Basics
What is an electronic cigarette? How does it work? Are they just as bad as regular cigarettes? These are questions everyone has when they first hear about electronic cigarettes. In this section we are going to briefly touch on the different aspects of
vaping and electronic cigarettes.
History
The first person reported to have the idea for an electronic cigarette was Herbert A. Gilbert, an American inventor. He patented the idea for a “smokeless non-tobacco device.” In his patent he explained the device worked by “replacing burning tobacco and paper with heated, moist, flavored air.” There was no nicotine in his device; users were inhaling flavored steam only. The device was never commercialized, it is believed by most, because of a combination of tobacco and pharmaceutical companies and the widespread acceptance of smoking in the 60’s.
The first electronic cigarette to be commercialized was developed in 2003 in Beijing, China by a man named Hon Lik, who was a pharmacist, inventor, and heavy smoker. He said he began work on the first e-cig when his father, also a heavy smoker, passed away from lung cancer. He received financial backing by the company he worked for, Golden Dragon Holding, who changed their name to Ruyan shortly afterwards, which means “to smoke.” The Chinese market took to electronic cigarettes very quickly, and it spread quickly to Europe. E-cigs made their way to America in 2006-2007.
3 Types of Electronic Cigarette
Mini
Lookalikes
Usually auto-draw
Small batteries, usually 125 – 280 mAh
Pack a day smoker would need 4 – 6 batteries
Minimum ohm is usually around 2.0, which is high
Does not provide adequate nicotine for most users
Some consider them a placebo
Mid
eGo models
Most are manual
Much higher mAh than minis, 650 at least
Produce more vapor
Can use many different tanks
Can use differing ohm levels
Most use 510 threads
Most reported cases of fires, caused by cheap chargers and overcharging
Inexpensive
Good performance, but not the best
Most common style of e-cig
Mods
More features, more power
Two main styles, tube or box
Two main subtypes, regulated and mechanical
Usually not good for beginners, too many features or too big
Much higher mAh, longer battery life
Solid construction
Devices with external batteries may last a lifetime if cared for properly
Most expensive
Cloud chasing possible with mech mods
Here at Simply Vapors you will mainly be dealing with the mid-sized electronic cigarettes and mods. We very rarely ever deal with mini sized electronic cigarettes. This is due to their poor performance and low success rate with users stopping smoking.
Parts of an E-Cig
When people talk about an electronic cigarette they are actually talking about a few different parts that, when combined, make up another device. Any one piece of an electronic cigarette isn’t going to be good for anything alone. All the different pieces must also be in good working order, because if any one part is not working none of the pieces will function properly.
“Tops”
The top piece of an electronic cigarette is what you will hear most often called a tank. This is a general term most customers will use for any top piece of an e-cig where you put the liquid. There are many different types of tops, but the most common you will deal with are clearomizers and RBAs.
Clearomizers are tops that are made up of a tank to hold the liquid, a prebuilt atomizer (called a coil or wick), and a mouthpiece. They can be top or bottom fed, and has single or dual coils. These are the top that most people quit smoking with. They provide adequate vapor, are relatively simple to use, and have little upkeep.
RBA is an abbreviation for rebuildable atomizers. RBAs are tops that you must build your own coil for. Some, called drippers or RDAs, require the user to drip your liquid onto your coil every few hits. Others have tanks that hold the liquid, and are referred to as RTAs or RDTAs. RBAs provide much better vapor production and flavor than clearomizers, and most users believe RDAs specifically have the best flavor of any type of RBA. RBAs are usually for more experienced users and have a higher learning curve. They are most commonly used with mechanical mods, and if users do not receive proper education mech mods and RBAs can be dangerous.
“Wicks”
The “wick” or “coil” is the most common term you will hear for what is actually called an atomizer. The atomizer is actually made up of a couple of different parts, which include wicking material and a coil. The atomizer is the piece inside the tank that soaks up and then heats the liquid to produce the vapor. This is the piece, in a clearomizer, that will be replaced every couple of weeks. Clearomizers may have single or dual coil atomizers, and they may be a top coil or a bottom coil.
The wick is also the most common cause of problems in a clearomizer. A bad or burned out wick can cause many issues, including leaking, flooding, burnt taste, loss of flavor, loss of vapor production, darkening of liquid, not firing at all, and battery acting like it is dead. The first thing in most situations that should be checked when trouble shooting is the wick. 90% of the time when a customer comes in with an issue it can be resolved with a new wick.
“Bottoms”
The bottom part of an electronic cigarette is what is most commonly referred to as a battery or mod. This can be something as simple as an eGo battery to a regulated mod or a mechanical mod. Most commonly vapers start out using an eGo style battery. They are the simplest of any device; you simply screw on your atomizer and push a button. They have 510 threads, so they can use many types of tops. They also have varying levels of battery life, and some have the ability to adjust the power coming from them to the device to give bigger hits. They are generally small enough for users who want to be discreet.
Usually as vapers become more experienced they upgrade to a regulated or mechanical mod. A mod is a device that has more features than an eGo battery. There is a very large range of features this can include, and no two mods have the same features. These can include prolonged battery life, LED screens, VV or VV/VW, pass through capabilities, ability to charge other USB devices, and many other features. Many users upgrade to a regulated mod after they have become more experienced, as they allow the user greater control of their
vaping experience.
