Beginner Help, Please!

[Nicholas J.]

Recently bought a vape. I bought a tugboat mod, mxjo 18650 battery, tugboat v2 atty and 26g kanthal. I made my first build, single coil, parallel, 5 wraps, from a youtube video. Surprisingly, I did a great job. Vape gets good airflow, flavor and huge clouds. However, I want to experiment with other builds and stuff, I just don't understand the safety aspect. Can somebody explain to me the ohms, voltage and amps from my battery and such? It would be greatly appreciated. My mxjo 18650 battery says on it: 3.7 V, 35A, and 2500 mAh.

 

[martinelias]

From my understanding there is no such thing as a 35a continuous battery. I have no experience with the battery youre using so my advice is to get a dif battery like a vtc3 vtc4 lg he2 samsung 25r or something like that. Then get research ohms law. Theres plenty of info on the web on the recommended ohms to your battery amperage.

 

[UncleRJ]

This should get you going in the right direction for all of you building needs.

http://www.steam-engine.org/

 

[Nicholas J.]

From my understanding there is no such thing as a 35a continuous battery. I have no experience with the battery youre using so my advice is to get a dif battery like a vtc3 vtc4 lg he2 samsung 25r or something like that. Then get research ohms law. Theres plenty of info on the web on the recommended ohms to your battery amperage.

It says that it is a high drain battery, I'm not sure if that helps. Here's a link of it with all the specs. http://www.vapor-hub.com/product/mxjo-18650-battery/

 

[Nicholas J.]

if anybody else could help me out that would be great thanks. just a little confused

 

[Kent B Marshall]

This is another good site
http://lygte-info.dk/review/batterie...comparator.php

This site discussed MXJO 18650
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...rofessional-Battery-Test-on-a-18650-and-26650

 

[Zamazam]

First of all, do you have an Ohm meter to check your builds? If not, then go out and buy one before you continue to build coils. Parallel coils tend to be really low to begin with since you are using twice the wire on a single coil, put 2 in a dripper and you divide the ohms of one coil by half. Really easy to go too low for your battery. That's why it vitally important to understand the Ohms of resistance your dripper has.

 

[madmonkey]

Recently bought a vape. I bought a tugboat mod, mxjo 18650 battery, tugboat v2 atty and 26g kanthal. I made my first build, single coil, parallel, 5 wraps, from a youtube video. Surprisingly, I did a great job. Vape gets good airflow, flavor and huge clouds. However, I want to experiment with other builds and stuff, I just don't understand the safety aspect. Can somebody explain to me the ohms, voltage and amps from my battery and such? It would be greatly appreciated. My mxjo 18650 battery says on it: 3.7 V, 35A, and 2500 mAh.

http://vapingunderground.com/threads/looking-for-the-best-sub-tanks-and-rda.73126/#post-428210

Hey bud, I copied and pasted the thread above because it will answer some of your questions, I wrote a big chunk in number 21 along with the others trying to explain the basics and importance of ohms law. Building with out an ohm's meter or having any clue of what your resistance is can be very dangerous because if your resistance is too low it will try and draw power out of your battery faster than your battery can handle it and that's when things get hot and dangerous and can lead to your battery venting.

Your MXJO battery has a 20 amp continuous drain rating, the 35 amps written on it is it's Maximum pulse rating....that max can only be achieved for a very short period of time and to be safe you do not and should not go above the 20 amp continuous drain rating....the continuous drain rating is the "safe" limit meaning your battery can push that over and over again without venting unless the battery is defective. The pulse limit is what your battery can handle for a short period of time in case you have a short or something go wrong that it can cope with some and how much extra stress but not for very long.

I have to go to work but would be happy to help explain things better later. Start with that thread and read threw others in the building section. We will get you up and running in the right direction in no time.

 

[CDZVaper]

I seriously find it disturbing how many people by an unregulated device without having an understanding of what it is they are buying. I have a vision in my head of someone standing in front of a shop owner shaking their head up and down in agreement with everything the shop owner says, as if they are understanding all of it, lol... After a while it begins to sound like Charlie Browns teacher. Of course the shop owners need to explain it in a calm fashion so their customers know what they are walking out the door with.

