There were often wires in the really old mechs. A plastic mech has to have wires because the parts aren’t electrically conductive
Mech Mods VS Regulated Devices Poll - Your prefference
- Thread starter The60WattGUY
- Start date
- th_trl_thread_readers 0
I'm far from an expert but I always understood those mods to be simply unregulated (vs. mech, which I was told could have no wires).
I'm going back more than a decade though, so terminology and practices may well have changed since then.
Goes to definition I guess. I always thought mech and unregulated were the same thing. The only difference between what you describe and what I describe then is what carries the electricity. The devices that use the case as a conductor do tend to last longer as the parts are thicker but they still function in the same way. It’s just a question of what is carrying the electricity. So to merge the two a mech is a subset of unregulated devices. It was determined that an unregulated device could be built without wires so it was done, and the result was a device that was small and lasted a long time. The question “mech or regulated” seems to imply “regulated or unregulated” if you want to have a button on the side rather than the bottom wires are generally needed though. There was a time when there were no “mechs” or regulated devices. This was before even the IMR thing.
I always thought a mechanical had no chipset. It's a battery, a switch and an atomizer. If I remember right, they had push-button switches that came from auto parts stores. What people used to call MODS were box mods with batteries, a switch, and an atomizer. People pimped them up, painted them, had stickers, etc. They did have wires. Many of them were made of clear plastic.
The first vaping devices I remember were like an electronic cigarette. They had a built-in rechargeable battery. Then people started showing up in clubs with homemade box mods. That's when I first started seeing people make serious clouds. It was the start of the sub ohm thing. Some of those had 4 or 6 batteries. Most of the cool ones were clear plastic. I don't remember many tube mods till later. The first commercial ones I remember, I think were called screwdriver mods. They were tube mods.
In a rush right now. I have pictures of the early sub ohm devices. I was part owner of a large club. It was cool then. People vaped everywhere. No one complained. Some of the devices were huge, lol. iT was all DIY stuff. All custom stuff. Some had digital displays, but I don't think they were regulated. I don't remember where they got the atomizers from. Some of them were very narrow tubes. There are still howto's online on how to make the old box mods.
The first vaping devices I remember were like an electronic cigarette. They had a built-in rechargeable battery. Then people started showing up in clubs with homemade box mods. That's when I first started seeing people make serious clouds. It was the start of the sub ohm thing. Some of those had 4 or 6 batteries. Most of the cool ones were clear plastic. I don't remember many tube mods till later. The first commercial ones I remember, I think were called screwdriver mods. They were tube mods.
In a rush right now. I have pictures of the early sub ohm devices. I was part owner of a large club. It was cool then. People vaped everywhere. No one complained. Some of the devices were huge, lol. iT was all DIY stuff. All custom stuff. Some had digital displays, but I don't think they were regulated. I don't remember where they got the atomizers from. Some of them were very narrow tubes. There are still howto's online on how to make the old box mods.
Last edited:
Could be. There was a mod called “the screwdriver” because it looked like a screwdriver handle. It might have had no wires. It was really expensive. I couldn’t afford it. Made by that British company with the devil logo. That could have been the first “mech” so to speak. There was other stuff before that though. One system was a bunch of AAs in a project box. There were also a bunch that used altoid cans. I remember wolfing down altoids to get the can so I could make the mod. I wouldn’t dare try using a screwdriver today though. With modern batteries the thing would be basically a small hand grenade. Some of the others would be ok though.
Last edited by a moderator:
The altoids can rings a bell. Dont remember much about it. It was cool then. I remember the first time I saw people blowing vapour waves down the bar. it was cool.
Last edited:
They were originally called Mods because, back at the beginning, a lot of them were modified flashlights. None were regulated, initially,
IF my memory serves me, the first reg'd ones were either BuzzPro or ProVape. I think that may have been late 2010 or early/mid 2011.
I actually began vaping in 2009 but didn't quit smoking until 13-Nov-2011, which is what I consider my official start date. Some of the early stuff was pretty rough, but by the end of 2012, things picked up steam FAST.
Evolv had come to the market by then, and the DNA20s were gamechangers in a lot of ways. That was the chip that launched a ton of modders, evidently because it was much easier to work with than some of the earlier stuff. I'm NOT a modder, just a consumer.
Back to the point though, yes - once they added wires it was no longer considered mechanical.
Am I correct with ANY of all that I just typed? I have NO idea.
They were originally called Mods because, back at the beginning, a lot of them were modified flashlights. None were regulated, initially,
IF my memory serves me, the first reg'd ones were either BuzzPro or ProVape. I think that may have been late 2010 or early/mid 2011.
I actually began vaping in 2009 but didn't quit smoking until 13-Nov-2011, which is what I consider my official start date. Some of the early stuff was pretty rough, but by the end of 2012, things picked up steam FAST.
Evolv had come to the market by then, and the DNA20s were gamechangers in a lot of ways. That was the chip that launched a ton of modders, evidently because it was much easier to work with than some of the earlier stuff. I'm NOT a modder, just a consumer.
Back to the point though, yes - once they added wires it was no longer considered mechanical.
Am I correct with ANY of all that I just typed? I have NO idea.
All I can say is that I wished I would have started vaping full time in the 2010s. It would have saved me a lot of grief later on. 2012 was a big year. Thats when I started to see a lot of disposable vape products. Also many dab pens started showing up.
Last edited:
Yeah - Blu disposables hit Walgreens everywhere. Those were the ones that ushered me into going full-time.
yes. There where some rely good cardboard ones as well. I remember an amazing grape!
I don’t even remember cardboard ones. I was into RBAs by then. Once I started DIYing basically everything else was so much more expensive I didn’t pay attention. It was always hard to pick up rebuildable atties though. The vape companies wanted cartridges or proprietary and they wanted them bad. Makes sense since they make so much more money off them. The 510 patent basically made RBAs possible. We need a copyleft of magnet stuff. Then everyone and their mom can make one and it will be back in the hands of vapers again.
I started on those. Still have several packed away. That brings back memories.
They where very popular. The corner tobacco/liqueur store had everything people needed lol
Last edited:
I started on those. Still have several packed away. That brings back memories.
They were one of my early ones too. If they had been regulated, I might STILL be using them.
Those two holes in the bottom are probably not in the old ones and is what makes them dangerous. Less venting than what I would normally expect. May do the job though.
Similar threads
- Locked
- Poll
