Comments welcome on proposed upgrade path

[cynical1]

So, I haven't been at this for very long, but after 4 weeks I think the habit is solidifying. I started out with a pretty standard starter kit, an Aspire K4, which is the only thing I have at the moment. The .27ohm coil it came with lasted 2 hits and I swapped it for the .4 ohm coil to cool it down.

This has worked well, but the built in battery thing is beginning to become annoying. I also notice that if I chain vape (must be a lingering trait from cigarette smoking) the thing heats up to the point where it's no longer pleasant.

Here's what I'd like to accomplish with this upgrade:

1.) Swappable 18650 batteries. I don't want to start biting fingernails waiting for the K4 to recharge.

2.) Keep the vape as cool and consistent as possible.

3.) Have at least a 3ml capacity in the tank.

Sounds simple, right? After 3 weeks of reading everything I could find and watching countless YouTube reviews I've narrowed it down to the following:

SMY SDNA 75W Mod
Vaporesso Orc tank
Sony VTC5 or 5A batteries
Nitecore or XTAR 2 or 4 cell charger. Haven't picked a model yet. Opinions on this are welcomed.

Since I'm not looking to eclipse the sun with vapor it seems, from all I read, that the TCR mods will give me a consistent temperature and the cCell Vaporesso coils will give me a longer life and better flavor...and the ORC tank is 3.5ml. Everything I've read about the Evolv DNA chip makes it sound like the best way to go for TC vaping

As I'm probably going to be running maybe a hair over 40 watts in TC mode the 75W mod should give me what I'm after without parting with the extra coin necessary for the 133W or 200W DNA mods.

Again, from what I read the Sony VTC line is one of the more consistent battery line out there.

For reference, I've found that a 30PG\70VG mix is most agreeable for my throat. I've smoked for 40 years, so a "throat hit" is not what drew me to vaping.

So, after all that, let me add that if I'm way off the mark on any of this stuff please feel free to chime in save me from myself. All opinions welcomed.

Happy Trails

Cynical One

 

[IMFire3605]

1) both the mod and the tank are decent units, tc mode is generally limited to ni200 nickel, ti1 titanium, and stainless steel, so keep that in mind when choosing a coil head that uses one of those wires, SS wire is the safest allowing running in TC or power wattage modes. Yes the DNA line is in the Lexus class as far as control boards.

2) batteries, at 40watts max, I'd suggest the Samsung 30q or the Sony VTC6 for their 3000mah at 20amp continuous discharge, give you more run time when below 60watts over the VTC5 2600mah at 20amps CDR, 60 to 75 watts then the Sony VTC5A or LG HD2/HD2C/HD4 for the extra 5amps CDR needed to reach those wattages. You'll only need at minimum 2 batteries, one in use while one is charging, though 3 or 4 will be better, to be in proper cycle, use, let rest 30 or so minutes, put on charger, let sit at rest another 30 minutes after charge before use, and have spares when away from your charger say at work.
3) Nitecore or Xtar, the Xtar line is the Lexus of chargers for quality and warranty so a VC2 or other Xtar 2 bay is well worth the investment. Nitecore are nice chargers, but last maybe 2 or 3 years max constant use where an Xtar should last more than 2 years consistently, just remember to have the charger on a fire proof surface (cookie pan or such) and never leave it unsupervised when charging batteries, charging is where lithium batteries are at one of their most unstable times, more accidents have happened when at this state than when in use and used properly.

Don't get me wrong, yes Sony has been a consistent battery line, just as they say right tool for the right job, but the VTC4 and regular VTC5 are 2 of the most cloned batteries out there, great batteries, but the 30q alone will serve you better in the long run and a bit gentler on the wallet with just as good a quality. Batteries and charger can be found for excellent price at illumn.com, liionwholesale.com, rtdvapor.com, imrbatteries.com, or orbtronic.com if you are in the US/Canada. 30/70 is a very well rounded pg/VG ratio if it has worked for you thus far. Grats to you success thus far and hope for you continued success.


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

 

[SirRichardRear]

So, I haven't been at this for very long, but after 4 weeks I think the habit is solidifying. I started out with a pretty standard starter kit, an Aspire K4, which is the only thing I have at the moment. The .27ohm coil it came with lasted 2 hits and I swapped it for the .4 ohm coil to cool it down.

This has worked well, but the built in battery thing is beginning to become annoying. I also notice that if I chain vape (must be a lingering trait from cigarette smoking) the thing heats up to the point where it's no longer pleasant.

Here's what I'd like to accomplish with this upgrade:

1.) Swappable 18650 batteries. I don't want to start biting fingernails waiting for the K4 to recharge.

2.) Keep the vape as cool and consistent as possible.

3.) Have at least a 3ml capacity in the tank.

Sounds simple, right? After 3 weeks of reading everything I could find and watching countless YouTube reviews I've narrowed it down to the following:

SMY SDNA 75W Mod
Vaporesso Orc tank
Sony VTC5 or 5A batteries
Nitecore or XTAR 2 or 4 cell charger. Haven't picked a model yet. Opinions on this are welcomed.

Since I'm not looking to eclipse the sun with vapor it seems, from all I read, that the TCR mods will give me a consistent temperature and the cCell Vaporesso coils will give me a longer life and better flavor...and the ORC tank is 3.5ml. Everything I've read about the Evolv DNA chip makes it sound like the best way to go for TC vaping

As I'm probably going to be running maybe a hair over 40 watts in TC mode the 75W mod should give me what I'm after without parting with the extra coin necessary for the 133W or 200W DNA mods.

