Issue with my first mech

[Shub-niguurath]

Greetings!

Firstly, I am a complete nub when it comes to mech mods but I have read a lot about ohms law and battery safety. I bought my first mech mod after having tried out many different regulated mods as I read up on it and wanted to give it a go. The mech i got is a Tugboat v2 splatter clone (https://www.e-liquids.uk/shop/e-cigarettes/clones-mech-mods/tugboat-v2-splatter-clone). So the coils that came with were a couple of .5 ohm which I set to one side as having read that the lowest I should go with the battery I was planning to use (3.7v 3500mah 20A Efest purple) was 0.5/0.4 ohms so I built 2 new coils that came out at 0.9 ohms because safety.

I charged up the battery to full and had my first puff on it and have to say I am less then impressed with it. The flavour is decent but the amount of vape is dismal and it only really gives a halfway decent puff after having fired it a few times and the coils are now hot but even then its not great. After trying this a few more times I decided to rebuild the rda and use 0.6ohm coils on it but the amount of vape is still pretty poor.

I am using the rda that came with the setup and have tried this a regulated mod and it works pretty well so the rda is not the issue. As another test I popped another rda which had 0.2ohm coils on it onto the mod and gave that a quick couple of puffs to see what the difference is and it seemed to work ok but again not really what I would expect. So my question is, what is the likely cause of this setup not performing? The fact thats its a clone? My battery? (I tried another Fogstar 3500mah 3.7v and the result was much the same) Something nooby and foolish I'm not doing? Before anyone chastises me, I don't have multimeter to test output and I know that's a faux pas I was waiting to see how I liked the mech life before I started buying more equip.

Any advice is greatly appreciated and sorry for the lengthy post!

 

[pulsevape]

Greetings!

Firstly, I am a complete nub when it comes to mech mods but I have read a lot about ohms law and battery safety. I bought my first mech mod after having tried out many different regulated mods as I read up on it and wanted to give it a go. The mech i got is a Tugboat v2 splatter clone (https://www.e-liquids.uk/shop/e-cigarettes/clones-mech-mods/tugboat-v2-splatter-clone). So the coils that came with were a couple of .5 ohm which I set to one side as having read that the lowest I should go with the battery I was planning to use (3.7v 3500mah 20A Efest purple) was 0.5/0.4 ohms so I built 2 new coils that came out at 0.9 ohms because safety.

I charged up the battery to full and had my first puff on it and have to say I am less then impressed with it. The flavour is decent but the amount of vape is dismal and it only really gives a halfway decent puff after having fired it a few times and the coils are now hot but even then its not great. After trying this a few more times I decided to rebuild the rda and use 0.6ohm coils on it but the amount of vape is still pretty poor.

I am using the rda that came with the setup and have tried this a regulated mod and it works pretty well so the rda is not the issue. As another test I popped another rda which had 0.2ohm coils on it onto the mod and gave that a quick couple of puffs to see what the difference is and it seemed to work ok but again not really what I would expect. So my question is, what is the likely cause of this setup not performing? The fact thats its a clone? My battery? (I tried another Fogstar 3500mah 3.7v and the result was much the same) Something nooby and foolish I'm not doing? Before anyone chastises me, I don't have multimeter to test output and I know that's a faux pas I was waiting to see how I liked the mech life before I started buying more equip.

Any advice is greatly appreciated and sorry for the lengthy post!

Did you go to Youtube and look at any reviews of this mod?..did you watch how it was broken down into it's various parts and put back together again? did you adjust the mods pin to the atty, did you clean all the contacts in the mod,

 

[HondaDavidson]

The ohm of your build is not your problem or the mod.... .. it the build........

Get a coil calculator. Steam-Engine is good.. at the very least tell us the wire you used to make your coil.. e because the wire is more important at this point than the ohm you have.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

[Shub-niguurath]

The ohm of your build is not your problem or the mod.... .. it the build........

Get a coil calculator. Steam-Engine is good.. at the very least tell us the wire you used to make your coil.. e because the wire is more important at this point than the ohm you have.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

Both builds I mentioned were using kanthal, the first 0.9 ohm build was 28AWG 15 wraps at 3mms and the second which came out at 0.6 was 26AWG at 8 wraps 3mms wide. I did use steam-engine.org to calculate my build since I was nervous about building on a mech for the first time.

 

[nightshard]

Is it 0.9 for both coils or for each one?
0.9 for both means 19.6W max 15.2W average.
0.9 for each so 0.45 means 39.2W max 30.4W average.
In both cases not an impressive wattage for an RDA.

Are you sure you read and understood ohm's law?
You should calculate with 3.7V and your resistance to get an estimate of what the average wattage would be and with 4.2 to figure out what's safe.
There is a huge difference between 0.9, 0.5 and 0.2

I would advise against using Efests or any other kind of rewraps, especially in a mech.

