# Mech Noob



## JackalR (14/9/15)

Hey Guys,

Hope everyone has gotten over the Monday blues after witnessing the Bulls and the Sharks losing 

Anyways enough of that and let's get down to business.

I have been using electronic devices since I started my vaping journey back in November 2014. Started off with a MVP 2.0 with its iclear atty which was useless and just sits in its box, then went onto the istick 20w with nam which gets used somewhat but not as much, then got a sigelli 150w with subtank mini, which is slowly losing to the golbin mini which I believe it the cat's pajamas.

Now before the Sigelli I was interested in getting into mechs so I bought a SMPL SS mech clone and a Dark Horse Clone, later on a Airek Comp RDA. I've got 3 vtc4 greenies and 2 efests purples batterries.

I use both drippers on the Sig seeing as I feel alot safer knowing that the circuitry will shutdown the mod if there's an issue with the coil shorting or battery draining too low.

Thing is I probably only built two coils on the dark horse for the smpl until a friend sent me a pic of someone's whose smpl blew in their hand and I pretty much left it at that. Thing is I'd like to get back into using the mech mod but just want to be cautious regarding turning it into a mini pipe bomb.

Obviously I've had issues before on the building coils front on the sig (check atomizer errors) and quickly deduced either a coil that I screwed up coiling or it touched the rda chimney so I quickly learnt where to adjust and if I needed to do another coil and bin it. 

Thing is I got everything to build for a mech (got the ohm meter, voltmeter)

Basically is mech dripping all that, will the vape be different on a mech even if I set the Sig to its equivalent wattage that would be acquired on a mech build. My brain says it wont really be noticeable but im pretty sure there are a few more deciding factors that would effect the vape

Anyways Im rambling now so Ill just leave it here

Any help and suggestions would be appreciated


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## BumbleBee (14/9/15)

Imo mechs are a dying breed, they were popular when regulated devices were limited to 15 or 20w. Since 30 and 50w devices are now becoming more common among new vapers and offer much more functionality and safety there really isn't much appeal for mechs anymore, maybe just for the old school die hards.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Thanks 1


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## JackalR (14/9/15)

So in terms of Vape difference you don't think it will be a noticeable difference?


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## Necris (14/9/15)

the smpl is a hybrid,i would venture a guess and say that the explosion was due to an atlantis or similar low extension 510 atty being used on it.
make sure that the 510 pin extends at least 1mm out of the negative threaded part.
But to answer your question,yes,mildly better in its peak charge with a fresh wick,it just feels more instant.mech is a direct current,no frills no voltage draining electronics.
However,every hit degrades battery performance,minimally i will agree but you will notice fade off in power as the day progresses.
i prefer regulated,but still have a mech or two handy for that quick reliable vape on an alternate flavour.
dual battery mods have changed the game frankly,my next mech is a mosfet box

Reactions: Thanks 1


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## JackalR (14/9/15)

So is the Dark Horse or Airek a low extension 510 atty?


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## BumbleBee (14/9/15)

JackalR said:


> So in terms of Vape difference you don't think it will be a noticeable difference?


Perhaps, if you were very sensitive to the difference in power delivery between the two. Many will say that the Vape is smoother on a mech, I honestly don't see much of a difference. I prefer setting my desired power output and having it constant until the battery is dead than having a great vape that fades away as the day progresses. But it's the convenience and safety that draws me to regulated devices, I have had my electronic device give an atomiser error at least twice before, upon opening the deck I found that the coil had worked itself loose or had a leg snap which caused a short (both with the Lemo Drop), if that had happened on a mech the warning would have been much more dramatic than just a polite error message.

Reactions: Like 1 | Thanks 1


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## JackalR (14/9/15)

Hahaha. Glad to know, I did wonder if there were more ways for an atty to short in regards to the usual culprits


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## stevie g (14/9/15)

get a Dimitri box no worries fir explosions as the battery cover will pop off with minimal force.

I've run mechs and mods for over a year and in my experience a mech shines in parallel.

a magic build on a mech is small diameter such as a micro coil. Try a build like this... 28g 1.5mm 9wraps. Clouds for days and no heat, very smooth.

I've been there and back with mods from the bottom to TC and sold it all. Much happier with my dual battery mech box and dripper.

Reactions: Like 2 | Thanks 1


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## stevie g (14/9/15)

i don't do tube mechs any more as even as an experienced vapour I find them too dangerous.

Reactions: Thanks 1


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## stevie g (14/9/15)

i run a full day of moderatly heavy vaping and pull my batts at 3.8v, the batteries just seem to last much longer in a dual battery setup.

it grated my cheese so much how quickly a single 18650 mod would run down the battery.

