Ten Months A Vaper And....

[Nevanessence]

I love it!
...but still not made a coil; gathering supplies to switch to mech mods & heading out to the yearly Jakarta vape fair tomorrow (Sep.27th, noon-midnight) to see if I can improve on my Ego-driven vaping habits, find some interesting juices & just soak up atmosphere.
Plz shout if any intending to be there & want to meet up.
- I find it hard to keep sufficient liquid on hand atm, but places are popping up here & there all over town & I'm finding my way around them.
Ty to all who encouraged me.

 

[Susan~S]

Hope you have a great time.

If you are new to mech mods & rebuildables I highly recommend you spend some time with @Baditude & @Mooch (two of our resident battery/safety experts) and visit their blogs. You are now 100% in control of your own safety (and others around you). Make sure you purchase an ohm reader and a voltmeter or DMM so you can measure your builds, check for shorts and measure the remaining charge on your batteries.

Here are links to some of Mooch's blogs:

• No matter what is printed on the battery wrapper: There are no 18650 batteries with a genuine rating over 30A!
• Links to all his battery tests to date: List of My Battery Tests | Mooch's Blog
• Picking a Safe Battery to Vape With: Table of 18650 Battery Safety Grades | Mooch's Blog

Baditude's Blog - Table of Contents: The blogs that address battery safety, Ohm's Law, CDR (continuous discharge rating/Amps) and how they all work together are detailed below:

BATTERIES

Battery Basics for Mods - The Ultimate Battery Guide
* Another essential read to understand which batteries are safe to use in mechanical and regulated mods. Includes a frequently updated list of recommended safe-chemistry, high-drain batteries with their specifications.

Purple Efest Batteries not as Advertised
* A cautionary blog that reveals that the purple Efest batteries may not have the specifications advertised. Also includes a commentary on "continuous discharge ratings" vs "pulse discharge ratings" of battery specs.

OHM'S LAW

Ohm's Law Explained for Vapers
* My attempt at explaining Ohm's Law in layman terms and how it relates to vaping.

Explain it to the Dumb Noob: Ohm's Law Calculations
* As simple as it is to use, some people have a tough time grasping the concept. Warning: Includes graphic photos of mod explosions.

 

[Nevanessence]

Thanks so much!

A lack of mastery of these very aspects of vaping is what has been holding me back from switching over to mech mods. I'm not ready to jump yet & will follow up all these links & learn more before diving in.

I do have a decent coil meter & charger/batteries as recommended by a local vapor store, but just not 100% comfortable with the idea of building my own just yet, and since that shop closed (the kinda place where you can sit & tryout building your own coils and get feedback) before I was ready, the process is taking a lot lot longer.

 

[Susan~S]

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

With a mechanical mod the only way to "fine tune" your vape is to build a new coil. With a high variable v/w regulated mod (and its buck/boost circuitry) you can "fine tune" with a push of a button. On a mechanical mod your voltage drops as you vape, with a regulated mod this does not happen. Your first hit is just as good as your last hit.

A high variable v/w mod is a lot more versatile than a mechanical mod (not to mention safer, less upkeep, etc). The beauty of a high vv/vw mod is that you don't have to build low sub-ohm coils to get a great vape. In fact, building low sub-ohm works against you. Higher ohm coils use more wire which means more surface area to vaporize juice. This increases both heat and vapor production.

With a mechanical mod you increase the warmth of your coil by building lower ohm coils. However, the electronics in a regulated mod boosts the power coming from the battery so the ohms of the coil no longer control the warmth.

Here's a good thread on the subject: My thoughts about sub-ohm and latest VV/VW devices...

 

[Nevanessence]

I understand & appreciate what you've said.

Many vapors I've met over here pick mech mods because they think we will soon be facing tough legal restrictions on vaping & especially importing vape gear.
I quickly picked up a Lemo & Lemo 2, some bodies to hold the batteries, a decent coil tester, batteries & charger, etc, as soon as I heard this was coming down the pipe at us. If that law gets passed, then it seems to many of us that MM parts will be easier find compared to box parts, repairs or new units.

I'll confess I totally messed up the first trial of both my Lemos, they fairly quickly leaked like crazy, but even using the come-with coils I loved the experience until the leaks kicked in.

So, I've not tried them again since then & maybe will take them along to tomorrow's fair & see if I'm missing a part, need to replace a part, or anyone has suggestions for me.
I also need to find a local shop like the one that recently closed, where you could come & buy your supplies, then sit & build a coil & get feedback.

I'm just feeling a bit challenged (and nervous) starting out with coil building & will for sure be asking questions here for months to come.

Ty Again!

 

[Susan~S]

I understand what you are saying.

Regarding mech mods & rebuildables, you are going to want a safe-chemistry, high-drain battery with a high CDR. How high? I'll quote @tj99959 as this is the practice I follow with regards to amps & headroom.

When considering how low you can build you need to give yourself some headroom. I try to never exceed 50% of the CDR (continuous discharge rating) of a fully charged battery (4.2v). So with a 20A battery (like the Samsung 25r), that would be 10A. This Ohm's Law Calculator tells me that a 0.4Ω build is as low as I would want to use.

The reason that I place a 50% limit is because as a battery ages the mAh of the battery degrades, as the mAh degrades so does the batteries c rating (amp limit). So down the road, a 20A battery may only be a 10A battery."

With a 30A battery (like the LG HB6), 0.28Ω is the lowest I would build.

Check out GrimmGreen's video on coil building - Quick and Effective Coil Build for RDA Atomizers

 

[Nevanessence]

Very well organized & useful gathering at Jakarta Vape Fair 2015, yesterday.

 

[Nevanessence]

Fair was an eye opener, thoroughly enjoyed it, & I did find a vape store not too far away from home where I can purchase supplies & sit & build my first tentative coils.

For a small middle-aged woman, the atmosphere was a little intimidating (min 96% male), but everyone was really friendly & I warmed up quick, asked all my questions & ended up drinking coffee in a nearby cafe with a couple of store owners who provided invaluable knowledge about vaping.

I think I also solved my issues with my set of old Kamry X6 Egos. Suddenly coils (premade) were burning out in no time at all, instead of lasting for a couple of weeks. I thought maybe these battery bodies were just fluctuating too much in power as they aged (all day, every day - have half a dozen of them with one always close to my hand for 10 months).

Then, after pulling apart one coil on accident (don't ask) found an extra few mm of the white wicking cord stuffed up under the plastic coil cap. Took it off & my Egos once again performed as expected (I won't say like magic, because they are only really magic when you are quitting cigs & you first taste double creamy butterscotch).

Also spread apart the threads of each of the two cord legs. Now no more dry hits & coil use has returned to normal, thank goodness!

Building coils will ensue as soon as I am comfortable & sufficiently up on all the knowledge, but now I don't absolutely have to learn this skill (like yesterday) since the Kamry's are behaving.

I can breath again..ty

 

[Vic15]

You're not the only one! Funny to stay but here in LV, vast majority of people still think that vaping is more harmful than smoking (health wise). Completely different mentality and I've kind of a given up on explaining to where it all stands. I believe to what I want and I feel much better since I started so heck with it. Looks like you had a pretty cool party!

As for e-liquids, I've tried a good few. Apollo, TrueSmoke, Vapour, Vapouriz and most recently JAC Vapour. JAC's really nice and I saved 15% from my order by using ECIGSUK coupon I believe it was.

V.

 

[Shelbey Champagne]

Glad your enjoying vaping! And nice job everyone giving him so many great safety and tutorial references!