mech vs regulated help

[koolaidwade]

I am somewhat new to vaping, and want to buy a new setup. Currently i am running a sigelei 90w tc with a supertank (.2ohms).
I am looking to buy something new that can produce very large amounts of vapor. I enjoy doing tricks when im bored and ive noticed they're always better when i use my friend's more advanced setups that produce larger, and denser clouds.

On this new setup i know i want an rda, however i am stuck on what type of mod to get. My most knowledgeable friend tells me to get a mech mod, but will not explain why. He simply says "they are better." I on the other hand, feel like i would get more power out of a very good regulated mod, and it would be more safe, as well as easier to manage.

So my question is this: is a top of the line, lets say, 200w regulated mod better, or worse than a top of the line mech (including mech box mods), and why. Please add any specific mod recommendations if you have any. Price is not a problem.

Ps: i understed ohms law, and battery safety.

Pps: Also what is the best rda you have used, or heard of thanks

 

[nightshard]

feel like i would get more power out of a very good regulated mod, and it would be more safe, as well as easier to manage.

Seems like you answered yourself.
While a mech may be cooler and better looking, it's also inconsistent since as the voltage of the battery(s) used drops with use, then so does that wattage.
In addition while a regulated mod will tolerate your mistakes, a mech will not since it has no protection of any kind.

With a tube single battery mech the highest wattage you can safely reach with a true 30A battery (there are no 40A 18650 batteries) is around 120-130W (and that's with a full battery and without calculating voltage drop)
With a serial 2 battery mech box you can go higher to around 250W.
It is possible to pulse batteries beyond their rating, but the risk factor grows exponentially.

Mechs have no protection, could be very dangerous if improperly used and are in no way suitable for new users.

I'm just hypothetically speaking here because there is no reason whatsoever to go as high as 250W and you can get massive clouds with a good RDA, a good build and max VG juice, using much lower wattage.

 

[koolaidwade]

Thanks for the very informative reply. At the end you mention a "good build." Are you talking about the coil build? Also do you think there is even a reason to go to 200w? Ive heard that some coils require a high wattage like this to heat properly.

 

[SirRichardRear]

Thanks for the very informative reply. At the end you mention a "good build." Are you talking about the coil build? Also do you think there is even a reason to go to 200w? Ive heard that some coils require a high wattage like this to heat properly.

Yes if you want an RDA you are going to need to build your coils. The good news is there are tons of videos on youtube for it. You'll need some basic tools, Wire of your choice and wick of your choice. Most people start with kenthal A1 wire (28 guage is good to start) and Organic Cotton (a large bag from any store is a few bucks) Somehting to make wraps on (drill bits are great if you have them laying around) Wire cutters (or a nail clipper works)

You can calculate resistance on steam-engine.org to help with your build. I wouldn't recommend starting so low at .2 until you get the hang of it but if your confident you know what you are doing go for it.

For RDAs the best one I've used so far is the Tsunami 24. (https://www.eciggity.com/tsunami-24mm-rda-by-geek-vape/) only 30 bucks for an authentic (32 if you want the glass window to see your coils) and will work with any build. Easy to build on, tons of space and airflow.

I'd go with regulated box mod personally. As far as the best, there is no such thing. People have preferences but there are tons of good ones out there in every price range and power range. If you plan on going with temp control eventually you could get one that does that but still use in wattage mode. Most wattage is overkill though. Lots of boxed go up to 150 or 200 and higher. I'm vaping a .1 ohm dual coil SS316l fused clapton flat build and at 65 watts it kicks out vapor and flavor. But I'm pulling 25 amps so I made sure to use batteries that can handle that. Stick to Samsung and LG batteries to be safe.

The lower the resistance, the less watts you need to power your coils. If i was to vape my build at 150 watts it would be 3.8V and 38 amps. Not many batteries (if any) will handle 38 watts. If i was using an unregulated mod with my build and a fully charged battery it would pull 42 amps, way too high for a single battery non regulated mod. I'd probably have an explosion. Thats why i suggest a regulated mod

 

[AlbyKortoona]

For vapor production, without regard to flavor or comfort, for a new vaper the original RX200 with the firmware upgrade to 250w paired with a Rafale X rda running 8 wrap/3mm i.d./24g Nichrome 80 dual coils (with the Rafale neutral post resistance will be ~.25oms) will fill the bill. Both can be had for cheap nowadays.

 

[Rabbit Slayer]

I am somewhat new to vaping

NO MECH FOR YOU!!!

 

[koolaidwade]

If i was to vape my build at 150 watts it would be 3.8V and 38 amps. Not many batteries (if any) will handle 38 watts. If i was using an unregulated mod with my build and a fully charged battery it would pull 42 amps, way too high for a single battery non regulated mod. I'd probably have an explosion. Thats why i suggest a regulated mod

Wouldn't a mod with multiple batteries be able to run far more than 38 amps?

 

[SirRichardRear]

Wouldn't a mod with multiple batteries be able to run far more than 38 amps?

Yes and No. If the Batteries are parallel, you would get double amps and double capacity of a single battery but voltage of 1, If the Batteries are in Series, you would get double the voltage, but same capacity and Amps as 1. Most dual box mods are Series, so it depends on your mod. If you want to push 38 amps, you would need 2 really good 20 amp batteries parallel.

Parallel draws from both batteries equally so they split the load
Series Draws from both batteries as if it were one so you get more voltage, but your capacity and amp rating stay the same as 1

 

[nightshard]

Wouldn't a mod with multiple batteries be able to run far more than 38 amps?

