Mechanical mod vs VV\VW mod

[Asbestos4004]

I like both...I use both everyday. Variety is the spice of life. Why do people like to associate mechs with explosions? I've heard lots of stories about more ego batteries blowing up or venting. Mechs are great. They can do things VV/VW devices can't do. VV/VW devices can do things mechs can't do. Get both. My guess is neither will blow up if you're careful and do a bit of reading.

 

[kiwivap]

Was never intended to be a "vs." statement at all. I have several regulated mod and several mech mods as well. Love them all, just use them differently that's all. I personally think everyone should have both in their arsenal but that's just me, I'd have a really hard time if someone said I had to make a decision to go one way or the other.

Sorry - what I said about vs. statement was referring to the thread title - but it did look like it was a response to you. Another general thought here (not responding to you) is that I keep coming across posts on the forum where people say with mechanical mods they can set their watts by the ohms of their coil build. That just isn't true - the watts are going to change as the battery voltage drops.

 

[kiwivap]

Absolutely true which is why I was using 1.3ohm in my example for regulated mod and why I was pointing to the trend of the new 30w mods as being game changers.

Part of my point there was that some mods cut out approaching the lower limit, i.e. wouldn't fire 1.3 ohms. But people were not buying regulated mods to do that sort of vaping by a vast majority. The regulated mods were a way to vape standard resistances because they gave more power than had been available before. Going up to 15 watts was a bonus. I still have one of the very first Zmaxs - it doesn't have RMS and can go up over 20w. I don't use it at the top of its power range though. I guess what I'm partly getting at here is that sometimes I see history being applied retrospectivley, but in the context of the time people weren't demanding sub-ohm vaping anyway. They were happy.

 

[ScottP]

Sorry - what I said about vs. statement was referring to the thread title - but it did look like it was a response to you. Another general thought here (not responding to you) is that I keep coming across posts on the forum where people say with mechanical mods they can set their watts by the ohms of their coil build. That just isn't true - the watts are going to change as the battery voltage drops.

It is true that the power (watts) will drop as the voltage drops, however, you do set the power RANGE by the coils resistance. For instance a 1 ohm coil will have a power range of about 17.6 watts at full charge down to about 12.2 watts as the voltage drops to 3.5 volts. If you want more power, a 0.6 ohm coil will give you a power range of nearly 30 watts down to just over 20 watts.

 

[kiwivap]

It is true that the power (watts) will drop as the voltage drops, however, you do set the power RANGE by the coils resistance. For instance a 1 ohm coil will have a power range of about 17.6 watts at full charge down to about 12.2 watts as the voltage drops to 3.5 volts. If you want more power, a 0.6 ohm coil will give you a power range of nearly 30 watts down to just over 20 watts.

Good point. Those are quite big wattage ranges aren't they - 17.6W to 12.2W. I get a voltage drop on my mechanical liquid feed mod but I am not running sub-oms coils and the battery stays on 3.7v for quite a while I've found. I don't really like big wattage changes - which is why I am looking for either a good regulated VW bottom feeder or will put a kick in a non-regulated bottom feeder. Kicks are good, but just fiddlier to change wattage setting. I like the regulated click of a button. On the other hand I doubt I'd want to adjust the liquid feed mod a lot so setting a kick would be ok.

I noticed that Sigelei have a kick out now too and am interested to try it.

 

[niczgreat]

Theoretical and Real Life are different. In theoretical you don't take into account factors that influence performance in real life.

I have a Volt tester and I've found on the panasonic 18650pd* that when fully charged, I'm vaping under load RBA .33Hm at 3.4v and when the battery is all the way down to around 3.7V at the end of the day I find I'm vaping at 3.2V.

*Disclaimer: This battery is over 6 months old and been beaten up.

The V-Drop is not .5V but instead only .2v. That's because as the Voltage goes down less is lost in V-Drop.

