Looking to get into Dripping

[Sean Pereira]

As the title suggests, I'm looking at getting into dripping, my local vape shop who I'm quite friendly with doesn't understand why I'm not doing it already, but as I'm still fairly new to the world of vaping, all these different devices confuse the hell out of me, I'm familiar with rebuilding coils and re-wicking and already doing this with my Kanger tanks, and to be honest, the dripping units appear to be much easier to change these parts, I'm forever changing my flavours, and at the moment this involves removing the stopper from my bottles and tipping what's left in my tank back into the bottle then cleaning the tank before filing with something new, dripping also allows for easy testing of new flavours.

So really I'm open suggestions, I was looking at this dripper which comes with everything needed to get going, coils etc., any good ? I'm always a little hesitant with eBay and some of the junk I've had off there
MAD HATTER RDA new UK seller 1:1 +spares dripper freakshow troll plume clouds | eBay

but I'm a bit stuck and need some suggestions when it comes to the mechanical mod, I would like something which I can change voltage or wattage on with a display if possible, I would prefer pen / stick type rather than a mod box, again, I'm open to suggestions ?

Thanks for your help.

 

[dw117]

Difficult to say how good quality the machining on that clone dripper would be but it will likely be useable. Probably better with clones buying from a website with reviews so you can see whats duff and whats good.

Are you looking to buy from a UK shop or would you be ok waiting a few weeks in delivery for a cheaper price from china? (That's a choice most of us have to make a fair bit with vaping, can get most things cheaper from china but it takes longer to arrive).

As for the mod, trying not to sound rude but I think you need to read up a bit on what the difference between different types of mod are. But essentially:

Fully 'Mechanical' mods contain no wires or circuitry and hence no display or control over voltage/wattage. You get the voltage the battery naturally gives. The mod is fired mechanically using a switch that contacts the battery somehow. They vary a bit. Mech mods work well with dripping but it is essential you understand what you're doing with ohms law and battery safety. This is very important. (apologies if you know this but I always hammer it home anyway).

Variable voltage/wattage mods with displays where you can alter the power are typically box shaped these days. You can get a tube shaped one if you'd really like but boxs are more popular and therefore there are more of them. If you're worried it'll feel/look weird holding a box then I;d say you'll probably get used to it. Not all of these will be very suitable for dripping but some will be ideal. Battery safety is again important (as always) but there will typically be protection measures built into the mod if it's variable wattage which is safer.

Watch these videos for a better idea of the differences between the two types of device. This guy is ok, he doesn't always get things 100% correct but they're the best videos I could think of for explaining this kind of thing.

This one is about variable wattage mods:


This one is about mech mods and drippers:


Alternatively google it, I'm sure they'll be some kind of guide written somewhere.

Don't be shy with follow up questions there's a lot of info to take in at this point in vaping but it's worth the effort I found.

 

[Sean Pereira]

Difficult to say how good quality the machining on that clone dripper would be but it will likely be useable. Probably better with clones buying from a website with reviews so you can see whats duff and whats good.

Are you looking to buy from a UK shop or would you be ok waiting a few weeks in delivery for a cheaper price from china? (That's a choice most of us have to make a fair bit with vaping, can get most things cheaper from china but it takes longer to arrive).

As for the mod, trying not to sound rude but I think you need to read up a bit on what the difference between different types of mod are. But essentially:

Fully 'Mechanical' mods contain no wires or circuitry and hence no display or control over voltage/wattage. You get the voltage the battery naturally gives. The mod is fired mechanically using a switch that contacts the battery somehow. They vary a bit. Mech mods work well with dripping but it is essential you understand what you're doing with ohms law and battery safety. This is very important. (apologies if you know this but I always hammer it home anyway).

