If you haven't read our last blog post on all things vaping and electricity, please do so first before reading this post, as it contains information vital to understanding this one (I was tempted to call it "voltage and wattage and amps - ohm my!" - but I'm glad I didn't).

As we discussed in this blog post, mech mods used to be the only way to draw high power for sub-ohm coils, but these days we have high-powered regulated mods to do that job, and most mech mod owners stick to them for aesthetic or sentimental reasons.

Mech mods are still highly popular, and still better than regulated mods for durability. However, because they are not regulated and don't have all that fancy circuitry, they are not as safe, and require a degree of knowledge to prevent battery or peripheral limb destruction.

With this in mind, let's take a look at some of the most important things you need to know about using a mech mod safely, so that your batteries - and peripheral limbs - keep functioning as long as the maker intended.

Batteries - it's all about the batteries

Ah, the good old electrochemical battery - first invented by Alessandro Volta in the year 1800, with only modest improvements in functionality since then. Yes, the chemicals have changed, they've gotten smaller, and slightly safer, but they really haven't changed all that much in the past two centuries.

Let's not go into all the ins and outs of it - if you're really curious about how batteries work there is ample information on the Internet. For our purposes, we know that batteries store electricity, our mods need electricity, therefore we need batteries to power our mods.

What you do need to know is which battery is the right battery to put in your mod.

Choosing the right battery

Mechanical mods don't have the circuitry that senses the resistance of the coil, adjusts the wattage and voltage, prevents short circuits or overheating. A mechanical mod simply has a switch that connects your battery directly to your atomizer. If your resistance is too low, or your battery not powerful enough, all sorts of nasty stuff can happen, both to your battery and to your peripheral limbs.

I'm going to go out on a limb (no pun intended!) and say the only batteries you should ever use are IMR Lithium Ion batteries. The chemistry of IMR batteries is a lot more stable, meaning they can handle a lot more stress, deal with a lot more heat and are less likely to become volatile.

The only question you need to answer then is: what size, and what capacity? 18350? 18650? 26650? 1600mAh? 2000mAh? 2500mAh?

In terms of size, this will simply come down to what your mod is designed to accommodate. 18650 is by far the most common, fitting in 22mm-type devices such as the Nemesis or in box mods such as this one. 26650 are wider and are usually seen in really thick stick mods like the Hades.

Capacity is where it gets a little more complicated. Just because a battery has a higher capacity in mAh, doesn't mean you'll get more current out of it!

Back before battery manufacturers clearly told us, it was important to calculate the maximum continuous discharge based on the battery's C-rating using a fairly complicated formula. In these more enlightened times, however, it's a simple case of reading the battery specs to see what the max discharge in amps is.

In short, you need a battery that is capable of pushing the amps you need for the resistance of your atomizer.

Maximum Continuous Discharge Current

You will generally pick your mod and battery setup based on the target resistance you are aiming for.

Remember that the lower the resistance of your coil, the more power you will need to draw from your battery, therefore you will be looking for the one with the highest max continuous discharge in amps.

Ohm's Law

Here is where you will need to use Ohm's law in determining how much current your desired setup is going to draw, and in choosing the right battery for the job.

The formula you will need to use is A=V/Ω.

Your typical 18650 battery when fully charged will draw 4.2V, dropping to around the 4.0V mark for the majority of its cycle.

Let's say you want to build a 0.5Ω coil.

4.2/0.5 = 8.4 amps when fully charged.

4.0/0.5 = 8 amps for the majority of its cycle.

Therefore you will need a battery that is capable of easily producing at least a continuous 8.4 amps before you can use your 0.5Ω coil.

Most good high drain IMR 18650s will pump around the 20amp mark, so you will be perfectly safe with one of those. But if dealing with your stealthy little 18350s, you will be paying close attention to the rated max continuous discharge before going ahead. You will always want to leave yourself substantial headroom - constantly pushing a battery to its maximum rated discharge current is not good for battery life or peripheral limb safety.

Building coils for your setup

Most of the time, you will purchase your mod and batteries first, then set about building coils to suit your equipment, having made sure you purchased a mod and batteries that can handle what you are aiming for. In this case, you definitely need the following equipment:

• Ohms tester - you need to make sure your coil is in the right resistance range before testing it on your battery.
• Multimeter - you need to make sure your battery's voltage is reading correctly and there are no shorts.

