**Sub-Ohm Vaping** Discussion, Safety, Battery Info, & Warnings

[Technonut]

Thanks, Technonut! Have gone from .8 to 1 ohm. Now using SS cable, top wrapped w/ mesh, usually 28g Kanthal & sometimes .5 -.8 ribbon, have used 500 mesh in past. RSST for quite a few months, now. Have checked for shorts by using Provari, multimeter, & pulsing - if there are shorts - I'm not sure how else to tell. Used to use a kick in a "CCTS", but won't fit in these crappy clones (ditched the Segelei 20 & using the TVS from fasttech). Planning to get a Roller this week. Guess I better dust off the Kick . No, don't have a fuse & guess I better get one if not using the Kick.

No Problem... If you have the older Kick, you will need to invest in the Kick 2 for the lower / sub-ohm builds... It would give you minimum-hassle safety features, and battery protection..

 

[lctrc]

usually chain vape & batteries always get warm to hot.

Are you sure the battery is getting warm to hot? Not just your atomizer radiating some heat to your mod case?

If your battery gets warm to hot, STOP. Let your battery cool down before firing it again. Or switch to a fresh battery right then. A battery shouldn't get hot. And it especially shouldn't produce heat itself - if it does then something could be on the verge of going very wrong.

If only one battery gets warm, that's an unhappy battery - replace it.

If all your batterys get warm - there's something wrong with your build or your mod.

 

[ChainVapitis]

Just an update: Have been checking battery every hour & need to change out at 2 hours. Have gotten a Roller & batteries stay cooler longer in it. Have increased ohms to 1 - 1.15. Picked up a fuse & will get a Kick2 later - just for safety's sake. Had someone else build my rope wick (from the store where I bought the Roller) & don't see a lot of difference there. The latest batteries came from Madvapes - MNKE orange do seem to say cooler longer than the Panasonic CH's which makes sense looking at the numbers. The chain vaping probably needs to stop - hmmm - well, I'm working on it. So, seems like a variety of reasons for the end result.

Thanks Technonut & lctrc for you help. I have been very concerned & frustrated about this & your input has helped already!

 

[Technonut]

Just an update: Have been checking battery every hour & need to change out at 2 hours. Have gotten a Roller & batteries stay cooler longer in it. Have increased ohms to 1 - 1.15. Picked up a fuse & will get a Kick2 later - just for safety's sake. Had someone else build my rope wick (from the store where I bought the Roller) & don't see a lot of difference there. The latest batteries came from Madvapes - MNKE orange do seem to say cooler longer than the Panasonic CH's which makes sense looking at the numbers. The chain vaping probably needs to stop - hmmm - well, I'm working on it. So, seems like a variety of reasons for the end result.

Thanks Technonut & lctrc for you help. I have been very concerned & frustrated about this & your input has helped already!

Happy to help.. It's good to be safe. I just read a post where a battery in an Atmomixani 69 Mod went south.. Look at the switch:

Ran out of battery charge a few days ago while I was out somewhere, so I had to borrow a battery (which turned out to be a bad one) from a friend. And the rest is history.

 

[pizza2me]

Hey guys. Just thought of something. I know there is inherent risk with any unprotected vape. But is there a "danger zone"that folks should be aware of? I make my wife's in the 1.5-2 Ohm range so they will stop satisfying long before the battery is too low. I run my mechs right around 1 +/- for the same reason. (I like it strong!)

Thinking of delving down to the .5ish range for me. This may be a dumb question as I mentioned above I know there are always risks. But maybe it would help a lot of folks to see the answer.

Is there a "that's just plain stupid" range not to go below? Or, "it's OK but be very, very aware and careful" range? Or "of you don't go below this you're fairly safe as long as you watch for heat, etc"

Make sense?

