Is High Wattage A Fad?

Hi ECF,

I've been a member here on ECF for nearly 4 years now, and one thing that keeps me coming back is the positive atmosphere and sense of community. There are many helpful, knowledgeable, and kind people here that go above and beyond when it comes to helping out fellow vapers, and for this I am extremely grateful. Unfortunately, for some time now I've noticed an increasing trend of being judgmental and condescending towards other people's vaping style and preferences.

Whether vaping with an eGo battery at 7 watts or a .2 ohm build on a 150 watt box, we are all still vapers. We all made an extremely positive change from smoking cigarettes (well, most of us) to the fun and enjoyable world of vaping, but it seems some people are forgetting our common interest and accomplishment and instead focus on the differences, and use those differences to deride others.

Not everybody needs a high-powered device, plenty of people are perfectly happy with a more moderate vape and they aren't any less of a "real vaper" than those with high power or high-end setups. Alternatively, not everyone is satisfied vaping at lower power levels or with cheaper gear, and it does not make someone an immature showoff because they seek out higher performance and/or higher end equipment.

I have seen more examples than I can even begin to remember of thinly veiled insults aimed at people looking for bigger clouds or more power, just as I have seen plenty of useless suggestions when people pressure someone into a piece of equipment that they have made perfectly clear they have no interest in.

So I make a humble request of my fellow vapers here on ECF:

Please show respect towards the vaping style/preference of others.
​

Thanks for your time  

Hello, I have been vaping for years, at 1.8 nic strength. I have some questions.

First of all I think I've made a problem by vaping on (all kangertech devices and coils), at .5 ohms, but I only vape at 20-24 watts. Is this wrong? Anything higher is way too hot, and I just don't enjoy it. I've bought a smok mag and other devices that wont fire under anything 50 watts and it was way too strong so I never use it.

Also, over the past 6 months I've developed some mouth sores I'm pretty sure it is
Tobacco Stomatitis
I know this is from vaping or smoking, the heat I guess is causing this. I've told my dr. about this he never really looked (I was in for something different than this), he replied try to vape point it downwards towards my tongue and I have been doing this for months, but to no avail with the mouth sores going away.

I can't quick vaping. I tried for a few days and I smoked more cigarettes than I ever did. It was actually hotter I noticed. I still smoke cigarettes when I drive, just a weird habit and at work on breaks. I vape all day at work when my boss isn't around.

I'm going to stick to just the unflavored e juice from now on. I'm also cutting the strength back. I also tried cutting it before with 0% percent e juice and to no avail my mouth sores are still there.

Sorry for the diatribe but I just have a few questions.



Does smoking at 22 watts and sometimes below with sub ohm coils, is this bad? I've been doing it for years now. The problem is I bought a ton and I find it hard to find coils now over 1 ohm. It seems all they sell not days is .5 coils. And I've tried nickel and and they just burn in a day, even with the settings they are supposed to be at, so I'm really at a loss as to what to do.

Also has anyone else experienced the tobacco stomatitis as I have?  

I bought a Kanger Subtank and Atlantis V2, but sold them because they just weren't wicking my 100% VG liquid (Velvet Cloud & Gypsy eJuice) well at all. I tried using the atlantis with the .3 ohm coil installed at 70-80W, which was the stated operating range, and found it to be EXTREMELY hot. So hot that the tank quickly heated up to the point of almost burning my lips. The Kanger just burned the wick up at 20W+ with the .5 ohm coil, despite letting it sit filled for a few minutes and priming.

I am very interested in picking up a Royal Hunter, although I've no idea what pre-made coils (i dont want to make my own coils, just dont have the knowledge or time to learn how) and battery to get. VaporDNA sells UD pre-made coils in various resistances, but figuring out what resistance to use, and thus what wattage battery to get is where I am stuck. Not sure if it'd be better to run at lower ohms / higher wattages, or higher ohms / lower wattages. I'm not sure if it's possible to get massive clouds, but a cooler vape at the same time, but that's my aim.  

