Why the switch to 80 + watts over the old low 8 watts standard?

[HigherStateD]

A fused Clapton might have an "acceptable" resistance but it's a good amount of metal and it will heat up slowly and cool slowly. Using it in an atty with little airflow will result in a pretty hot coil that as you found got sorta dry after a few hits. Good performance is the right build for the right atty that's in an "acceptably" safe zone. I know you know that, but a first time vaper likely doesn't because they're still figuring out what they even like in the first place

It's totally personal preference, but I like those little 22 mm single coil " flavor bangers". If I jammed a fused Clapton in one of those it may be safe, but not very satisfying. That's a problem that a mech comes with. If your build isn't right you can't coax it along with a little wattage tweaking. If you don't like it, you have to start over.

Oddly enough, my go to rda is a 22. It usually gets a 3.0-3.5mm coil, and the air flow on that one restricts down below an honest to jebus cigalike. I tried that MTL labeled parallel Clapton in a 24, with what most would consider a restricted MTL draw as the tightest setting.

Me personally, I prefer a 2-3 second puff vs an 8-9 second puff. To me, that replicates smoking far more than the convoluted retraining my brain how to "smoke"

First pic is my MTL attempt.
Second is my usual vape.

 

[HigherStateD]

My mistake. It was a wicking error. Thinned the tails out a bit more, and got a mostly satisfying vape. I'm puffing three times as long, and the throat hit is intense, but the flavor IS slightly better too.

Also, the thicker SS wire vs kanthal is due to higher heat capacity of kanthal. IIRC, kanthal takes longer to heat and cool, so parallel 28g would be a bit much.

 

[RayofLight62]

I used mechs when the best mod was 11 W, in any case never above 20 - 25 W.

Nowadays you use a mech either because you just like it, or for some nostalgia.

Personally, they have too many operational downsides, and poses a risk even in the best circumstances. So no more mechs for me.

My calculation is made with the nominal battery voltage, or 3.7 V, giving 54 W with 0.25 Ohm; if you consider resistive loss in the mod / switch, and the battery IR - the power to the coil drops to the real 50 W.

4.2 V is the EOC voltage, good for the first puff. The battery floats around 3.7 V most of the vaping time.

Vape on,

 

[Eskie]

My mistake. It was a wicking error. Thinned the tails out a bit more, and got a mostly satisfying vape. I'm puffing three times as long, and the throat hit is intense, but the flavor IS slightly better too.

Also, the thicker SS wire vs kanthal is due to higher heat capacity of kanthal. IIRC, kanthal takes longer to heat and cool, so parallel 28g would be a bit much.

SS also gives you dynamic resistive change (is that a real phrase?) as it heats so that affects the current draw as the wire gets hot. That doesn't happen with Kanthal.

I can see where thinning that wick would help a bit. And we all have our preferred vape style. I get the short draw that simulates a cigarette a lot more than the long, slow drawn out inhale I've become happy with. It isn't at all like replicating smoking, but I really like it. The fun part of this is playing around with what works well for you, and how tastes can change over time, including going back to a vape style we got away from. I'm glad the opportunities to play with different methods exists and I'd hate to be stuck in one little box of this is all I'm allowed to do.

Despite my preference for a mildly restrictive DL vape, I find myself using a tight mtl pod when running around when out. It's not as fun as coming home to a good, flavorful, and while not really the goal, somewhat cloudy vape, but it keeps me satisfied, which beats getting all antsy fir a cigarette, especially when stressed. Today I had to accompany a close friend I've known since our kids were in nursery school together for a consultation to review experimental options to treat her advanced cancer. It was a stress reliever to just take a few non-cloudy puffs in the restroom on my high nic (12 mg free base is fine, high nic salt is too much for me these days) EQ pod than thinking of where could I sneak off to after taking the elevator down for a surreptitious smoke.

 

[Rossum]

Nowadays you use a mech either because you just like it, or for some nostalgia.

Or because you've made a conscious decision to use hardware that will last a lifetime.

 

[jandrew]

...
Nowadays you use a mech either because you just like it, or for some nostalgia.

Or because it is simply a good vaping solution, among many other good vaping solutions.

...
4.2 V is the EOC voltage, good for the first puff. The battery floats around 3.7 V most of the vaping time.

Kind of a myth that a typical lithium battery will "float around 3.7v most of the vaping time" --- look at the discharge curves on any of Mooch's battery tests, they don't level out anywhere. The first few tenth's of a volt go very quickly, and then it is a slower, but definite downward slope (and then a rapid decrease again near the end if you vape it that low). Unless you are talking LifePO4 chemistry, which does have a long flat discharge near the nominal voltage, but that voltage is 3.2/3.3v and not 3.6/3.7v (and works very well with an appropriate build, by the way).

 

[DarrenMG]

Yea, it wasn't meant to be personal. If it was an engineering buddy I'd be more inclined to suggest a mech mod and RDA, but vaping really is overwhelming at first, and even among some of those who started vaping at work (who are engineers or engineer oriented), they just wanted a simple 'how do I get started?' answer.

