Optimal Wattage

[gdeal]

This subject is for the experts that are knowledgeable and experienced with wicks, wicking and coils.

The question that I hope the experts here can help with that has been rattling around my head is:

What is the range of optimal power (ie watts) that you want to put on a vaporization surface (coiled wick) and how should you distribute that power over that surface area?

Let me explain further. I have seen people often quote that ~10watts is an optimal level. I have seen wattage charts as well. While they work for characterizing a commercial product, they don't help for modding and in particular genisis devices.

This is what I do not understand. The way I am looking at this as an example is that if you put this optimal 10 watts through a 3/4 wrap coil, you would need ~20 watts on a same wire 7/8 wrap coil to get the same heat on a coil/wick location to get the same coil/wick vapor production. If wicking is not a problem, then theoretically you should get twice the vapor.

The other side of the equation could be that if you are putting the 10 watts into a 7/8 wrap coil, you are really only putting 5 watts through a ~3/4 coil wrap and probably not getting any vapor.

So what I believe I am looking for is: What is the optimal watts per sq lateral surface area of a coiled wick surface?

 

[Dj Xy]

There is no real optimum wattage, its all a matter of personal preference on how hot you want your vape to be.

 

[Hoosier]

As Dj pointed out, there is not an optimal wattage. I change wattage based on the flavor and type of juice I am vaping. My oldest son varies wattage based on how he is feeling at the time no matter what flavor of type of juice he is using. My sister never changes wattage and she runs about half of my highest.

I also think you misunderstand how power works, but I'm a poor teacher and this isn't a great format for such an education.

 

[Xaiver]

Oh...okay, I had to read that a couple times to understand what you're saying.

The coil is measured in Ohms, which you need to know before you can do anything else. If your 3/4 coil is 1.5ohms, and your 7/8 coil is 3.0 ohms, then you've got 2 options. You can use a lower guage wire to take the ohms down on it, or you can increase the voltage. If you're using a variable wattage device, you don't even have to think about this stuff, but you need to know it so you can understand how it works.

10 watts is 10 watts. If you're getting 10 watts, it's through the whole coil (Assuming no hot-spots or shorts). Wicking is the weakest link in this business. If there was a way to just put the coil in the middle of a bottle of liquid and vaporize it, we could do all sorts of crazy things with PVs....but it doesn't work that way. The coil needs a certain percentage of air to liquid ratio or it doesn't do anything (read: flooding).

The point here is that wattage is subjective. You might prefer 10 watts, where I like 8, and someone else is happy with 6, and there's another fellow over there that likes them at 14.