I suggest reading as much as you can until you understand what you are reading.

Researching a potential mod or rda etc..is key. That way you will be able to ask questions to the seller instead of yessing and okaying everything they say.

Watch alot of videos about the gear you own, for starters.

Learn Ohms Law, and understand what it means. Download or bookmark steam-engine.org and understand how it works, its not to difficult. Buy an Ohms Meter!!

Learn about your batteries and how hard you can safely push them.

And lastly... Imo, its best to learn how to do the actual building on your own when its quiet and you are relaxed. Once you get the basic single or dual coil build, its like riding a bike. And it only takes a few tries....

As a note, vaping is a hobby. You dont learn about it in a week. Take your time and get into it, so you know what you're doing and can safely help others at the appropriate time.

Happy vaping and ask questions, lots of them. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[madmonkey]

I seriously find it disturbing how many people by an unregulated device without having an understanding of what it is they are buying. I have a vision in my head of someone standing in front of a shop owner shaking their head up and down in agreement with everything the shop owner says, as if they are understanding all of it, lol... After a while it begins to sound like Charlie Browns teacher. Of course the shop owners need to explain it in a calm fashion so their customers know what they are walking out the door with.

::::: @CDZVaper .... What I am about to say isn't meant as to disagree with you or argue or say anything against anyone...but you make a compelling point and I have a strong opinion that is kind of an offshoot of your statement. It's more for the OP...I just didn't want anything being taken the wrong way. I am often guilty of stating that there is quickly a trend of a stereotype of young people (18-25) that are just walking into vape shops off the street and trying to buy as little as possible to blow unrealistic clouds with little regards to safety and and question how much is really explained to them in the buying process. I see it more and more and I think in fairness if I am going to state this over and over again I should make a post somewhere showing my thought process on this conclusion and not just "fling poo" as it were :::::

I don't know if it's so much as disturbing as it's kinda to be expected these days...I mean look at how fast the "vape world" evolves. It's not like it was even a couple years ago when mechs were designed for and to be used with protected ICR's so you could get a full day's use out of one battery with your brand new Vivi Nova tank....I can't think of another industry, even the weapons industry, that changes so radically so fast. Especially with China competing with itself. The basic 1911 pistol design has been around for more than a century and is still used today....but I'll be damned if I can find an 901 or 808 penstyle atty or battery...hell, I can barely find a Joyetech 510D atty and those are kinda like a iconic vaping item (if vaping has such a thing.) Hell, they call 'em "throw away atties" or "disposable" atties. For what I used to pay for one that thing was getting cleaned and reused (and if I didn't tear the insulator) rebuilt till it disintegrated.

Hell, I thought the GoGo blew the original eGo systems out of the water...but I guess eGo had a better marketing agent with it's 510 connection because the GoGo's gone...I still have a couple GoGo batteries and one last box of GoCarts and a couple tanks I still use once in awhile if I am going to be doing dirty work outside and don't wanna risk my nice gear...but I am getting sidetracked...

I do agree with you completely about the "Charlie Brown" reference (that just happens to be my favorite cartoon as well ) and people just going into vape shops and smiling and nodding....because when they're done with that and they're not sure how to use what they've got or if they've got buyer's remorse or not they come to me to explain it to them.

It's just like any other private little subculture that suddenly overnight becomes a very large splinter of mainstream culture...there is going to be a part of the "old school" crowd that feels alienated by what mainstream society does with what once was their private little thing. It's happened over and over and over in history from religions to rock'n'roll.

Unforchanately for us, one of those splinters is the "I just wanna blow big clouds even though I have no idea how to do it but it looks cool" group that seems to be growing in numbers weekly. And if we don't take the time to sit here and answer their questions and educate them we could have more problems than just the FDA trying to regulate us....

