sontu and credo thank you for that informative posts. i posted this in the regular forum as well thinking id get a better answer...but your answers were much clearer to understand. thanks
i dl'ed a app on the phone and tinkered with it and some of my physics came back to me. i looked at some drop in devises but didnt think i needed it....however now i think it would be an excellent investment...im in the rather make my like easy as possible catagory...and it looks like with one of those drop ins i can just be a lil less careful.
could the battery by harmful when vaped at a very low voltage or is it just bad for the battery?
also could you explain wicks in the same fashion? maybe pro and cons and a lil info and opinion for ss mesh and rope, silica, ekowool, ss with sleeve, ss with core, etc
i dont mind going through the long process if thats what it takes but if i can get at least a similar taste using a method/material that makes it less prone to error (ie shorting) and could be safer id like to use that. it seems the ss rope with a silica sleeve seems like an easy method...but straight silica seems even easier
Vaping an IMR battery below 2 volts can damage it. To describe reverse polarization:
Imagine a water tank on the top of the hill with a certain sized pipe system it was designed to feed. Now imagine that pipe got kicked away and all the water tried to dump out of the tank too fast. It could cause the tank to 'implode' or suck 'inside out'. Same concept here with a battery that discharges too fast.
At lower amperage, it's possible you could totally drain it without causing damage...but you don't want to risk it. The reserve of energy in the battery serves multiple purposes, but mainly it's a safety reservoir to prevent reverse polarization, and to keep things a bit more balanced when that cell gets stuck into a charger unit. The larger potential danger in this case would be when you went to put it on a charger.
Most people can detect fairly easily when it's time to change a battery and would want to change it anyway for a better vape. It's just something to be mindful of early on to gain confidence and experience. Charging the battery too soon will NOT hurt it, so it's better to change them too soon than wait too late
At higher amperages, it's possible to truly 'over-drain' a battery, over heat it, and end up with a
catastrophic failure. Over charging, or attempting to charge a damaged battery might also cause this. It rarely occurs with an IMR high drain battery during normal vaping with normal 1.5 - 3 Ohm coils. It's more of an issue if something goes WRONG and a hard short occurs...or the battery was damaged in some other way (defective or abused).
If you use a straight 18350 without a kick...just spend an evening with a multi charger at side so you can get a feel for it.
If you do not use a kick, I recommend grabbing a ShortStop or VapeSafe fuse. It's just a precaution from hard shorts. Also consider that for what these things can cost you could probably get your hands on one of the Kick Clones instead
If your mod does not have vent holes in it, by all means drill some or get a different mod. If you choose not to run a Kick, nor a 2 cent fuse, then consider drilling out the vent hole MORE as a little extra precaution (if a battery fails catastrophically in a well vented mod...hopefully the whole mod just gets really hot, and you can find a safe place to drop the thing before it hurts persons or property...but is far less likely to explode since the gases have somewhere to go).
On to making coils....
With the smaller batteries, I'd personally stay at or above 1 Ohm and stick with a single coil setup. The main reason for this recommendation is so you can actually get a few hours off a battery charge before changing it
For ME, from 1.7 to 2.2 Ohms is a sweet spot for an 18350 straight mod (no kick). I'd also choose a liquid that tastes/vapes well at the lower wattage, and maybe even up the nic level slightly if needed.
There are so many ways to build them, you mainly have to play and experiment until you find what works for you.
A MUST is to own some sort of Meter for checking Ohms. A multi meter is good because that also doubles as a battery tester (and other useful things around the house).
Here's what I'd recommend if you're going to use the shorter batteries.
1. Select an RBA that you think you'd be comfortable working with. (You've got a Kraken, so good there).
2. Grab some AWG 28 Kanthol wire.
3. Get a box of surgical grade all natural cotton from your local pharmacy. The kind that comes in a big roll separates into fairly easy to manipulate layers/strips, and a roll should last you life time if all you use it for is making PV wicks. You can also use sterile all natural cotton balls, or even raid your prescription pill bottles for their cotton packing.
4. Grab a 1/16th inch drill bit, hex wrench, screw....
5. Watch some videos on how to make a micro coil.
If you do from 8 to 14 wraps of 28 AWG, you should be in a safe range for that battery. I'd suggest starting with 12 or so, check it with a multi-meter, and explore from there. If the coil with your desired number or wraps is too wide for your atty platform...simply try bending it into a horse-shoe-ish shape, use a slightly larger jig so it can fit in there and still reach your desired resistance...or...get higher resistance wire.
Next you'd tuck in a bit of cotton...how long the wicks are will depend on how large your atty is (space to tuck it in), and how much liquid you'd like it to hold (more wick would give you more puffs before needing to drip again).
I suggest cotton in micro coils for these reasons.
A. It's really easy to wind a perfect coil every time on your jig.
B. They will be very consistent from build to build...you'll have it down to a science you can do in your sleep in no time.
C. Cotton is easy to thread in AFTER the coil has been made, where other wick types can require you to wrap and wick in the same step.
D. It's easy as pie to pull out a wick, poke in a new one, and take off with a new flavor.
E. They rarely give dry hits if ever (provided they are wet). If something is wrong...you'll taste burnt cotton before you ever get it into your lungs, and can easily pull it out and start fresh.
From here, by all means experiment with different wick and coil types. You may well find something you like better than the micro-coils and cotton, but I doubt you'll be disappointed with the 'performance', 'ease' and 'cost' combination of cotton.
Next will be air flow. Don't be surprised if some RBA kits have a really tight draw. This is GOOD for the higher Ohm builds, but many people still find it a bit too tight (especially if they want to build multiple coils and go sub-ohm with them). You can always drill the holes bigger
RBA TANKS
Many of the stock tanks with 'disposable heads' can be rewound quite easily.
Vivi Novas
Kanger Pro Tanks
Etc...
The nice thing about these inexpensive tanks is how light they are.
For these I personally use genuine Vivi Nova tanks, and 400 mesh mixed with 1mm silica wicks for most flavors simply because I want them to last a while before I have to break them down and rewick. My recipe for this type of thing is 4 to 5 wraps of AWG 33. The mesh part I do is just a thin oxidized layer that the coil gets wrapped around. I make the mesh part just wide enough to sit in the slots of the head.
I could just go with straight silica, or even cotton wicks in the Vivi Novas. I just add the mesh to help them last a little longer before I need to screw in a new custom coiled head.
For my 'light tank' builds...I find the Kick or Crown really helps milk more life out of each coil.
True RBT 'tanks'
Most of these are pretty heavy!
The KayFun style is very easy to build, doesn't leak, and vapes like a dream.
You can shave some weight and length off by going with the 'Lite', 'Micro' or 'Russian 91%'. The real deals are pricey, but there is a trickle of clones coming in here lately that are quite good for less than half the price. Again, I do cotton and micro coils in these.
I've not played with a Genesis style RBT. Again these can be pretty big/heavy, and I hear they can be leaky if not kept upright and tricky to set up with SS Mesh. Some report that the SmokeTech RSST is easy to build in a fairly lead proof portable version using with a cotton wick.