Another choice is a mechanical mod, which are devices that have no electronics on them. This allows the user to use any type of top they like, as well as any ohm coil they want. This leads to much greater control over the
vaping experience. There are also some dangers that come with mech mods, and no one should ever use one without the proper education.
Tops
In this section we are going to discuss tops. A top is any part of an electronic cigarette that is used to hold and heat up the liquid. This can be a cartridge/atomizer, a cartomizer, a clearomizer, or an RBA. There are many different types of tops and many different sub types as well. They can produce drastically different effects, and some are much more popular than others. At Simply Vapors, the two most common types you will deal with will be clearomizers and RBAs.
Cartridges/Atomizers
A cartridge is part of a 3-piece electronic cigarette. On a 3-piece e-cig, the cartridge (liquid reservoir) and the atomizer (heating element) are in two separate pieces. You attach the atomizer to the battery and attach the cartridge to the atomizer. These are very rare to have a customer ask for. They do not hold very much liquid and do not produce an adequate amount of vapor. They are generally about the same size as a traditional tobacco cigarette.
Cartomizers
A cartomizer is very similar to a cartridge/atomizer set up. Where a cartridge/atomizer is in two pieces, a cartomizer combines the two into one device. A cartomizer is usually disposable. It is a tube shaped object with the atomizer (coil) on the inside. This is surrounded by a filler material, most commonly polyfill, which is used as a wicking material to soak up the liquid. These are what most people begin vaping with because they are cheap and look similar to a traditional cigarette. They have a tendency to leak, they produce a very small vape, and they have extremely low battery life.
Clearomizers
A clearomizer is the most common type of top for an electronic cigarette, and is the type you will deal with the most. A clearomizer has a tank to hold much larger amounts of liquid than the previous types. Some of them are disposable, but most have replaceable atomizers. They are most commonly clear, so you can see the level of liquid inside them. There are different sub types of clearomizers as well that include glassomizers, which is a glass clearomizer, bottom or top fed clearomizers, single coil or dual coil.
RBAs
An RBA is a rebuildable atomizer. This is a top that the user must build their coil on. These produce very large quantities of vapor compared to any other top, and most users say they get much better flavor as well. There are many different styles of RBAs as well, some have tanks to hold liquid on them, some are designed to be dripped on and only have a small reservoir to catch excess, some are designed for single coils, and some are designed for dual or even quad coils. RBAs have a much higher learning curve than any other type of top, and can be dangerous if the user has not been well educated on battery safety.
Now we are going to go more in depth with the two most common tops you will have to deal with during your time at Simply Vapors, these are the clearomizer and the RBA.
Clearomizers
Pros
The most common top for an electronic cigarette
Many different styles and designs
Most, but not all, styles are sealed to prevent leaking
Atomizers are usually very easy to replace
Largest capacity for liquid
Differing ohm coils to adjust the temperature and volume of vapor produced.
Most have universal 510 threads
Cons
Top coil tanks have a higher tendency for dry hits
Buying coils can become expensive over time
Quality of coils is unknown until it is used in the clearomizer
Some users complain of muted flavors due to silica wick
Atomizers can become flooded from misuse, leading to gurgling and vapor production loss
Clearomizers are the top that you will be using the most often with our company. Some examples are the T2, the Kanger Protank series, and the I Clear series. Most users of clearomizers use a higher PG blend, usually 50/50 or higher.
There are two main types of clearomizers, top coils and bottom coils. Both types can come in plastic, glass, and occasionally metal tank varieties.
Top Coils
Top coils are what most users who come to our shops start off using. They may also be called top fed tanks or simply top feeders. Due to the position of the atomizer on a top coil being closer to the mouthpiece, the vape that is produced is slightly warmer. This also makes the vape slightly harsher, more similar to a traditional cigarette. Because the liquid is below the coil dry hits can occur more frequently with consistent use. This can be avoided by turning the tank on its side to resaturate the wicks, or doing a couple of primer puffs. Primer puffs are when the air holes are closed off and the user hits the tank without heating the atomizer. This creates a vacuum that forces the liquid onto the wick. Keeping the tank as full as possible can also help to alleviate this problem. With proper education and use, a user should get about the same amount of time out of an atomizer (wick) for a top coil as they do out of a bottom coil. Top coils are usually easier to fill than bottom coils, as you only have to remove the tip to fill it.
Bottom Coils
Bottom coil tanks are usually what more experienced vapers move to. They can also be called bottom fed tanks or bottom feeders. The e-cig industry is moving to more and more bottom coils than top coils. Most users report a better flavor from bottom coil tanks. This is because there is less wicking material to dampen the flavor. There is a much smaller chance of dry hits happening with normal use due to the liquid being on top of the atomizer at all times. This also makes the vape a little cooler and smoother. Bottom coils are usually slightly more difficult to get used to filling because you have to actually turn the tank over and take the base off. Once a user starts to use a bottom coil they usually get used to it very quickly, though. Bottom coils can also be accessorized more than top coils, with different colors and styles of tips that can be used with them.