Again, from what I read the Sony VTC line is one of the more consistent battery line out there.

For reference, I've found that a 30PG\70VG mix is most agreeable for my throat. I've smoked for 40 years, so a "throat hit" is not what drew me to vaping.


So, after all that, let me add that if I'm way off the mark on any of this stuff please feel free to chime in save me from myself. All opinions welcomed.

Happy Trails

Cynical One

Few things on this. and BTW welcome to the site!

The DNA 75 mod you chose won't be able to temp control those coils. It's a great Mod and the DNA chip is awesome but it won't do kenthal or ceramic coils for temp control. So with that said I'd like to suggest the hohmslice. it's 101 watts. the cost is around 60 bucks it has swappable batteries but it takes a single 26650 battery so you'll get better battery life from the mod. and charges in about 1.5 hours from dead to full in an emergency. of cource you can always sue the external charger and have a spare fresh battery for no wait. and it'll temp control kenthal, ceramic coils, and everything. And all the programming is on the chip, no need for a computer to program. only need a computer to update firmware.

Good choices for a battery for the hohmslice would be the black basin or the hohmtech battery. Sony VCT are great, I just worry about the authenticity because they aren't supposed to be sold right now. LG and Samsung batteries are a safer option IMO. samsung 30q or 25R, LG HG2 or HE4 for 18650 batts if you go that route.

for the tank, another option would be the freemax starre pure. it's also a ceramic coil tank. I've had great experience with it so far and the coil options fit in with your watts needs

Pic of hohmslice and pure tank i'm using right now

If you want the DNA for sure you'll need to buy a tank that has NI, Ti, or SS coils to use temp control.

 

[gbalkam]

If you find your mod heating up, get a heat sink. It will protect your circuits and less wear and tear on the threads.
Batteries, I only use LG, Sony or Samsung. 20 or 25 amps are fine for regulated mods. As a rule, the higher the amp the lower the charge time. For example.. 25A @ 2500MaH vs 20A @ 3000Mah. Both are fine as far as amps go, the mod will adjust.
Your chain vaping will regulate on its own. Eventually you will go hours between vapes. Or you might sit vaping while watching tv. I use only 3mg ejuice of less for this reason.

Tanks, I can't help much with, I use drippers, (RDAs) and 1 kanger toptank mini.
Mods.. I would maybe go with something 200w+. Not that you will ever NEED 200w.. but better to have it and not use it. Even 250W would be good, some tanks like TFV8 need 220w just to run the coils properly.

 

[SirRichardRear]

If you find your mod heating up, get a heat sink. It will protect your circuits and less wear and tear on the threads.
Batteries, I only use LG, Sony or Samsung. 20 or 25 amps are fine for regulated mods. As a rule, the higher the amp the lower the charge time. For example.. 25A @ 2500MaH vs 20A @ 3000Mah. Both are fine as far as amps go, the mod will adjust.
Your chain vaping will regulate on its own. Eventually you will go hours between vapes. Or you might sit vaping while watching tv. I use only 3mg ejuice of less for this reason.

Tanks, I can't help much with, I use drippers, (RDAs) and 1 kanger toptank mini.
Mods.. I would maybe go with something 200w+. Not that you will ever NEED 200w.. but better to have it and not use it. Even 250W would be good, some tanks like TFV8 need 220w just to run the coils properly.

very few tanks need anything close to that wattage. the only tank I've seen that needs over 100 is the TFV8 and even that is like 130-140 at best. doesn't need anything close to 200 watts

 

[cynical1]

Yeah, of everything I've read so far, batteries seem to be the most contentious area. It seems the lawyers for Sony, Lg and Samsung all wish people would stop using unprotected cells in vaping devices. It seems finding a vendor with integrity is just as important as choosing the right battery.

As I understand it, any kanthal coil is not suitable to TC vaping. The Vaporesso cCell coils are available in 316 SS, which is what they use in their own TC mods. Is there something I should know here that I misunderstood?

Off to read all about batteries some more. If nothing else, this keeps me off the streets.

Happy Trails -

Cynical One

 

[SirRichardRear]

Yeah, of everything I've read so far, batteries seem to be the most contentious area. It seems the lawyers for Sony, Lg and Samsung all wish people would stop using unprotected cells in vaping devices. It seems finding a vendor with integrity is just as important as choosing the right battery.

As I understand it, any kanthal coil is not suitable to TC vaping. The Vaporesso cCell coils are available in 316 SS, which is what they use in their own TC mods. Is there something I should know here that I misunderstood?

Off to read all about batteries some more. If nothing else, this keeps me off the streets.

Happy Trails -

Cynical One

there are a couple of mods that temp control kenthal and they are amazing mods

 

[IMFire3605]

Yeah, of everything I've read so far, batteries seem to be the most contentious area. It seems the lawyers for Sony, Lg and Samsung all wish people would stop using unprotected cells in vaping devices. It seems finding a vendor with integrity is just as important as choosing the right battery.

As I understand it, any kanthal coil is not suitable to TC vaping. The Vaporesso cCell coils are available in 316 SS, which is what they use in their own TC mods. Is there something I should know here that I misunderstood?

Off to read all about batteries some more. If nothing else, this keeps me off the streets.