Reactions: Thanks 1


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## Andre (14/9/15)

I fully agree with @Necris and @Sprint above. There is a discernible difference in power delivery, both in intensity and vape feel. I have been vaping on Reos for a long time and, as long as one attends to safety at all times, you should have no problems. Fortunately the Reo has a hot spring, which is reassuring - although I have yet to have on go down on me - touch wood.

I have always been wary of hybrids and will never use a commercial tank on a mech.

There have been many, many more instances of regulated mods going awry, for example, breaking out in fire, than of mech mods, but in the latter case the consequences can be of more import.

I use both regulated and mech mods and think there is a place for both - in terms of delivery and other factors like longevity, size, etcetera.

In the end, if you have any doubts, rather stay with regulated devices.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1 | Winner 2 | Informative 1


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## JackalR (14/9/15)

thanks everyone for the advice, will definitely check out the dimitri box, where would I be able to find one in SA. 

@Sprint what makes a tube mech more dangerous? I was under the impression any mech has the same level of danger excluding the fact some use more batteries than others (more shrapnel I guess  )

@Andre thanks man, was thinking of using the smpl hence the original post but as you said think at least this week may just stay on regulated


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## whatalotigot (17/9/15)

Hey man,

When it comes to the difference of Regulated and Mech.

Regulated wins everytime
Regulated has the same hit everytime, the battery drains but it gives you the set power every hit,
it also wont just short and blow up, it will say check atomizer.
Also, the hits will be smoother, as they are regulated a constant power.
Also you wont have to worry about conductivity issues like fire buttons not conducting properly, and cleaning surfaces.

I used to be a mech guy, and since iv gone regulated, ill never go back to mech. 
Push the button, its fires smoothly, and the same everytime. No hassles, no fuss! 

Also Bumping up the watts with a dripper. Some days I like a chilled vape, others im in a bad mood and wanna punish my lungs. With a mech, you control the vape intensity with the coil build. Regulated, any coil will do, and control with watts.

It really is bliss. 

Do yourself a favour, go regulated. Its the future of vaping.

Reactions: Thanks 1


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## Wesley (17/9/15)

whatalotigot said:


> Hey man,
> 
> When it comes to the difference of Regulated and Mech.
> 
> ...


It's true - check the classifieds, there are used Reos which used to sell in minutes, now the ads stay up for days. Regulated is where the party is.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Necris (17/9/15)

I agree that regulated is certainly the way of the future,but its a physical impossibility that power delivery is smoother.
i will agree regulated is more consistent over time,but hit for hit,a mech simply has less internal resisitance,less electronics in the power path and better conductivity in general due to the fact that the entire tube is a conductor.
Also,dirty contacts are dirty contacts,mech or reg

Reactions: Agree 1 | Disagree 2


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## Andre (17/9/15)

Wesley said:


> It's true - check the classifieds, there are used Reos which used to sell in minutes, now the ads stay up for days. Regulated is where the party is.

Reactions: Like 2 | Winner 2


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## Wesley (17/9/15)

Andre said:


>


Yes, hipster vapers will be buying Reos ironically in a few years.

Reactions: Funny 2


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## Average vapor Joe (17/9/15)

Personally im a regulated man myself and i enjoy knowing whats going on under te hood of my mod. But i do love the size and feel of a tube mech. Bu my favourite thing about the mech is the zero delay firing. Its super tactile and just feels nice. I use my hybrid praxis every day for about 10% of my total vaping and i love it. If you arent doing anything with the SMPL then let me take i off your hands. 
good luck and happy vaping

Reactions: Like 1


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## GerharddP (17/9/15)

Wesley said:


> It's true - check the classifieds, there are used Reos which used to sell in minutes, now the ads stay up for days. Regulated is where the party is.


One of those reos sold in minutes..awaiting delivery tomorrow


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## GerharddP (17/9/15)

As a side note i see alot of "my mod doesnt want to turn on" etc etc. Still cant find a way to break my Reo...

Reactions: Like 1 | Winner 1


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## Andre (17/9/15)

Wesley said:


> Yes, hipster vapers will be buying Reos ironically in a few years.


Lol, for sure and then my first Reo will still be going strong.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## GerharddP (17/9/15)

Andre said:


> Lol, for sure and then my first Reo will still be going strong.


For sure and they will be wanting to buy our Reo's because they cant vape at a gigawatt any way.....