Some people have developed a theory with bottom coil tanks, which deals with a flaw in their design. I cannot verify completely if this is true or not, but it is a good thing to be informed of. The theory is that bottom coil tanks develop a problem with consistent use involving the air inside of them. With a top coil tank air can flow freely in and out of the tank through the mouthpiece, but on a bottom coil tank this is not possible due to the liquid being on top of the atomizer. Some users report an increase in dry hits the longer you hit on a tank. When you first fill your tank it has a set amount of air in it, as you hit it the amount of liquid decreases, but the level of air cannot increase because of there being nowhere for air to flow in from. This causes a vacuum to be created, which keeps the liquid from soaking into the wicking material. To keep this from happening the user can occasionally take the bottom off of their tank to allow more air to fill the empty space in the tank.
RBAs
Pros:
Best flavor and vapor production
Total customization of vaping experience
Building coils is much cheaper than buying pre built
Satisfaction of knowing you contributed to your vaping experience
Cons:
Must build your own coils
With RBAs without tanks you must drip every few hits
Steep learning curve
Can become dangerous if not educated on battery safety
Will not fire on most devices, mainly used with mechanical mods
RBAs will be the second most common top you will deal with. They have had a significant rise in popularity over the last couple of years. With RBAs you get the best flavor and vapor production possible. This comes from you being able to build your coil in as many ways as you want. What you are doing is building a coil to an ohm level of your choosing. There are different styles of coil builds, different gauges of wire, different wire materials, and different wicking materials to choose from. This leads to an endless possibility of combinations to choose from, which leads to an endless amount of vaping experiences.
Users of RBAs usually use different blends of juice than clearomizer users, although they don’t have to. Generally they at least use a 50/50 blend, but more often use a higher VG blend. This is because with an RBA the volume of vapor produced is going to make up for any loss of throat hit from using less PG. They also usually, but not always, use much lower nicotine strength. The most common are 0, 3, or 6 mg of nicotine. With an RBA the volume of vapor means you are actually getting a much higher amount of nicotine than you normally would with any other device.
RBAs are generally used with mechanical mods. Some box mods and other devices can use them, but some cannot. This is because most regular e-cigs have limits to how low a coil’s resistance can be. Some mods, like the E-Mech, can read down to a .5 ohm coil. This means it could use a RBA as long as the coil was not built below .5 ohms. Using mechanical mods and RBAs can become dangerous if the user is not properly educated on battery safety. You have to be research what kind of battery can be used with what type of coil. If you build a coil too small for a battery to handle the discharge rate that applies to that coil the battery could thermal vent. Thermal venting is when a battery is heated past its maximum threshold and begins to heat up exponentially until it explodes or melts. I cannot stress enough how important battery safety is when dealing with mechanical mods and RBAs.
Usually when discussing RBAs they will be called by other names. RBAs with no tank and only a small reservoir to hold excess juice from the wick is called an RDA, or rebuildable dripping atomizer. With an RDA you have to keep your juice with you, as you will need to drip a few drops onto your wick after every few hits. Until the user has become accustomed to their RDA this may lead to frequent dry hits.
Recently companies have begun manufacturing what is referred to as RBTAs, RDTAs, or RTAs, which are abbreviations for rebuildable tank atomizers. These are RBAs that have a large reservoir to hold liquid. These are much more complex devices. You must still rebuild your own coils for them, but they are designed to keep users from having to drip. There are many different styles of RTAs, with varying levels of success.
As a side note, Kanger and Aspire have also both developed a new device that can be used interchangeably as either an RTA or a large clearomizer. They can be used in RBA mode, where you build your own coils, or as a regular clearomizer with prebuilt coils. The prebuilt coils for these also come in sub-ohm.
“Wicks”
The wick is the part of an electronic cigarette that users are generally the most familiar with. This is because it is the piece they have to deal with the most often. It must be replaced more than any other part, and if it is not replaced it can seriously hinder your vaping experience. It is also the focus of a lot of confusion among users, as most don’t really know what it is different coils affect.
First, what is a wick? What is most commonly referred to by users as a wick or a coil is actually what is called an atomizer. Users see the wicking material sticking out, so that’s what they call it, and a lot of people become intimidated when they hear a word like atomizer. It sounds like an extremely complicated device. In all actuality, an atomizer is made up of a couple different parts; these are the wicking material that soaks up the juice, the coil that heats the juice to create vapor, and the casing that holds it all together.
There are many different types of coils; top coils, bottom coils, single coils, dual coils, and all of those types come in varying levels of resistance. It can be confusing at first, but it really isn’t as complicated as it seems. Here we will go through the different types of coils in depth to help alleviate some of the confusion.
Resistance
Resistance, also referred to as ohms or the symbol Ω, is the most important choice when it comes to coils. It is also probably the biggest point of confusion with new users. The resistance of an atomizer is really referring to the resistance of the coil inside it. A coils resistance changes how it handles electricity. Lower resistance coils allow more electricity to flow through them because they are putting up less resistance to it, when electricity flows easier the coil heats up faster, and when the coil heats up faster more vapor is produced.
