# @craigb trying to get a better understanding of the mechanics of Vaping



## craigb (4/5/18)

So 1 1/2 years into my vape life, I have a pretty functional understanding of what I'm doing. Like we don't need to properly understand fuel combustion or how gearing work in order to drive, I'm able to change the metaphorical tyre on my vape kit. 

For this thread, I'd like to ask questions about specific things in vaping, firstly to understand them in isolation and then to understand within the greater system of the vape experience.

I understand the purpose of Ohm's law, even if I don't always apply it appropriately (at own risk).

My first set of question revolves around coils. How exactly do they do what they do?

My understanding (and I'm open to corrections) is as follows

Voltage is a measure of potential difference between the negative and positive terminals of the battery. Simplistically, there's a whole bunch of electrons pushing and shoving at the negative terminal eager and anxious to find a route to the positive terminal. Potential difference, in my understanding, tells us how eager they are and/or how many electrons are waiting to make this journey. *Is this a fair enough @craigb's guide to Voltage?*

Electrons flow through the material used for the coil. When these electrons collide with atoms of the wire and/or just outside the wire, they impart kinetic energy to the atoms which almost instantly gets translated into heat energy which heats up the wire. This heat then excites the delicious nicotine filled juice in the cotton and if done right, keeps as a liquid but causes the liquid molecules to get rambunctious they atomise and appear as what we in this context call vapour (while the correct definition of vapour is the gaseous state of a substance?). *No questions here, unless someone wants to point out mistakes or possible expansions?*

Higher resistance wires mean less electrons move at a slower overall rate of flow through the wire, resulting in less collisions, meaning less energy is created per time unit. Resistance is affected by material (kanthal,SS, NI80, etc) and thickness of wire (gauge and material are not an issue at the moment as they are discussed quite voluminously on this forum). 

Now for the purposes of this conversation, let us assume an 18650 battery of infinite amp draw, 4.2 volt max, 3.7 volt nominal on a mod and RDA combo with 0 voltage drop.

Say we have a coil of arbitrary loops, coming out at 0.5 Ohms. Lets call this coil A.
Say we have another coil, same material with less loops coming out at 0.3 Ohms. Lets call this coil B.

My understanding is the 'heavier' or denser coil will take longer to heat up as there is more material to heat (this would include the longer wire as there is more of it in this closed system).

*Also, on a mech, the Wattage (Power) would be higher on coil B, as described Ohms Law & Joule's First Law
On a VW regulated device, the power would be consistent, resulting in a difference in current flowing(?).*

More questions to follow, but no point writing an even longer essay based on the above, if what I've already typed is off 

Thanks for reading this far folks, that already makes you a winner in my eyes

Reactions: Like 6 | Informative 1


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## Faiyaz Cheulkar (4/5/18)

this was on my mind since the first day I started vaping, every now and then I search the internet to get answers but was never able to connect the dots. My understanding of a controlled mod is close to our understanding of the origin of the universe. Lets see what other members have to say about this.

Reactions: Can relate 3


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## RichJB (4/5/18)

Faiyaz Cheulkar said:


> My understanding of a controlled mod is close to our understanding of the origin of the universe.



No, that's a mechanical mod. It all starts with a big bang...

Reactions: Like 1 | Winner 1 | Funny 5


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## Silver (20/5/18)

@craigb , i enjoyed reading your post

With a regulated mod, it will asjust the voltage to try reach the power that has been dialled in. So you are right, current will be different in your example of two different resistances

Reactions: Like 2


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## GerritVisagie (20/5/18)

Cool tread. 
Lots of good info will come from this. 
So far, i see no major mistakes in your assumptions 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Raindance (20/5/18)

craigb said:


> So 1 1/2 years into my vape life, I have a pretty functional understanding of what I'm doing. Like we don't need to properly understand fuel combustion or how gearing work in order to drive, I'm able to change the metaphorical tyre on my vape kit.
> 
> For this thread, I'd like to ask questions about specific things in vaping, firstly to understand them in isolation and then to understand within the greater system of the vape experience.
> 
> ...


Yes, that is correct. The higher Ohm coil will run at lower Watt. Watt being Joule seconds, the heat flux (joule per volume (mass) of material ) would take longer to reach the same level in the coll with greater mass. Both due to the greater mass and the lower rate of power output.

Heat energy being electromagnetic radiation in the infra red frequency transferred between the electrons of materials as Photons which are... Nope not going there! Lol.

Regards

Reactions: Like 2 | Winner 1


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