Building for mech mods

[chykensa]

As usual, I'm looking for your advice, dear vaper friends,

I have just two mechanical mods, a Caravela and a Magneto, both old-school now, but still useful to have in my Armageddon box.

My question is this - using good quality batteries (Samsung 25rs, LG HG2s), how do you cloud blowers get such a lively build on your mods? I see people simply touch their lips with a mech mod and cubic metres of thick vapour emit from your mouths like the mist we have surrounding Cornwall tonight - how do you do it?

Do you intentionally (with due regard to battery safety, etc.) build lower than the recommended safe limit for your battery, or is there an alternative using wire apart from Kanthal which provides such heat to the coils? I have always thought that with a safe discharge limit of 20A then a build of .2 ohm would be about the lowest I can safely build, yet can't get the fast response that I get from my regulated mods.

Do I seriously need to consider getting a new mech mod which might perform better than the two antiques which I have, or is there an alternative?

I'm not in a desperate tear to try new builds, but more than anything just curious as to the methodology behind the pea-soupers!

Your advice and comments will be, as ever, appreciated.

Andy

[markm]

Getting your switch meticulously clean makes a huge difference, if not it can steal almost as much voltage as your coil gets at 0.2ohms.

[chykensa]

May 1, 2016 23:33:53 GMT markm said:

Getting your switch meticulously clean makes a huge difference, if not it can steal almost as much voltage as your coil gets at 0.2ohms.

Might have to strip down my Caravela in the morning markm, don't think I have ever done that before, might make a bit of a difference, thanks!

[tim]

Like markm said, but a bit more than that chykensa. In a mech, ALL the connections need to be scrupulously clean. That includes switch (mentioned), battery, 510 connecter, and the atty/tank.

If any of the connections are poor/dirty you will lose voltage.

Some atty's are not suitable for mechs, as the built in resistance (not made well) results in voltage drop.

[markm]

Yup, voltage drop under load is dramatic.
It's a percentage of the total resistance going to your coil.
It's one of the reasons so many reviewers try a new mod and tells you how hard it hits.
They are comparing a spotlessly clean new mod with stuff they may have been using for months.
Clean it, Polish the connections, put it in an ultrasonic bath, then polish the connections again.
If you want high performance from a mech it needs this as often as it needs fresh coils.

[enjay]

May 1, 2016 23:29:51 GMT chykensa said:

As usual, I'm looking for your advice, dear vaper friends,

I have just two mechanical mods, a Caravela and a Magneto, both old-school now, but still useful to have in my Armageddon box.

My question is this - using good quality batteries (Samsung 25rs, LG HG2s), how do you cloud blowers get such a lively build on your mods? I see people simply touch their lips with a mech mod and cubic metres of thick vapour emit from your mouths like the mist we have surrounding Cornwall tonight - how do you do it?

Do you intentionally (with due regard to battery safety, etc.) build lower than the recommended safe limit for your battery, or is there an alternative using wire apart from Kanthal which provides such heat to the coils? I have always thought that with a safe discharge limit of 20A then a build of .2 ohm would be about the lowest I can safely build, yet can't get the fast response that I get from my regulated mods.

Do I seriously need to consider getting a new mech mod which might perform better than the two antiques which I have, or is there an alternative?

I'm not in a desperate tear to try new builds, but more than anything just curious as to the methodology behind the pea-soupers!

Your advice and comments will be, as ever, appreciated.

Andy

I'd definitely go for a more solid mod lol but, yes it's a case of building low mostly, also gauge of wire and size of coil can have a big impact on ramp up and how hot the vape is.

Personally although not recommended and I take full responsibility but I'm generally always about 0.1 or under. I don't recommend this for beginners but personally I've had zero issues or come close over the last couple of years by using a bit of common sense.

Knowing my batteries, looking after them and my gear and building cleanly.

