Lower Omhs/Volts or Higher Ohms/Volts - & Some Thoughts

[Garnoch]

Okay, I've been at this long enough to do a search first (3 years) but I haven't found the exact questions or answers I'm looking for. This link was the closest thread, but it's closed so I can't reply to it.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...resistance-etc-confused-have-questions-2.html

So here goes a new thread about an often talked about topic. Sorry about the longish backstory but it may help others and may help with giving answers. Although I've been at it for 3 years, I've mostly just used eGo style batteries but a week ago decided to jump into VV/VW. After a lot or research, I felt the Sigelei ZMax fit me best along with an eGo Twist as a smaller back up. I love both and know I made a good choice for myself. In fact I'll be picking up another Twist and have found the only reason I like the larger mod is to easily check to actual resistance of the cartomizer/clearomizer/atomizer/tank, etc. (I'll mostly just call it atty for now on), and for the much longer battery life. Other than that, the Twist is perfect and great to simply dial in the correct voltage for the atty I'm using at the time. I made sure I did the research ahead of time to basically understand ohms law and how that translate into what voltage I should be using and that it comes down to what the power output is (watts). I would say that anywhere from 6 to 8.5 watts is usually nice, usually landing between 7.5 and 8 for me. I also realize that for me this translates to approximately setting voltage by adding "2" to what the resistance of the atty it. As an example, I like 4v on one of my 2.1 ohm M3s. I realize what also dictates this is the juice and personal preference on taste, etc. Speaking of juice, although I've tried a few in the past week, I'm mainly using Halo Tribeca and Halo Kringle's Curse with these at the moment.

Here's what I bought as an initial trial run with these PVs....
Kanger M3 (x5)
Kanger T3
Smoktech DCT with 5 cartos
Vision eGo Clearomizer
Vision Vivi Nova
Spitfire

Questions:

1. It seems to me that power is what matters and you set your voltage to match your resistance. That being said, is there any difference between running approximately a 1.5 ohm atty at 3.5 volts or a 3 ohm atty at 5 volts? I see no difference, so who cares if you're running higher voltage as long as you match the resistance correctly?

2. If your power (watts) is about the same when running a 1.5 ohm atty at 3.5 volts or a 3 ohm atty at 5 volts, is there really a larger power drain at 5 volts?

3. Why do I hear some people running crazy high voltage or power, because although you can get a lot of vapor that way, juice just tastes like crap and burnt when not matching your resistance?

4. My last question is a little more complicated. The M3 and the DCT work perfectly as described. I haven't tried the Spitfire or Viva Nova yet. The T3 and the Vision eGo clearo are just ticking me off though. The clearo is 1.7 ohms and the T3 is 2.3 ohms. I have to run both at relatively low voltage or power though in order to not have it taste like crap. Lets just talk power for this. If I run the Vmax at either 7.5 or 8 watts, the M3 and DCT are awesome, but the clearo and T3 are not. And when I do run lower voltage/power for those two, I'm still not happy and I have to fire longer to get anything half way decent. So, do they just suck, did I just get bad ones, or is there something I'm missing?

That being said, I have to say that although it's small, the M3 is insanely good. Outstanding vapor, th and taste. I'm really surprised by them and will order more even though they are small. I also want to give props to VaporAlley and MyVaporStore for quick shipping and especially Rick at VaporAlley for amazing customer service.

Thanks in advance for the answers, guys.

 

[dBm0]

Hi Garnoch and welcome to Variable Heat (VH) vaping...LOL. I thought it was all centered on watts too, until I started noticing that the same juice would have different sweet-spot wattages depending on the atty/tank system I was using and then I happened across this thread, post #29 made a lot of sense to me.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...s-all-about-wire-temp-read-3.html#post7647151

 

[Garnoch]

Thanks for the link. Funny, that being said about watts, even though I wanted a VV/VW option, I could have just stuck with VV. I find I'm preferring it over wattage. One, I can dial it in more exact, and two, although you'd think everything at say 8 watts should vape about the same, they really don't - even the two I'm enjoying. Thanks again.

 

[flintlock62]

I guess I'm a dummy too. I hear of people boasting "I vape at 18 watts"! I have to think, "huh"? Won't that fry your juice, or burn out your coil, both?