Variable voltage/wattage mods with displays where you can alter the power are typically box shaped these days. You can get a tube shaped one if you'd really like but boxs are more popular and therefore there are more of them. If you're worried it'll feel/look weird holding a box then I;d say you'll probably get used to it. Not all of these will be very suitable for dripping but some will be ideal. Battery safety is again important (as always) but there will typically be protection measures built into the mod if it's variable wattage which is safer.

Watch these videos for a better idea of the differences between the two types of device. This guy is ok, he doesn't always get things 100% correct but they're the best videos I could think of for explaining this kind of thing.

This one is about variable wattage mods:


This one is about mech mods and drippers:


Alternatively google it, I'm sure they'll be some kind of guide written somewhere.

Don't be shy with follow up questions there's a lot of info to take in at this point in vaping but it's worth the effort I found.

Thanks for the info, ive been watching tonnes of Video's regarding building coils on these things etc, to be honest, they appear to be much easier to build coils on rather than coils in a tank.

What do you mean clone dripper ? I brought it from the UK, should have it tomorrow, as I'm off, I was going to knock a setup together, dual coil, something like 0.4 or 0.5 ohm, (7 or 8 wraps of 24 gauge) got all the kit ready and waiting for the dripper and then take it into my local shop, they guy behind the counter I'm quite friendly with, he drips all the time, ill get him to give it a check over to make sure everything is ok before I fire it, just to be on the safe side.

Currently I have a Cool Fire 4, not sure if this is powerful enough to fire a dual coil dripper ? but I'm trying to get my hands on a Sigelei 75w, they seem to be selling out fast everywhere at the moment, will stick to the regulated box mods I think, far too many horror stories about the unregulated mechanical mods, even go as far as screwing the battery cover on too tight.

The other reviews ive found regarding the mad hatter say they work best with parallel coils, just no one tells you how to build them, so I have a bit more research to do, below is a picture of an 8 wrap 24 gauge, 2.5mm coil which I knocked together in about 10 secs, not bad for first attempt, just make another one of those ready for the dripper, and will squeeze it tighter together once its in situ.

Ive even been studying ohm's law, and I have to admit, up until now, I believed the resulting ohm's was down to how many wraps you do, but I was totally wrong, its down to the length of wire used.

 

[dw117]

Thanks for the info, ive been watching tonnes of Video's regarding building coils on these things etc, to be honest, they appear to be much easier to build coils on rather than coils in a tank.

What do you mean clone dripper ? I brought it from the UK, should have it tomorrow, as I'm off, I was going to knock a setup together, dual coil, something like 0.4 or 0.5 ohm, (7 or 8 wraps of 24 gauge) got all the kit ready and waiting for the dripper and then take it into my local shop, they guy behind the counter I'm quite friendly with, he drips all the time, ill get him to give it a check over to make sure everything is ok before I fire it, just to be on the safe side.

Currently I have a Cool Fire 4, not sure if this is powerful enough to fire a dual coil dripper ? but I'm trying to get my hands on a Sigelei 75w, they seem to be selling out fast everywhere at the moment, will stick to the regulated box mods I think, far too many horror stories about the unregulated mechanical mods, even go as far as screwing the battery cover on too tight.

The other reviews ive found regarding the mad hatter say they work best with parallel coils, just no one tells you how to build them, so I have a bit more research to do, below is a picture of an 8 wrap 24 gauge, 2.5mm coil which I knocked together in about 10 secs, not bad for first attempt, just make another one of those ready for the dripper, and will squeeze it tighter together once its in situ.

Ive even been studying ohm's law, and I have to admit, up until now, I believed the resulting ohm's was down to how many wraps you do, but I was totally wrong, its down to the length of wire used.

View attachment 480497

Yeah building on drippers is easier than tanks I think. Much more forgiving and easier to tinker if you don't get it just right first try.

The description on the ebay item you linked says: "A great quality brand new Mad Hatter Rda 1:1 clone." so it hasn't been manufactured by the original company. Most likely a factory in china has copied it. It may well be just as good as an original though. With clones it varies a lot. A genuine mad hatter RDA would cost a bit more.