I remember when I started vaping 3 years ago, the transition was hard and I had many relapses. I started with stick style batteries which were far and different than smoking a cigarette. It was like sucking through a straw for 7+ seconds, with little vapor and throat hit/satisfaction at the end. It worked for a while then I relapsed back to cigarettes. I tried Ego-Batteries with 1.0-1.5ohm cartos/tanks, it came close but so many dry hits, and it still wasnt much like a cigarette so I relapsed again, then towards the end of last year, I picked up a vaporshark and started vaping <1.0ohm coils in tanks/RDA's and it got me hooked, it was very much like smoking a cigarette. 2-4second drags, throat hit, and nicotine delivery.

which comes to my second question, I know there is this whole thing of 'cloud chasers' and 'tootle puffers', but what kept you on vaping and didnt make you relapse? For the cloud chasers, was it the visual aspect? The hobby of vaping, the want to get more and bigger visuals out of clouds, or more throat hit and similarity to smoking with clouds just as a side effect? And for the tootle puffers, did you just get used to taking longer drags compared to smoking, have you tried subohming at high wattage and just found longer less direct throathit was more satisfying to you when compared to smoking?

it makes me wonder how people come to their desired vaping setups, if they came by them by trying to find something similar to smoking, or just fell into something completely new that they enjoy even more.

when I think of how I ended up at subohming on mechs, from starting on egos/30-40w devices. I believe it has to do with me chasing that way i used to smoke, 2-4second drags on newports. For those of you that subohm or low watt vape, what type of cigarettes did you use to smoke before you switched? this could be helpful information for people reccomending setups to those who want to make the switch to vaping.  

I make the choice that I'm certain I'll be vaping forever. I figured since I enjoy it, I'm gonna learn everything I want to know and make it a hobby.
Me being a perfectionist, I decided it was time to piece together a setup that was not only powerful, but pleasing to the eyes.
After much consideration, I made the choice to not go sub ohm. I instead decided a higher power, higher ohm setup would please me.
So this is what I ended up with.
Aspire CF VV 1600MAH battery. Instead of rocking a VV+ most people use, I went the route I did to get 600 more MAH battery and didn't care about the beauty ring because after all, my Aspire K1 tank is a backup now and can't be used with the VV+
The tank had to be good too. This was where I wanted to upgrade the most. I wanted adjustable airflow, and better coils.
The Nautilus Mini was the only clear choice. 2ml is fine for me as I switch flavors now and then, and the new redesigned OCC coils you can purchase was a selling point.
I've been using the setup since last night, and WOW!!! This tank brings the flavor through in ways I never thought possible. Also, the vapor production is amazing to me. I don't care about cloud chasing so by my standards this is a fog machine at higher voltage lol.
Overall with 5 additional spare coils I'm about 65$ in this setup and that's a bargain. It performs so well.
Also wanna throw out that GWAR Spew from MBV is friggin amazing in this tank!!!!  

Hi there!
I'm Distruzio and I'm a newb around these parts. I've only been vaping for 6 months but I'm all in for sure. It allows me to satisfy my nic addiction while indoors and spend some quality time with my family (which were the factors pressing me to quit smoking - health and safety were secondary to family obligations). Plus, at this point in my Vaping journey I've found that not only has vaping become necessary for my daily life its become a hobby as well (I've been restricted to 2 coil wraps a day by the wife because I was becoming obsessive with getting the perfect setup... which is understandable ).

After 6 months, however, I've found that certain vaping "habits" have crept into my daily routine.

In the mornings, that first vape we all crave absolutely has to my cappuccino flavored and 24mg/nic alongside my coffee. I walk my son to the bus stop and, for that, I switch to the fruit loops 12mg/nic. For work breaks I tend to drift back and forth from key lime pie to lemon meringue pie at 18mg nic. And after work its back to fruit loops but at 6mg/nic and 95%vg to relax the days woes away.

Aside from the morning cup of joe alongside my cappuccino, i never touch my Aspire Atlantis V2 (which stays filled with that flavor alone). I drip all day. Even in the car which is... hazardous (thus my plan to purchase an egrip Wednesday).