Lower Ohms
Allows more electricity to flow
Produces more vapor
Warmer vape
Will drain the battery faster
Higher risk of dry hits
Uses more juice
With sub-ohming, may cause premature battery failure
Higher Ohms
Allows less electricity to flow
Produces less vapor
Cooler vape
Will drain the battery slower
Lower risk of dry hits
Uses less juice
Very little chance of battery failure
Many users are also under the impression that as soon as you get a variable power device you must use a higher ohm coil. This is simply untrue; it is all personal preference of the user. If you are using a VV device then you will have to take your coil’s resistance into account when choosing a voltage setting, but you don’t have to turn a device as high as it goes all the time. You can also use a VW device, which allows you to use the same setting for any ohm coil.
Single vs. Dual
One of the many choices in coils that users have is whether they want to use a single or a dual coil. The short answer is, again, it’s all personal preference. This is another area where there is a lot of misinformation going around. Some people believe that a dual coil is always going to give you the best vaping experience, but many others believe it is not necessary to use a dual coil.
With a single coil, the ohms of the coil is exactly what it says it is; so a 1.5 ohm single coil is just that, 1.5 ohms. On a dual coil, both coils are actually twice what the total ohms are; so a 1.5 ohm dual coil is actually two 3 ohm coils. This means when using a dual coil on an equivalent setting to a single coil with the same ohms you should get an increase in vapor production with a slightly cooler vape from the dual coil. This goes against what a lot of people’s thoughts are, as you would think a dual coil is going to be hotter because there are two of them, but as you can see this is not necessarily true. A dual coil is also going to drain your battery faster and go through juice quicker. The only real way for a user to figure out what they like is to try both and see which they prefer.
Batteries & Mods
In this section we are going to discuss batteries. Battery choice is a very important part of the vaping experience, and can have a huge effect on many different aspects of vaping. There are batteries with different mAh ratings, which decide how long you are going to be able to vape between charges. There is also variable voltage or variable wattage devices that can adjust the level of vapor that will be produced.
Most electronic cigarettes, and all the e-cigs we carry, use what is called a lithium ion battery. Lithium ion batteries have the highest energy density for their weight. What this means is a lithium ion battery has a lot more battery life and can put out more power than most other batteries of an equivalent size. They are also much lighter when compared to a battery of equivalent size. Their high voltage cells allow products to be made with one pack, which makes smaller devices possible. Cell phones generally use one Li-Ion pack now, where they would need 3 nickel cadmium batteries to generate the same power.
One of the misconceptions about Li-Ion batteries is that they have a memory. They DO NOT have a memory, nor do they need to be discharged before being charged. It is actually harmful to the battery life long term for it to be fully discharged. It is much better on a Li-Ion battery to be charged at around the half way mark. Think of it like a train, it is easier for a train to slow down and then speed back up than it is for a train to come to a complete stop and take off again.
Another very common misconception with Li-Ion batteries is that they are hazardous to the environment. This is simply not true. They are no more harmful to the environment than scrap metal is. There are NO hazardous materials in Li-Ion batteries. Now, that is not to say all Li-Ion batteries should be thrown in a landfill, as there is a potential to recycle them. There is no reason to be wasteful, but if they do end up in a landfill there is no more threat of them harming the environment than a chunk of iron. Li-Ion batteries contain nothing but naturally occurring metals. They do not contain any actual lithium inside them, only lithium IONs.
One downside to Li-Ion batteries is that they begin to degrade immediately after manufacture, whether it is used or not. This can lead to problems for customers and businesses, as a battery that has been sitting on a shelf for a year will not last as long as a brand new battery. Generally a Li-Ion battery lasts around one year, but with care can last up to two or three years. They should be stored in a cool, dry place. Heat can degrade a Li-Ion battery very quickly. If they are being stored it is recommended they have around a 40% charge, as over time a Li-Ion battery will drain itself and if it goes below its threshold it will be ruined.
A Li-Ion battery cannot be fully drained or it will be ruined. With a normal eGo battery even when it is “dead” it is not fully drained, hence the light on the button blinking when it is “dead.” If the battery had no charge at all it would not be able to blink. Most eGo batteries and regulated mods have a protective circuit that keep them from being over charged or over drained. This does not mean that anyone should ever leave a Li-Ion battery on a charger for longer than is needed. A protective circuit can fail very easily. You should never leave a charging battery unattended, and you should never leave a battery on the charger after it is indicating that it is fully charged.
There are a few different types of batteries that users can choose from, and we will be discussing each in depth. These include regular eGo batteries, variable voltage batteries, variable voltage/wattage devices, regulated mods, and mechanical mods.
eGo Batteries
Features:
Most commonly used battery
Can use many different tanks
Larger than look-alikes, but not too big
Manual operation
Easy to use
5 click locking mechanism
10 second shut off to protect atomizer
Varying mAh ratings for longer battery life
The most common batteries you will deal with are called eGo batteries. EGo batteries were originally a specific brand of battery, but have since come to be used as a broad term for all batteries in this style. The eGo battery is the most commonly used battery for electronic cigarettes worldwide, which makes them also the most versatile when it comes to choice of top to use with them. Most have external and internal threads. They can come in different mAh ratings, and can also come with variable voltage. Variable voltage eGo batteries are called twist batteries. These are the batteries that come in our starter kits.