So 35 Watts down to 31 Watts that doesn't make that much of a difference. Not during 10 hours of vaping.

At least that's my theory.

 

[edyle]

Theoretical and Real Life are different. In theoretical you don't take into account factors that influence performance in real life.

I have a Volt tester and I've found on the panasonic 18650pd that when fully charged, I'm vaping under load RBA .33Hm at 3.4v and when the battery is all the way down to around 3.7V at the end of the day I find I'm vaping at 3.2V.

The V-Drop is not .5V but instead only .2v. That's because as the Voltage goes down less is lost in V-Drop.

So 35 Watts down to 31 Watts that doesn't make that much of a difference. Not during 10 hours of vaping.

At least that's my theory.

you're calling the drop from 3.4 to 3.2 as the voltage drop.

When people talk about the voltage drop they're refering to the drop from 4.2 to 3.4 which is a voltage drop of 0.8; and the drop from 3.7 to 3.2, which is a voltage drop of 0.5

 

[Ryedan]

You realize that makes no earthly sense, right?

LOL, it doesn't make any kind of un-earthly sense either

 

[Ryedan]

510/eGo usb cable; plug into your laptop usb port and vape away!

I doubt that would handle my 0.5 ohm Trident

 

[icemanistheking]

I think power is only one factor to consider in mechs, at least for those who get *really* into them. High end mechs (and their clones, if you will) represent the hobbyist side of the vaping world...there is a seemingly infinite variety to choose from, and from a certain standpoint (my standpoint), they are collectible. I take joy in acquiring new ones, and have built up enough of a collection at this point to trade them out if I desire, rather than automatically have to fork over $200 when something new comes out I want.

The "hunt" is part of the fun, but I genuinely enjoy vaping on a mech more than a VV/VW - don't know why exactly, but it's a different feeling. Thing is, I didn't really have to get into high end mechs to know it would be like this...I took an instant liking to my first mech, a crappy Sigelei Telescope #20 that I got for $15. I also genuinely enjoy taking them apart, fiddling with them, cleaning, polishing etc. You can clean a VV/VW, sure, but can you clean its innards? A little part of me smiles knowing that the brass throughout the inside of this Mortar mod I am holding right now is near spotless, though no one will ever see it.

I also like that you can buy a used mech off the classies, and maybe it doesn't look so great when you get it. As long as the threads and contacts are not physically damaged, you can restore the mod to near new condition with relatively little effort. Those with the know how might be able to restore a mod that IS physically damaged.

I love mechs, and it's for all of these reasons plus one I can't quit pinpoint...all I know since I've gotten into them is that my VV/VW devices have gone untouched, and they're about to get sold

 

[Ryedan]

I vape almost exclusively mech mods at around 0.5 ohms, about 25 watts average. I'm very comfortable with that. When I started with higher power mods there was pretty much nothing else that could give the performance of these devices.

If I were starting in that direction today I would go with regulated devices. There are several 50 watt mods out there now that handle thick wire at low ohms just fine that I'm pretty sure would put-perform my stuff because the vape would stay constant through battery discharge.

OTOH, there is the factor of aesthetics to consider but I am generally more impressed with performance than with looks.

Anyways, that's my opinion. YMMV as always

 

[edyle]

I doubt that would handle my 0.5 ohm Trident

Of course not! Few systems would handle your 0.5 ohm coil so why would you bother to bring it up?

 

[JBL-37]

Ya, I'm a mech only guy too. I still have my old vamo v2 but its just a paper weight I sold off my evic and provari to my buddies.
I have about 20 tube mods that are collecting dust as well... Damn those reo grands, ruined everything!

 

[Ryedan]

Theoretical and Real Life are different. In theoretical you don't take into account factors that influence performance in real life.

I have a Volt tester and I've found on the panasonic 18650pd that when fully charged, I'm vaping under load RBA .33Hm at 3.4v and when the battery is all the way down to around 3.7V at the end of the day I find I'm vaping at 3.2V.