I never push my batteries till they're roasting hot, just do a bit of vaping then let it sit or swap in a fresh cell. Never use one with a bad wrapper, even a tiny tear and mine are shelved till they're repaired. A good ohm meter is best, I recommend the usa ohm meter because it's so accurate unlike most of these cheap things we tend to find.



Now having said all that

A simple 24G nichrome 80 5 or 6 wrap parallel 3mm diameter is sweet.

6 wraps of 20 nichrome 80 3mm diameter is another.

Moving on from that it's 317L or mad rabbit and bigger diameter.


Looking after gear means stripping it right down and making sure it's all clean and fault free. This is the vcm by vaperzcloud and glacier V2

[chykensa]

Thanks guys, I will keep my eyes out for a more substantial mod, and also give my RDAs a good clean up before building.

enjay - I presume that the Nichrome 80 you use is better than Kanthal? I have most sizes of Kanthal, but have never vaped with another wire - confidence I suppose - so recommendations would be welcomed on what wire to buy in order to lower the resistance sufficiently.

Do you build dual coils, or just a single with a really low resistance?

[chykensa]

markm - I don't own an ultrasonic, so what can I use to clean properly, and what do you use for polishing the mod afterwards please?

[chykensa]

Update - using nothing more than a bowl of hot water and an old toothbrush, I stripped my Caravela down to the component parts, gave them a good scrub, dry and reassemble, and with a .35ohm Lush RDA on top it's giving an acceptable vape with a fresh battery. I have just ordered some Nichrome 80 wire from Stealthvape, and when that arrives I'll experiment with some builds to take it down to .2 ohm.
There are grounds for optimism here, folks!

[jackcustard]

Ni80 is used due to the fast ramp up time, I believe?!?!

A year ago all I used was a dripper, either a Derringer at 0.5 on a 69 Mod and a Royal Hunter at 0.2 on a Nemesis.

I loved the simplicity and size of mechs but always found the cleaning ritual and also lack of battery indicator a pain...

A year later after going through most popular Tanks and RTA's I'm back on my drippers, this time without the mech's...

Tesla Two Sub Mod is what i'm using for power.

Basically a mech with a battery life indicater and lazy/stupidity protection.

Is use 22g kanthal either 7/8 wraps around a 3mm bit coming out at 0.22 with 7 and 0.26 with 8. I have no issues with ramp up, huge clouds on the Sapor and Lush, only start to notice voltage drop after a few hours use.

[chykensa]

I'm using my Lush at the moment on the Caravela, it's just so nice to be back on a mech mod after a couple of years of regulated devices, and I love the feel of a tube mod in my hands!

I think I may re-coil this RDA as it's currently showing .35ohm so there's a bit of leeway to be had - will dig out my wire and fire up Steam Engine and see what I can come up with!

I'll report back later

[chykensa]

Here's the update - I gave the RDA a good clean in hot water, dried it thoroughly, and then rebuilt with dual coils as per HERE .6mm 22AWG on a 3mm ID 6 wraps, and the blinking thing is awesome on the Caravela!!
As I mentioned in my reply to jackcustard I just love the feel of a tube mech mod in my hand, and with a resistance of .2ohms the flavour is spot-on, with the bonus of some nice clouds. I think I had better open a window before the OH notices the fog in the dining room

EDIT: too late, just got 'the look' as she walked through to the kitchen. I'm vaping some 3mg 30/70 PG/VG kreed's Kustard, and it's lush, having been mixed well before Christmas. I'm a happy chappy at the moment!

[kreed]

Kustard should be vaped warm

[bones3]

i always wash switch parts and connector parts in iso alcohol to after cleaning to remove any grease (left by my fingers) before rebuilding

but i dont go for clouds just a tasty vape and faultless performance

[chykensa]

May 2, 2016 19:04:37 GMT bones3 said:

i always wash switch parts and connector parts in iso alcohol to after cleaning to remove any grease (left by my fingers) before rebuilding

but i dont go for clouds just a tasty vape and faultless performance

Where do you get your IPA from, bones3?