 

[Shub-niguurath]

Is it 0.9 for both coils and for each one?
0.9 for both means 19.6W max 15.2W average.
0.9 for each so 0.45 means 39.2W max 30.4W average.
In both cases not an impressive wattage for an RDA.

Are you sure you read and understood ohm's law?
You should calculate with 3.7V and your resistance to get an estimate of what the average wattage would be and with 4.2 to figure out what's safe.
There is a huge difference between 0.9, 0.5 and 0.2

I would advise against using Efests or any other kind of rewraps, especially in a mech.

Sorry i didn't mention this is duel coil setup so 0.9 and 0.6 in total when both are connected up.

 

[MrScaryZ]

Sorry i didn't mention this is duel coil setup so 0.9 and 0.6 in total when both are connected up.

you need to study OHM's law to use a Mech you have to understand how your build affects the output www.steam-engine.org should assist you
if this is a bit over your head get a regulated mod until your abilities increase.

 

[Mike H.]

Dual coils work in that the ohms is halved when building 2 coils exactly the same which is what should be done to begin with...So two 1 ohm coils will give you .50 ohm on a dual coil set up..If youre coils are .90 it will not be .60 unless you haven't properly adjusted and tweaked the coils after installing them...Ohms tend to jump around a little as we set them up to fire properly.

Forget about getting 4.2v to anything on a mech mod...Im not sure why people think they are getting 4.2v even on a fresh battery.>>Its not going to happen..At best you might get 3.8v to the coil once it reaches the atty...Ive tested many mods and attys and found none to be higher than 3.86v to the atty no matter if it was a copper mod ,a hybrid or whatever else mod style you can think of from whoever makes it.

Its easily tested to see the power youre getting by attaching a volt meter to the atty and see for yourself..positive lead of the volt meter to one positive post and negative to a negative post then fire it and see for ones self.

If you are used to using a regulated mod and sending 4.5 to 5 volts to a .50 ohm coil build to get the vape you like then you will for certain be very disappointed in a mech mods performance as you aren't getting anywhere near the voltage of the regulated.

 

[SMOKIE]

Honestly a regulated mod is so much safer with all the chip safety features with getting the same type of vape from a high wattage mod.

 

[Shub-niguurath]

Thanks for the replies, Im getting the impression here that the coil build on my setup is the problem therefore go read Ohm's law again even though I did use steam-engine.org and did some research on whats safe for the battery type. Ultimately I just wanted to try it out as another form of doing something I enjoy but perhaps ill stick to the regulated mods as suggested.

Thanks again!

 

[nightshard]

Clearly you are never ever going to actually get 4.2V from a mech, but we calculate the amperage using 4.2V to give us headroom for safety.

What resistance you are used to from using regulated devices is irrelevant here.

You should build coils with a resistance low enough that would give an average wattage that is similar to what you're used to and at the same time high enough to be safe.

 

[Mike H.]

Clearly you are never ever going to actually get 4.2V from a mech, but we calculate the amperage using 4.2V to give us headroom for safety.

What resistance you are used to from using regulated devices is irrelevant here.

You should build coils with a resistance low enough that would give an average wattage that is similar to what you're used to and at the same time high enough to be safe.

I see it as relevant...The OP takes the same build and tries it on a mech and it sucks...Clearly conscious about battery safety (which is an awesome thing) so, for him to get his vape hes used to or likes on the same build he has to do an entirely different build and push battery safety farther to get it provided he has the proper batteries to begin with to do it.

 

[pulsevape]

Thanks for the replies, Im getting the impression here that the coil build on my setup is the problem therefore go read Ohm's law again even though I did use steam-engine.org and did some research on whats safe for the battery type. Ultimately I just wanted to try it out as another form of doing something I enjoy but perhaps ill stick to the regulated mods as suggested.

Thanks again!

Yeah you can...you just have to take the time to learn how to build on a mech safely...it'a not rocket science,but it's not something you can do for a lark either.

 

[nightshard]

I see it as relevant...The OP takes the same build and tries it on a mech and it sucks...Clearly conscious about battery safety (which is an awesome thing) so, for him to get his vape hes used to or likes on the same build he has to do an entirely different build and push battery safety farther to get it provided he has the proper batteries to begin with to do it.

And my point is that he's not going to get the vape he's used to from a regulated in a mech with the same build, that's why he needs to build a different build with a different resistance which would bring him to the wattage range that he's used to.

 

[MrScaryZ]

And my point is that he's not going to get the vape he's used to from a regulated in a mech with the same build, that's why he needs to build a different build with a different resistance which would bring him to the wattage range that he's used to.

yes the the obvious issue is he needs to revisit OHM'S law and understand it in practice

 

[pulsevape]

And my point is that he's not going to get the vape he's used to from a regulated in a mech with the same build, that's why he needs to build a different build with a different resistance which would bring him to the wattage range that he's used to.