I am grateful for every person that comes here and says "I wanna do this, help me." Because for every one that is willing to listen and learn from experience how many more are just going out and buying a mech and fumbling threw it like you said. We really are lucky to be in the position we're in.

We are still in the early years of vaping and it's great because it's not just a fun hobby...but it's a hobby that can change and even save lives and we're the first generations of vapors. We're all going to stumble and crawl and continue to set the standards before vaping is walking and running when it hits full stride.

So.... to @Nicholas J. I say...... Read and watching and learn as much as you can. For example.....Wrapping a coil is easy for some and hard for others...you made one of my favorite builds if you did it as well as you said you did for the first time. But do you know what your resistance is? Do you have an ohm's meter to check for that and for shorts and how to use it for such? Is the reading holding steady or is it jumping all over the place? Getting an ohm's meter is a requirement for safely building RDA's but not knowing what the reading it's giving you means makes it nothing more than a fancy mod stand. I am not asking these questions to be a dick...but to show you some of the thought process involved in vaping safely.

I can wrap a 5 wrap 22 gauge single parallel coil no problem...but I don't have a parallel box mod to run it safely on so the the lowest i go is usually a 5 or 6 wrap 23 gauge single parallel build. I know it's going to come out between .19 and .24 on a .32 mm drill bit depending on my wraps even without an ohm's meter but I still check it, three times actually, before, during, and after wicking because a screw can come loose, or a lead can get pinched and a short on an unregulated mod with that low of build can go thermal pretty damn fast. Learning the basics of ohm's law and battery safety is the start of the safety aspect...but it's not the end....the biggest aspect of vaping safely is you being proactive to make sure that you have the knowledge and common sense to do everything in your power to prevent anything from going wrong before it even has a chance to begin to happen.

If I know the answer I will explain anything you can't find the answer to if you ask as long as you take everyone's advice here seriously as you stated it was the safety aspect you were worried about and that is a very good place to start. If I don't know the answer I will find someone that will if you ask me too.

Along with the thread above I am putting a link again to the steam engine coil building tool and to an ohm's law calculator in here. Bookmark them, they will come in handy. If you search for it in the forum and on Google, there is a guide to how the Steam Engine tool works if you have any questions about it that you can't find on the website itself.

http://www.steam-engine.org/coil.asp
http://thelocust.net/ohm/

And like I said, start with the advice here, and the link I left you above, and continue to google and read and watch youtube videos about everything. Sometimes a video can explain in a few seconds what takes me hours to type and is hard to understand without visual aid. It's the old "a picture's worth a thousand words" being proven true. I am not just some guy preaching on a forum..I've had hard shorts and atty's ruined and batteries nearly meltdown on me and I am overly cautious and trying to be too safe...anything can happen to anyone...but most of the time accidents can be avoided.

You've got the right mindset if safety is your first concern and not just big clouds. Big clouds...sure they're fun...but I have a feeling that eventually you'll go for a bit less clouds and big flavor instead as you get more and more into it. I've always been a flavor chaser and I have a cloud rig or two that I play with once in awhile.

But it's all about the taste for me.... and helping someone make the switch. Knowing that what I say and do here or when someone stops me out in the real world to ask about my "e-cig thingie" and I see that spark of curiouscity in their eye or when I see a friend try a starter kit I make for them or they constantly ask to take a drag off my vape and I pretend to be annoyed when I am really overjoyed because I've got them thinking about making the switch..that's what it's really all about.

Trying to help other's the way others helped me.

 

[OBDave]

::::: @CDZVaper .... What I am about to say isn't meant as to disagree with you or argue or say anything against anyone...but you make a compelling point and I have a strong opinion that is kind of an offshoot of your statement. It's more for the OP...I just didn't want anything being taken the wrong way. I am often guilty of stating that there is quickly a trend of a stereotype of young people (18-25) that are just walking into vape shops off the street and trying to buy as little as possible to blow unrealistic clouds with little regards to safety and and question how much is really explained to them in the buying process. I see it more and more and I think in fairness if I am going to state this over and over again I should make a post somewhere showing my thought process on this conclusion and not just "fling poo" as it were :::::