Happy Trails -

Cynical One

SS316 wire in the coil you'll be able to TC no problem even with ceramic wicking. Battery vendors, I listed 5 above that are for the most part authentic brand name sellers and a few are authorized resellers/wholesalers, but as I stated they are mainly US/Canada, over seas they need to ship via boat, lithium batteries are grumpy when on a plane (hello Samsung phone scare recently ring a bell)


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

 

[gbalkam]

very few tanks need anything close to that wattage. the only tank I've seen that needs over 100 is the TFV8 and even that is like 130-140 at best. doesn't need anything close to 200 watts

V8-T8 Best 120-180W
Like I said... better to buy higher than what you figure you need now, so you don't end up rebuying a new mod to run your shiny new tanks.

I am actually speaking from experience. Starting with a 100w box and lo... my builds weren't running because i needed 140w to fire them, and getting a 200w box, and my coil building advanced, and I need a 240w box.. Not to mention, with a 200w box, for example, even if you never go over 75w there are 2 batteries running it, so you won't need to recharge as often as you would a 100w box with 1 battery.

Remember when your parents used to buy your shoes 1 size to big, so you could grow into them? lol.. same thing.

 

[SirRichardRear]

V8-T8 Best 120-180W
Like I said... better to buy higher than what you figure you need now, so you don't end up rebuying a new mod to run your shiny new tanks.

you should know how much companies overrate numbers by now to sell products. like those "60 amp" batteries that are 10 amps.
Actual usage of the tanks themselves I've never needed anywhere near that power. the TFV8 can handle 220 watts. I did it for shits and giggles but it isn't a good vape. where 130-140 is perfect.
Not to mention you said you "need at least 220 watts" for the TFV8 where even there the highest for "best at" is 180

 

[SirRichardRear]

SS316 wire in the coil you'll be able to TC no problem even with ceramic wicking. Battery vendors, I listed 5 above that are for the most part authentic brand name sellers and a few are authorized resellers/wholesalers, but as I stated they are mainly US/Canada, over seas they need to ship via boat, lithium batteries are grumpy when on a plane (hello Samsung phone scare recently ring a bell)


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

that was a design flaw in the phone and not the battery itself.

 

[gbalkam]

you should know how much companies overrate numbers by now to sell products. like those "60 amp" batteries that are 10 amps.
Actual usage of the tanks themselves I've never needed anywhere near that power. the TFV8 can handle 220 watts. I did it for shits and giggles but it isn't a good vape. where 130-140 is perfect.
Not to mention you said you "need at least 220 watts" for the TFV8 where even there the highest for "best at" is 180

130-140w is perfect for YOU. This time last year, vaping at even 130w was unthinkable, there was no need, most tanks only needed 30-60w. Things change, newer and better things come out. You can either plan ahead, or spend more money later. True, you don't need 220w for the TFV8. I was going by old info I had read when the TFV8 first came out. Most people were saying a 220w mod was around what you should have. But then of course, back there, there were no 300w mods either.

There is no such thing as a 60 amp battery.

 

[SirRichardRear]

130-140w is perfect for YOU. This time last year, vaping at even 130w was unthinkable, there was no need, most tanks only needed 30-60w. Things change, newer and better things come out. You can either plan ahead, or spend more money later. True, you don't need 220w for the TFV8. I was going by old info I had read when the TFV8 first came out. Most people were saying a 220w mod was around what you should have. But then of course, back there, there were no 300w mods either.

There is no such thing as a 60 amp battery.

user experience over manufacturers rating any day. I didn't even have a 200+ watt mod until i got the alien. The highest watt mod i had was the xcube 2 at 180 watts and it runs everything fine. and I do huge Clapton builds and really low resistance with no issues. The idea people have of "more power" and "lower resistance" doesn't equal a better vape always. It's just numbers manufactures like to have in dick waving contests for sales.

Also I've been vaping at over 100 watts for quite some time now lol 150 watt mods were pretty normal even going a few years back. There isn't isn't a such thing as "future proof" but we have hit a wall. 90% of people can easily vape 100 watts or less. No reason to have eveyr new member looking for an upgrade walking out of here thinking they need a 400 watt mod and .0001 resistance build with 8 fused claptons to get a better vape then what the have lol

 

[gbalkam]

Now, since SirRichard mentioned 60A batteries, I will clarify since the OP is new to vaping. The 60amps he was referring to is the "pulse" rating printed on the battery label. If you ever see a battery with a pulse rating DO NOT BUY IT. That is misinformation that some companies put on the label to deceive customers. A good example is that there is no definition of how long a "pulse" is. 1 second? 2? 5? Nobody can tell you, because there is no definition of what a pulse is. I tell people to stick to Samsung, LG, Sony batteries. They don't state a pulse limit, instead they publish a table at what levels their batteries have been stress tested at. A battery will "pulse" at whatever amp level you tell it to fire at with the coil build. What you need to know is what the battery has been stress tested at, to know if that is a safe level. This applies to mechanical mods, not to regulated mods. With regulated, the software handles all the math for you.

Just as an example.. a single Samsung 25R battery will handle a 3 second pull at 0.07 ohms. How do I know this? I researched the stress tests for the Samsung 25R. Why did I need to know this? Cloud chasing builds. Why do I chase the clouds? lol.. i can't blow rings for one thing. And it is a hobby I started to keep my mind off smoking cigarettes when i started. I didn't start cloud chasing on a big fancy coil. I started on a kanger toptank mini RBA and building coils to match the wattage of my mod. The clouds I got were laughable compared to other cloud chasers, but really impressive to other people using the toptank mini.

