Moving up to my first Mech Mod

[pmadden]

Hello fellow vapers, I've been an ecig user for about 2 years, been on and off the analogs, but I bought a box mod and an Aspire Nautilus tank about a week ago and I haven't thought about burning one since! This thing is just so great! Flavor and vapor beyond my wildest dreams, and easy to use. Well now I'm all psyched up and I bought an RDA yesterday. Man, this is fun. I'm a telco tech, so wrapping my first coil wasn't too hard. Two coils later, I can say I wrap with the best of them, lol! Now I'm feeling old school, so I ordered a mech mod and a battery, I laid out a couple hundred bucks this month getting setup, but going forward all I'm gonna need is e-juice. I can't put the RDA down, so my Nautilus coils will last longer too. I'm looking forward to making some new friends here, and I love all the information, for a new coil builder, its helped me a lot. Vape on and don't smoke!

 

[Susan~S]

Hello and welcome to the forum pmadden. Glad to have you here!

Since you are new to mech mods and rebuildables I highly recommend you spend some time with Baditude (one of our resident battery experts) and visit his blogs. You are now 100% in control of your own safety (and others around you). Make sure you purchase an ohm reader and a voltmeter or DMM so you can measure your builds, check for shorts and measure the remaining charge on your batteries.

Baditudes Blogs. The blogs that address battery safety, Ohm's Law, CDR (continuous discharge rating/Amps) and how they all work together are detailed below:

BATTERIES

Battery Basics for Mods: IMR or Protected ICR?
* Another essential read to understand which batteries are safe to use in mechanical and regulated mods. Includes a frequently updated list of recommended safe-chemistry, high-drain batteries with their specifications.

Purple Efest Batteries not as Advertised
* A cautionary blog that reveals that the purple Efest batteries may not have the specifications advertised. Also includes a commentary on "continuous discharge ratings" vs "pulse discharge ratings" of battery specs.

OHM'S LAW

Ohm's Law for Dummies (Vapers)
* My attempt at explaining Ohm's Law in layman terms and how it relates to vaping.

Explain it to the Dumb Noob: Ohm's Law Calculations
* As simple as it is to use, some people have a tough time grasping the concept. Warning: Includes graphic photos of mod explosions.

BATTERIES - WHERE TO BUY

Only buy batteries from a reputable supplier (not ebay or Amazon) as there are many counterfeit batteries being sold. Here are several reputable battery suppliers in the US.

* RTD Vapor
* Illumination Supply
* Lighthound
* Orbtronics

 

[BI00dR3D]

Welcome and let the fun begin.

 

[NealBJr]

Welcome to ECF! what Susan said is right.. batteries are the key to safety. For coil wrapping fun, you might want to look at some of Rip Trippers builds. He's a bit on the extreme side, and a bit on the crazy side, but he's entertaining. You'll see how there's a wide variety of methods out there. Me, I like the simple coil builds. BTW, he does have a video on how to rebuild the Nautilus coils (on page 2).

That's how I started rebuilding, I started rebuilding CE5 coils. And rebuild my protank coils as well. Tedious, but doable.

 

[Requiem33]

Welcome and enjoy the trip. However please take head to Susan-S information. Batteries are very important especially with mech mods

 

[wawiv22]

+1 for what Neal said! Rip Trippers builds insane coils (I've never tried any of them) but his videos are entertaining to watch! And always check your setups on Steam Calculator, mostly just don't use crazy low resistance, and always measure resistance and make sure it is what you hoped you'd build!

 

[pmadden]

Thanks for the links Susan-S, very informative. I will be using purple E-fest 2500Mah 35A 3.7V batteries, which are rebranded LG batts 20A continous, but not a problem as I will never go below .3 ohm with this build and that fits into the specs with a lot of wiggle room. The 35A refers to pulse current, which is actually what a mech mod does anyway, so no worries there! Happy vaping!

 

[NealBJr]

Thanks for the links Susan-S, very informative. I will be using purple E-fest 2500Mah 35A 3.7V batteries, which are rebranded LG batts 20A continous, but not a problem as I will never go below .3 ohm with this build and that fits into the specs with a lot of wiggle room. The 35A refers to pulse current, which is actually what a mech mod does anyway, so no worries there! Happy vaping!

One last note for that... find out how long they call "pulse". for some, it's 1 second, for other's it's 10 seconds. Just keep that in mind.

 

[pmadden]

+1 for what Neal said! Rip Trippers builds insane coils (I've never tried any of them) but his videos are entertaining to watch! And always check your setups on Steam Calculator, mostly just don't use crazy low resistance, and always measure resistance and make sure it is what you hoped you'd build!

Thank you for the comment. Wow, Steam Calculator is a great tool for coil wrapping and wattage configuration. I ordered an ohm meter as well as I don't want any shorts! I'll probably fall into the .45 ohm range,I think that will be my dual coil resistance as it now stands at .9 ohms single coil and that's a 4/5 wrap. I'm now using a VV/VW box mod, the U20, and you can't go below .5 ohms with that. It's an Ileaf 20W clone that lets you sub-ohm with the Atlantis clearo.

