Whats the differece really? Ive never bothered with VW but apparently its alot better. Can somebody explain the purpose?
Variable Voltage vs Variable Wattage?
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This post has gotten a lot of mileage.....Hope this helps....
Here's what I wrote in the VV3 forums
You asked.....Here's how wattage, resistance, voltage all mix together.
Before we start, Watts at the coil is what produces the flavor, higher wattage -> Higher Temperature -> more flavor and more vapor (until you go too high and burn the juice....)
Ohms Law and Watts Law state the following for a simple DC circuit. Watts = Voltage*Current.... Current = Voltage/Resistance. So Watts = Voltage*Voltage/Resistance
When you had an Ego Stick Battery or unregulated battery, The voltage output of your battery was fixed. Thus the only way to coax out more temperature at the coil was to lower it's resistance. This is why people use 1.8 ohm coils or lower on standard non regulated batteries. If Voltage remains constant, then when resistance goes down, Watts goes up...More flavor, More Temp.... Problem is. It's not easy to set the resistance to a coil. Once it's "wrapped" it's pretty much set. So you are stuck with buying a lower resistance coil from the manufacturer, or coiling your own heads.
So The Variable Voltage Battery came into play. I can't easily change resistance, but I can raise voltage. Thus if resistance stays constant, when I increase voltage, I increase wattage. Much easier for us to control the flavor. Most people simply set their batteries at a low value and then bump up the voltage until it "tastes right". If you already know what your coil resistance is, and what Wattage you want at the coil, then you can calculate what voltage you need to get to your target wattage. There are also Voltage and resistance tables online that allow you to have a good starting point for your adjustments.
One little problem with variable voltage. Let's say I take off one tank and put on a new one....Even though Kanger, Innokin, or whoever says that it's a 1.8 ohm coil, it can actually be up to .3 to .4 ohms different. So when I put on my new tank with it's atty and take a draw at my desired voltage, all of the sudden, the vape is not as intense, or tastes burnt. This is because resistance varies from coil to coil. It can also vary over the life of the coil. So with variable voltage, you have to continue to tweak your settings when you change atty heads or as the atty head ages.
Here's where Variable Wattage comes in. Let's say I discover that I like vaping a particular juice at 7.5 watts. I may have discovered this using variable voltage....(4.3 volts, 2.5 ohm resistance). So now I set my Variable Wattage to 7.5 watts. The device will measure the coil resistance and then automatically adjust the volts up or down to produce 7.5 watts. If I put my juice in a new tank, and the atty head changes resistance, I still get 7.5 watts and the same flavor....If my coil changes in resistance over time...I still produce 7.5 watts and my flavor stays consistent.
So that's how resistance plays into the whole variable voltage/variable wattage discussion and why lower resistance heads are preferred on standard non regulated batteries.
EDIT: This assumes you are using single head Atty's. Dual head atty's run cool in variable wattage mode because the load is split between two coils. The battery will sense the total resistance of the two coils in parallel and adjust voltage to get a total of your set wattage . That load will be evenly split between the two coils, (i.e. 7.0 watts split = 3.5 watts per head) so you will get a much cooler vape at a given wattage than if you used a single head atty. As a result, you normally have to adjust your wattage or voltage higher for a dual coil head then you would normally adjust for a single coil head. That's why you can run 10 watts or more on an iClear with no problem, but anything much over 7 to 7.5 on a Kanger protank and you start to taste burnt e-liquid.
Here's what I wrote in the VV3 forums
You asked.....Here's how wattage, resistance, voltage all mix together.
Before we start, Watts at the coil is what produces the flavor, higher wattage -> Higher Temperature -> more flavor and more vapor (until you go too high and burn the juice....)
Ohms Law and Watts Law state the following for a simple DC circuit. Watts = Voltage*Current.... Current = Voltage/Resistance. So Watts = Voltage*Voltage/Resistance
When you had an Ego Stick Battery or unregulated battery, The voltage output of your battery was fixed. Thus the only way to coax out more temperature at the coil was to lower it's resistance. This is why people use 1.8 ohm coils or lower on standard non regulated batteries. If Voltage remains constant, then when resistance goes down, Watts goes up...More flavor, More Temp.... Problem is. It's not easy to set the resistance to a coil. Once it's "wrapped" it's pretty much set. So you are stuck with buying a lower resistance coil from the manufacturer, or coiling your own heads.