Basically.. don't by cheap rebranded rewrapped batteries, especially mis labeled ones. Spend the extra $2 for the samsung,sony,lg. It might never make a difference to you, but it only takes 1 time, so better to buy the top end batteries, than wish you had later.

 

[gbalkam]

user experience over manufacturers rating any day. I didn't even have a 200+ watt mod until i got the alien. The highest watt mod i had was the xcube 2 at 180 watts and it runs everything fine. and I do huge Clapton builds and really low resistance with no issues. The idea people have of "more power" and "lower resistance" doesn't equal a better vape always. It's just numbers manufactures like to have in dick waving contests for sales.

Also I've been vaping at over 100 watts for quite some time now lol 150 watt mods were pretty normal even going a few years back. There isn't isn't a such thing as "future proof" but we have hit a wall. 90% of people can easily vape 100 watts or less. No reason to have eveyr new member looking for an upgrade walking out of here thinking they need a 400 watt mod and .0001 resistance build with 8 fused claptons to get a better vape then what the have lol

Not what I was saying. Im saying, if you have a choice between buying a 100w mod or a 200w mod for about the same amount, go for the 200w. If you don't need 200w to run the coils fine. But if you start building bigger coils, you will have the power to fire them without having to buy another new mod. You say you are vaping at over 100w, so you should know, that even though you aren't a hard core vaper, a 100w box wouldn't fire your builds. Right? So if you are buying a mod anyway, why not buy one that will be good for what you might want to do a few months from now. I'm speaking from experience. I started with a 16w pen mod, then bought a 100w istick, then a 200w ijoy. And wished I had just gotten the 200w ijoy from the start and saved $150.00

 

[cynical1]

SS316 wire in the coil you'll be able to TC no problem even with ceramic wicking. Battery vendors, I listed 5 above that are for the most part authentic brand name sellers and a few are authorized resellers/wholesalers, but as I stated they are mainly US/Canada, over seas they need to ship via boat, lithium batteries are grumpy when on a plane (hello Samsung phone scare recently ring a bell)

OK, I thought I misread something on the cCell coils. Honestly, after smoking for as long as I did my throat and lungs really appreciate a cool vape. I'm hoping these ceramic coils bear a close resemblance to how they're advertised.

The point made about Sony being so popular that they became the favorite target of cloning re-wrappers makes me think twice about them. After the debacle with Samsung and the magical spontaneous combustion feature they added on their Galaxy Note 7 phones recently...

...makes me very hesitant to go down that road. Looks like the LG HE4 is the way I'll go.

IMFire3605, you mentioned lithium batteries having issues on a plane. I've taken laptops on planes for years and never had an issue. Is there a difference with the 18650 batteries when flying? If so, how do you fly with them? I'm heading back to Chicago in April and I'd really like to land in one piece.

Thanks again for all the assistance.

 

[SirRichardRear]

Now, since SirRichard mentioned 60A batteries, I will clarify since the OP is new to vaping. The 60amps he was referring to is the "pulse" rating printed on the battery label. If you ever see a battery with a pulse rating DO NOT BUY IT. That is misinformation that some companies put on the label to deceive customers. A good example is that there is no definition of how long a "pulse" is. 1 second? 2? 5? Nobody can tell you, because there is no definition of what a pulse is. I tell people to stick to Samsung, LG, Sony batteries. They don't state a pulse limit, instead they publish a table at what levels their batteries have been stress tested at. A battery will "pulse" at whatever amp level you tell it to fire at with the coil build. What you need to know is what the battery has been stress tested at, to know if that is a safe level. This applies to mechanical mods, not to regulated mods. With regulated, the software handles all the math for you.

Just as an example.. a single Samsung 25R battery will handle a 3 second pull at 0.07 ohms. How do I know this? I researched the stress tests for the Samsung 25R. Why did I need to know this? Cloud chasing builds. Why do I chase the clouds? lol.. i can't blow rings for one thing. And it is a hobby I started to keep my mind off smoking cigarettes when i started. I didn't start cloud chasing on a big fancy coil. I started on a kanger toptank mini RBA and building coils to match the wattage of my mod. The clouds I got were laughable compared to other cloud chasers, but really impressive to other people using the toptank mini.

Basically.. don't by cheap rebranded rewrapped batteries, especially mis labeled ones. Spend the extra $2 for the samsung,sony,lg. It might never make a difference to you, but it only takes 1 time, so better to buy the top end batteries, than wish you had later.

dude did you read my post or just trying to have a dick waving contest here cause i want no part in that. I was trying to help OP. i used the "60 amp battery" as an example for your 220 watts when both are lies. i flat out said they are 10 amp batteries.

very few people coming here for advice look to chase clouds. we have a sub forum for that if that's your thing. and if you are trying to. you should be using LG HB series batts not a 25R and on a mech mod .07 ohms would be 60 amps well over the safe limit of any 18650 battery. on a regulated mod it's irrelevant cause ohms law doesn't apply, its a different calculation but the mod will regulate and not put out too many amps regardless

 

[gbalkam]

dude did you read my post or just trying to have a dick waving contest here cause i want no part in that. I was trying to help OP. i used the "60 amp battery" as an example for your 220 watts when both are lies. i flat out said they are 10 amp batteries.

very few people coming here for advice look to chase clouds. we have a sub forum for that if that's your thing. and if you are trying to. you should be using LG HB series batts not a 25R and on a mech mod .07 ohms would be 60 amps well over the safe limit of any 18650 battery. on a regulated mod it's irrelevant cause ohms law doesn't apply, its a different calculation but the mod will regulate and not put out too many amps regardless

You should not have even mentioned a 60 amp battery. What is even worse, is you DID mention 60 amp batteries without clarifying where the 60amp rating comes from and why we do not buy "60 amp batteries" Now if you want a dick waving contest.. lets go.
For example.. efest are rewrapped samsungs. They have a "pulse" rating (which we should know enough to ignore), what you are really buying is factory 2nds that failed samsung quality control. They get sold as 2nd because they are great for flashlights. They can be used to vape, but for the sake of $2 I wouldn't trust my face to them.. and Im not that great looking to start with.