 

[sonicbomb]

What builds you do and what equipment you use is an adventure waiting to be discovered. My only advice to you would be to never to push your luck with battery safety or amp limits. It all seems esoteric until it goes bang. Look at the continuous discharge rating, ignore the pulse rating, and leave yourself some headroom. If you are not sure, don't build it or vape it.

 

[Visualabstrakt]

Hello. I too just made the move for my first mech mod. I got a super t workhorse and a tugboat v2. I love it. I cant put it down. I definitely agree with the posts on battery safety. Id like to add that if you ever get your rebuild done at a b&m, check it still. I just got into rebuilding but i was there already and wanted to learn more. They did a parallel dual coil. I liked it a lot but it got hot real fast. I got home and checked the resistance. It was 0.018. I changed it out because i was worried it wasnt safe. I was using a 18650 vtc4.

 

[Fattlestar]

Hello. I too just made the move for my first mech mod. I got a super t workhorse and a tugboat v2. I love it. I cant put it down. I definitely agree with the posts on battery safety. Id like to add that if you ever get your rebuild done at a b&m, check it still. I just got into rebuilding but i was there already and wanted to learn more. They did a parallel dual coil. I liked it a lot but it got hot real fast. I got home and checked the resistance. It was 0.018. I changed it out because i was worried it wasnt safe. I was using a 18650 vtc4.

When you recheck on a meter and you get a wonky result like that, try tightening the screws a little - and if that doesn't help, strum the coils a little with something like a toothpick or screwdriver (not hard, just barely), and test again. After that, it's time to rip out the build and begin anew

Nice setup! I'd kill for a Super T. Got a tug V2 on the way soon though ;D

 

[Visualabstrakt]

Thanks for the advice ill try it out. Just curious, what does the strumming do? As for the tug v2, im sure youll love it.

 

[Fattlestar]

Adjusting the coils and tightening the screws (even just strumming a little) can solidify a weak connection, so if your leads are just a little off in the posts you can get them "right" by fiddling like that. Adjust, make sure it's tight, and recheck is just the routine

 

[pmadden]

Hello. I too just made the move for my first mech mod. I got a super t workhorse and a tugboat v2. I love it. I cant put it down. I definitely agree with the posts on battery safety. Id like to add that if you ever get your rebuild done at a b&m, check it still. I just got into rebuilding but i was there already and wanted to learn more. They did a parallel dual coil. I liked it a lot but it got hot real fast. I got home and checked the resistance. It was 0.018. I changed it out because i was worried it wasnt safe. I was using a 18650 vtc4.

Oh yeah, that is too low, you can't go below 0.1 and that's pushing it. That wasn't safe, good thing you checked it. I'm gonna stay around 0.4 for my needs, that will be fine. Now talk to me in 2 months when I'm cloud chasing at 0.12, lol. There's a site called Steam Engine that calculates how many wraps you need for whatever gauge of wire your using, it's a great tool for coil building! Enjoy! P.S. I love the tugboat, thats my atty too!

 

[pmadden]

Wouldn't he get a higher measurement with a bad connection? I think the B+M guy built him a super coil, just not appropriate for his setup.

 

[NealBJr]

Wouldn't he get a higher measurement with a bad connection? I think the B+M guy built him a super coil, just not appropriate for his setup.

Most of the time, yes. However, if part of the coil is touching the deck, it could cause a short.

I've never seen a .018 build... maybe a .18. It sounds like a short somewhere unless he was using 18 gauge.

 

[pmadden]

Well, I have my rig all set up, and it's a beauty! I have an original Tugboat V1 on a Manhattan 'clone', powered by an authentic Efest 18650 30A battery, my dual coil build is .33, and this is the best Ecig experience I've ever had. I also have an Ileaf 20W with a Nautilus 5ml tank, for on the go vaping. I have dropped my nic level from 18mg to 6mg for dripping. I'm in vaping nirvana, and I haven't had a ciggie in about 2 weeks. Thank you for all the good advice and suggestions, it helped with my RDA build and vaping safely.

 

[cloud kicker]

When it comes to mech mods there a dime a dozen. You don't have to blow hundreds of dollars because most mech mods do the same thing. About the best band for your buck would be a Nemesis clone. Get the one that is solid stainless steel and on the bottom of the button is a train logo that is laser etched. I had one for a year and a half before i got an ipv3 . Order online!!!! Brick n mortar Shops will charge you 100$ for even a clone mod.

 

[pmadden]

When it comes to mech mods there a dime a dozen. You don't have to blow hundreds of dollars because most mech mods do the same thing. About the best band for your buck would be a Nemesis clone. Get the one that is solid stainless steel and on the bottom of the button is a train logo that is laser etched. I had one for a year and a half before i got an ipv3 . Order online!!!! Brick n mortar Shops will charge you 100$ for even a clone mod.

I'll check out some reviews on that Nemesis, thanks. I almost paid $65.00 for the Manhattan at my local vape shop, I'm glad I didn't. It just felt wrong, so I passed on it, then found it online at Royal Vapes for $32.00. The vape shop tried to sell me the Tugboat clone for $30.00, but I had already ordered the authentic which I found on sale at Flawless Vapes for $35.00. Everybody's trying to rip us off, the only thing I'm buying now is juice, and my local store does mix some tasty concoctions!