The cool fire 4 can fire down to 0.3 ohms by spec, so a dual coil 24 gauge kanthal build will probably be getting towards that. I have a 24 gauge dual coil in an RDA at the moment at 2.4mm diameter 6 wraps on both coils and it's about 0.25 ohms. So if the mod won't fire it try making them bigger next time or more wraps. The 40 watts the cool fire will give you will probably be a decent vape but this is all depending on taste. Some like their dual coil drippers at much higher. But before you go buying another mod give it a go it might be plenty for you.

For your coil building try playing around with the settings on this, with different wire gauges or diameter or coils and target resistance, it'll tell you how many wraps to do roughly:
Coil wrapping | Steam Engine | free vaping calculators
It'll give you an idea of what the resistance should be, but in the real world it might be a bit different.

As for parallel builds, check this video out:


This guy is a bit mad but does good building videos. I'd recommend doing some normal single strand coils first before you try anything more complicated like this. A parallel coil is like a dual coil in resistance as it's two pieces of wire, two coils, they just happen to be next to each other.

Hope this helps!

 

[Sean Pereira]

Yeah building on drippers is easier than tanks I think. Much more forgiving and easier to tinker if you don't get it just right first try.

The description on the ebay item you linked says: "A great quality brand new Mad Hatter Rda 1:1 clone." so it hasn't been manufactured by the original company. Most likely a factory in china has copied it. It may well be just as good as an original though. With clones it varies a lot. A genuine mad hatter RDA would cost a bit more.

The cool fire 4 can fire down to 0.3 ohms by spec, so a dual coil 24 gauge kanthal build will probably be getting towards that. I have a 24 gauge dual coil in an RDA at the moment at 2.4mm diameter 6 wraps on both coils and it's about 0.25 ohms. So if the mod won't fire it try making them bigger next time or more wraps. The 40 watts the cool fire will give you will probably be a decent vape but this is all depending on taste. Some like their dual coil drippers at much higher. But before you go buying another mod give it a go it might be plenty for you.

For your coil building try playing around with the settings on this, with different wire gauges or diameter or coils and target resistance, it'll tell you how many wraps to do roughly:
Coil wrapping | Steam Engine | free vaping calculators
It'll give you an idea of what the resistance should be, but in the real world it might be a bit different.

As for parallel builds, check this video out:


This guy is a bit mad but does good building videos. I'd recommend doing some normal single strand coils first before you try anything more complicated like this. A parallel coil is like a dual coil in resistance as it's two pieces of wire, two coils, they just happen to be next to each other.

Hope this helps!

Thank you so much for all your help, well here she is, took 2 attempts to build the coils, but I'm Mr perfect, so there was probably nothing wrong with the first ones, except one leg broke due to screwing down to much on the first build attempt, firing brilliant on my Cool Fire 4 at 30 watts, the coils came out at 9 wraps of 24 AWG wire gave me 0.37ohms, pretty much spot on, I was aiming for approx. 4ohms, running my own mixed liquid through it, 80VG 20PG 4mg nic, great taste, great clouds, amazing how cool the smoke comes up too, not hot and no spit back.

 

[dw117]

Thank you so much for all your help, well here she is, took 2 attempts to build the coils, but I'm Mr perfect, so there was probably nothing wrong with the first ones, except one leg broke due to screwing down to much on the first build attempt, firing brilliant on my Cool Fire 4 at 30 watts, the coils came out at 9 wraps of 24 AWG wire gave me 0.37ohms, pretty much spot on, I was aiming for approx. 4ohms, running my own mixed liquid through it, 80VG 20PG 4mg nic, great taste, great clouds, amazing how cool the smoke comes up too, not hot and no spit back.

View attachment 480709 View attachment 480710 View attachment 480711 View attachment 480712

Yeah nice one looks fine to me. Welcome to the world of rebuilding!