Reading The Ohm Meter?

[bassfishingvap]

I am ordering my first mod & RBA today along with everything else that goes with it. I have been studying for weeks but....HOW DO I READ A OHM METER? I will be using EFEST 30 AMP batteries. What are some safe readings on the ohm meter for these batteries? Do I need to purchase other batteries for say other readings on the ohm meter? If the meter says .12 does that translate into 1.2 resistance in ohms? Thanks everyone!

 

[State O' Flux]

You don't measure the resistance (ohms) of batteries... you measure voltage, using a analog or digital multi-meter, on the voltage setting.

What exactly do you have, a 510 type platform ohm meter? With that, all you will be able to measure is the resistance of an atomizer coil.

A platform type ohm meter is nice to have as a base to build coils on... but to measure your batteries, and resistance, and continuity... you will want a digital multi-meter - aka a DMM.
A DMM is not something you want to skimp too cheaply on. I'm not saying you need a Fluke meter, but I'd suggest spending at least $20, and preferably a bit more for a meter with an "auto-ranging" feature.

Here's a overview of helpful links for your journey into mechs and coil building. Have fun.

 

[DavidOck]

What kind of meter? If it's on a VV/VW mod, .12 is .12 ohms. If it's on a DMM, then it depends on the scale setting you've picked. I.e., if 200 ohm scale, then it's .12 ohms. If 20 M setting, then it's 1200 ohms.

If on a VV/VW mod the unit will probably see such a low resistance as a short and not fire. On a mechanical mod, make sure you use proper protection, i.e. protected battery, fuse module, etc.

Battery voltage will be the same (or darn close) on any LiOn, LiPo battery fresh off the charger, and you don't change batteries for different resistances.

 

[vaperature]

Why waste 20 or 30 on an ohm meter when you can pay just a bit more and get an ohm meter attached to a 2600 mah vv/vw battery?

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...reme-value-innokin-itaste-mvp-v2-101vape.html

If your ohm meter reads .12 best toss the head unless you want it to blow up in your face.

Unless you're messing around with sub-ohms, usually ohms range from about 1.8 to 2.8 (at least for the hardware I'm using)

 

[Vaslovik]

A very spiffy little device that will be of great utility to you is this:

Electronic Cigarette | E Cigarette | myvaporstore

With it you can check the remaining charge in your batteries AND the ohms resistance of your atty build. If you are going to be using mechs this is a very nice thing to have.

I so love mine

 

[bassfishingvap]

The ohm reader I will be getting is the Oracle. $20. Let me ask this, what wire (gauge) is good for newbies like myself getting into RBA's. Using that gauge wire you recommend, what are some safe readings? The battery I will be using in my mod will be the Efest 18650 30 AMP.

 

[State O' Flux]

The ohm reader I will be getting is the Oracle. $20. Let me ask this, what wire (gauge) is good for newbies like myself getting into RBA's. Using that gauge wire you recommend, what are some safe readings? The battery I will be using in my mod will be the Efest 18650 30 AMP.

Read the coil spreadsheet and battery amperage/resistance charts in the links I provided.

 

[Vaslovik]

The ohm reader I will be getting is the Oracle. $20. Let me ask this, what wire (gauge) is good for newbies like myself getting into RBA's. Using that gauge wire you recommend, what are some safe readings? The battery I will be using in my mod will be the Efest 18650 30 AMP.

Well, what I've been using to very good effect is 28 kanthal 4/3 wrap on a 400 mesh SS wick rolled tight from a 3 in. strip of mesh for .8 ohm. I use this in my RSST and my AGA-T2 and it has served me very well, though as always YMMV.

Hey, catch any bass lately? Pics? Last time I went fishing I got two Spanish mackerel and a pelican.

 

[suspectK]

If 20 M setting, then it's 1200 ohms.

M=mega x 10^6... m=mili x 10^-3

I don't have a meter that has to have it's scale manually adjusted, so symbols may show a capital M when it is in the mili scale, and may not even have a mega scale..

Edit-misread slightly. For some reason I added information to that...

 

[stlhawks]

bass - the gauge of wire really depends on you. Remember that the higher the number listed on the gauge, the thinner the wire. This means more wraps for your coil to get the same resistance for a lower gauge wire.

I'm currently using 28gauge Kanthal. I have yet to have problems using that with my RSST, however it was a bit more of a with my Natural mod that came with it's own RDA. The posts were really small, and the surface area of the screw heads to hold down the wire kept pushing my wire out which caused me to wrap the post and screw it down instead of just laying it under one side of the screw head like I was used to with my genesis style atty. Once I did this trick, building coils was easy. You just have to find out what works best for you. I'd recommend sticking at around 1.3 Ohms to start out with. Once you feel comfortable, you can adjust from there.

What RBA are you going to be using? RSST is a good place to start (that's where I did) and it's been easy, fun, and little to no learning curve.

 

[bassfishingvap]

I will be using the IGO T or the IGO W or W4. On 28 gauge wire, what are the ohms per inch?

 

[suspectK]

gauge- resistance per foot @room temperature.
28- 5.27
29- 6.55
30- 8.36
32- 13.1

 

[SteampunkPirate]

From my experience, never use an ohm meter or a multi-meter setting to measure "voltage," just resistance. Although most modern meters have some form of protection, measuring voltage in the ohm setting can damage a meter, especially older ones. The other thing you need to do is make sure the connections are firm and steady when measuring ohms, otherwise, the readings will jump all over the place. I've had this issue with some of the ohm meters made just for e-cig batts as they could never seat properly.

C.

 

[DavidOck]

Indeed, if you're going to use a DMM to check voltage, make sure to put it on the correct DC voltage setting. Resistance checks MUST be done on non-energized equipment - i.e. no volts. For voltage reading, something around a 20 VDC setting should be fine.

Also, if using a DMM for ohms, press the probe tips together and note the reading. You need to subtract that from the "coil" reading to eliminate the resistance of the probe wires. (Some DMMs have a REL button. If yours has that, touch the leads together and press it - the meter will "remember" that and automatically zero the meter for you, no subtraction needed.)