The V-Drop is not .5V but instead only .2v. That's because as the Voltage goes down less is lost in V-Drop.

So 35 Watts down to 31 Watts that doesn't make that much of a difference. Not during 10 hours of vaping.

At least that's my theory.

That's a strange result with a fresh battery Tom. I have two fairly new Sony VTC4's. Here are my Vdrop results on a 0.5 ohm load in the same mod with the same atty:

Batt V / Load / Vdrop

4.18 V / 3.84 V / 0.34 V
3.57 V / 3.23 V / 0.34 V

These results are typical for me. I check Vdrop fairly often to check battery health. Maybe it's the 18650PD not handling the low resistance well, but that's just a guess. I used to get the same kind of results with MNKEs.

 

[Ryedan]

Of course not! Few systems would handle your 0.5 ohm coil so why would you bother to bring it up?

Because we're in a thread about mech mods and high power regulated mods .

All my mech mods handle 0.5 ohm attys. Any regulated mod I would buy would handle 25 watts. It's pretty easy to get this stuff these days.

Vape on

 

[neyel8r]

You can change the resistance on your atty to get the same effect on a mech. People prefer mechs for many reasons. They're unregulated, so there's no amperage limitations. They're more durable. They're better looking. There's more variety. There's no circuitry. Energy transfer from battery to atty is more efficient, which gives a better hit.

The downside is voltage drop. As the battery's energy dissipates, the quality of the vape does as well. A day in the life of a mech user requires several battery's.

but they're so HUGE! (yes, that's what she said )

i might still be fairly new to vaping, but at this point, i have absolutely no desire to lug around such a huge & heavy mod that doesn't fit lightly & nicely in my pocket, no matter how much power & wattage it might deliver, while vv egos are working perfectly for me right now... but who knows; maybe my views & tastes will be subject to change in the future...

 

[jpargana]

(...)

The other 10% like them because they tend to not break, which is, IMO, the real advantage of a mech. They are simpler. No computer, no wiring, very simple, and therefore there isn't much that can go wrong. Most are essentially a tube around a battery, with a power button.

Yep. I'm in those 10%.

On a long run, I decided to buy mecs because of longer life and tougher construction. I can drop a mech without damaging internal electronics that would rend a vv mod useless. Even if the kick is broken, you can always buy a new one or use a fuse instead. And yet, for security reasons, I would NOT dream of using a mech without a kick, or at least a fuse.

I do not chase sub-ohm vaping. I build my coils at around 1.5 ohm so that I can get about the same 9 watts on my unregulated Roller that I used to select on my regulated Sigelei. And I ALWAYS use at least a fuse (The Bug, bought along along with the Roller). Many times, I will use a Kick in place of the fuse (I tend to change them a lot - at 1.5 ohms, unregulated power is already near my 9 watt goal, anyway ).

The thing is: using a mod with a kick allows you to have an 'half-digital' mod, sort of speak: you get extra durability ALONG with regulated power AND electronic protection. And if you build your coil specifically to match your preferred (and REASONABLE) power output, you can forget about the kick and simply use a fuse - the added protection should ALWAYS be there !!!

 

[niczgreat]

That's a strange result with a fresh battery Tom. I have two fairly new Sony VTC4's. Here are my Vdrop results on a 0.5 ohm load in the same mod with the same atty:

Batt V / Load / Vdrop

4.18 V / 3.84 V / 0.34 V
3.57 V / 3.23 V / 0.34 V

These results are typical for me. I check Vdrop fairly often to check battery health. Maybe it's the 18650PD not handling the low resistance well, but that's just a guess. I used to get the same kind of results with MNKEs.

I've added disclaimer to the post,that batteries were old, it was for illustration and not meant to be a rating of my vaping apparatus.

I"ve put disclaimers in that my batteries are older, everywhere I've posted my result.

Hope you are right.