EGo batteries can usually only read down to a 1.5 ohm coil, so they cannot be used with RBAs or sub ohm dual coils. A common issue with these batteries stems from the center pin on the top of the battery. The center pin is a small round plate on the top of the battery where the tank screws on. Most beginner e-cig users believe they need to tighten their tank onto their battery as tight as possible. This is NOT the case, and can actually do damage to the battery. It is easily fixed, but once it is done it makes it easier to happen again from that point on. To fix it you can use a small object, like a paper clip, and pry the pin back up carefully. Regular eGo batteries are usually good for beginning vapers, but once users have become a little more experienced they usually upgrade to a variable voltage battery.
Variable Devices
Variable devices allow the user to change the amount of power being generated. This lets the user raise or lower the size and type of vapor production coming from the device. There are some variable devices that are very simple, and some that are more complicated. The simplest variable device would be the eGo-twist battery. An eGo twist battery is the exact same as a normal eGo battery, except it has a dial on the bottom that can be turned to the right or left to raise or lower the amount of power being produced from the battery. These are most users’ first variable device.
There are two kinds of variable devices, variable voltage and variable voltage/variable wattage. Both kinds of device function similarly, but there is a large difference between them. With a variable voltage device the user is changing the amount of power the battery is producing. When using voltage the resistance of the coil must be taken into account. Different resistance levels of coil can handle different levels of voltage. A 1.8 ohm T2 coil can handle a smaller amount of voltage than a 2.5 ohm T2 coil. Some users find this a hassle, others like being more involved in their vaping experience.
Variable wattage devices functions a little differently. With a variable wattage device, you are setting how hot your wick gets. This means you do not have to worry about what resistance level your wick is at, because no matter what your device is going to heat it to X amount of power. The way this works is the device checks the ohms of your coil when the tank is attached to it and then adjusts the voltage coming from the battery for you. Think of it like cruise control on your car. With a variable voltage device you are driving your car normally, with your foot on the gas pedal. With a variable wattage device, you have the cruise control on. With cruise control you say go 60 mph, and your car figures out what to do to get you there, same thing with variable wattage.
Regulated Mods
Possible Features:
Sturdier design, usually screwed or riveted instead of pressed together
Longer battery life
VV or VV/VW
Pass-through
Lower minimum ohm
Output to charge other USB devices
Battery level indicator
LED display, some more complex than others
Motion controls
Flashlight
Water or shock proof
Use of external batteries
A mod is a blanket term for any devices that have more features than your average eGo batteries. There are two main kinds of mods, regulated, usually just called mods, and mechanical mods. There are many different kinds of regulated mods, with different features built into them. Mods can come in different shapes as well, some are square or rectangular shaped, called box mods, and some are shaped like a large cylinder. Mods can come with a fixed battery in them, like the MVP or the E-Leaf, and others use external batteries, like the E-Mech. Usually mods with fixed batteries in them have much longer battery life than mods with external batteries. Mods that use external batteries are usually made to use protected 18650 batteries, although some do come with two 18350 batteries meant to be stacked. Stacking batteries is more dangerous than using one battery, and should only ever be used in a regulated mod, NEVER in a mechanical mod.
Mechanical Mods
Features:
No electronics
No safety features
Can fire any coil, no matter what ohm
Will work unless it is physically broken or misshapen
Can be modified easily
Can be dangerous if proper care is not taken
A mechanical mod is a device that has no electronics anywhere on it. It is solely casing for the battery and conductive materials to allow electricity to flow. There are some advantages and disadvantages to this, and because of these mechanical mods are not recommended for beginning vapers. I cannot stress enough how dangerous a mechanical mod can be in the hands of someone who has not been properly educated.
Mechanical mods are much, much more durable than any other vaporizing device. This is because, again, there are no electronics on it. This means that as long as there is room for a battery in it and it can still close it will fire. You don’t have to worry about any wiring or computers wearing out or going bad and causing your device to not fire. You can also use any ohm coil on a mechanical mod, which allows you to build any coil you want. This leads to a huge increase in vapor production and flavor, depending on what style of coil you use. Some mech mods are what is called telescoping mods, which allows the user to use any size battery in the mod. Mech mods allow the user the most customization to their wants and needs of any device.
There are some serious disadvantages to mechanical mods that any user should weigh very seriously before using one. If the user is not willing to spend some time doing research on their own into battery and mechanical mod safety they should not use one. Having no electronics on the device means they have no short circuit protection, which means if a battery shorts out there is a very high possibility of thermal venting happening. This can lead to catastrophic failure, up to the battery melting or exploding. There is also a very steep learning curve with building coils as well, which is the preferred method of use with mech mods.
We will be going over mechanical mods and battery safety more in depth in their own section.
Juice
Juice is arguably the most important part of the vaping experience. If a user cannot find a flavor and blend of juice they enjoy using, it does not matter what quality of device they have, they will never give electronic cigarettes a chance. Some users want their juice to taste like a cigarette so they can trick their mind into thinking they are still smoking. Others want nothing to do with cigarettes and go for a sweeter flavor. There are thousands and thousands of different combinations of flavoring and blends that users have to choose from.