Okay, it doesn't take an engineering degree, but I am still very pragmatic at heart, and if someone can get a good experience from a device with a degree of protection, to start, good enough. Heck, even my battery charger has a protection circuit to prevent reverse polarity errors from someone having a bad day. Most of my electronics has some protection, short-circuit grounding, a fuse, auto shut-off if over current, etc. The vape can still be good with these in place.

 

[DaveP]

Or because you've made a conscious decision to use hardware that will last a lifetime.

True, mechs are forever in the hands of a knowledgeable vaper. It's not a beginner's tool, though. We've seen the videos of people who forget to clip the coil leads neatly. One bad recoil and the tube is toast.

 

[HigherStateD]

Yea, it wasn't meant to be personal. If it was an engineering buddy I'd be more inclined to suggest a mech mod and RDA, but vaping really is overwhelming at first, and even among some of those who started vaping at work (who are engineers or engineer oriented), they just wanted a simple 'how do I get started?' answer.

Okay, it doesn't take an engineering degree, but I am still very pragmatic at heart, and if someone can get a good experience from a device with a degree of protection, to start, good enough. Heck, even my battery charger has a protection circuit to prevent reverse polarity errors from someone having a bad day. Most of my electronics has some protection, short-circuit grounding, a fuse, auto shut-off if over current, etc. The vape can still be good with these in place.

True, mechs are forever in the hands of a knowledgeable vaper. It's not a beginner's tool, though. We've seen the videos of people who forget to clip the coil leads neatly. One bad recoil and the tube is toast.

Got a link?

 

[Rossum]

True, mechs are forever in the hands of a knowledgeable vaper. It's not a beginner's tool, though.

I agree, not for beginners.

I got my first mech four months after I started vaping, but it was fused with a 10A fuse element. I only ever blew the fuse once, when I mistakenly installed a nickel coil instead of the Kanthal I meant to use.

I've also designed and worked with serious power supplies in a previous life in the 1990s; equipment that made thousands of amps for industrial furnaces, so Ohm's Law was etched on the back eyelids long before I started vaping.

 

[mcclintock]

My mech failed the fastest of any mod I bought. It was cheap, but reliability is never certain.

 

[Rossum]

My mech failed the fastest of any mod I bought. It was cheap, but reliability is never certain.

Mine aren't cheap, and the one I use the most has been my ADV mod for almost four years now.

But I'm curious, how exactly did yours fail?

 

[mcclintock]

^^-- first attempt cleaning the button, bad threads design can't get it apart anymore.

 

[HigherStateD]

Mine aren't cheap, and the one I use the most has been my ADV mod for almost four years now.

But I'm curious, how exactly did yours fail?

My mech won't fail unless something cat

^^-- first attempt cleaning the button, bad threads design can't get it apart anymore.

You try freezing it?

 

[John Phoenix]

Yep.. I'm Back.. Here's Johnny ! (Thanks Classwife!!)

1) I wish to thank everyone who replied to this and my other thread under the JP II account. This is my original account that I'll be sticking with.

2) I wish to apologize to everyone for my extreme Grumpiness in both posts.

3) I got it sorted out. I'm now rocking the Aspire Nautilus (original silver version) on top of the Eleaf iStick Pico 25 with Freedomsmoke USA's Wyatt Earp. The 1.6 ohm atomizers work out to be about 3 dollars each when I buy a 5 pack so that's not too bad. I do really like the iStick as a mod for all it's bells and whistles.

Again Thanks. I'll endeavor to control my grumpiness.

 

[Baditude]

Welcome back.

 

[Eskie]

If you plan ahead so you can allow delivery lead time, you can order Nauti coils from places like 3Fvape for a bit less money.
Authentic Aspire Nautilus Mini BVC 1.6 Ohm Replacement Coil Head for $8.99. Even with shipping it's less than $15 a 5 pack, and if you can buy several packs, that expense drops as well.

FT sells replacement coils for $4 a 5 pack BUT they are not authentic Aspire. The 3Fvape ones are. Also, keep an eye out for sales. That's another way to lower your costs on drop in coils.

When I first started, I used an Aspire Triton mini. Same coils as the Nauti but a top fill tank. They're impossible to find now, which is a shame as it was a great tank. There is the new Nauti 2S which is reportedly an improvement over the Nauti 2, with easier top fill. Never tried one but something to know about..

Glad you got it all sorted out and it's working well for you.

 

[DaveP]

80 watts wouldn't be bad at all If I were a DTL cloud fan. Higher airflow cools a high watt vape. My 10W average vape satisfies a MTL style and vapes like my old tobacco cigs did. I'll never win a cloud contest, though.

That said, I drive a 395 HP Hemi Ram Longhorn Pickup at conservative speeds, but it's nice to know that power is there if I need it. I only need it here and there.

 

[Jebbn]

11w, 80w, what ever, its all 190c/380f to me.
Unless Im feeling a bit reckless, then I turn off the TC and mtl at 9w. I think my naut tanks are quite a bit hotter vape at 9w than my DL rta's at 190c.

 

[Steve W Pedersen]

Speaking only for my self here, I can say that wattage slowly creeped up the longer I vaped. It used to be that 30w was all I could handle now vaping under 50w is tasteless and cold. My current sweet spot is around 60-65w.