 

[pdib]

Yeah, hi pizza, the question makes sense. But the answer is "know your battery". There are batteries in use (and mentioned on ECF threads) that aren't recommended for use under 2Ω. Others, I can hold the button down indefinitely @ 0.2Ω. Most of the batteries we use are fine at/over 0.8Ω; but which one's do you use?

It only takes a minute to do a search with your battery's info (AW IMR 18650 2000mAh* . . . . . whatever is printed on the battery) and the words "maximum continuous discharge" or "C rating" or "specifications".

Then you go here . . . http://thelocust.net/ohm/ . . . . and plug in the amperage specified by the rating. Plug in 4.1V and hit calculate. The resistance specified on the calculator is the one to stay above.

Your batteries will last 6mo or longer, a year if you want to milk them**. So, what's a few minutes to 6 months?









*the mAh (milliamp hours) is an important piece of information. Include it, as well as anything else you see printed on the battery: like "V1" or whatever.


** I just read where the batteries I just bought have a specification where the max. cont. discharge rating drops to 60% at 250 charge cycles.

 

[Ryedan]

** I just read where the batteries I just bought have a specification where the max. cont. discharge rating drops to 60% at 250 charge cycles.

That's a very interesting point pdib! I've never read anything that quantifies the effect of use on batteries. Makes total sense as internal resistance increases with cycles, but though I knew that I still didn't really get that cycles could have such an effect on battery performance.

Thanks.

 

[pdib]

Here's another one for you, Ryedan. A bit anecdotal; but still . . . . . I have MNKEs that are about 8 months old. I was doing some V-drop tests with my almost new AW1600s and getting about 3.75V on a 4.15 battery (SLR). I threw one of those MNKEs on the same exact setup, and got 3.3V.

 

[xpen]

(...) ** I just read where the batteries I just bought have a specification where the max. cont. discharge rating drops to 60% at 250 charge cycles.

What batteries are those pdib? I think I've read in another post of yours elsewhere that you've ordered some Samsung 20A.

Vested interest, mine, for I'm waiting for delivery of some of those Samsung any day now ..

 

[Ryedan]

Here's another one for you, Ryedan. A bit anecdotal; but still . . . . . I have MNKEs that are about 8 months old. I was doing some V-drop tests with my almost new AW1600s and getting about 3.75V on a 4.15 battery (SLR). I threw one of those MNKEs on the same exact setup, and got 3.3V.

I think I'll start checking V-drop and watching it over time. I have 2 MNKE and 2 Sony batteries in rotation in 2 mech mods. Won't take much time and could be very good info to have.

 

[pdib]

What batteries are those pdib? I think I've read in another post of yours elsewhere that you've ordered some Samsung 20A.

Vested interest, mine, for I'm waiting for delivery of some of those Samsung any day now ..

Same, I imagine. They're the Samsung INR1865020-R 2000mAh. Just vaping the first one . . . .. Nice results so far. Did a v-drop test on freshly charged batt. (1st cycle). Both 1Ω and 0.4Ω tested same as my AW1600s (meaning, within 2/100s of a volt . . . . which is no more than test tolerances)

 

[Jerms]

Same, I imagine. They're the Samsung INR1865020-R 2000mAh. Just vaping the first one . . . .. Nice results so far. Did a v-drop test on freshly charged batt. (1st cycle). Both 1Ω and 0.4Ω tested same as my AW1600s (meaning, within 2/100s of a volt . . . . which is no more than test tolerances)

I've been impressed with those Samsung's too. The amp limit is overkill for me since I stick around 1 ohm, 0.8 at tthe lowest, but I just love how long they last above 3.9 volts and have less voltage loss. Even though I got them for mechs, I've been using it on my VAMO since yesterday. I'm at 3.5 volts, and it's still giving me an 11 watt vape.. would have changed batts at 3.7 volts with my others. 4 of them for under $20, very happy.

Sent from my LGL55C using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ezah]

...I think I've read in another post of yours elsewhere that you've ordered some Samsung 20A...

