what is step down?

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tj99959

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  • Aug 13, 2011
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    Step down is the ability to be set lower than available battery voltage. Some mods are boost only, some are buck only, and some can do both.

    What happens when the mod does not have step down (like a dna-20 or 30) is even tho' you set it at a low wattage, it can't adjust to the low wattage until the battery depletes to that level.
     
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    roxynoodle

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    Jun 19, 2014
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    A freshly charged battery is 4.2v. So a mod that does not have step down (buck) cannot output less than 4.2v with a freshly charged battery. So if you like to vape at 3.8v, it will not work well for you until the battery has been depleted to 3.8v from using the mod. The screen may show you its set at the 3.8v you asked for,.but you're really getting more output than that until the battery power is low enough.

    If you don't like vaping at 4.2v or higher, or your atty can't vape well there, its best to find a mod that does have step down (buck) capability.
     
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    + Above. Step down is just the ability to reduce the voltage output to your atomizer to match what the user wants.

    But it's not the whole story.

    Mods without step down can also pulse the output to achieve the equivalent voltage (for the most part) of what you need. It's not perfect, and some people say they can detect the difference (I can't), but it does get close.

    So if your battery is at 4 volts and you want to vape at 3 volts, you can fire the atomizer for 3/4 of the time, usually done in fast pulses to keep the temperature of the atomizer about where it would be if constantly fired.

    That's called PWM (Pulse Width Modulation). The box currently in my hand, a Sigelei 30W Mini, works that way.
     
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