I don't know if it's so much as disturbing as it's kinda to be expected these days...I mean look at how fast the "vape world" evolves. It's not like it was even a couple years ago when mechs were designed for and to be used with protected ICR's so you could get a full day's use out of one battery with your brand new Vivi Nova tank....I can't think of another industry, even the weapons industry, that changes so radically so fast. Especially with China competing with itself. The basic 1911 pistol design has been around for more than a century and is still used today....but I'll be damned if I can find an 901 or 808 penstyle atty or battery...hell, I can barely find a Joyetech 510D atty and those are kinda like a iconic vaping item (if vaping has such a thing.) Hell, they call 'em "throw away atties" or "disposable" atties. For what I used to pay for one that thing was getting cleaned and reused (and if I didn't tear the insulator) rebuilt till it disintegrated.

Hell, I thought the GoGo blew the original eGo systems out of the water...but I guess eGo had a better marketing agent with it's 510 connection because the GoGo's gone...I still have a couple GoGo batteries and one last box of GoCarts and a couple tanks I still use once in awhile if I am going to be doing dirty work outside and don't wanna risk my nice gear...but I am getting sidetracked...

I do agree with you completely about the "Charlie Brown" reference (that just happens to be my favorite cartoon as well ) and people just going into vape shops and smiling and nodding....because when they're done with that and they're not sure how to use what they've got or if they've got buyer's remorse or not they come to me to explain it to them.

It's just like any other private little subculture that suddenly overnight becomes a very large splinter of mainstream culture...there is going to be a part of the "old school" crowd that feels alienated by what mainstream society does with what once was their private little thing. It's happened over and over and over in history from religions to rock'n'roll.

Unforchanately for us, one of those splinters is the "I just wanna blow big clouds even though I have no idea how to do it but it looks cool" group that seems to be growing in numbers weekly. And if we don't take the time to sit here and answer their questions and educate them we could have more problems than just the FDA trying to regulate us....

I am grateful for every person that comes here and says "I wanna do this, help me." Because for every one that is willing to listen and learn from experience how many more are just going out and buying a mech and fumbling threw it like you said. We really are lucky to be in the position we're in.

We are still in the early years of vaping and it's great because it's not just a fun hobby...but it's a hobby that can change and even save lives and we're the first generations of vapors. We're all going to stumble and crawl and continue to set the standards before vaping is walking and running when it hits full stride.

So.... to @Nicholas J. I say...... Read and watching and learn as much as you can. For example.....Wrapping a coil is easy for some and hard for others...you made one of my favorite builds if you did it as well as you said you did for the first time. But do you know what your resistance is? Do you have an ohm's meter to check for that and for shorts and how to use it for such? Is the reading holding steady or is it jumping all over the place? Getting an ohm's meter is a requirement for safely building RDA's but not knowing what the reading it's giving you means makes it nothing more than a fancy mod stand. I am not asking these questions to be a dick...but to show you some of the thought process involved in vaping safely.

I can wrap a 5 wrap 22 gauge single parallel coil no problem...but I don't have a parallel box mod to run it safely on so the the lowest i go is usually a 5 or 6 wrap 23 gauge single parallel build. I know it's going to come out between .19 and .24 on a .32 mm drill bit depending on my wraps even without an ohm's meter but I still check it, three times actually, before, during, and after wicking because a screw can come loose, or a lead can get pinched and a short on an unregulated mod with that low of build can go thermal pretty damn fast. Learning the basics of ohm's law and battery safety is the start of the safety aspect...but it's not the end....the biggest aspect of vaping safely is you being proactive to make sure that you have the knowledge and common sense to do everything in your power to prevent anything from going wrong before it even has a chance to begin to happen.

If I know the answer I will explain anything you can't find the answer to if you ask as long as you take everyone's advice here seriously as you stated it was the safety aspect you were worried about and that is a very good place to start. If I don't know the answer I will find someone that will if you ask me too.

