So I figured I'd contribute to this forum area with something I've seen quite a few times that bothers me a bit. Mechs are cheap, or well the clones are at least, but they simply aren't worthwhile if you don't understand what's going on. Not only will you potentially hurt yourself or others, you also won't get the quality of vape you may be after unless you're able to do the math and understand what's going on.
3 things you have to know for a Mech.
1) The math:
Ohm's Law: Amperes = Voltage/Resistance (a=v/Ω)
Wattage Formula: Watts = Amperes * Voltage (w=a*v)
Simple enough but you'll have to combine the equations and know some basic algebra to figure it all out, hence, if you hate math, don't bother with a mech.
2) Battery Safety, we have some awesome people on this forum and an entire area for "Battery Junkies" where you can find all the safety tips you could ever need. Below is a chart of tested values and recommendations from Mooch who is basically the go to guy for battery related things in the vaping world. I won't go too much into it as all the information is available already if you just jump over to the Battery Junkies area, and if any answer for a question doesn't pop out just ask away and someone will smack you with some knowledge.
3) How it works. It's not complicated, you have your batteries in place, your atomizer with the coil acting as a resistor, and a button to close the circuit and fire. But, I figured I'd add a third thing to know as there's more than just picking the right battery, making sure it's not damaged, and doing the math to know you're safe. You have to put it all together. Know the difference between how batteries work in Parallel and Series (parallel the Amps add, Series the Voltage adds). Then there's typical battery sag and voltage drops, making a 4.2v charge not actually give you 4.2v but more like 3.7v. Lots of little details worth looking into. Then knowing what a Hybrid mod even means (battery touches strait to the atomizer). Then handling them safely, there's nothing to stop a mech mod from continually firing if the button is pressed. That means you toss it in your pocket/bag and it starts firing, it'll just keep going heating everything up ruining your coils at best. Personally that alone is why I don't use mine very often.
Now, yes mechs are pretty, and they're cheap, but they're just not always worthwhile. What got me wanting to write this up was seeing people either having trouble or having stupid ideas about mechs. Step away from them until you do plenty of research. I saw someone wanting to put a .15Ω coil tank on a Noisy Cricket (2 battery series box) meaning he'd be getting 8.4v (ignoring sag/loss). Do the math and we're talking a 56 amp draw, now there is no 18650 battery that is rated for that, and not many even half of that. But, not only that, he'd be blasting that coil with 470watts of power! That's just a mess. That's the safety side of the issue. Then there's just the quality side, see someone toss a .5Ω coil on a mech expecting to get the same results as they do on a regulated mod at say 50w. Well no, you're going to get about half that power (about 27w if you assume 3.7v).
So it's not just safety but quality as well, stick to regulated until you know what you're doing. Regulated might not be as pretty or cheap but it's better than carrying a potential pipe bomb. And, they'll work on most anything. Want to run the .3Ω coil for your tank? you can, same mod can run the .5Ω coil just as well. Your mech is a stationary unit and the vape is defined by your coil, regulated mods give you the ability to adjust other aspects to really dial it in.
I'll jump off my soapbox now, but I just hate seeing people put themselves in danger or waste money on something they won't/can't use. Similar information is posted all over this website, but I figured it was worth writing again in this area.
EDIT: http://vapingunderground.com/thread...-sick-clouds-bro-thread-sticky-edition.78126/
A nice guide to all new people looking into this stuff. Has links and basically all the information you need to know.
Another addition: http://vapingunderground.com/threads/ohms-amps-watts-volts.201024/#post-977591
Robot Zombie gives a great complete analogy of each part of the energy formulas.
3 things you have to know for a Mech.
1) The math:
Ohm's Law: Amperes = Voltage/Resistance (a=v/Ω)
Wattage Formula: Watts = Amperes * Voltage (w=a*v)
Simple enough but you'll have to combine the equations and know some basic algebra to figure it all out, hence, if you hate math, don't bother with a mech.
2) Battery Safety, we have some awesome people on this forum and an entire area for "Battery Junkies" where you can find all the safety tips you could ever need. Below is a chart of tested values and recommendations from Mooch who is basically the go to guy for battery related things in the vaping world. I won't go too much into it as all the information is available already if you just jump over to the Battery Junkies area, and if any answer for a question doesn't pop out just ask away and someone will smack you with some knowledge.
3) How it works. It's not complicated, you have your batteries in place, your atomizer with the coil acting as a resistor, and a button to close the circuit and fire. But, I figured I'd add a third thing to know as there's more than just picking the right battery, making sure it's not damaged, and doing the math to know you're safe. You have to put it all together. Know the difference between how batteries work in Parallel and Series (parallel the Amps add, Series the Voltage adds). Then there's typical battery sag and voltage drops, making a 4.2v charge not actually give you 4.2v but more like 3.7v. Lots of little details worth looking into. Then knowing what a Hybrid mod even means (battery touches strait to the atomizer). Then handling them safely, there's nothing to stop a mech mod from continually firing if the button is pressed. That means you toss it in your pocket/bag and it starts firing, it'll just keep going heating everything up ruining your coils at best. Personally that alone is why I don't use mine very often.
Now, yes mechs are pretty, and they're cheap, but they're just not always worthwhile. What got me wanting to write this up was seeing people either having trouble or having stupid ideas about mechs. Step away from them until you do plenty of research. I saw someone wanting to put a .15Ω coil tank on a Noisy Cricket (2 battery series box) meaning he'd be getting 8.4v (ignoring sag/loss). Do the math and we're talking a 56 amp draw, now there is no 18650 battery that is rated for that, and not many even half of that. But, not only that, he'd be blasting that coil with 470watts of power! That's just a mess. That's the safety side of the issue. Then there's just the quality side, see someone toss a .5Ω coil on a mech expecting to get the same results as they do on a regulated mod at say 50w. Well no, you're going to get about half that power (about 27w if you assume 3.7v).
So it's not just safety but quality as well, stick to regulated until you know what you're doing. Regulated might not be as pretty or cheap but it's better than carrying a potential pipe bomb. And, they'll work on most anything. Want to run the .3Ω coil for your tank? you can, same mod can run the .5Ω coil just as well. Your mech is a stationary unit and the vape is defined by your coil, regulated mods give you the ability to adjust other aspects to really dial it in.
I'll jump off my soapbox now, but I just hate seeing people put themselves in danger or waste money on something they won't/can't use. Similar information is posted all over this website, but I figured it was worth writing again in this area.
EDIT: http://vapingunderground.com/thread...-sick-clouds-bro-thread-sticky-edition.78126/
A nice guide to all new people looking into this stuff. Has links and basically all the information you need to know.
Another addition: http://vapingunderground.com/threads/ohms-amps-watts-volts.201024/#post-977591
Robot Zombie gives a great complete analogy of each part of the energy formulas.
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