Understanding Ohms Law

[Aylon]

With future plans to eventually get a temp control device or a mod with higher wattage and such, I feel like I do not fully comprehend what Ohms, volts,watts, and amps have to do with vaping. I know the basics such as Ohm's is resistance, Amp is the current or amount, and volts is the pressure, and watts being amps and volts combined. Can someone break it down to me barney style how this ties into vaping? Ex. higher ohms = less or more flavor ? Sorry, literally just started vaping.

 

[Kent B Marshall]

If you want to start building your own coils this understanding is important. If your going to use a mechanical mod this is important. None of this is hard to understand. You have to take the time to read and learn. You will find multiple sources for this.
Personal safety issues arise from improper understanding of voltage = amperage x resistance commonly refereed to V=IR. Using an ohm meter to test your coil builds is my recommendation. Most variable voltage / variable wattage have built in ohm meter and a short circuit protection against shorted coils. If using a mechanical mod, you absolutely must know this before using. You should never build a coil and attempt to use without knowing the coils resistance.
Battery safety must be understood. A battery must be operated (discharges) inside their manufacture guidelines. Charging a battery correctly is as important.
http://blog.vapedoctor.com/introduction-to-mechanical-mods-battery-safety-of-electronic-cigarettes/
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/electronics-basics-electrical-power.html
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/electronics-measurement-ohms-law.html

 

[Aylon]

Thank you so much!

If you want to start building your own coils this understanding is important. If your going to use a mechanical mod this is important. None of this is hard to understand. You have to take the time to read and learn. You will find multiple sources for this.
Personal safety issues arise from improper understanding of voltage = amperage x resistance commonly refereed to V=IR. Using an ohm meter to test your coil builds is my recommendation. Most variable voltage / variable wattage have built in ohm meter and a short circuit protection against shorted coils. If using a mechanical mod, you absolutely must know this before using. You should never build a coil and attempt to use without knowing the coils resistance.
Battery safety must be understood. A battery must be operated (discharges) inside their manufacture guidelines. Charging a battery correctly is as important.
http://blog.vapedoctor.com/introduction-to-mechanical-mods-battery-safety-of-electronic-cigarettes/
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/electronics-basics-electrical-power.html
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/electronics-measurement-ohms-law.html

 

[BoomStick]

Ohm's law (E=IR), the power formula (P=IE) and their variations. It boils down to the last power formula. Controlling the power you apply to the wire you're heating so you can control the temp it reaches requires controlling the voltage and/or the resistance.

 

[Woodsman]

With future plans to eventually get a temp control device or a mod with higher wattage and such, I feel like I do not fully comprehend what Ohms, volts,watts, and amps have to do with vaping. I know the basics such as Ohm's is resistance, Amp is the current or amount, and volts is the pressure, and watts being amps and volts combined. Can someone break it down to me barney style how this ties into vaping? Ex. higher ohms = less or more flavor ? Sorry, literally just started vaping.

I've been considering similar questions. Like, WTF is high wattage vaping even necessary? I vape at 5.5 watts with a Smok ADC or GDC and everything is fine. My Provape-1 that I bought a couple years ago runs at 3.7 volts. It came stock with a 2.5 ohm Protank. That works out to 5.5 watts (plug the numbers into "Vapecalc" to see for yourself). The variable voltage/wattage mods allow one to vape a 1.5 ohm coil at 2.9 volts, which seems like it would make the battery last longer. Sub Ohming still bothers me as a concept. I can see its usefulness in terms of using less battery (a 0.2 ohm coil vaped at 1 volt = 5.5 watts). As for the high watt vaping, what I understand is that high watts = fast response, instant heat. I have a DNA40 mod and I vape my Magma RDA at 23 watts and 370 degrees with max VG juice. The coil reads 0.16 ohms (10 wraps of 28 guage Ni200 on a 2.4mm screwdriver). When I press the button, the vape is instant. Then temperature protection kicks in, and the wattage drops way down and jumps around at low numbers. So why don't I just vape at low wattage to begin with, and avoid the rest? I do not know. I only know that 5.5 watts is fine. And I know that I still haven't figured out the big deal about high wattage vaping, even though I read about it from every angle.

 

[BoomStick]

When you use more wire and/or thicker wire you get more contact area between coil and juice which makes more vapor. When you increase the amount of metal you're heating, it takes more power to get it to reach the temp you want.

 

[CDZVaper]

It can be confusing at first. Which is why so many suggest reading until you understand Ohms Law.

One way I read it to make it easier for myself is::

The lower the resistance (Ohms) the higher the amp output will be.

So for example: If my resistance is .2 Ohms, with my battery output at full charge (4.2 Volts), then my amps will be approximately 21.

OR

4.2 Volts ÷ by .2 Ohms = 21 Amps

If I change my resistance to .5 Ohms using a fully charged battery (4.2 Volts) then my Amps will be 8.4

OR

4.2Volts ÷ .5 Ohms = 8.4 Amps

Always use 4.2 when doing your calculation.

Now, take a look at the Amps. In the first example we have 21. If my battery is rated at 25Amps, then we have some wiggle room, which is good. If its 20Amps, now we are pushing it.

That is why it's extremely important to know your batteries limits.

I hope I got that right. If its not, let me know where and I'll amend it...if its right, I hope it serves anyone who reads it properly....