Along with the thread above I am putting a link again to the steam engine coil building tool and to an ohm's law calculator in here. Bookmark them, they will come in handy. If you search for it in the forum and on Google, there is a guide to how the Steam Engine tool works if you have any questions about it that you can't find on the website itself.

http://www.steam-engine.org/coil.asp
http://thelocust.net/ohm/

And like I said, start with the advice here, and the link I left you above, and continue to google and read and watch youtube videos about everything. Sometimes a video can explain in a few seconds what takes me hours to type and is hard to understand without visual aid. It's the old "a picture's worth a thousand words" being proven true. I am not just some guy preaching on a forum..I've had hard shorts and atty's ruined and batteries nearly meltdown on me and I am overly cautious and trying to be too safe...anything can happen to anyone...but most of the time accidents can be avoided.

You've got the right mindset if safety is your first concern and not just big clouds. Big clouds...sure they're fun...but I have a feeling that eventually you'll go for a bit less clouds and big flavor instead as you get more and more into it. I've always been a flavor chaser and I have a cloud rig or two that I play with once in awhile.

But it's all about the taste for me.... and helping someone make the switch. Knowing that what I say and do here or when someone stops me out in the real world to ask about my "e-cig thingie" and I see that spark of curiouscity in their eye or when I see a friend try a starter kit I make for them or they constantly ask to take a drag off my vape and I pretend to be annoyed when I am really overjoyed because I've got them thinking about making the switch..that's what it's really all about.

Trying to help other's the way others helped me.

Would like this twice if I could...you really need to stater a "Best of @madmonkey" thread and petition for a sticky...

 

[CDZVaper]

I agree 100% madmonkey...great post.

 

[madmonkey]

Would like this twice if I could...you really need to stater a "Best of @madmonkey" thread and petition for a sticky...

I agree 100% madmonkey...great post.

Thanks guys...but I wonder if the OP has seen this info we left here for him...not to stalk the guy but it says he hasn't logged in since the 25th....that's the other sad thing...someone comes and asks for help, we all pitch in and do our best, and then half the time we never know if they even came back to see the results of their inquiry....wherever he his, I hope he's vaping safe and vaping well

 

[Nicholas J.]

Hey guys, sorry, been busy. I have read all your help, and I appreciate it. I have bought an Ohm meter, I've had one since the day I got my vape, I understand Ohm's law (now) thanks to all the help. Only thing is, I didn't just walk into a vape store and agree to buy things to get huge clouds. I just didn't feel like wasting time and money with starter kits, I decided to get right into it, and unfortunately, did it blindly, but am now on the right track. Thanks for all the help, much appreciated

 

[OBDave]

Hey guys, sorry, been busy. I have read all your help, and I appreciate it. I have bought an Ohm meter, I've had one since the day I got my vape, I understand Ohm's law (now) thanks to all the help. Only thing is, I didn't just walk into a vape store and agree to buy things to get huge clouds. I just didn't feel like wasting time and money with starter kits, I decided to get right into it, and unfortunately, did it blindly, but am now on the right track. Thanks for all the help, much appreciated

Glad you're on the right track - if you have any other questions try running a quick search for threads that may be able to help out, and post up again if you're having trouble finding what you need...

 

[Nicholas J.]

But seriously you guys have been a huge help, I appreciate it, and I've been reading up and learning ever since. It is a great hobby as well. By the way, what are some good juices?! I've been using starbuzz, just because I trust them, I've been smoking hookah for 7 years and they've been a leading brand. So, any juices that are good for clouds and flavor?

 

[madmonkey]

It's no secret I am a Nicoticket fanboy...when I am not mixing my own I using am vaping something from them, I've been a customer of their's since they first started...they have a regular line and then a rotating line of limited runs...like right now if you hurry you can still get a flavor called "The Doodle"...they're running it at half off...its a really good snickerdoodle cookie if you like sweet things...just about everything they make is great IMHO,,,,but like I said I'm a fanboy so your milage may vary Another one of my favorites is Alien Visions E-Juice...they're a max VG line unless the flavor is stated "PG". A lot of people seem to be liking Dr. Crimmy's these days, and then there's Mad Murdock and The Standard, Suicide Bunny, Perfection Vapes, etc....there's a lot of good juice, but I would have to defer to someone else to tell you the best "budget" lines as when I buy juice I spend a little extra and get what I want...