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## whatalotigot (17/9/15)

Necris said:


> I agree that regulated is certainly the way of the future,but its a physical impossibility that power delivery is smoother.
> i will agree regulated is more consistent over time,but hit for hit,a mech simply has less internal resisitance,less electronics in the power path and better conductivity in general due to the fact that the entire tube is a conductor.
> Also,dirty contacts are dirty contacts,mech or reg



UTTER nonsense my friend.
Regulated is REGULATED!! the board is REGULATING the power at a constant rate... set 80w on the screen and you will get 80w constant!!!
On a mech, the coil will be drawing what it needs, watts will be constantly fluctuating. 

Dirty contacts? How? please inform me of how? on a regulated device I will lose power due to a dirty contact? From battery series power travels through copper cables directly through the board which sending a constant power to the 510 connection! 

When I was using mech, I struggled with dirty fire buttons, and no conductivity when firing. Giving me sometimes no firing at all. 

With regulated I press the button on the board, and same hit everytime. 

Please learn abit more about both types before saying these things.


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## Necris (17/9/15)

Lol.ever heard of corrosion.
Copper corrodes naturally.i have seen dirty battery contacts on zna's,my ipv 2 mini and sig 150's.
As for the regulated being smoother, I will agree to disagree as we are obviously interpreting smooth differently.mech power dleivery is instant and direct.in my opinion regulated has a delay,albeit minor,and a circuit board will never deliver as smooth a power curve.
Yes,it will keep your hits constantly the same.but that's not my point


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## whatalotigot (17/9/15)

Necris said:


> Lol.ever heard of corrosion.
> Copper corrodes naturally.i have seen dirty battery contacts on zna's,my ipv 2 mini and sig 150's.
> As for the regulated being smoother, I will agree to disagree.an n3 in electrical must be entirely wrong then.
> Please,feel free to argue factually,but don't imply I'm stupid.thats not only a *shitty* thing to do, but also against the rules.



I have not broken any rules here, You are insinuating these things in your own head. 
You have infact broken the rules by* swearing* on the forum. 

Corrosion will happen, granted. But your argument is flawed. Battery contacts will get dirty for sure. So they will at the same rate on a mech. I still havnt cleaned my Battery contacts and I still have a great working mod. On a mech if you dont clean then you dont vape as the current cant conduct to the next PIECE OF TUBE ur refering to!

If You have a N3 in electrical you should know these things! Facts are facts mate!


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## Necris (17/9/15)

Okay,my apologies,typing while driving and may not have given that reply the thought it deserved. Removed the naughty word.


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## Necris (17/9/15)

Honestly,stuff it.mechs aren't as good as regulated.but they aren't the face burning pipe bombs people make them out to be either.there is certainly something better in my opinion comparing fresh battery mech to regulated,I find it more instant and satisfying.

I run 2 regulated mods daily.im arguing a null point


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## whatalotigot (17/9/15)

No Mechs are fine. I used mechs for a year and swore by them , I never said they were pipe bombs! LOL thats user error is they blow up! 

Regulated is the future, Easier, safer.
If you want satisfaction, have a 100W hit of my daily vape. Its like having a fresh battery ALL DAY LONG! 

No worry @Necris I dont like arguing. Maybe we are arguing different points here! Keep well!


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## Alex (17/9/15)

whatalotigot said:


> UTTER nonsense my friend.
> Regulated is REGULATED!! the board is REGULATING the power at a constant rate... set 80w on the screen and you will get 80w constant!!!
> On a mech, the coil will be drawing what it needs, watts will be constantly fluctuating.
> 
> ...



Perhaps your bad experience with mechanical switches was a failure to understand that arcing was taking place at the point of contact between the battery terminal and the contact point. This would result in a carbon deposit buildup on one or both surfaces, as evidenced by watching an arc welder in action. 

I can understand that you are the kind of person who doesn't like to mess around with things, and expects them to work every-time. In which case an electronic device is right up your alley. But for those of us who know how to prevent such occurrences, and who don't mind the occasional maintenance routine that goes along with owning a mechanical device. It's really not a problem but more of a fun routine, much like building a new coil, or trying out a new wick. 

On my Reo, I can simply change out the battery in under 2 seconds should the need arise, it's really not a big deal for me.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Winner 2


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## whatalotigot (17/9/15)

All Mechs I have owned have given the same issue at some point, By not firing or firing weakly due to arcing or a bad connection. 

Trust me, I am the type to take things apart and mod maintenance is definitely my all time thing. 

What im trying to say is. I dont have to worry about these things with a regulated device. put my batteries in. Close the door, press the button and BOOM! it is a constant vape all day. No sickling with locking rings, Buttons sticking, bad connections etc.


