Step Down Technology... What is it, exactly?

[AmandaJoVS]

Good afternoon, vapers!
I have a question that might seem silly to some people, but I am really curious about it and I figured that all of you nice people here would be the perfect people to ask. I tried googling this before posting a thread about it. I noticed a few people mentioning that certain mods have this feature, and that a lot of people really like it, but I couldn't find out what it actually means... I want to know what it is exactly, and why mods with this feature are favored by a lot of people.
I've heard about 'Step Down Technology' several times before and never knew what it meant, but I was okay with that because I'm pretty sure that none of my mods have this feature. The reason I am so curious and interested in it now is because I recently purchased an Innokin SVD 2.0, which will be in my mailbox on Saturday. Yayyyy! The SVD 2.0 has this step down feature, and from the reviews I have read, people that own this mod are really enjoying the feature.
Anyway, what exactly is it and what does it mean? How do mods with this feature differ from mods without it? Thank you so much for your time!

 

[ckquatt]

From their Facebook page:

The SVD2.0 features a maximum output power of 20W and a minimum resistance of .5ohm. The Evolv DNA Experience™ also has the ability to step-down power which gives sub-ohm vapers a wider precise range of usable power levels. With the iTaste SVD2.0 you can vape at any wattage you want regardless of the remaining charge of your battery.

 

[Bored2Tears]

I'll bite, but hoping someone more tech-savvy than myself will correct anything I might have wrong. Step down is the ability of the mod to deliver a voltage LOWER than the native charge on your battery. So, if a freshly charged battery has 4.2 volts, and you ask your mod to fire at 3.6 volts, many mods really are incapable of doing that. Those will still fire 4.2 volts. A mod with step-down technology is capable of firing the desired 3.6 volts you are setting it for.

 

[bwh79]

Step-down means the device is capable of delivering less than battery voltage to the atomizer. Many devices are capable of delivering more than battery voltage, but I guess throttling it back is a little bit trickier than just bumping it up higher. Sometimes PWM (pulse-width modulation) is used as a sort of "quick and dirty" step-down, but all that does is a quick on-off-on-off cycle (many many times per second) at the full voltage, so the average over time is less than battery voltage, but each individual pulse is still at full power. "True" step-down involves a flat signal at a lower level, instead of a bunch of quick pulses at the higher level.

 

[Bored2Tears]

Step-down means the device is capable of delivering less than battery voltage to the atomizer. Many devices are capable of delivering more than battery voltage, but I guess throttling it back is a little bit trickier than just bumping it up higher. Sometimes PWM (pulse-width modulation) is used as a sort of "quick and dirty" step-down, but all that does is a quick on-off-on-off cycle (many many times per second) at the full voltage, so the average over time is less than battery voltage, but each individual pulse is still at full power. "True" step-down involves a flat signal at a lower level, instead of a bunch of quick pulses at the higher level.

See.... I knew a more technical answer would develop.

 

[dr g]

Buck converter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[tj99959]

From their Facebook page:

he SVD2.0 features a maximum output power of 20W and a minimum resistance of .5ohm. The Evolv DNA Experience™ also has the ability to step-down power which gives sub-ohm vapers a wider precise range of usable power levels. With the iTaste SVD2.0 you can vape at any wattage you want regardless of the remaining charge of your battery.

Which is only true with the Innokin Evolv Boards!!!!! Only the Evolv DNA40 has "step down", both the Evolv DNA20 & 30 only have boost.

 

[AmandaJoVS]

Thank you so much for you quick replies. So to put it simply, you can vape at whatever wattage you want regardless of how low your battery is? I guess I didn't realize that my other devices didn't do that. My iStick, Vamo, Egrip etc. all seem to work good and consistently even when they have a low battery.

 

[tj99959]

Thank you so much for you quick replies. So to put it simply, you can vape at whatever wattage you want regardless of how low your battery is? I guess I didn't realize that my other devices didn't do that. My iStick, Vamo, Egrip etc. all seem to work good and consistently even when they have a low battery.

Now don't get it backward, Step down allows you to set the wattage as LOW as you want, even with a fresh battery. "Step up" allows you to set the wattage as high as you want, even with a low battery.

Step down = buck regulator
Step up = boost regulator

 

[bwh79]

Thank you so much for you quick replies. So to put it simply, you can vape at whatever wattage you want regardless of how low your battery is? I guess I didn't realize that my other devices didn't do that. My iStick, Vamo, Egrip etc. all seem to work good and consistently even when they have a low battery.

No, you've got it backwards. Step-down lets you vape at the low end of the spectrum, even when the battery is fully charged. Normally, you couldn't do that. A device without step-down, with a fully-charged battery at 4.2v, cannot output less than 4.2v. The best it can do is turn that 4.2v on and off really fast so it "looks" like less than 4.2v when averaged over time, but each individual pulse is still the full 4.2v. The problem with this is that it's still hitting your atomizer, or your juice, with that full 4.2v every time, which might overwork the atomizer or cause a funky burnt taste in your juice. With step-down, on the other hand, a device can output a smooth 3.1v signal for example, without ever hitting harder than that 3.1 volts.

 

[AmandaJoVS]

Okay, I get it now. I appreciate you guys taking the time to explain this to me. I guess the best way to find out what it's really about is to wait until my SVD 2.0 gets here and try it out Happy Vaping