Watts and Sweet Spots

[QBass]

Assuming a regulated voltage, and all other variables being equal, is there any difference in the vaping experience (flavor, TH, vapor, gear maintenance or longevity, etc.) between 3.7v through a 2.1ohm atty and 5v through a 3.8ohm atty (both being approx 6.5w)?

Related to this, is there a somewhat calculable vaping sweet spot correlation between e-liquid base and wattage? For example, if a person changed their favorite e-liquid's pg:vg ratio from 80:20 to 50:50 (flavoring and nicotine concentrations remaining the same), would this require a higher wattage to attain the same wow factor (or vice versa)? Also, how does the thinning of VG using various ingredients (distilled water, PGA, vodka, etc) alter it's wattage requirements?

Jeff

sent from my fingers using tappity-tap

 

[Gestalt]

Well, I can't answer the second part of your question. I can tell you that there would some difference between 3.7v/2.1ohm and 5v/3.8ohm. The 3.8 ohm coil would have to be either longer or made of a thinner nichrome wire. If it is longer, the power from the coil would be less concentrated and I would expect a change in vapor production, vapor temperature, flavor, TH, etc. I don't know if the difference would be enough to to be noticeable or not.

If the 3.8 ohm coil is made of a thinner nichrome wire instead of being longer, I would expect the longevity of the coil to be reduced. I don't know for sure that it would be, but I suspect that it would.

This is all based off of theory. Perhaps someone else has the experience to answer your questions more thoroughly.

 

[Thulium]

Wattage is a measurement of power so it directly translates into vapor production. Like Gestalt said, the difference between a low resistance atomizer at standard voltage and a standard resistance atomizer at high voltage is a difference in surface area.

The new "dual coil cartomizers" work by running two 3ohm coils in parallel so the total resistance is only 1.5ohm to pull basically twice as much "power" from the battery (which is why they work better with the bigger batteries and mods) and have twice as much area in contact with the liquid.

 

[QBass]

Thanks for the quick responses! I understand there is more surface area as the resistance is increased by lengthening of the nichrome or kanthal or SS mesh or what-have-you. With your dual coil 1.5ohm example (or even the new 3 coil 1.5ohm), it would take about 3.12v to produce 6.5w, but how would this actually change the vaper's experience from other 6.5w volt-ohm combinations? Does more surface area on the heating element (given equal power/wattage) equate to anything significant regarding vapor, flavor, TH, etc if the wattage remains the same? That first question is really more about perceived effects and hardware stress than electrical requirements or terminology.

 

[Thulium]

Thanks for the quick responses! I understand there is more surface area as the resistance is increased by lengthening of the nichrome or kanthal or SS mesh or what-have-you. With your dual coil 1.5ohm example (or even the new 3 coil 1.5ohm), it would take about 3.12v to produce 6.5w, but how would this actually change the vaper's experience from other 6.5w volt-ohm combinations? Does more surface area on the heating element (given equal power/wattage) equate to anything significant regarding vapor, flavor, TH, etc if the wattage remains the same? That first question is really more about perceived effects and hardware stress than electrical requirements or terminology.

If too little liquid wicks to the coil, it will run at a higher temperature and potentially cause a burnt taste or "atty death", but with dual coils (or high resistance+high voltage), there is more surface area to wick through the e-liquid more efficiently. The other advantage is that it means people who prefer a warmer vapor can use the dual coils even at higher voltage (getting up to 20+W) without burning it out.