So The Variable Voltage Battery came into play. I can't easily change resistance, but I can raise voltage. Thus if resistance stays constant, when I increase voltage, I increase wattage. Much easier for us to control the flavor. Most people simply set their batteries at a low value and then bump up the voltage until it "tastes right". If you already know what your coil resistance is, and what Wattage you want at the coil, then you can calculate what voltage you need to get to your target wattage. There are also Voltage and resistance tables online that allow you to have a good starting point for your adjustments.
One little problem with variable voltage. Let's say I take off one tank and put on a new one....Even though Kanger, Innokin, or whoever says that it's a 1.8 ohm coil, it can actually be up to .3 to .4 ohms different. So when I put on my new tank with it's atty and take a draw at my desired voltage, all of the sudden, the vape is not as intense, or tastes burnt. This is because resistance varies from coil to coil. It can also vary over the life of the coil. So with variable voltage, you have to continue to tweak your settings when you change atty heads or as the atty head ages.
Here's where Variable Wattage comes in. Let's say I discover that I like vaping a particular juice at 7.5 watts. I may have discovered this using variable voltage....(4.3 volts, 2.5 ohm resistance). So now I set my Variable Wattage to 7.5 watts. The device will measure the coil resistance and then automatically adjust the volts up or down to produce 7.5 watts. If I put my juice in a new tank, and the atty head changes resistance, I still get 7.5 watts and the same flavor....If my coil changes in resistance over time...I still produce 7.5 watts and my flavor stays consistent.
So that's how resistance plays into the whole variable voltage/variable wattage discussion and why lower resistance heads are preferred on standard non regulated batteries.
EDIT: This assumes you are using single head Atty's. Dual head atty's run cool in variable wattage mode because the load is split between two coils. The battery will sense the total resistance of the two coils in parallel and adjust voltage to get a total of your set wattage . That load will be evenly split between the two coils, (i.e. 7.0 watts split = 3.5 watts per head) so you will get a much cooler vape at a given wattage than if you used a single head atty. As a result, you normally have to adjust your wattage or voltage higher for a dual coil head then you would normally adjust for a single coil head. That's why you can run 10 watts or more on an iClear with no problem, but anything much over 7 to 7.5 on a Kanger protank and you start to taste burnt e-liquid.
No disagreement - just my personal experience with it: At the end of the day, either VV or VW gives you the ability to adjust your battery up or down - to match the coil, match the juice, and match your personal taste. Yes, there's a bit of difference, because a VW mod tries to get you the same level even if you change toppers - but in real life, I'm using either one exactly the same. I'm turning it up or down a notch to taste.
In THEORY, if I switch from a 1.8 ohm coil to a 3.0 ohm coil, I wouldn't have to do anything with a VW mod. But again - in real life, when I do that, I'm probably going to weak the setting a little ANYWAY.
In THEORY, if I switch from a 1.8 ohm coil to a 3.0 ohm coil, I wouldn't have to do anything with a VW mod. But again - in real life, when I do that, I'm probably going to weak the setting a little ANYWAY.
In my experience, variable wattage is more important to people who have never used a variable voltage only battery before. Most VV users are used to tweaking to taste everytime they change a tank, change juice, etc. etc. This is not a knock against people who use VV, it's just a habit that's developed. A person using a eGo Twist, Spinner or ProVari is used to dialing that bad boy up and down, so when they move to a VW battery, they still are going to tweak...It's force of habit.
I never had a VV battery before I went with VW. I was used to a static eGo-T. So when I started with VW, I adjusted to taste and left it there. Even when I change juices, I don't really adjust because I am used to vaping a static battery. I rarely adjust my wattage unless I taste "burnt juice".
Again force of habit.
People who are in the habit of tweaking, will continue to tweak. People who aren't, won't. It really depends where you are. If you are a tweaker, then VW won't be seen as much as a value to you, because you'll continually adjust up and down to ensure the battery is giving you the "best". if you are coming off of a static voltage battery, you're not in the habit to fine tuning your vape, so most likely you will set it and forget it, like I do.
I never had a VV battery before I went with VW. I was used to a static eGo-T. So when I started with VW, I adjusted to taste and left it there. Even when I change juices, I don't really adjust because I am used to vaping a static battery. I rarely adjust my wattage unless I taste "burnt juice".
Again force of habit.
People who are in the habit of tweaking, will continue to tweak. People who aren't, won't. It really depends where you are. If you are a tweaker, then VW won't be seen as much as a value to you, because you'll continually adjust up and down to ensure the battery is giving you the "best". if you are coming off of a static voltage battery, you're not in the habit to fine tuning your vape, so most likely you will set it and forget it, like I do.
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