With a mech is all depends on the configuration.
2 30A batteries (or 3 or 10) in series can still only handle a 30A load, while the voltage is multiplied by the number of batteries (2X4.2V=8.4V).
2 30A batteries in parallel can handle a higher load, I wouldn't say 60A but more likely around 45A to be on the safe side, while the voltage remains the same (4.2).
Single: 4.2V @ 30A = 126W
Serial: 8.4V @ 30A = 252W
Parallel: 4.2V @ 45A = 189W

In addition everything I wrote refers to the batteries max continuous amp rating and many will say that to be safe you should keep you batteries slightly below that.

 

[koolaidwade]

Oh, i assumed they were all in series. Thanks for the help everyone.

To the guy that says "no mech for you" i understand where you are coming from. Beginners hurting themselves could cause problems for the industry. I would however encourage people to learn about safety, instead of shutting them down.

 

[koolaidwade]

Oh, i assumed they were all in series. Thanks for the help everyone.

To the guy that says "no mech for you" i understand where you are coming from. Beginners hurting themselves could cause problems for the industry. I would however encourage people to learn about safety, instead of shutting them down.

 

[SirRichardRear]

Oh, i assumed they were all in series. Thanks for the help everyone.

To the guy that says "no mech for you" i understand where you are coming from. Beginners hurting themselves could cause problems for the industry. I would however encourage people to learn about safety, instead of shutting them down.

Most box mods I've seen are in series not paralell. But if you are looking at them, check the specs and make sure for yourself

I actually started with mechs pretty much. went form the typical starter ego twist, to a evic 1st (was only 11 watts back in the days) and it sucked so I went on to mechs. I had a maraxus, blackhawk, stingray X then I got fed up with mechs. By then box mods came a long way. I got an IPV mini 2 and after like a week got a sigelie 150watt and used it forever. Now i have an xcube 2 and a VT133 on the way and gave my sig150 away. I won't go back to mechs, I don't really see a point in them. They cost the same as a box mod anyway but without any adjusts or safetys.

If you want a mech go for it, But be careful with really low sub ohms.

 

[nightshard]

I would say that if someone intends to use a mech and wanted to run very low resistance builds of around 0.085-0.09 ohm, then he should go for a parallel mech.
With serial it's exactly the opposite since it can't handle safely anything below 0.3 ohm.

Also with parallel you double battery capacity and with serial you don't.


There is also the matter of mech hybrid connectors which some mechs have, which basically means that there is no 510 positive pin in the mech and the atty positive pin acts as one.
This makes thing even more dangerous since it can lead to arching if the pin does not protrude enough or to a dead short if the atty's positive pin is adjustable and is pushed inwards.

 

[koolaidwade]

Oh, i assumed they were all in series. Thanks for the help everyone.


To the guy that says "no mech for you" i understand where you are coming from. Beginners hurting themselves could cause problems for the industry. I would however encourage people to take the time to learn about safety, instead of shutting them down.

 

[SirRichardRear]

I would say that if someone intends to use a mech and wanted to run very low resistance builds of around 0.085-0.09 ohm, then he should go for a parallel mech.
With serial it's exactly the opposite since it can't handle safely anything below 0.3 ohm.

Also with parallel you double battery capacity and with serial you don't.


There is also the matter of mech hybrid connectors which some mechs have, which basically means that there is no 510 positive pin in the mech and the atty positive pin acts as one.
This makes thing even more dangerous since it can lead to arching if the pin does not protrude enough or to a dead short if the atty's positive pin is adjustable and is pushed inwards.

(bolded comment above) You know I've thought the same, but really it's not true. You get the same capacity either way cause math

assuming 2 charged batteries at 1500mah each

Parallel 4.2V*3000mah/1000=12.6wh (watt hour)
Series 8.4V*1500mah/1000= 12.6wh

actually last just as long statistically. I mean take your battery put it in a single battery mod and vape, then put it in a dual battery series mod and vape, you'll notice it still lasts twice as long. Took me a bit to think about because everyone says it double capacity in parallel, but then I was like why do my batteries last much longer in my dual series mod then in my single battery one?

 

[nightshard]

Well you are right, but it's a matter of terminology, there's the capacity of the battery itself which is measured in Ah and the energy expenditure within the time frame measured in Wh.
So double capacity doesn't mean double usage time, but the capacity is still doubled.

I suppose I should have just omitted that paragraph since it's more confusing then informative.

 

[Rabbit Slayer]

To the guy that says "no mech for you" i understand where you are coming from. Beginners hurting themselves could cause problems for the industry. I would however encourage people to learn about safety, instead of shutting them down.

I have no problem with people that want to learn before getting one, but 9 times out of 10, I see someone asks about mechs and the next day posts about the new mech they just ordered

 

[nightshard]

Thanks for the very informative reply. At the end you mention a "good build." Are you talking about the coil build? Also do you think there is even a reason to go to 200w? Ive heard that some coils require a high wattage like this to heat properly.

There are all sorts of coil builds from all sort of wire material and gauge and while some will tell you one thing, others will tell you the opposite.
Personally if I were to do a build just for vapor i'd use a very thick gauge of Kanthal, like maybe 22AWG and build dual spaced coils.

The rule is that the higher the mass of the coil (by having thicker wire/more wraps/bigger ID/complex build) the higher the wattage it needs to be responsive.

Do I fell like you need 200W at the moment, well I already answered that, but things change and fast and just a few years ago most argued that you don't need more then 40W and before that 20W.

While the standard today for high wattage mods is 200W it doesn't mean that the vast majority of vapers today, beginners or advanced actually use 200W or anywhere near it.

While the Chinese regulated mod manufacturers compete against each other by raising the bar (sometimes to unsafe values), Evolv took the part of being the reasonable adult and setting the values to safe and stable values and by that setting the real bar.