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Purchased my first mech mod. Freaked out.

Today I decided to purchase an Athena BF Kit and a Sony 18650A battery ,basically on a whim, even though I know little about building or even making coils. After my purchase, the store employee told me about ways to keep the device from discharging in my face, and then he helped show me how to build my first coil(not sure how he did it, or the specs of it), but basically, I can’t enjoy vaping now knowing that my lack of knowlege on this mech could very well get me hurt. I admit, I made a bad purchase.
 

Puneet

Silver Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Congratulations on your new purchase. It’s not a bad purchase but YES it requires that before using mech mods you should have basic knowledge about ohm’s law and battery safety. Rest you’ll learn along. Be safe and enjoy the new toy


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Teresa P

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Senior Moderator
VU Donator
Diamond Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Welcome to VU!
You pretty much said it yourself, but may not be a bad purchase for long. My advice - for what it's worth - is to just set it aside and get to reading here on the forum. You can learn what to do with that jewel without fear because we have some very well informed members here to help you out. ;)
 

entropy1049

Bronze Contributor
Member For 1 Year
There a a lot of Athena tutorial vids on YT. Make popcorn and start watching. You’re gonna feel better about your purchase after you acquire some knowledge. If you’re ok with regulated mods and rba’s, you’ll be fine with a mech. Just always be sure to keep battery safety your first priority when building and you’re golden.
 

LokiM

Member For 2 Years
Member For 1 Year
before i started vaping i did some research on how it works etc. and on the first day i got my vape i was building coils, wicking it myself. just look on youtube mate there's plenty of videos out there to get started. the thing that you should be looking for is how ohm's work and how it affects the battery then some battery safety stuff. a couple of hours of reading and watching video will solve your problem.
 

DonBaldy

Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I won my first mech in a contest at a local vape shop and I too was intimidated, but I cam home and watched a crapton of youtube videos and read a lot here on the forum and in no time I was happily vaping away. IT is intimidating at first but it's really quite simple. I stick to the philosophy that if I'm in doubt about whether a build or battery is safe then I don't use them. There's tons of information on the world wide web thing.

IT took me a few days to become comfortable but once I did a whole new way of vaping was opened. Be forewarned that if you choose to proceed be prepared to open the wallet.

Good luck.
 

PaulS

Gold Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Mechs in general are a whole new game. My first tubes were a little intimidating to me as well. I had to learn to take them completely apart, clean the contacts regularly, build to the capacity of my batteries and more. I rarely use a regulated mod these days. My squonks are mechs and I use tubes. I do occasionally use my small pods for nic salt though.

The Athena is a great little squonk. First it has an on/off button which is really nice. Second, it is very solid and well built. IU don't see you having issues with it as long as you keep your builds .25 ohm and higher to start. You made a very nice purchase. I love my Athena squonk. It has never arced on me yet (arcing happens when the contacts are dirty or poorly designed) and that is saying a lot as I build low. Enjoy.
 

mach1ne

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
i had only been building for long enough to make a coil at the resistance i wanted (using steam engine to determine the details) by the time i got my first mech mods, and i was nervous too. the main details you need to pay attention to are the resistance of your build, the amp limit of your battery, and that your coil install is clean (not touching any posts or the cap, the other coil etc). there is a tutorial on steam engine here. it should help you get started on tinkering with it. you can use it to plan your build (inner diameter/wraps/material/final resistance) and check to see if its safe (ohms law calculator) for your batteries.

good luck, and welcome to the forum :cheers:
 

strigamort

Bronze Contributor
Member For 2 Years
Member For 1 Year
That's a fantastic purchase imho. I love that little squonker.

The fact that you took the time to actually worry in the first place says a lot.

The degree of concern is relevant to the end users intelligence and maturity and their willingness to learn/practice safe behavior. This is only my opinion, but I got it from learning and listening to battery Mooch and other people that I trust.

There's a video where Mooch states that a super sub-ohm build is safe in a series mech *so long as the user is battery savvy*(!). I was caught off guard when I saw that, but it makes sense.

Learn about the battery you are using.

Don't exceed the battery's cdr ability. Now that said, many of us DO exceed the cdr, but we, hopefully, do so while closely monitoring the temp of the battery, keeping in mind how long we fire it, and we only do so when we know that the battery is healthy and wrapped correctly.

Honestly, being safe is incredibly easy and doesn't take a lot of effort to learn. If anything I feel like more caution should be pressed upon those using regulated mods! My girlfriend had an Alien catch fire while in her pocket and we had an ijoy capo squonker spontaneously auto fire (and wouldn't stop!) while sitting still on a table. Also, I took a look at my ex-wifes 3x18650 mod the other day because it was acting weird. I was horrified when I popped out the batteries. I'd never seen batteries in worse condition. But why would she worry? No one had ever told her that she was carrying something dangerous, after all those batteries went into a regulated mod.

Anyway, congratulations on a great purchase! Grab a beer and read up. That really is a fun mod/rda!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk
 

entropy1049

Bronze Contributor
Member For 1 Year
If anything I feel like more caution should be pressed upon those using regulated mods!...I took a look at my ex-wifes 3x18650 mod the other day because it was acting weird. I was horrified when I popped out the batteries. I'd never seen batteries in worse condition. But why would she worry? No one had ever told her that she was carrying something dangerous, after all those batteries went into a regulated mod.

:cheers:

Glad I’m not the only one who feels some regulated mod users rely too heavily on their equipment to keep them safe. Sadly, I think sometimes the forums contribute to this by continually purveying the notion that mechs are the more dangerous mod as they lack the circuit protection afforded by a regulated mod. A new user reads this enough times, and they come to think mod safety is a function of their gear, when in my opinion, it’s a function of a users knowledge, regardless of the gear the choose.

I’ve said it repeatedly, if you’re relying on your gear to keep you safe, you’re doing it wrong. Put in the work, learn a bit of circuit theory, learn battery safety, know your equipment.
 

The Cromwell

I am a BOT
VU Donator
Diamond Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Check all your builds on a regulated mod or an ohm meter to check your resistance and especially for shorts.
also a good place to check for hotspots and such in the coil.
also do your final ohms check with the atty cap on. With metal caps the coil can sometimes short against the cap causing a short if not positioned properly or too large for the atty.
 

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