I can't comment on those 10amp batteries you refer to. I have never seen them. No need to look, since I would never use them in the first place. It was just flat out irresponsible of you to mention 60 amps without explaining what the 60amp rating was, what it means, and why we ignore it.

Now regardless of 140w 180w 220w who NEEDS a TFV8? Nobody. Its a new toy. Its a NICE toy, but just something new, soon replaced by something else new. The entire point, was to buy a bit more than you need now, so you don't end up wishing you had. DROP MIC.

 

[SirRichardRear]

Not what I was saying. Im saying, if you have a choice between buying a 100w mod or a 200w mod for about the same amount, go for the 200w. If you don't need 200w to run the coils fine. But if you start building bigger coils, you will have the power to fire them without having to buy another new mod. You say you are vaping at over 100w, so you should know, that even though you aren't a hard core vaper, a 100w box wouldn't fire your builds. Right? So if you are buying a mod anyway, why not buy one that will be good for what you might want to do a few months from now. I'm speaking from experience. I started with a 16w pen mod, then bought a 100w istick, then a 200w ijoy. And wished I had just gotten the 200w ijoy from the start and saved $150.00

I'd take a well built 100w mod over a poor built 200watt mod anyday. especially at the same price. people that only look at watts and price make poor decisions.

 

[SirRichardRear]

You should not have even mentioned a 60 amp battery

i mentioned it as a warning that don't believe manufacturers labels. It was perfectly a good example to mention. just like I'm going to mention what is your problem?

you said it's safe to fire a 25R at 60 amps lol come on man. just drop it and let it go so we can help OP. your only gonna confuse him more

 

[cynical1]

Just like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, I know there's no such thing as a 60A 18650 battery. I spent more than a few hours on steam-engine.org playing with their Mod Range calculator tool. I also understand pulse ratings on batteries are virtually worthless as there seems to be no standard to validate said tests. I understand that two batteries in parallel will give me more battery life, but more power only comes from connecting them in series. I looked at the DNA 133 and DNA 200 mods, but for what I'm after they all seem to be at cross purposes to where I'm hoping to end up.

I guess my goal here is to get the vape volume and coolness I'm after without leaving too much headroom on the device. Why buy a Ferrari if you're never going to take it out of 2nd gear?

This is still a learning curve for me and all of your input is valuable. The proof is in the putting. If I'm way off the mark it's a learning opportunity. If I get it right I'm happy. Either way, it's a win-win.

Thanks -

Cynical One

 

[gbalkam]

Just like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, I know there's no such thing as a 60A 18650 battery. I spent more than a few hours on steam-engine.org playing with their Mod Range calculator tool. I also understand pulse ratings on batteries are virtually worthless as there seems to be no standard to validate said tests. I understand that two batteries in parallel will give me more battery life, but more power only comes from connecting them in series. I looked at the DNA 133 and DNA 200 mods, but for what I'm after they all seem to be at cross purposes to where I'm hoping to end up.

I guess my goal here is to get the vape volume and coolness I'm after without leaving too much headroom on the device. Why buy a Ferrari if you're never going to take it out of 2nd gear?

This is still a learning curve for me and all of your input is valuable. The proof is in the putting. If I'm way off the mark it's a learning opportunity. If I get it right I'm happy. Either way, it's a win-win.

Thanks -

Cynical One

Glad you knew about the batteries. Many don't, and it is an often asked question in various forums.
Ok so coolness is your wattage and airflow.
volume is the coil, wick and wattage *and airflow* Volume coils are different from flavor coil. A clapton is a nice balance coil for both volume and flavor.
The only down side of claptons, is they take a bit longer to heat up, so I tend to run them at slightly higher wattage to compensate. For flavor, check out the flavor chasers forum. There is also a cloud chaser forum if you care to look. TwistedMesses and Tsunami are nice atomizers for both flavor and volume, but they are RDA or drip atomizers. They are also the only type I use, although that TFV8 is looking pretty good... i may try that one. LOL It will give my wife an idea of what to get me for Christmas.

Just pick what you like for the mod, and later let us know what you have and tell us what you want your vape to be like. Pretty sure we can figure something out as a group. There are lots of coil builders on here, My coils lean more toward clouds, while others lean toward flavor, and some are just looking for that perfect balance.

 

[SirRichardRear]

Just like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, I know there's no such thing as a 60A 18650 battery. I spent more than a few hours on steam-engine.org playing with their Mod Range calculator tool. I also understand pulse ratings on batteries are virtually worthless as there seems to be no standard to validate said tests. I understand that two batteries in parallel will give me more battery life, but more power only comes from connecting them in series. I looked at the DNA 133 and DNA 200 mods, but for what I'm after they all seem to be at cross purposes to where I'm hoping to end up.

I guess my goal here is to get the vape volume and coolness I'm after without leaving too much headroom on the device. Why buy a Ferrari if you're never going to take it out of 2nd gear?