There are a few main ingredients that juice is generally made from. These are PG (propylene glycol), VG (vegetable glycerin), flavoring, nicotine, and small amounts of distilled water. Different blends of these ingredients are used to give different vaping experiences. It all comes down to the personal preference of the user. Most of the juices our company uses are 70/30 PG/VG blends. This is because, for most beginning vapers, the higher PG content gives a feeling more similar to using a traditional cigarette.
PG
Thinner consistency
Will not build up on coils as quickly
Will wick faster
Tasteless, odorless *
Can cause dry mouth
Stronger throat hit
Less vapor
Some users can have reactions may have a sensitivity to PG
VG
Thicker consistency
Will build up on coils quicker
Will wick slower
Naturally sweet, which makes flavors sweeter
Less throat hit
Produces more vapor
Much fewer people report reactions to VG
* Propylene glycol is considered to be completely odorless and tasteless, but in order to be impartial, it must be stated that some electronic cigarette users claim they get a “chemically taste” from it.
Most vapers use a combination of PG and VG so they can get the benefits of each. 100% VG juice is going to have a very muted flavor and very little throat hit, but a 100% PG juice is going to have a very harsh throat hit and very little vapor production. It also depends on what device is being used. Any blend can be used in any device, but it may not necessarily work towards an enjoyable vaping experience. If someone is using a dripper, they usually use a lower PG liquid, because the volume of vapor is going to give you a bigger throat hit anyway. Clearomizer users usually use lower VG liquids due to VG’s thickness and inability to wick properly in a prebuilt wick.
Propylene glycol has been the target of controversy lately, mainly due to laziness on the media’s part and their tendency to over exaggerate. There have been reports that e juice has been found to be contaminated with antifreeze, formaldehyde, and other chemicals. I cannot speak for all e juice vendors or even all the chemicals that have been “found,” but reports of antifreeze and formaldehyde have been twisted back on the industry solely to generate anti-vaping propaganda. Yes, propylene glycol is an ingredient that is sometimes added into antifreeze. It is not necessary for PG to be in antifreeze, it is added into antifreeze to make it NON-TOXIC. They put PG into antifreeze so that if a human does accidentally ingest it, they will not die.
Formaldehyde is a different story. Yes, there has been trace amounts of formaldehyde found in juice or the vapor produced from it. What the media has not been telling anyone is that formaldehyde can be found in a lot more things that humans are around all the time. There is a good possibility that if you stepped outside and tested the air there would be trace amounts of formaldehyde in it. There are many, many chemicals that occur in small amounts naturally that if ingested by humans in large quantities would kill you. It’s the same situation as e. coli naturally occurring inside the human body, but if it is ingested it can be harmful. Here are some things that formaldehyde occurs in.
Animals
Plants
Inside the human body
Power plants
Manufacturing facilities
Car exhaust
Tobacco smoke
Antiseptics and cleaning agents
Carpets
Cosmetics
Fertilizers
Insulation for electrical
Manufactured wood products
Medicines and vitamins
Paints and Varnishes
Preserved foods
PG and VG have both been approved by the FDA for human consumption. PG is used in many food products, animal feeds, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and many industrial applications. It has also been used in asthma inhalers and breathing treatments. If PG was harmful when inhaled it would not be used in medicine for people who already have lung conditions. VG is used in many cosmetics, toothpastes, shampoos, soaps, and some pharmaceuticals. There is a very high likelihood that you use both of these products every day without ever realizing it.
“Allergies”
Many users of electronic cigarettes report allergies to different ingredients of e juice, with PG being the most common complaint. Most, but not all, of the time this is incorrect. Many users confuse sensitivities or other causes with allergies. Allergic reactions are very specific in the way they appear. This is usually something like a rash, itching, hives, swelling of body parts, or trouble breathing. Allergic reactions also worsen with prolonged exposure. For example, if you were allergic to PG over time you would go from being itchy, to having a rash or hives, to your throat constricting to the point that you can’t breathe. Coughing really hard when you hit an
electronic cigarette is not an allergic reaction. It could be that you are overly sensitive to something, but it is not an allergy.
The two most common reasons people generally believe they are allergic to something in an electronic cigarette are really just poor technique and what is called smoker’s flu. Smoker’s flu is what happens to an individual who has recently quit smoking tobacco cigarettes. Even when you switch to an electronic cigarette to keep from having nicotine withdrawals, there are still thousands of other chemicals in cigarette smoke that your body has become dependent on. When you remove those chemicals from your daily intake, you have withdrawals. Symptoms of quitting smoking can include headaches, fatigue, chest pains, and cold and flu like symptoms.
Technique is a very important part of vaping, and most users do not realize this. Most people believe they use an electronic cigarette the same way they use a traditional cigarette and this is not the case. Taking a big hit off of an e-cig when you first start using one is going to choke you up, no matter how much you smoke normally. They are two totally different delivery systems, from what the material that you are inhaling is all the way to how your body absorbs the nicotine. Most users, with time and education, find that most of the misgivings they had were temporary setbacks.