Good to know there are such batteries

 

[pdib]

Good to know there are such batteries

Bear in mind, even tho the Nickel Cobalt Manganese chemistry (like the Samsung) is touted to be pretty safe; I have not seen these batteries hard shorted for 15 minutes like I did the video of the AWs. I, personally, haven't heard anyone claim that they are as safe as good quality IMR batteries.

Btw: I've been vaping a .4Ω coil on battery #1 since ~10pm last night. So I guess I just hit ~24 hrs. (Made a point of only vaping that setup all day.) The AW1600s were good for about 10hrs. So, not counting sleep, I guess I'm at 16hrs now.

 

[xpen]

Good, good... Cant't wait to have them in my mod.

At first I was just a bit worried about the 60% C in half of the (standard) battery cycles life, but then I've realized I'll be cycling at least 4 batteries so not much of a problem.

Bear in mind, even tho the Nickel Cobalt Manganese chemistry (like the Samsung) is touted to be pretty safe; I have not seen these batteries hard shorted for 15 minutes like I did the video of the AWs. I, personally, haven't heard anyone claim that they are as safe as good quality IMR batteries.

Btw: I've been vaping a .4Ω coil on battery #1 since ~10pm last night. So I guess I just hit ~24 hrs. (Made a point of only vaping that setup all day.) The AW1600s were good for about 10hrs. So, not counting sleep, I guess I'm at 16hrs now.

 

[Jerms]

Good, good... Cant't wait to have them in my mod.

At first I was just a bit worried about the 60% C in half of the (standard) battery cycles life, but then I've realized I'll be cycling at least 4 batteries so not much of a problem.

Yeah, the way I look at it, I have 4 of the Samsung that last nearly a day, so along with rotating with the other batts I have I will use each batt maybe once a week. Should get a few years of good performance out of them.

Sent from my LGL55C using Tapatalk 2

 

[xpen]

Yeah, the way I look at it, I have 4 of the Samsung that last nearly a day, so along with rotating with the other batts I have I will use each batt maybe once a week. Should get a few years of good performance out of them.

Sent from my LGL55C using Tapatalk 2

Yep, just about the same goes for me. I always try and keep track of the age of the batteries I use, together with an approx idea of the charge cycles they went thru.

Too bad these only come as flat tops, I'd like to use them in my provari as well.. Oh well, I guess I may always play a trick with a magnet and some epoxy..

 

[xpen]

(...)
Btw: I've been vaping a .4Ω coil on battery #1 since ~10pm last night. So I guess I just hit ~24 hrs. (Made a point of only vaping that setup all day.) The AW1600s were good for about 10hrs. So, not counting sleep, I guess I'm at 16hrs now.

It'd seem we share similar vaping patterns, an AW1600 lasts about 10 hours of casual vaping for me.

That goes down to maybe 4-5 hours during "intensive" sessions, though

Gosh, less than half an ohm... There's some serious kick in there I guess ;-)

 

[pdib]

Yeah, well I modded my Grand to get a 0.3V drop on a 0.4Ω coil, so . . . . . . . . . 36 watts.



This is not something for just anyone to try, tho. Experience, brains and caution, along with a lot of feedback from people with e.engineering degrees was involved. SO . . .. . . . . . . . . . if there are any "dumb kids gonna blow their faces off" listening . . . . . . . don't be stupid.

 

[xpen]

Yeah sorry, my bad, I should have weighed some more my wording.. Kids don't try that, unless you do know what you're doing.

Geez I'm growing tired of having to ponder every word just because some m*r*n out there may try and hurt themselves.. Darwin, good old friend...

Yeah, well I modded my Grand to get a 0.3V drop on a 0.4Ω coil, so . . . . . . . . . 36 watts.



This is not something for just anyone to try, tho. Experience, brains and caution, along with a lot of feedback from people with e.engineering degrees was involved. SO . . .. . . . . . . . . . if there are any "dumb kids gonna blow their faces off" listening . . . . . . . don't be stupid.