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## JackalR (17/9/15)

Thanks gents for all the info, I fired up the SMPL with the airek and it chucks clouds like made with pure VG. Guess that's the only thing I'm going to use it for is the odd occasion so apologies to @Average vapor Joe But I have found a new love for it albeit not for flavor, then again I'd never really use a mech for flavor (Reonauts please don't ban me for that heresy  )

Got all three devices running at the moment and entirely happy with everything

On a side note how low ohm can you build on the istick 20w. For some reason I cant find its brochure

Thanks again


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## BumbleBee (17/9/15)

JackalR said:


> how low ohm can you build on the istick 20w. For some reason I cant find its brochure


The istick 20w has a minimum coil resistance of 1.0 ohm


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## Dr Phil (17/9/15)

Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh????? Cleaning battery contacts on a reglated mod ok that's a 1st

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Silver (17/9/15)

JackalR said:


> Hey Guys,
> 
> Hope everyone has gotten over the Monday blues after witnessing the Bulls and the Sharks losing
> 
> ...



Interesting question @JackalR - especially about the part concerning the difference in the vape with a mech and a regulated "at the same settings". I have also wondered about this many times and i have tested this and tried to notice the difference on many occasions

My conclusions (mostly with a coil around 0.8 to 1.0 and power of 16 to 20 Watts ) were quite interesting:
- no noticeable difference in the flavour itself
- but I do find the mechanical vape is more direct and feels "purer"

Overall, I do prefer the mechanical vape itself at these power levels.

As for other issues (not just the vape itself):
Yes, the vape intensity does reduce over time with the mechanical but bear in mind that at the power levels above, this is not a big issue and the battery lasts quite a while.

I stopped using mechanical tube mods many moons ago (nemesis, KTS etc). Didnt like the tube form factor or the bottom firing button.

But what I will say is that since I got my Reos (May 14), they are all in full daily service and i have not had a problem. I am probably lucky that i dont need the really low ohm coils. My singles are not lower than 0.8 and my lowest dual is 0.4. So my arcing and battery drop off is not bad. I get through about 4ml of liquid before noticing a drop off, which is the amount of fluid I would use in most tanks on my Sig100 anyway, before refilling. 

Another thing i would like to mention is that when i build a coil for one of my tanks for a regulated device, the power i end up using is very similar to the "mech equivalent". Id maybe vary it by a few watts either way, but not by much.

I like both but the vape I get on the mechanical is still slightly better for me.

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 2 | Winner 1


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## GerharddP (17/9/15)

JackalR said:


> Thanks gents for all the info, I fired up the SMPL with the airek and it chucks clouds like made with pure VG. Guess that's the only thing I'm going to use it for is the odd occasion so apologies to @Average vapor Joe But I have found a new love for it albeit not for flavor, then again I'd never really use a mech for flavor (Reonauts please don't ban me for that heresy  )
> 
> Got all three devices running at the moment and entirely happy with everything
> 
> ...


I agree to some extent with everyone but the most with @Alex . I build my coils in the for the reo for around 38W by the time i swap out bats( fine by me) im at around 35W. To me thats constant enough. I have never on all the mechs/regs i have owned(quite a FEW) had the same awesome smooth flavor i have had on the reo.

Reactions: Like 3


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## spiv (31/7/16)

I've been looking at getting the Limitless mod because I have the Limitless Plus RDTA. They would look amazing together. Sir Vape has it at an amazing price. I don't build coils lower than 0.4 at most and use the brown LG "turds". I did my homework and the same build would work great on the mech mod, but I'm not sure if it's going to be any better than any of my regulate mods. 
I can definitely see the appeal of mech hybrid mod, but honestly not sure it's worth it if I have the regulated mods. 

That said, I'll probably pick up the mod to try it out. Who knows, I may just take to it.


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## KimVapeDashian (1/8/16)

spiv said:


> I've been looking at getting the Limitless mod because I have the Limitless Plus RDTA. They would look amazing together. Sir Vape has it at an amazing price. I don't build coils lower than 0.4 at most and use the brown LG "turds". I did my homework and the same build would work great on the mech mod, but I'm not sure if it's going to be any better than any of my regulate mods.
> I can definitely see the appeal of mech hybrid mod, but honestly not sure it's worth it if I have the regulated mods.
> 
> That said, I'll probably pick up the mod to try it out. Who knows, I may just take to it.



Different strokes for different folks... You will never know until you try, well - you will forever believe what you have read until you try it for yourself


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