions to do it with some "reasonable" safety, and those who are ignorant and uneducated and are playing Russian Roulette.

 

[Sknawt]

I wish I could be assured they'd take me seriously if I just confronted them like a normal human being. I'll do it the next time I'm in their area. Hopefully they will.

 

[Ryedan]

Do these guys have a FB presence?

 

[Ryedan]

I wish I could be assured they'd take me seriously if I just confronted them like a normal human being. I'll do it the next time I'm in their area. Hopefully they will.

If you are cool with this I can't see it possibly making the situation any worse. If it were me I would print out some information on batteries, try to talk to a manger or owner and try to get the point across that if someone gets hurt they are going to be the first people who get sued. I think that might get their attention. If not, at least you tried.

 

[DasBluCig]

There have been a couple of posts from members of Special Forces.......they point out that a battery like those used in vaping can be "modified" into an IED in a manner akin to sub-ohm coil construction (NOTE: NO SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS ARE - OR WILL BE - POSTED!!)...
Just saying.....if you don't know EXACTLY what you're doing with sub-ohm coil building...DON'T RISK IT!
And.....most CERTAINLY.....NEVER "trust" the guy at the local b&m to tell you this or that is "safe"!!
It's like hand-loaded ammunition.....I do it under the safest possible conditions.....BUT under NO circumstances will I EVER let ANYONE ELSE use it!! Nor will I ever use theirs, regardless of how "safe" they tell me it is!!
It's why parachutists PACK THEIR OWN CHUTES!!!
OK....off my soapbox!!

 

[OlDogNewTricks]

Unfortunately, there have always been and will always be unscrupulous business people. There are some good ones that are teaching when they have the chance. However, there are plenty of consumers that seem videos of huge clouds or others blowing them and want them. Many don't consider or even care about the risks until something bad happens. Please, learn to vape first. Learn the juices and delivery methods first. You can always upgrade later. Your experience will be much better and safer if you do. Youtube is your friend. ECF is your friend. RDAs/RBAs are advanced devices, even Fasttech says so, lol. Welcome, good luck and have fun!