Nicotine
Nicotine is an extremely important part of e juice to most users. It is usually the whole point of them switching from traditional cigarettes. It is also absolutely the most dangerous ingredient. Pure nicotine is HIGHLY toxic. So much so that being in a room and breathing in the fumes from pure nicotine can make an adult sick. Coming into contact with a person’s skin can be FATAL. Pure nicotine should NEVER be handled by someone without the proper safety equipment and training. Most of the time, even when making e juice, there is no reason to handle pure nicotine. Usually the nicotine that is added in to a bottle of juice has already been diluted with other ingredients, usually PG.
The dangers of pure nicotine have led to another misconception about e juice. A large portion of the population believes, incorrectly, that e juice is toxic to the skin. This is not true in the least. Ask anybody who works for our company. We get e juice on our skin all the time and nothing happens. This is because the nicotine has been diluted so much that it is no longer a danger to skin contact. This is not to say that if ingested you would not become sick. There have been no reported fatalities from e juice. The media has falsely reported cases of poisoning from PURE nicotine as e juice poisoning. Again, most of the time the nicotine mixed into fluids is not pure to begin with. Then it is diluted even more with flavoring, PG, and VG. Making your own e liquid has some very serious dangers that come along with it, especially if there are children or animals in the area. If someone makes the conscious decision to make their own liquid, they need to understand the risks they are taking.
Diacetyl/Acetoin
There are some ingredients that have been used in different e juices that can be very harmful to people’s lungs. The biggest of those ingredients is diacetyl. Diacetyl is an ingredient that is used in e juice mainly to give them a buttery or custard flavor. It is also used in many other food products like popcorn or beer. Diacetyl is approved by the FDA for human consumption, but this is only for eating it. When diacetyl is vaporized it can lead to a disease referred to as “popcorn lung.” What happens is as diacetyl is inhaled it enters the lungs and begins scarring the tissue inside. Over time this builds and builds until it becomes a much bigger problem. It is fatal and irreversible; the only cure is a lung transplant.
The name “popcorn lung” stems from the first reported cases of this disease. There were a large number of workers in a popcorn manufacturing factory that came down with the disease after prolonged exposure to heated diacetyl during the manufacturing process. There was also another case where a consumer developed popcorn lung after eating a bag of butter flavored popcorn almost every day for ten years. Most manufacturers of popcorn have completely removed diacetyl from any of their products and replaced them with other flavorings.
Most e juice vendors in the electronic cigarette industry have taken measures to keep diacetyl from being used in their products. They have either stopped manufacturing these flavors or reformulated them to replace the ingredients in question. There is a possibility of another issue though. Acetoin is one chemical that is used as a replacement for diacetyl and is not harmful, but some manufacturers include diacetyl in their acetoin to help give it the buttery flavor. This is obviously a reduction in the danger of this chemical, but it is still a danger. Most juice vendors do not know that this situation is occurring though. They believe that they are doing the right thing by replacing the chemical with one that is not harmful, which they are. The manufacturers of the actual flavoring need to understand the danger they are putting vapers in. The only real way for consumers or juice companies to know if this is occurring is to have tests done in a laboratory, which is far too expensive for consumers.
Battery & Mechanical Mod Safety
Mechanical mods have seen a steady increase in popularity as more users have found out about them. With the most customization of any type of personal vaporizer, as well as much higher vapor production and flavor, many users have taken the next step and upgraded to a mech mod. This has led to an entire separate community of vapers springing up, but it has also led to a whole other set of dangers that most users don’t even know about. Mechanical mods, when used without proper training or education, can be extremely dangerous. There is a potential for catastrophic failure before the user ever even knows something is wrong.
What is a Mechanical Mod?
A mechanical mod is a personal vaporizer that has absolutely no electronics on it. It is a container for a battery, a place to screw on a top, and a button. This has some advantages and some disadvantages. On one hand, you can use any style of top or coil and as long as your battery has power it will fire. On the other hand, this also means that if something is wrong with the coil set up or if there is a short it could lead to the battery failing, which can lead to thermal runaway. Thermal runaway is where the battery reaches a certain temperature and begins exponentially heating until it melts or explodes, depending on what kind of venting the mod allows.
Mechanical mods mainly use external 18650 batteries. What most users don’t understand is that not all batteries are created equal. Most people understand that batteries come in different mAh ratings, which affects how much life the battery has, but what they don’t realize is there are many other things to take into account with their choice of battery. There are protected Li-Ion batteries, unprotected Li-Ion batteries, and IMR batteries. Then, those types of batteries have differing discharge limits from brand to brand. A cheap battery is not going to be able to hold up to the amount of power a sub-ohm coil is going to be drawing from it, which can have serious consequences.
Ohm’s Law
Ohm’s law is something that anybody who is going to be using RBAs and mechanical mods should familiarize themselves with. It is basically a set of formulas that show how the different aspects of electricity interact with each other. As long as you have any two values, you can find any other value.
