new to mods and RBAs, have questions

[Alex4866]

EDIT: title should've been *"RDA"
not sure why I wrote it with a B.

So I started out my vaping with a simple E-go battery and a CE4 clearomizer, I quickly experienced that this was inadequate because the liquid constantly burned after 5min of vaping.

After this I had a break from vaping for about 2 months before I decided to get back in. I got a voltspinner battery thinking that this was pretty good, in case liquid burned I could just turn the voltage down. With this battery I also got 2 bdc tanks, Vivi nova.
These tanks are, in my experience, horrible. Constant adjustment needed, insufficient airflow and low vapor production.
I've had this "set-up" for about a month or two now, and I want to move up to MODS and RDAs, but I have some questions.
not sure if this is the 'right' forum to ask this in, since it is 'new members' but here goes.

Can I use RDAs with a VV/VW MOD? I have a VAMO v2 coming in the mail soon (because that was all I could afford), or do I need a mech mod for RDAs?
kanthal, mesh and wicks, I am uncertain of what sort of kanthal to get, so many varieties. What is mesh? is it needed, and what for?
I have the option of silica wicks and ekowool wicks from a site operating with-in my country, which should I get?
for a newbie to RDAs what are some good starters? I have nothing against going with a clone as I don't have that huge a budget. I was looking at a patriot and IGO-W earlier, are those good starters? seems user friendly.

 

[Nudzacysie]

For such get 30+ gauge kanthal and for the vamo good choice ive had a really good experience so far and I even rebuilt some of my protank coils but just make sure to do enough wraps and keep them coils over 1.2 ohms but a mech would be preferable if your looking to be cloud chasing

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk

 

[Jomiz]

Buy a kayfun original or an h cigar clone if you're budget vaping like myself it's an awesome rba I use mine on a vamo v5

 

[Alex4866]

uh "cloud chasing"?

I am trying to move to mods and RDAs in the attempt of getting a better experience from vaping, both in taste and bigger clouds/more vapor. Might get a mech mod next month in that case.

I am not so knowledgeable about ohms and such. With a coil at 1.2 ohms what sort of wattage/voltage am I looking at here?

 

[Jomiz]

I run 1.2 ohm coils at 13-14 w but it all depends on the juice and most importantly preference

 

[Nudzacysie]

At 1.3 on a rebuilt protank coil I use at 10 - 12 watts which I'm not exactly sure how many volts that would end up at but when I use on my ego teist I use at 4.8v

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[Wicked & Coiled]

Here's a calculator:

vapecalc.com

You must crawl before you walk. You can build an RBA/RDA to any resistance you please, and as long as it is over (usually) 1 Ohm, most vv/vw mods will fire it. YOU build the coil, YOU decide the final product based on your resistance. Always use quality batteries, and know the amps you're pushing. There's tons of info on this forum, if you use the search for it.

Here's a decent battery guide:

Battery mAh & C Rating = amp Calculator

And a power-chart:

http://www.vaporsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/power-vaping-chart-lg.jpg

 

[Wicked & Coiled]

At 1.3 on a rebuilt protank coil I use at 10 - 12 watts which I'm not exactly sure how many volts that would end up at but when I use on my ego teist I use at 4.8v

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk

12W @ 1.3 Ohm = 3.95V

 

[Nudzacysie]

Alright sounds right then but one thing what if im vaping at .3 watts on a mech with an eFest 3.7 2000 mah bat? Lol see if you can figure that one out...

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[Wicked & Coiled]

Alright sounds right then but one thing what if im vaping at .3 watts on a mech with an eFest 3.7 2000 mah bat? Lol see if you can figure that one out...

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk

45.63 Watts

When the battery is fresh off the charger, it's at 4.2V yielding 58.8 Watts. THAT'S why people use mechanicals. No vv/vw mod will fire a .3 build. YET.

 

[Nudzacysie]

really now....well...lol

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[Alex4866]

As for kanthal wire, I am quite uncertain about how this works, say I want a coil around 3 ohms, what type of wire should I be looking for? I am not even sure what resistance to go with for my vamo, what would some of you more experienced users recommend I do?

the wire from the site that I was talking about earlier have wire ranging from 0.15mm - 0.25mm in thickness at 0.5mm intervals
"awg" goes from 27 - 30, 32, 35, I am not sure how these factors affects resistance and what to get, and what not to get.
I am asking because the resistance of the wire is stated in ohms per meter, and some of the wire products haven't even had their resistance stated, just "this wire can take up to 1250 degrees celcius"

on the site it describes a wire at 0.25 mm/AWG30 to have 22 ohms/m

Can I just assume that this type of wire would give a coil with resistance at around 2.2 ohms?

