Moving onto mechanicals, advice appreciated

[SteveMc]

Hey everyone,
thought it was about time I tried mechanical's and rba's so just ordered a Black Stingray clone and a Black Fogger V4.
Now have to decide on a few items so hope you can help and any recommendations would be great.

Ohm/voltage meter, does it have to read both?
batteries - I want to run 18650's and have been told 30amps are better but no idea what type to get.
Battery charger
Wire - no idea what type and size to go for.
Wick - so many different types to try.
Coil build - a few ideas would be great.

Thanks in advance

 

[State O' Flux]

Hey everyone,
thought it was about time I tried mechanical's and rba's so just ordered a Black Stingray clone and a Black Fogger V4.
Now have to decide on a few items so hope you can help and any recommendations would be great.

Ohm/voltage meter, does it have to read both? It is in your best interests to obtain a DMM... allowing you to test not only resistance, but point to point voltage and continuity.
If you want a ohm/build box as well, that's fine, but be advised that cheap ones are not very accurate, and accuracy is critical at very deep sub-ohm values.

Batteries - I want to run 18650's and have been told 30amps are better but no idea what type to get.
The amperage you need will be based on the resistance you choose. For your safety and advanced knowledge, resistance to amperage optimization requires a Ohm's Law based, mathematical parity. Please click on my second sig line hyperlink. Read everything... twice.

Battery charger
Nitecore and Pila are my preference... but there are many good quality chargers on the market under $50.

Wire - no idea what type and size to go for.
For a dual coil Fogger... a 27-30 gauge wire selection would be appropriate.Click on my first sig line hyperlink... where you can accurately 'build' and calculate coil models.

Wick - so many different types to try.
Subjective... try them all until you find what you like.

Coil build - a few ideas would be great.
Again... refer to the Steam Engine modeling calculator. Develop the idea that you have a "target resistance" value you want to try... then, using a "7-11 wrap optimization", model various wire gauges until you have the thickest wire coils that meet both the target resistance and fit within the 7-11 wrap preferred count.

Thanks in advance

Cheers ;-)

 

[djsvapour]

Superb work from State O' Flux.



Nothing else to add.

 

[SteveMc]

Excellent, thanks very much.
Now to get reading, will be back later with more questions I'm sure.

 

[State O' Flux]

Excellent, thanks very much.
Now to get reading, will be back later with more questions I'm sure.

You may have an interest in the brand of battery most tend to prefer. I don't know what is readily available in the UK, but in the states we lean towards (and this bit is critical) genuine AW, Efest, MNKE, Sony and Panasonic - with RTD Vapor being one of the most trusted vendors here.

All the quality brands have their low grade China forgeries... it's a relatively simple thing to slide a printed bit of fake branding shrink tube over a cheap battery, so... be wary of too good a deal on the mentioned brands. ;-)

 

[SteveMc]

Had to stop reading for a minute just to say thank you again, I wouldn't have thought to look into this in so much detail without your guidance. One link isn't working right now http://www.calivapers.com/showthread.php?5222-Mod-Voltage-Test-Setup but I'll keep checking until it is.
I had no idea how important the battery was nor the dangers of getting things wrong. I'll have to read Understanding E-Cigarette Battery Usage quite a few times and make notes before it all sinks in but I'm getting there.
Just going through Baditude's 3 parter blog now.

 

[State O' Flux]

Had to stop reading for a minute just to say thank you again, I wouldn't have thought to look into this in so much detail without your guidance. One link isn't working right now http://www.calivapers.com/showthread.php?5222-Mod-Voltage-Test-Setup but I'll keep checking until it is.
I had no idea how important the battery was nor the dangers of getting things wrong. I'll have to read Understanding E-Cigarette Battery Usage quite a few times and make notes before it all sinks in but I'm getting there.
Just going through Baditude's 3 parter blog now.

Knowledge is a wonderful thing... both to share as well as learn.

Appears to be an issue with the Calivapers site in general. Like ECF, they've get their share of server issues.

If you have any questions that do not get answered to your satisfaction, PM me. ;-)

 

[SteveMc]

OK, just ordered the following:-

batteries - Sony VTC5 x2 £17.99 - reason should be self explanatory and will serve all coil builds.
charger - Nitecore i4 £24.94 - good charger, although this can be purchased for less I stayed with an official dealer due to warranty conditions.
DMM - RAPITEST MAS830L £11.75 - does what I need and seen it being used in a few vaping vids.
kanthal - Kanthal A1 Heat Resistance Wire - 0.25mm Diameter (250 Micron or 30 AWG) £4.75 - decided on this, may try others in the future.
Organic Cotton - will buy at local supermarket.

Thanks for all the help, will post when I'm up and running.

 

[Maurice Pudlo]

You may find it best to have a variety of Kanthal a1 sizes on hand (28awg is a nice utility guage), as well as an assortment of hard wire rods or drill bits to make your coils.

Maurice

 

[SteveMc]

You may find it best to have a variety of Kanthal a1 sizes on hand (28awg is a nice utility guage), as well as an assortment of hard wire rods or drill bits to make your coils.

Maurice

Have the other bits and bobs required, with my eyes I'll probably need one of those magnifying stations, though.
I'm sure I'll try various sizes in the future, this is just to get me going and fits into the calculations I have at hand for my 1st few attempts.

 

[Maurice Pudlo]

Have the other bits and bobs required, with my eyes I'll probably need one of those magnifying stations, though.
I'm sure I'll try various sizes in the future, this is just to get me going and fits into the calculations I have at hand for my 1st few attempts.

One of the magnification lenses with a light can help with winding perfect coils using 30 awg kanthal, like you I don't see as well as I once did. It kinda sucks getting old.

I prefer the magnifying lamp over the glasses you can find from time to time.
Maurice

 

[SteveMc]

One of the magnification lenses with a light can help with winding perfect coils using 30 awg kanthal, like you I don't see as well as I once did. It kinda sucks getting old.

I prefer the magnifying lamp over the glasses you can find from time to time.
Maurice

lol, decided to order one earlier, pretty cheap.
HELPING HAND TOOL MODELING KIT SOLDERING STAND MAGNIFYING GLASS 65mm 12X LED | eBay

 

[Codz]

For a bit of a variety of wire / wick i got one of these bundles. It's lasted me ages and seems really good value.

http://www.vape-atomizer-mesh.com/products/Starter-Bundles-1-1-1-1-1.html

 

[SteveMc]

For a bit of a variety of wire / wick i got one of these bundles. It's lasted me ages and seems really good value.

http://www.vape-atomizer-mesh.com/products/Starter-Bundles-1-1-1-1-1.html

Had a look at that at the time and have the site bookmarked, will play with what I've ordered now and go from there.

 

[zeroclue]

lol, decided to order one earlier, pretty cheap.
HELPING HAND TOOL MODELING KIT SOLDERING STAND MAGNIFYING GLASS 65mm 12X LED | eBay

I might have to grab one of those too, looks much better than the one I have now! Mine doesn't have a light either.

thanks for the link

 

[Satyris]

Thanks again Flux your guide has been a big help