Other random safety tips

• Buy a battery charger with a full charge cutoff so you don't overcharge your batteries.
• Do not completely drain your batteries - as soon as they drop to 3.6V, recharge them.
• Do not short circuit your battery! It leads to nothing good, either for battery life or peripheral limbs.
• Do not invert your batteries! Refer above point for why not.
• Do not stack your batteries unless your mod supports stacking. Box mods that can take two or more batteries are wired to cope with it.
• Make sure your mod has adequate ventilation holes. If it doesn't - make some with a drill.
• Make sure your mod has a fire button lock feature. Unintentional and continuous firing is bad as per points 3 and 4 above.
• For extra safety, you can install a kick to control the watts or for short-circuit cutoff.

Hopefully I have armed you with enough information to save your batteries and peripheral limbs, and to ensure your mech mod days are filled with cloudy bliss! Keep reading below for some more useful info if you are planning on really pushing your mod to its limits.

Massively sub-ohm

In these days of nickel resistance wire, clapton coils and multi-coil atomizers, you may find the below table fairly useful.

You can find the excel sheet and input your own data here.

If you started vaping within the last year or so, you most likely know about mechanical mods, but aren't really sure what they're all about. Why do people use them? Why do some vapers say you're not "legit" unless you own a mech mod? Do I need one? Are they better?

First let's look at what they are and where they came from.

A brief history of the e-cig

The first e-cigarette was created in China by Hon Lik, a pharmacist who was also a smoker. After his father died of lung cancer, he decided to create a better way to get his nic fix. The company he worked for developed it and changed their name to Ruyan.

These were the "cig-a-likes". They looked like a cigarette, worked like a cigarette, tasted like a..... they looked and worked like a cigarette, and they soon caught on in a big way in Europe.

Not long after came the "eGo" style battery and clearomizer that we all most likely started on.

But, being the inventive types we all are, some e-cig users started experimenting with different ways to get more power to the coil, which creates more vapour and harder throat hit. They began repurposing various items - most commonly flashlights - to attach atomizers to them and use them as personal vapourizers. And so, the ubiquitous MOD was born!

Enter the MOD

The term "Mod" is shorthand for "modified", meaning a "mod" can be any electronic device appropriated for the purposes of vaping.

So what makes a mod a "mechanical" mod?

It's quite simple - a mechanical mod is an e-cig with no circuitry.

Really. That's it. You have the battery, the atomizer, and a switch that manually connects the battery to the atomizer. Simple as that.

But why mechanical mods?

In the days prior to high-wattage regulated mods, mech mods were the only way to sub-ohm. Your average eGo will only deal with resistances well over 1 Ohm, and this is not enough for die-hard cloud chasers. The only way to fire your perfect 0.25 Ohm build was to stick it on a mech mod. But of course you couldn't just simply attach it and vape on. You had to build the coil to a target resistance, meaning you had to Ohms-test. If you got it wrong - well, just say the phrase "catastrophic battery vent" in front of a mech mod owner if you want to watch them break out in a cold sweat.

Nowadays, however, you can stick your perfect 0.25 Ohm build on a wide range of high-wattage, regulated box mods and get the same results. They have built-in Ohms testing, and if the resistance is a bit off, you just adjust the wattage (or voltage, if you insist) to match your resistance. Life for sub-ohming cloud chasers has never been easier.

So.... why do people still love mech mods?

1. Aesthetics

By and large, mech mods are just plain purdy! From the sleek dragonesque ones in the above photo, all the way to the bold as brass Atmomixani fare, there is no denying their aesthetic appeal. There's just something about those big pretty pieces of metal that's hard to look away from.

2. Durability

Because there are no delicate bits and pieces of circuitry, they are tough as hell. They can take a pounding and still go right on firing away. The best quality ones are often milled straight out of a big lump of steel, and as a result will probably outlive all of us. Unlike regulated mods, which once the circuits are fried are reasonably attractive yet unnecessarily expensive paperweights, mech mods just keep on keeping on.

3. Collectibility

Being as they are artefacts from a more wistful age, they can have a lot of sentimental value, and look just as good on your shelf as they did in your hand. They also have the hobbyist appeal - sure it's more convenient to use your 150W box mod throughout the day, but for those of us who already love building our own coils, nothing beats spending a nice relaxing evening in the man (or lady) cave fiddling around with them to get the resistance just right.

In a nutshell

Back in the day, mechanical mods were the only way you could achieve higher wattages by building sub-ohm coils. These days, you can sub-ohm without them. They are not inherently "better" or "worse" than regulated mods, just a different way of doing the same thing.

If you want one just coz, there are still plenty being made, and some vapers swear by them. Just do yourself a favour and don't blow up your batteries!