 

[Hey! it's just Ray...]

I'd put my head down on the desk and fall asleep drooling on my arm with a hard on when they tried to teach me this stuff in school, I didn't figure I'd ever need it.

 

[CDZVaper]

Same here, lol. I thought I was dyslexic when I first saw an Ohms law formula haha...

 

[Hey! it's just Ray...]

I see alot of guys that a few years ago wouldn't even understand what they're saying today when talking about ohms, resistance, amps, voltage and shit. Including myself.

Just another plus for vaping if you ask me! Cigarettes only taught us how to play with fire and get in trouble and shit.

 

[CDZVaper]

Ive started many a fire as a kid, so I can relate to that.

Above is maybe my 3rd or 4th time trying to explain it and Im paranoid I didnt get it right...

 

[Woodsman]

Just plug the numbers into http://vapecalc.com/ after you watch this short video:

 

[Woodsman]

Actually, this one is much better:

 

[Aylon]

It can be confusing at first. Which is why so many suggest reading until you understand Ohms Law.

One way I read it to make it easier for myself is::

The lower the resistance (Ohms) the higher the amp output will be.

So for example: If my resistance is .2 Ohms, with my battery output at full charge (4.2 Volts), then my amps will be approximately 21.

OR

4.2 Volts ÷ by .2 Ohms = 21 Amps

If I change my resistance to .5 Ohms using a fully charged battery (4.2 Volts) then my Amps will be 8.4

OR

4.2Volts ÷ .5 Ohms = 8.4 Amps

Always use 4.2 when doing your calculation.

Now, take a look at the Amps. In the first example we have 21. If my battery is rated at 25Amps, then we have some wiggle room, which is good. If its 20Amps, now we are pushing it.

That is why it's extremely important to know your batteries limits.

I hope I got that right. If its not, let me know where and I'll amend it...if its right, I hope it serves anyone who reads it properly....

Where do watts and wattage come into play ?

 

[Woodsman]

Where do watts and wattage come into play ?

Wattage is the answer to the calculation of volts and ohms. That's about as far as I go with it. And that higher wattage settings on my temp protect dna40 mod create a faster response when I press the button.

 

[CDZVaper]

Where do watts and wattage come into play ?

To keep it simple, I will use this analogy.

Wattage is kind of like horsepower for our cars.

Watts is the energy that the volts and amps give off.

If we multiply 4.2 Volts by 21 Amps we get 88.2 Watts.


There are some good Ohms law calculator apps that you can download. I suggest doing that and just punch in some different Coil resistants (like we did above using .2 & .5) and multiply and divide that by 4.2.

Doing that will give you some general knowledge and help to do your calculations faster and smarter.....hope that helps.

 

[Woodsman]

Watts is the answer to the equation after you plug in volts and ohms. Ohms is the resistance of the coil. Voltage is the pushing power of the battery. If you change your coil, then the volts will change IF you keep the same watts. Or, if you change your coil and leave the volts the same, the watts will change.

 

[Pauly Walnuts]

Heres how I understand it.
Think of your wire as a water hose, the battery as a water tank, the water as electricity, and the waters resistance through the hose as the ohms. The total amount of water that flows through the hose and the speed of the flow will be your volts/watts and amps.
The thicker hose the less resistance, the more water can flow through.
The thinner hose means more resistance, so less water can flow through.
The more water that flows out at once, the faster the tank empties.
The difference between a water tank and a battery is, when you drain a battery too quickly for its limits, it will heat up and can explode or vent. A water tank, will just sit there.
This only relates to straight, mechanical function. If we were talking regulated mods, a sensor would detect the resistance of the hose, and the would push the desired amount of water out of the tank.

 

[CDZVaper]

Heres how I understand it.
Think of your wire as a water hose, the battery as a water tank, the water as electricity, and the waters resistance through the hose as the ohms. The total amount of water that flows through the hose and the speed of the flow will be your volts/watts and amps.
The thicker hose the less resistance, the more water can flow through.
The thinner hose means more resistance, so less water can flow through.
The more water that flows out at once, the faster the tank empties.
The difference between a water tank and a battery is, when you drain a battery too quickly for its limits, it will heat up and can explode or vent. A water tank, will just sit there.
This only relates to straight, mechanical function. If we were talking regulated mods, a sensor would detect the resistance of the hose, and the would push the desired amount of water out of the tank.

Heres how I understand it.
Think of your wire as a water hose, the battery as a water tank, the water as electricity, and the waters resistance through the hose as the ohms. The total amount of water that flows through the hose and the speed of the flow will be your volts/watts and amps.
The thicker hose the less resistance, the more water can flow through.
The thinner hose means more resistance, so less water can flow through.
The more water that flows out at once, the faster the tank empties.
The difference between a water tank and a battery is, when you drain a battery too quickly for its limits, it will heat up and can explode or vent. A water tank, will just sit there.
This only relates to straight, mechanical function. If we were talking regulated mods, a sensor would detect the resistance of the hose, and the would push the desired amount of water out of the tank.

Yeah, I see this analogy used alot. Its good for a mental picture if you are new..

 

[NIMBUS MAXIMUS]

Do NOT, I repeat....... DO NOT, under any circumstance, do any of this in a DeLorean at speeds exceeding 88 MPH.








I apologize in advance..........