We are getting people who are not bothering to learn the most basic concepts of building on a mech even though there is a massive library of information easily at their disposale..when I think about how as a kid I had to go to a library and flip through the card catalogs and the dewey decimal system to find a book, then march through stacks to find the book, and then find out that the book was already checked out.........and now I can sit at home and without getting out of my chair tap a few keys and have an entire library at my disposal that will give me any information I want to any question I can ask....I can even see a thousand videos on the subject........what more do you need.

 

[SirRichardRear]

And my point is that he's not going to get the vape he's used to from a regulated in a mech with the same build, that's why he needs to build a different build with a different resistance which would bring him to the wattage range that he's used to.

THIS^

Building regulated is easy. slap any build in and adjust it. building for a mech you have to account for surface area and resistance. too much metal in too high of a resistance = weak ass vape
too low of a resistance especially on those batts = Boom

 

[nightshard]

THIS^

Building regulated is easy. slap any build in and adjust it. building for a mech you have to account for surface area and resistance. too much metal in too high of a resistance = weak ass vape
too low of a resistance especially on those batts = Boom

This^

But let me refine it.
Too much mass with too low wattage = weak ass non responsive vape.

That's why (just an example) a 6 wrap 24G 3ID would be a much better option in a single battery mech then a 12 wrap 20G, even though they have roughly the same resistance.

 

[SirRichardRear]

This^

But let me refine it.
Too much mass with too low wattage = weak ass non responsive vape.

good call. Mass is a better word to use then surface area like I did

 

[nightshard]

good call. Mass is a better word to use then surface area like I did

Well actually mass and surface area are not the same in this case.
For example a cluster of grapes has a lot more surface area then an apple of the same mass.

That's also the reason Claptons are so different then plain coils, because they have more surface area for the same mass.

 

[SirRichardRear]

Well actually mass and surface area are not the same in this case.
For example a cluster of grapes has a lot more surface area then an apple of the same mass.

That's also the reason Claptons are so different then plain coils, because they have more surface area for the same mass.

exactly which is why i like the term mass better for this purpose. too much mass and the mech won't heat it up if the resistance is high. it's a delicate balance

 

[Rabbit Slayer]

Didn't Mooch tell us any 3500mAh battery is at the very best a 10A cell?

 

[MrScaryZ]

Didn't Mooch tell us any 3500mAh battery is at the very best a 10A cell?

That is atypical Efest fake specs hopefully its a rewrap of a 20amp battery for all we know its some brand with "fire" IN THE NAME

 

[nightshard]

Highest IMR/INR 18650 20A is 3000mAh so anything above 3000mAh is less then 20A.
Fakers ahm I mean rewrappers tend to write the correct capacity (more or less) and the very incorrect rating.

 

[nightshard]

That is atypical Efest fake specs hopefully its a rewrap of a 20amp battery for all we know its some brand with "fire" IN THE NAME

The Efest 3000 is probably a rewrapped HG2.
The Efest 3500 however is probably this:
https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/f...ts-just-another-rewrapped-10a-battery.736533/

 

[savagebee]

Is the tugboat a series mod?
If so .4 with ss 316 ss at 3 mm should be a pretty rowdy vape. Maybe give that a try. Kanthal would be pretty potent as well.

 

[nightshard]

Is the tugboat a series mod?

No it's a single 18650 tube mod.

 

[Mike H.]

In my conclusion you don't have the proper batteries to try and get the vape you would like from the mech mod..Stick with the regulated mod and adjust power as needed or get some proper batteries and a proper build to get what youre after on the mech...You want true 30 amp batteries and you need an ohm meter and some practice building so you don't end up with a bad experience...A .25ohm dual coil build is as low as I would ever go even on a 30 amp battery to leave a safety margin..So you need to learn how to build duplicate .50 ohm coils to end up with this ohm range of .25...You can go lower but I don't personally recommend it...Rather you build the coils on a 3mm or 2.5 or a 2mm it doesn't matter as long as they are matching coils and you have the build deck can accommodate what you want.

In reality I probably wouldn't use more than 30 to 40 watts of power even on the regulated mod with those 10 amp batteries...Look for the LG HG2 3000mah 20 amp batteries and you are good to go with more than enough power on your regulated mod.

 

[conanthewarrior]

I just wanted to add something here, Fogstar are a highly regarded company over here in the UK, but their 3500MAH rewrap is a LG MJ1- which is good for 10A.

I definitely would not use this in a mechanical mod, they are sold mainly for regulated mod users who vape at lower wattages, and want longer battery life.

I enjoy simple 26G SS316L, 2.5MM coils in my mech mods. These come out at around 0.25 Ohms dual coil, so 0.5 each. These heat quickly, and provide a nice vape. I do still prefer regulated myself though, but enjoy mechs from time to time.

 

[nightshard]

Both the LG MJ1 and the Panasonic NCR18650GA (what you have under the Efest wrap) are considered good batteries, just not suitable for vaping.
They can be used in a regulated mod up to 30W per battery.
They should not be used in a mech in any case.