This is still a learning curve for me and all of your input is valuable. The proof is in the putting. If I'm way off the mark it's a learning opportunity. If I get it right I'm happy. Either way, it's a win-win.

Thanks -

Cynical One

I think the g2 will get u what u want. Complete control over the temp of any wire. 171 watts is more then enough. If u can get away with 100 watts the slice is smaller.

Also not to be a stickler but series or parallel give u the same battery life. It's measured in kw/h formula is V*ma/1000 so 3.7*6000/1000 = 8.4*3000/1000


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[IMFire3605]

Just like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, I know there's no such thing as a 60A 18650 battery. I spent more than a few hours on steam-engine.org playing with their Mod Range calculator tool. I also understand pulse ratings on batteries are virtually worthless as there seems to be no standard to validate said tests. I understand that two batteries in parallel will give me more battery life, but more power only comes from connecting them in series. I looked at the DNA 133 and DNA 200 mods, but for what I'm after they all seem to be at cross purposes to where I'm hoping to end up.

I guess my goal here is to get the vape volume and coolness I'm after without leaving too much headroom on the device. Why buy a Ferrari if you're never going to take it out of 2nd gear?

This is still a learning curve for me and all of your input is valuable. The proof is in the putting. If I'm way off the mark it's a learning opportunity. If I get it right I'm happy. Either way, it's a win-win.

Thanks -

Cynical One

The issue with shipping lithium batteries on a plane are temperature and air pressure. Passenger cabin is controlled, keeping in line with what humans can withstand at high altitude, cargo is in an uncontrolled atmosphere. In cargo hold lithium batteries can react violently in those colder temperatures and lower air pressure, thus rules and regulations were put in place to deter shipping them by air freight without control and safety measures, special containment and fire proofing etc.

Not to make an alarmist comment, but even under ideal conditions a lithium battery can become unstable for any reason. A lot of battery incidents for vaping are reported in bad light, very rarely do you see reported the number of issues with other applications, cell phones, laptops, etc unless there is a major issue, recent Samsung phone issues, cheap hover boards as recent examples. Taking batteries on a trip, have them stored outside your mod in transport safe carry cases, and your vape gear and any fear that uses lithium batteries in your carry on luggage, not below cabin cargo bay luggage.


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[cynical1]

So, I pulled the trigger on the upgrade. I went with the SMY SDNA 75, the Vaporesso ORC tank, LG HE4 batteries and an XTAR VC4 Charger with the Wall & Car plugs. Everything came to a hair over $145.00 out the door.

So, what do I think of this setup?

First off, as has been said here many times, do your homework and know your hardware. The mod itself is not too hard to grasp, but the Evolv E-Scribe software does have a learning curve. They offer a great tutorial on their website which should flatten out said learning curve for most people.

The tank is well made, threads work smoothly and the air and juice flow ports functioned smoothly as well. I did pop off the standard tip for the wide bore tip. You have to pull the adapter out, which is best done with a small spooned end tool, not included.

The tank comes with the .5 ohm and .6 ohm coils. The .5 ohm is rated for 20w-40w and the .6 ohm coil goes from 40w-75w. The .5 is in the tank when you open the box.

Beware of the installed presets, as they all seem to be developed for the higher wattage coil. With the E-Scribe software I just setup a preset for the .5 ohm coil within it's operating wattage rating and all was good. I made another preset for the .6 coil, but after a week the original coil is still sweet, so I haven't had a reason to swap them out yet. I'll update this when I do.

Here's what I did to prime the ceramic cCoil: I used about 3-4 drops of juice on the ceramic, letting it soak for about 5 minutes before installing it into the tank. Then I filled the tank, opening the juice flow to full and let it sit another 30 minutes. I made a preset for POWER MODE\ NO TC at 18 watts. I did a few draws with no power involved, then did about 20 draws at the 18 watt setting. Then I went to TC Mode using the .5 ohm coil settings.

So far, never a dry hit or spitback. After starting out at 425 degrees I found that setting the wattage for the .5 ohm coil at 35w the best flavor and vapor production came between 480 to 515 degrees. YMMV. I did find that these ceramic coils can blast pretty hot vapor when running in Power Mode only with the TC disabled. Fortunately, the TC mode, while reducing vapor production significantly, does offer very consistent flavor and a cool vape I can hit all day. It does seem to produce a "drier" vape, if that makes any sense, so I did find my mouth would get drier if I chain vaped.

The SMY SDNA75 mod itself seems solid. Granted, I've only been using it for a week, so time will tell on that. The battery door is an improvement on their other mods. The + is down into the spring loaded battery contact. It's still easy to remove and install the battery without tearing the wrapping and the magnetized battery door is simple to open and close and stays shut.

There is less vapor production than the Clieto tank on my Aspire mod, but it never gets as harsh either. It doesn't guzzle the juice nearly as fast as the Clieto either.

All in all I'm satisfied with this mod setup. To paraphrase to old saying, "I don't know all there is to know about vaping, but I know what I like."

Happy Trails

Cynical One

 

[SirRichardRear]

So, I pulled the trigger on the upgrade. I went with the SMY SDNA 75, the Vaporesso ORC tank, LG HE4 batteries and an XTAR VC4 Charger with the Wall & Car plugs. Everything came to a hair over $145.00 out the door.

So, what do I think of this setup?

First off, as has been said here many times, do your homework and know your hardware. The mod itself is not too hard to grasp, but the Evolv E-Scribe software does have a learning curve. They offer a great tutorial on their website which should flatten out said learning curve for most people.