I used to get "hawk sauce" from Mt Baker Vapor a lot, they're about the cheapest, but their flavors seem to be hit and miss....sometimes with liquid you can get a great bargain, other times you get what you pay for. Someone will come along and give you more suggestions I am sure

 

[Nicholas J.]

It's no secret I am a Nicoticket fanboy...when I am not mixing my own I using am vaping something from them, I've been a customer of their's since they first started...they have a regular line and then a rotating line of limited runs...like right now if you hurry you can still get a flavor called "The Doodle"...they're running it at half off...its a really good snickerdoodle cookie if you like sweet things...just about everything they make is great IMHO,,,,but like I said I'm a fanboy so your milage may vary Another one of my favorites is Alien Visions E-Juice...they're a max VG line unless the flavor is stated "PG". A lot of people seem to be liking Dr. Crimmy's these days, and then there's Mad Murdock and The Standard, Suicide Bunny, Perfection Vapes, etc....there's a lot of good juice, but I would have to defer to someone else to tell you the best "budget" lines as when I buy juice I spend a little extra and get what I want...

I used to get "hawk sauce" from Mt Baker Vapor a lot, they're about the cheapest, but their flavors seem to be hit and miss....sometimes with liquid you can get a great bargain, other times you get what you pay for. Someone will come along and give you more suggestions I am sure

Any threads you can point me to that explain the whole vg pg thing? I definitely want good clouds, but I'm also not willing to trade flavor, so a good balance of clouds and flavor would be nice.

 

[OBDave]

It's pretty simple - PG is thinner, carries flavor better, has a bit of a throat-hit-producting "bite" to it. VG is thicker, tastes kind of sweet on its own, provides a smoother vape, and is the primary contributor to producing clouds.

Most (but not all) flavorings are PG-based, so even drippers that prefer "max VG" for clouds are still vaping 5-20% PG unless they're vaping unflavored straight VG (cheaper flavorings require that you use much more of them, some of the premium flavors can make a tasty liquid with as little as 2-3% flavor).

More than flavor or clouds, your device should probably dictate your PG/VG blend. Older generation clearomizers (CE series, Protank/Evod/Nautilus lines) like some PG to thin out the juice to get the tiny little wicks wet - 30/70 is generally the thickest blend you'll get away with, though 40/60 all the way to 70/30 is more common. New generation clearos (Subtank/Atlantis/Herakles types) can handle thicker juice due to the bigger wicking holes on the coils that allow better juice flow - I use my juice that's in the 10/90 range (the only PG I use is in my nicotine and flavorings) on these with success. Dripper users generally prefer max VG for the clouds, though some flavor chasers will go as high as 30/70 and in some cases even as far as 50/50 to get the flavor-carrying properties of PG at the expense of clouds, though this isn't typically the norm.

Hope this helps - also, it's come to my attention that the Tugboat mod you're using is a hybrid type, with no 510 pin and just a hole in the top for your atomizer to directly connect to the battery - be careful with this! If the center pin in your atty doesn't protrude below the bottom of the threads by at least 1-2 mm and stay tightly connected your battery might connect with the threads on the atomizer, causing a hard short and venting/explosions in short order.

 

[Nicholas J.]

Great help! Thanks to everyone, I have a successful 0.44 ohm build on my tugboat v2, and I picked up a couple flavors yesterday, Suicide Bunny Sucker Punch and The BFG. Clouds and flavor are unreal! Thanks again

 

[Neunerball]

.....By the way, what are some good juices?!...

Not cheap but good! http://www.fuzionvapor.com/fuzion-prime/

 

[FlavoVape]

Azure vaping crocodile tears for me. Glad to see you found this board. A lot of knowledgeable folks around here.