Ohm’s Law Triangle
Power (Wattage) Triangle
V – Voltage/Volts
I – Current/Amps
R – Resistance/Ohms
P – Power/Watts
One way that helps some people understand the relationship between these different aspects is to think of it like a plumbing system. For this example look at each aspect as if they were the following:
Voltage – Water pressure
Current – Rate the water is flowing
Resistance – Size of the pipe
If you were to increase the pressure (voltage) coming from the tank, this will increase the rate the water is flowing (amps) rise. Also, if you increased the diameter (resistance) of the pipe, this will increase the current as well, because there is more water. Increasing the diameter of the pipe is like lowering the resistance, less resistance, bigger pipe. Now, for the power (wattage), imagine you are pointing the water hose at a water wheel. If you increase the pressure (voltage) the wheel will turn faster (wattage), due to the raise in force. If you increased the flow of the water by raising the current (amps) or making the pipe bigger (resistance), the extra weight of the water would also make the wheel turn faster (wattage).
Safety
So there are quite a few thing you need to keep in mind when using mech mods or building coils in RBAs. One thing I’ve already brought up is your battery’s amp limit. This is the amount of current that can be pulled from the battery safely, and there are actually two different limits for every battery, pulse and continuous. Pulse is when current is pulled from the battery quickly and then is stopped; continuous is when current is being pulled from the battery over a longer period of time. A battery’s pulse limit is generally higher than its continuous limit. It is similar to a person lifting weights, you may be able to lift quite a lot of weight for a minute, but you wouldn’t be able to handle holding that same amount of weight for an hour.
Now, finding the amp limit of a battery can be difficult if you don’t know where the battery came from. You are going to have to have either the battery’s C rating, which is sometimes printed on the battery, or you will have to look up the data sheet on the battery. If you have the C rating it is very simple, you divide the mAh by 1000 to convert from milliamps, and then multiply by the C number. So, if you are using a 1600 mAh battery with a 10C, you will divide 1600 by 1000, which will give you 1.6 amps. Then you multiply 1.6 by 10, which gives you 16 amps. So, you’re battery can handle a 16 amp continuous discharge.
Now this is where how you build your coils comes into play. On average, when an 18650 battery comes off of the charger it is going to be pushing around 4 – 4.2 volts. So, using ohm’s law, we can find out what the lowest possible coil you can build with this battery is. As we know from our ohm’s law triangle R=V/I. So, our equation is R= 4.2/16, which simplifies to 0.2625. This means our battery can handle down to a .26 ohm coil. If you were to build a .1 ohm coil on a mod with this battery in it you would be over the amp limit, and over time this will lead to thermal runaway due to over stressing of the battery.
The most common cause of battery failure is overcharging. This includes all types of batteries, not just 18650s. There are many reports of eGo batteries catching on fire when they are left on a charger for too long. Now most eGo style batteries have a protection circuit inside them that is supposed to regulate its charging, and their chargers are SUPPOSED to have overcharge protection as well. This means that, in a perfect world, you would never have to worry about overcharging an eGo battery, but as we all know we don’t live in a perfect world. There is a possibility that these safety features can fail, they are electronics after all. If they were to fail, and it has happened, your battery can become overcharged. This will lead to overheating of the cells, which will lead to a thermal runaway. There have been reports of eGo batteries catching fire, and this has been the reason. So, even though there are safety features, it is still not a good idea to leave any battery charging unattended or to leave a battery charging once it has fully charged.
Another common cause of battery failure or thermal runaway is physically damaging the battery. This can happen while it is inside the mod or while it’s loose. Any physical damage, dents, nicks, scratches, punctures, can cause the battery to fail. This includes the colored wrapping on the outside of the battery. The wrapping on the outside of a battery is not just there to make it look good, it is a protective coating to keep the sides of the battery from coming into contact with any conductive material and it is designed to vent any heat from the batteries through the end. The battery may work perfectly fine right after it happens, but you don’t know what has happened inside the battery. You may have damaged something in there that could cause the battery to short out a week after the incident. Anytime something like this happens you need to get rid of the damaged battery and go get a new one. I once had a battery get nicked by a burr on an air hole inside a mod which caused the circuit to be completed whether the button was pressed or not. If I had not caught it when it happened that battery could have been firing inside someone’s pocket for who knows how long.
Another extremely common problem is improper or non-use of the locking ring on a mod. A locking ring is a small ring under the button that unscrews out so the button cannot be depressed. This is a crucial part of mechanical mod use. If you don’t utilize the locking ring on some of the mods with the button on the bottom anytime you stand the mod up on a surface it will be firing constantly. The same thing can happen in your pocket, and if the button is depressed for too long the battery can heat up to the point that it can cause serious burns on your body. Of course, this can also lead to thermal runaway, which you do NOT want happening while the battery is touching your skin.
Whenever you are transporting 18650 batteries they should be in a case. It can be anything, as long as it is nonconductive, but we and many other companies do sell battery cases specifically designed to carry 18650s and keep them secure. If you just throw one of these in your pocket and you’ve got a pocket full of change as well you could be in serious trouble. All it takes is two coins to touch both ends of the battery and its firing. Or maybe you’ve got your keys in there and they scrape the protective coating around that battery it’s now ruined.