The tank is well made, threads work smoothly and the air and juice flow ports functioned smoothly as well. I did pop off the standard tip for the wide bore tip. You have to pull the adapter out, which is best done with a small spooned end tool, not included.

The tank comes with the .5 ohm and .6 ohm coils. The .5 ohm is rated for 20w-40w and the .6 ohm coil goes from 40w-75w. The .5 is in the tank when you open the box.

Beware of the installed presets, as they all seem to be developed for the higher wattage coil. With the E-Scribe software I just setup a preset for the .5 ohm coil within it's operating wattage rating and all was good. I made another preset for the .6 coil, but after a week the original coil is still sweet, so I haven't had a reason to swap them out yet. I'll update this when I do.

Here's what I did to prime the ceramic cCoil: I used about 3-4 drops of juice on the ceramic, letting it soak for about 5 minutes before installing it into the tank. Then I filled the tank, opening the juice flow to full and let it sit another 30 minutes. I made a preset for POWER MODE\ NO TC at 18 watts. I did a few draws with no power involved, then did about 20 draws at the 18 watt setting. Then I went to TC Mode using the .5 ohm coil settings.

So far, never a dry hit or spitback. After starting out at 425 degrees I found that setting the wattage for the .5 ohm coil at 35w the best flavor and vapor production came between 480 to 515 degrees. YMMV. I did find that these ceramic coils can blast pretty hot vapor when running in Power Mode only with the TC disabled. Fortunately, the TC mode, while reducing vapor production significantly, does offer very consistent flavor and a cool vape I can hit all day. It does seem to produce a "drier" vape, if that makes any sense, so I did find my mouth would get drier if I chain vaped.

The SMY SDNA75 mod itself seems solid. Granted, I've only been using it for a week, so time will tell on that. The battery door is an improvement on their other mods. The + is down into the spring loaded battery contact. It's still easy to remove and install the battery without tearing the wrapping and the magnetized battery door is simple to open and close and stays shut.

There is less vapor production than the Clieto tank on my Aspire mod, but it never gets as harsh either. It doesn't guzzle the juice nearly as fast as the Clieto either.

All in all I'm satisfied with this mod setup. To paraphrase to old saying, "I don't know all there is to know about vaping, but I know what I like."

Happy Trails

Cynical One

You shouldn't be running those ceramic coils in Temp control mode. Only the slice and g2 can do that. Dna mods will do any wire but NiChrome and kenthal or ceramic. But you need to load in the correct profile for each wire type.

As far as the set up. Good mod, good batts , good charger. Not a fan of the tank personally though but hey has long as you like it go for it. 140 isn't that bad for that setup at all

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[cynical1]

The coils actually have a 316L wire encased in them with a thin cotton layer between the ceramic\316L assembly and the inlets for the tank. The theory, as best as I can determine, is for the cotton to stay saturated in juice to allow constant absorption into the ceramic\SS element. It's an interesting design.

These are the same coils they use in their Vaporesso TC mods. The mod reads the rated resistance within a couple percent, which is probably just a manufacturing variance. The E-Scribe software allows you to set several preset materials, nichrome, SS and tungsten. Everything I've read says kanthal is a bad idea, as the material doesn't lend itself to the Temperature Coefficient of Resistance algorithm consistently. Everything I've read seems to lean towards using SS over nichrome for TC. It may be just marketspeak, but it works like a charm with this mod.

There's even a section within the E-scribe software that allows you to enter the physical properties of you coil wire should you want to try some exotic material, or if you're in possesion of certified lab test results on your wire. Probably a bit too involved for me and is probably only in there for manufacturers to employ in their product development.

One very cool thing for the more geeky folks around here is the Device Monitor in the E-scribe software. You can select for a group of variables to monitor real time. Just hook up the USB cable, choose what you want to see and it appears on the screen as you take a vape. It seem doesn't have a problem with the SS coils as it reads consistently.

I'm still at the intermediate phase with all of this but I am impressed with how simple it was to customize this DNA board and how easy it is to change these parameters to dial in exactly what floats your boat.

And everything was purchased on eBay. Been there since 1998 and have found that most sellers who respond intelligently to questions are reputable. Only burned twice in 19 years.

 

[SirRichardRear]

The coils actually have a 316L wire encased in them with a thin cotton layer between the ceramic\316L assembly and the inlets for the tank. The theory, as best as I can determine, is for the cotton to stay saturated in juice to allow constant absorption into the ceramic\SS element. It's an interesting design.

These are the same coils they use in their Vaporesso TC mods. The mod reads the rated resistance within a couple percent, which is probably just a manufacturing variance. The E-Scribe software allows you to set several preset materials, nichrome, SS and tungsten. Everything I've read says kanthal is a bad idea, as the material doesn't lend itself to the Temperature Coefficient of Resistance algorithm consistently. Everything I've read seems to lean towards using SS over nichrome for TC. It may be just marketspeak, but it works like a charm with this mod.

There's even a section within the E-scribe software that allows you to enter the physical properties of you coil wire should you want to try some exotic material, or if you're in possesion of certified lab test results on your wire. Probably a bit too involved for me and is probably only in there for manufacturers to employ in their product development.

One very cool thing for the more geeky folks around here is the Device Monitor in the E-scribe software. You can select for a group of variables to monitor real time. Just hook up the USB cable, choose what you want to see and it appears on the screen as you take a vape. It seem doesn't have a problem with the SS coils as it reads consistently.