This is a ritual of mine. What about you? Do you switch up devices, juices, nic and vg levels throughout the day like i do? Or do you stick with a single ADV?  

I've seen many threads where people are just getting into vaping and it seems now that it's growing popular at an extremely fast rate. Vaping as opposed to smoking has always been a great alternative, but now that more satisfying equipment is readily available and popular, it would be great to have an ongoing guide for someone brand new. If you're just getting into vaping now you're going to be hit with a million different devices, a trillion different atomizers, and an infinite amount of ways to rebuild. All of this information can seem very intimidating and overwhelming, but having communities like ECF to get advice are very helpful.

I remember when I first started learning about how devices work and how sending current through a coil with different resistances at different voltages can yield different results, and then add in different ways to get to that same resistance, the possibilities go on and on. It's not easy to someone brand new, but with proper information it is easy. If we all had a single ongoing information source referring to device capabilities and ohms law available to members and the public a lot of questions would be answered everyday and thoroughly.

I say ongoing because vaporizer equipment is expanding so fast. The amount of gear and vape related things are moving so fast. I remember seeing a good amount of youtube videos with Phil Busardo visiting vaporizer headquarters and manufacturing stations across seas and here. We also see a lot of expanding on the site. I have only been a member since 2013, but the amount of stuff coming out today is much more than before. There is also a lot of traction on this forum, but that's what makes it good.

I've read a lot of good information on the forum before and some of the posts are really spot on, I feel it should be compiled to one source. I've seen Baditude and Susan~s both have readily available links for solid information multiple times. It would be great to access all the detailed information from all the great posts I see on threads all in one place, like a ongoing source with everything like: battery safety, hybrid top cap mechanical, cleaning a mechanical, coils, example chips in regulated devices and how they work, liquid and the ingredients, the effects vs cigarettes, the proactive community and the apposed laws. For someone brand new they see so many new things at once. It wouldn't have to be a day to day updated guide, just a compiled, easy to understand with examples, information source about vaping up to now. I've seen a lot of good posts and wish I could quickly pull up the same posts without searching. I think we deserve some sort of guide, vaping isn't an underground type of thing.

Ohm's law

With all that I want to present a small guide I prepared as a response to a few questions I see on the forum.

I feel the most common question is about Ohm's law and about understanding resistances for devices. Ohm's law is the most important piece of information pertaining to vaping since it's what we use all the time. There are four variables to know in the equations, but an easy way to help understand it is with the Steam engine online tool. In the online calculator you see resistance, voltage, current, power. The units are ohms, volts, amps, and watts respectively. An even easier way to understand it is thinking about it in an example.

The water pipe analogy
Think of the resistance like a pipe and you have water flowing out of the pipe and the water is amperage. There is also a valve on the pipe that you can turn to make the water(amperage) come out faster and that valve acts like a voltage control. The end result of the water flowing out the pipe is expressed by power, also known as wattage. You can increase the wattage by either decreasing the resistance or increasing the voltage.

Let's say you have a pipe set up with a certain width and water is flowing at a constant rate. Lets also say the pipe has a resistance of 1ohm and our valve to control the speed is set to 4volts. You can use Ohm's law and see that amount of water coming out is 4amps and the pipe's power is measured to 16watts. Now if you widen the same pipe more water(amps) can flow through it and you didn't touch the voltage valve. Adjust the pipe's resistance to 0.5ohms and as a result we see we just doubled the amount of water to 8amps and doubled the power to 32watts with a constant voltage.

Take the same pipe you started with, 1ohm, and instead of making it wider you just turn the valve and double the pressure or speed from 4volts to 8volts. You see 8amps of water flowing through the pipe and the power by the pipe went up to 64watts by adjusting the voltage only. Now put the two examples together and lower the resistance to .5ohms and increase the voltage to 8volts, you see even more power at 128watts and 16amps.

This can be applied to our coils and devices. Mechanical mods work like the first example in which we just made the pipe wider because that's the only thing you can adjust on a mechanical. You have a fixed battery voltage, and can only change the resistance. The second example is more like a variable voltage/wattage mod where you can keep the pipe the same resistance and just turn the voltage valve.

