Warnings, advice and information about mechcanical mods, batteries and ohm's law

WARNING! MECHANICAL MODS HAVE NO SAFETY FEATURES OR CHIPS TO PROTECT YOU IN CASE OF FAILURE. BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO USE A MECHANICAL MOD PLEASE ENSURE YOU ARE FULLY AWARE OF ALL THE KEY INFORMATION SHOWN BELOW...

There are seven types of mechanical mod.

1) 510 Mechanical Tube mod. This is a tube which takes a single high drain battery, featuring a bottom placed button and a 510 connection pin to make contact between the battery and the positive pin on the RDA.  This is the safest type of mechanical tube mod as the atomizer cannot hard short onto the battery. However, this tube may still short and can still cause venting of batteries.

2) Hybrid Mechanical Tube mod. This is another tube which takes a single high drain battery. This tube however, does not feature a 510 connection pin and is a direct to battery connection. This means that all RDA which are used in conjunction with the mod, MUST have a protruding positive pin - to prevent hard shorting which can cause venting of batteries.

3) 510 Mechanical Box mod. A 510 Mechanical Box mod has all the same features of a tube mod, however it is in a square tube and the button is usually placed at the side of the mod.

4) Hybrid Mechanical Box mod. A Hybrid Mechanical Box mod has all the same features as a 510 Mechanical Box mod, however it does not have a 510 connection pin - just like the tube version, this means you MUST use an RDA with a protruding positive pin to prevent hard shorting/venting of battery.

5) Stacked Mechanical Tube mod. A Stacked Mechanical Tube mod generally features a hybrid top cap and a spring loaded bottom placed button. This type of mod is one of the most powerful mods available - and it can also be the most dangerous if in the wrong hands. This mod requires two high drain batteries in series connection - these two batteries must be paired and used exclusively together in series from brand new. The batteries must also be cycled to ensure equal drain on each of the batteries when in use. Once paired, if separated these batteries may never be used safely together again. To avoid unpairing your batteries, we recommend you label each battery with a number (1/2) and then cycle like this (1/2, 2/1, 1/2, 2/1...)
As these mods are usually hybrid caps, we stress that you must always use an RDA with a protruding positive pin.

6) Series Mechanical Box mod. This mod is a very similar concept to the Stacked Mechanical Tube mod. It has all the same features and requirements however it is in a box, and the button is usually placed on the side or at the top of the mod. As these mods are usually hybrid caps, we stress that you must always use an RDA with a protruding positive pin.

7) Parallel Mechanical Box mod. A Parallel Mechanical Box mod usually features 2 or more batteries all in parallel, effectively doubling (or tripling) your MAH/Amperage, this means the batteries will drain equally, increasing battery life and amp limits.  These mods usually feature a button at the top or side of the mod, and a 510 connection pin. These are one of the safest mechanical mods to use, due to being in parallel.


Before using a mechanical mod, you need to know the following:


·         Battery safety
·         Ohm's Law
·         Resistance
·         Voltage drop
·         Specifications
·         Battery orientation

Battery Safety:

To be safe with batteries, you will first need batteries which are safe for vaping. This means you need to avoid impulse buying, and read up on the batteries you are looking to purchase. You also must only buy your batteries from reputable vendors, who supply genuine cells.  We recommend the use of Sony VTC5 for use in Mechanical mods. These are amongst the most reliable and safe batteries you can use due to being high drain IMR cells with a maximum continuous amp limit of 20A.

The next step to battery safety is looking after your batteries. To maintain a battery, you must ensure that there are no cuts, tears or chunks missing from your battery wrap. You must also ensure that your battery insulator ring (this is usually a black or white ring on the positive terminal of a battery) is not damaged or out of place. This ring is one of the most important parts of a battery wrap as it prevents arcing on the positive to the negative, and it also prevents hard shorting which can be dangerous. In addition to this, to carry spare batteries safely, they must be kept in a solid, non conductive protective case - separated from any keys or coins that you may have. This prevents damaging the battery wraps and causing a hard short/vent.



Batteries are cheap components and can be easily replaced, or 'refurbished', by which we mean rewrapped. Unfortunately it's a whole different story when it comes to body parts, as it isn't so cheap or easy to replace a hand.
Stay safe.


Ohm's Law:


You don't necessarily need to know how to use Ohm's law; there are Apps and Calculators which can do this for you. We recommend http://www.steam-engine.org/ohm.asp as a calculator for all of your vaping needs.

To use the Ohm's Law calculator, just enter the voltage you are getting and the resistance of your coils and this will calculate how many watts your build is producing and the amp draw, which you can then use to determine whether it is a safe build or not.



This is the Ohm's Law Triangle. V = Voltage, I = Current (Amps), R = Resistance (Ohms).
To work out the Voltage you are producing, use the equation V = I x R.
To work out the Amp draw on the battery, use the equation I = V/R (Voltage divided by Resistance).
To work out the resistance, use the equation R = V/I (Voltage divided by Amps).


Resistance:
The resistance of your coils is one of the most important factors in using a mechanical mod. You need to know your resistance to be able to work out the amp draw on the battery, in order to be safe with your build.

There are multiple ways you can test your resistance, the most preferred in vaping is to use an ohm reader such as the one in the coil master V2 kit, as this will give you an accurate reading to the second decimal place (X.XX) This means that when you input the information into an Ohm's Law Calculator, you will get more accurate information back therefore you will have a safer vaping experience.

Alternatively you can use a multimeter which reads resistance to get an idea of the coil resistance. This method is less accurate due to there being around 0.02+/- Ohms from the tester to the coil.




Voltage drop:


It is important to know the voltage drop so that you get the most accurate information from the ohms law calculations. A fully charged 18650 battery has a voltage of around 4.20v, however under load this voltage can stoop as low as 3.40v depending on how well the mechanical mod conducts the electricity. A high quality copper mechanical mod will usually only have a voltage drop of around 0.1v however this is not always the case. The best way to find out how many volts you are losing is to use an inline volt meter. This device can measure the amount of volts supplied to your atomizer, which means you will be even safer in the long run.


Specifications:


For the absolute safest vaping experience, you will always need to know the specifications of everything you are using.
The main things you need to know are:


·         Battery capacity (MAH)
·         Battery voltage
·         Battery amp ratings
·         Type of wire (TI, NI200, SS316L, SS317L, NiChrome, Kanthal etc...)
·         Materials used in the mechanical mod (Aluminium, Brass, Copper, Silver plated etc...)
·         Battery orientation for the mechanical mod (positive up or positive down)





Battery orientation:


Battery orientation is important as in the situation where your batteries begin to vent, a high quality battery will release toxic fumes and build up a lot of pressure. If your battery isn't facing the right way then the fumes and pressure will not be able escape from the mod, which can cause an explosion.

The easiest way to tell which way your battery should go in a tube mechanical mod is by finding the vent holes on the mod. Most are found either in the button housing or around the 510. The positive side of your battery must be facing the vent holes so that the pressure can escape during a vent. These vent holes will also help to keep your battery and mod cool during use.

If your vent holes are situated in the button housing then you are safer running your battery positive down. However if your battery wrap is damaged in any way, we highly recommend you do not do this. Doing so can cause a hard short which leads directly to venting.

If the vent holes are situated around the 510, you are safer running your battery positive up. If your battery wrap is damaged at all, the mod will most likely begin to auto fire, which if not stopped quickly can also lead to venting of the battery.