Okay, I've been at this long enough to do a search first (3 years) but I haven't found the exact questions or answers I'm looking for. This link was the closest thread, but it's closed so I can't reply to it.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...resistance-etc-confused-have-questions-2.html

So here goes a new thread about an often talked about topic. Sorry about the longish backstory but it may help others and may help with giving answers. Although I've been at it for 3 years, I've mostly just used eGo style batteries but a week ago decided to jump into VV/VW. After a lot or research, I felt the Sigelei ZMax fit me best along with an eGo Twist as a smaller back up. I love both and know I made a good choice for myself. In fact I'll be picking up another Twist and have found the only reason I like the larger mod is to easily check to actual resistance of the cartomizer/clearomizer/atomizer/tank, etc. (I'll mostly just call it atty for now on), and for the much longer battery life. Other than that, the Twist is perfect and great to simply dial in the correct voltage for the atty I'm using at the time. I made sure I did the research ahead of time to basically understand ohms law and how that translate into what voltage I should be using and that it comes down to what the power output is (watts). I would say that anywhere from 6 to 8.5 watts is usually nice, usually landing between 7.5 and 8 for me. I also realize that for me this translates to approximately setting voltage by adding "2" to what the resistance of the atty it. As an example, I like 4v on one of my 2.1 ohm M3s. I realize what also dictates this is the juice and personal preference on taste, etc. Speaking of juice, although I've tried a few in the past week, I'm mainly using Halo Tribeca and Halo Kringle's Curse with these at the moment.

Here's what I bought as an initial trial run with these PVs....
Kanger M3 (x5)
Kanger T3
Smoktech DCT with 5 cartos
Vision eGo Clearomizer
Vision Vivi Nova
Spitfire

Questions:

1. It seems to me that power is what matters and you set your voltage to match your resistance. That being said, is there any difference between running approximately a 1.5 ohm atty at 3.5 volts or a 3 ohm atty at 5 volts? I see no difference, so who cares if you're running higher voltage as long as you match the resistance correctly?

2. If your power (watts) is about the same when running a 1.5 ohm atty at 3.5 volts or a 3 ohm atty at 5 volts, is there really a larger power drain at 5 volts?

3. Why do I hear some people running crazy high voltage or power, because although you can get a lot of vapor that way, juice just tastes like crap and burnt when not matching your resistance?

4. My last question is a little more complicated. The M3 and the DCT work perfectly as described. I haven't tried the Spitfire or Viva Nova yet. The T3 and the Vision eGo clearo are just ticking me off though. The clearo is 1.7 ohms and the T3 is 2.3 ohms. I have to run both at relatively low voltage or power though in order to not have it taste like crap. Lets just talk power for this. If I run the Vmax at either 7.5 or 8 watts, the M3 and DCT are awesome, but the clearo and T3 are not. And when I do run lower voltage/power for those two, I'm still not happy and I have to fire longer to get anything half way decent. So, do they just suck, did I just get bad ones, or is there something I'm missing?

That being said, I have to say that although it's small, the M3 is insanely good. Outstanding vapor, th and taste. I'm really surprised by them and will order more even though they are small. I also want to give props to VaporAlley and MyVaporStore for quick shipping and especially Rick at VaporAlley for amazing customer service.

Thanks in advance for the answers, guys.

 

[Thompson]

As far as question one & two goes, will be the amperage needed to push the power. Lower voltages always require higher amps.

Using the figures you posted:

I = V/R

3.5/1.5 = 2.33 Amps
5/3 = 1.67 Amps

This will have an effect on battery life, but I've seen so many opinions saying each one will give you extended life I honestly have no clue, and pay very little attention to it myself. This is also completely ignoring the boost circuit that is used by VV/VW mods, its efficiency and any other effect it may have.

Question Three, some flavors do pop at different wattages. I've rarely gone above around 11 watts myself, as it just starts tasting funky. Its pretty lost on me too. I do know that you'll need an appropriate wick to reach these power levels (such as ceramic or SS mesh) as they won't scorch/burn through.

Question Four, make sure you always check the resistance of stock heads. With the Vivi Nova I'll get one out of five that meters the appropriate stamped resistance. Their QC is a joke. I've also noticed with VVN heads that they wrap the coils insanely tight and to me, it seems to choke off the liquid flow in the wick, causing dry burns and muted flavor.

 

[Garnoch]

Ah good point about amps.

Agreed about some flavors needing different wattages but my issues included using the same juice on all four "attys".

And yeah, being able to easily check the resistance is great and key for me.

Thanks, everyone.

 

[dBm0]

Very welcome Garnoch and great points you made. I'm right there with ya trying to understand what’s going on here. Was wondering about the point that Thompson is making about the amp draw. So, we know that we can balance watts by raising volts for high res atties to hit the same wattage we hit with lower volts and lower res atties and higher voltage/res configurations pull less amps on the battery than lower volts/res configurations do. If we had identical atties with the same material, construction type, air flow characteristics...etc, but the only difference being the resistance of the coil, what is better for our batteries charge time? Run them at lower volts or running them at lower amps to maintain that same heat?

Edit to add that I'm guessing that running higher amp draw configurations would be worse for charge times, but not sure.

 

[Garnoch]

Yeah I think in the example above, the lower ohm carto could actually drain the battery a little faster even though you're running the PV at lower voltage and approximately the same wattage.