Understanding how these variables work will give you a better understanding of ohms law and how to build for specific devices.


Ohm's law and a regulated PV

Lets talk about personal vaporizers, or mods, a little more. Each device has: a resistance range it can read, an amperage limit it can push, a voltage range it can fire, and a wattage range it can fire. When you look at a device you want to know all of these things because it will determine what resistances will work the best on top. Some devices work well with a wide range, some work very well within a small area within that range. Lets look at an example.



Here is the DNA40(kanthal) and it's specs given by Steam Engine. I don't own one so I don't know the actual performance, but I want to use the numbers as an example. You can see the max voltage, max wattage, resistance range, and amp limit on the left. On the right there is three boxes, these three boxes is where all the information comes together.

Current limit 16 A vs 40 W
The box labeled “Current limit 16 A vs 40 W” measures the lowest possible resistance you can use to get all 40watts. When you decrease your resistance you are able to push more amps through your coil with available voltage and get more wattage. This is done by using ohms law calculator and plugging in the max amp limit along with the max wattage it can fire. You can see that the lowest possible resistance to get all 40watts while using all the amps is a bit lower than what the device can read. This means the DNA40 devices can fire it's lowest reading while still getting 40watts and it's starting to bump the amp limit. Not the best place to be, but it works as advertised.

Voltage limit 9 V vs 40 W
The next box “Voltage limit 9 V vs 40 W” measures the highest possible resistance you can use to get all 40watts. When you increase your resistance you are able to use more voltage to get to higher wattage without using as many amps. This is done by plugging in the max voltage for the device and its max wattage it can fire. You can see that highest possible resistance to get all 40watts while using all the voltage is a bit higher than what the device can read. Now you're starting to hit the voltage limit, but it's still firing 40watts.

Optimal resistance
The last box “Optimal resistance” sums it all up by giving you the resistance range along with it's median resistance. Then it gives you a “sweet spot”. This is the median from the original median and the high limit. Basically it's telling you that if you want all 40 watts and you want to keep your battery life in good shape to use a resistance around the “sweet spot”. You don't have to use the sweet spot, but keep in mind the less amps you pull, the more battery life you get while taking advantage of the device's voltage.


These numbers are unique for each device that uses a different chip. If you start looking at the higher powered devices like the Sigelei 150W you'll see that you can only get all 150 if you build within a certain range that it can fire. Too high of a resistance and you'll use all the voltage before you start taking advantage of it's available amperage by lowering the resistance. This doesn't mean the device doesn't live true it it's specs because the it can fire all 150, but there is limitations. In order to to fire all 150w within it's 0.1-3.0ohm range the power source would have to give 20+ volts which is impossible for safe portable devices we have now.




Ohm's law and a mechanical PV

Check out how mechanical devices work, you only use the specs from the battery along with your resistance.




Take the Sony VTC4 for example. I used a resistance of 0.5ohms and a voltage of 4.1volts charged on this page. The page tells you how many amps you are pushing along with the wattage output. The amp limit is advertised to be 30amps, but the box under shows the “headroom” or I like to call it the buffer. In this example you only use 8.2amps, this is safe for the battery. You really shouldn't use all the battery's amperage on an unregulated mechanical, it's not very safe. A lot of people agree on only using about 75% of the batteries amp limit, leaving a 25% headroom to be considered safe. This works out to be about 22amps used and around 0.18-0.19ohms. You should only do this if you are aware of the risks.

Finding your resistance

Now that you looked at the devices, look at choosing a coil for your device. This should be easy now because you just saw what will work well on your device. Take your resistance you feel you would be comfortable with and go to the coil calculator.



I used a 0.5ohm resistance, selected the kanthal of choice, selected dual coils, and picked the coil's internal diameter. I also calculated the wattage with 0.5ohms and 4.1volts I want to use to get around 33 watts to plug into the heat flux(under results) to get an estimate of the vape temperature.