I'm still at the intermediate phase with all of this but I am impressed with how simple it was to customize this DNA board and how easy it is to change these parameters to dial in exactly what floats your boat.

And everything was purchased on eBay. Been there since 1998 and have found that most sellers who respond intelligently to questions are reputable. Only burned twice in 19 years.

I'd like a source for the 316l ceramic coils cause everything I see so far says they are kenthal inside ceramic. And they have a ni200 coil option for temp control. They state not to use ceramic in TC mode which further expresses it's not SS inside.

Aslo NiChrome won't work on a dna. You can load a profile but it doesn't work. Same thing with kenthal. I loaded kenthal profiles into my dna mod but it doesn't work right.

Ss is the most universal wire. It works in TC and watt mode on pretty much every mod and is easy to find. Nife is probably the best overall wire but it's limited availability holds it back. I mostly use ss wire persinally.

DNA boards are impressive for sure. I just ordered a new dna250 mod. Just waiting for it to come. Just wish you could make more in board adjustments.

Glad you had good luck on ebay. I general I don't recommend it. They aren't any cheaper then most vaping sites anyway.

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[cynical1]

I'd like a source for the 316l ceramic coils cause everything I see so far says they are kenthal inside ceramic. And they have a ni200 coil option for temp control. They state not to use ceramic in TC mode which further expresses it's not SS inside.

Aslo NiChrome won't work on a dna. You can load a profile but it doesn't work. Same thing with kenthal. I loaded kenthal profiles into my dna mod but it doesn't work right.

Ss is the most universal wire. It works in TC and watt mode on pretty much every mod and is easy to find. Nife is probably the best overall wire but it's limited availability holds it back. I mostly use ss wire persinally.

DNA boards are impressive for sure. I just ordered a new dna250 mod. Just waiting for it to come. Just wish you could make more in board adjustments.

Glad you had good luck on ebay. I general I don't recommend it. They aren't any cheaper then most vaping sites anyway.

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The coils in the ORC tank are similar to the ones in the Gemini tank. The look like this:

As near as I can tell, for the ORC tank it's either the .5 ohm 316L SS coil for 20w-40w or the .6 ohm 316L SS coil for 40w-75w. I haven't invested a lot of time looking at what other cCell coils might work in this tank, if any. I admit, I like the ceramic much better than the Aspire coils for the Clieto tank, but that's like comparing apples and oranges since the Clieto is on a Aspire K4...where the only reliable temperature control is to put the thing down...

There are all kinds of presets for nichrome in the DNA software, but I didn't like what I read about nichrome, so I made it point to look for SS coil tanks intentionally. From what you said I'm glad I steered away from nichrome coils for the DNA board.

I'm still on the .5 ohm coil that came in the tank. I expected the thing to get skunky by now with being off for the holiday and creating a fog bank all day, but it's still sweet, so the .6 ohm coil is still wrapped up in the box. The curious part of me wants to yank the .5 ohm coil anyway...but the cheap bastard part of me is leaving it until it coughs up blood.

I'm holding off ordering replacements as I don't know which coil is going to do it for me, so I really don't have a great handle on where to get them affordably.

 

[SirRichardRear]

The coils in the ORC tank are similar to the ones in the Gemini tank. The look like this:

As near as I can tell, for the ORC tank it's either the .5 ohm 316L SS coil for 20w-40w or the .6 ohm 316L SS coil for 40w-75w. I haven't invested a lot of time looking at what other cCell coils might work in this tank, if any. I admit, I like the ceramic much better than the Aspire coils for the Clieto tank, but that's like comparing apples and oranges since the Clieto is on a Aspire K4...where the only reliable temperature control is to put the thing down...

There are all kinds of presets for nichrome in the DNA software, but I didn't like what I read about nichrome, so I made it point to look for SS coil tanks intentionally. From what you said I'm glad I steered away from nichrome coils for the DNA board.

I'm still on the .5 ohm coil that came in the tank. I expected the thing to get skunky by now with being off for the holiday and creating a fog bank all day, but it's still sweet, so the .6 ohm coil is still wrapped up in the box. The curious part of me wants to yank the .5 ohm coil anyway...but the cheap bastard part of me is leaving it until it coughs up blood.

I'm holding off ordering replacements as I don't know which coil is going to do it for me, so I really don't have a great handle on where to get them affordably.

Those ones are ss so that's cool. Haven't seen anywhere that showed an ss option that's why I asked. You should be fine to run those in TC mode then on a dna. I never had ceramic wrapped ss coils to try on my dna so can't say how well it'll work but it should be good.

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[cynical1]

So, I had a chance to try to .6 ohm cCoil. This was the one that has the 40w-75w rating.

First impression, it makes a lot more vapor. No surprise there. It eats batteries compared to the .5 ohm (20w-40w) cCoils. Again, to be expected.

Flavor? Maybe it was my juice 70/30 PG\VG, but the .6 ohm wasn't as clean as the .5ohm coil with the same ratio juice. Even running the wattage down to the minimum 40W and dropping the temperatures down to 450-465 it just didn't seem to do it for me. It didn't taste burned...just more bland. The only time I felt like the .6 ohm coils tasted good was when the mod was in Power Mode at about 40w-45w.

Hardly an exhaustive test, granted. I will say that when re-ordering I bought the .5 ohm coils and noticed it was more to my liking immediately.

Your mileage may vary, but for me, this SMY SDNA 75 with the Vaporesso ORC tank is a good 40w mod with a DNA chip rated for 75W max.