 

[coalyard]

For most coils, especially for a regulated device, 30ga is a good place to start. Higher gauge = thinner wire = higher resistance. With a regolated mod such as the Vamo, you need to stay above 1.2 ohm resistance for the device to fire. Watch a lot of rebuilding videos on YouTube to get the idea. ProTank2's are a good platform to start rebuilding on. A simple single coil in an RDA is also good. Another poster put up some links to calculators. Use them. Good luck.

 

[DoubleEwe]

Hi Alex,

From my experience it is a lot about trial and error in getting the coil to be a certain resistance, it all depends on a whole bunch of things, such as number of wraps and obviously the size of the actual coils you are making, along with your choice of wire gauge.

For example I used to make coils with around 6 wraps for my Vivi Novas which gave a resistance of around 2.4ohms, but now I am making smaller coils (in diameter) and 10 wraps gives me 2.4ohms.
The coils are both using the same gauge Kanthal wire.

I use a digital multimeter to check the resistance of my coils before firing up on a battery.

 

[Alex4866]

So I've watched some rebuilding videos. There were single, dual and something called macro coils.

But I did not really get the entire gist of it. So the higher the gauge the higher the resistance and the thinner the wire?
the bigger the coil is in diameter and/or wraps also increases resistance?
so say 32 gauge wire, 4 wraps, 2.25 ohms (example from a video) same wire 6 wraps would give a higher resistance right?
4 but wider wraps gives higher resistance?

So the way I've understood this so far is Mechanical mods are suited for below 1 ohm and uses low gauge wire right? electronic mods like vamo is suited for higher resistances and uses higher gauge wire?

Could I with a patriot RDA and a vamo v2 using say 30 or 32 gauge and 6 wraps make a build like youtube user "rip tripper"s macro coil
(I am not allowed to post links)

This is the type of result I am looking for

 

[tj99959]

Resistance is only one factor when figuring the thermodynamics of a RBA. For example a 2.2 ohm coil in an A7 hits about the same as a 1.3 ohm coil in a KayFun at the same voltage. This is caused by the difference in air flow, chamber configuration, coil design and wicking requirements.

In the past we had a level playing field, and it was easy to say that a x.x ohm coil worked best at y.y volts. This isn't true anymore, and all of the thermodynamic factors need to be considered.

Not a lot different than calculating the radiator capasity, thermostat, and fan requirements to manage the engine temperature of your car.

 

[Completely Average]

YIKES!

Let me start with the mods before getting into the wire.

Mechanical mods are well suited for pretty much anything. The only disadvantages to mech mods are the lack of safety devices and the gradual voltage drop you get as the battery is used up. This can be countered by using a Kick module in your mech mod which allows you to set a specific wattage so it vapes the same throughout the battery charge and acts as a safety device. With a Kick a mech mod performs just like a Variable Wattage mod.

Variable Voltage/Variable Wattage mods are essentially mech mods with an electronics package that regulates and protects the battery. They have set limits for safety which means they cannot be used for subohmig or high power vaping which requires power delivery that exceeds their limits.

Now for the wire.....

First off, ALL wire is measured by gauge in the US. Doesn't matter if it's Kanthal or speaker wire, it's all measured in gauge. The higher the number, the thinner the wire and the higher the electrical resistance. So, for instance, if you added an amp and new speakers into your car you would probably need to replace the speaker wire with a lower gauge (thicker wire) as well to reduce electrical resistance and deliver more power to the speakers.

With ecigarettes and Kanthal specifically, both length and shape of the coil help determine it's resistance. Sharp bends increase resistance, so if you have a 90 degree bend in the wire before the coil it will heat at that bend first. Wrapping a coil increases the resistance more than a straight wire of the same length.

There are two basic types of coils. The normal wrapped wick coil, where you take your wick and wrap the wire around it, and the Microcoil, where you wrap your coil around a solid object like a drill bit or nail and create a very tight coil where all of the wraps touch each other. Each has it's advantages and disadvantages, and you've just got to play around a bit to find what works best for you.

As for myself, I prefer the microcoil because it's easier to reproduce a specific resistance and predict what a resistance will be. Microcoils are NOT difficult to build, but are more time consuming than the traditional wrap-a-wick.

Using a 1/16th drill bit to wrap on....

10 wraps of 32 gauge = 2.4 ohms, which means 1 wrap = .24 ohms
10 wraps of 30 gauge = 2.0 ohms, which means 1 wrap = .2 ohms
10 wraps of 28 gauge = 1.2 ohms, which means 1 wrap = .12 ohms

Don't bother with less than 28 gauge unless you're subohming and REALLY know what you're doing in regards to battery safety and coil builds.

And if you need help building a microcoil, try here:

The Art of the Micro Coil: A Beginners Guide to Coiling an RBA - Vape Core

 

[Alex4866]

Thanks a lot for your the explanation of the mod differences, wires and wrapping, "completely average"

I think I am starting to understand how it works now. Thanks a lot to everyone.