You want to pay attention to number of wraps, the coil width, and surface area. This will give you an idea of how big your potential coil is. What you can do from here is change the diameter, you’ll notice the surface area stays the same, but the width will change because the number of wraps change. You can also change the resistance and use a fixed diameter to change width and surface area. Try selecting different gauges too.


This is my first shot a making a simple guide. Please let me know what you think and feel free to comment. I wanted this to be as simple as possible and the Steam Engine is extremely helpful in doing so. I really think it would be a great idea to have the most popular questions to vaping with answers available to anyone new. I'm not saying people are not getting the right information, because they are and the time people take to make posts explaining things are greatly appreciated. I still think having a detailed, but easy to follow guide with examples would answer most of the questions. I've seen other great guides on the forum, but the technology moves so fast and having one ongoing source explaining everything would be awesome. There is so many things to learn besides battery safety and Ohm's law and all the information is here, but only for those who take the time to ask for it.


Thanks to Lars Simonsen who made Steam engine calculator. Also thank you to ECF member Dice57 for helping me with figuring out how most of this works.


A few links I visit:

Steam Engine | free vaping calculators
E-Cigarette Forum - Baditude - Blogs
E-Cigarette Forum - State O' Flux - Blogs
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/ecf-library/661383-basic-coil-building-safety-beginners.html
The ECF Library (this strongly represents the type of guide I'm talking about)
I would really like commentary on the idea of a single comprehensive vaping guide. I think the members here could easily do it, let me know what you think.  

Hello everyone.
My girlfriend is about to quit smoking cigarettes and start vaping and I was looking for pod systems online but couldn't decide which one to go with. I myself have been using the Aspire avp for sometime now. I like the device it's an amazing piece. But I do smoke as well I use the vaping system just for the flavor and high mg hit that's all.
So I was thinking to get some recommendations from the vaping community a friend of mine asked me to check out smok Novo 2 but I've read a lot of reviews regarding the leakage of the pod.
She will be using it long term so I'm not sure if the Novo 2 would be a choice considering the pod leakage. But still if it's a bomb device like many people say it is, and doesn't leak that often. Then I can consider buying that for her.
But I'm open to suggestions because I'm not so educated when it comes to vaping devices.
So any help will be appreciated.  

I went from a eGo twist that I usually ran at maybe 8-10W to a 20w box mod. My Nautilus mini and favorite flavor seem to go OK at the higher settings at near 20W. Others definitely less so! My iClear16 and some of the other flavors I use as alternates get really nasty at higher settings...burnt, hot, dry, etc. I sometimes look at my tank and wonder..."Why am I vaping burnt cardboard??" Yuk!

Do some tanks and flavor types (fruit, menthol, sweets, darks, lights, etc) handle the increased power better than others?? Is it the tank, the flavor, or both?? I want to know what to toss in the trash!!

Thanks!

--Jeff  

I was thinking the whole situation in many countries that vaping is straight up banned or illegal....and also countries like USA that is not that extreme but still many regulations going on and anyways we all know the big tobacco companies and what they try to do.

I am sure tho that vaping won't be stoped...u can't stop vaping and all the big tobacco do is to try buy some more time for them cause they know that cigarettes are in their end..

I don't know how long this will last but I am sure vaping will make cigarette smoking obselete and it will go very big...

Europe claims they have a plan to end tobacco use until 2032 or something like that for example....maybe that happens and it would be good cause it's for everyone's good.... but u can't just fight vaping and let smoking still exist...

Vaping will be back and for good....the people slowly start accept it and learn it cause honestly imagine how many smokers are out there and how many vapers...while vaping is much more enjoyable objectively...

We the people didn't support vaping enough...
ok maybe we the vapers did but I mean the majority out there don't......people are scared and they don't like to change their habits easy....even if it's for their own good.

I know politics are corrupted and all that....but some of us live in democracies maybe not perfect but still....if all people wanted to stop smoking and switch into vaping to make their life better then they couldn't stop us...
Worst case they would do it to get votes like they usually do with everything they do... not that they care for us...

So yeah vaping will go very big the next year's..