Altitude, humidity making RDA hotter?

[SinnerG]

Received a Kennedy Vindicator 21, Kennedy 25mm RDA and stub dogg drip tip a couple of weeks back while up in Colorado, USA. I was worried the drip tip would be too low and I'd wind up burning myself on the top cap, but I had no such issue at all. The cap usually never got more than warm to the touch.

Arrived back in Cape Town today, slapped in some fresh cotton into the same fused clapton coils (0.18ohm) and after a few drags the top cap becomes blisteringly hot.

Colorado was dry, 18C to -13C temps and high up at 2.5km elevation.
Cape Town was 25C today, felt pretty humid, but the humidity meter is currently only saying 30%.

Would altitude and humidity cause this? Even on the warmer days up in Colorado I never had issue with excessive heat build up.

Would the denser air down here be transmitting more heat to the cap?

Trying to confirm would cost a fortune in flights.

 

[Puff the Magic Dragon]

I suppose that it is possible.

Johannesburg is around 6000 feet (1800m) and I have not heard of people noticing this problem when travelling there from the coast. Perhaps the additional 2000 feet can make the difference.

I have noticed a difference in the viscosity of ejuice between winter and summer. A badly wicked RTA is more likely to leak in summer temps than in winter.

 

[Puff the Magic Dragon]

Your question bugged me so I did the 20th-century thing and googled it.

According to "The Vape Mall" there are two effects of high altitude on vaping :

• Your vapor is going to be thinner than normal because the air around you is thinner.
  
• You’re going to get a bigger buzz from the vapor when you are at a higher altitude. The vapor is going to get into your blood faster because the air is so thin, and you need to be careful if vaping has a strong effect on you in the first place

I have no idea if this info is accurate but it sounds possible.

 

[Rob Fisher]

There is no question a difference in vaping based on Altitude, humidity and temperature. There is a difference3 in vape between JHB and Durbs for sure! And when travelling I notice differences in flavour for sure.

 

[klipdrifter]

I also experience a difference between vaping indoors and vaping outside for 4 hours on the golf course.
My vapor is way less outdoors than indoors for some reason... I don't know the technical details on this but there is a noticeable difference for me.

 

[SinnerG]

Thanks for all the feedback.

The extremely hot top cap didn't happen much this morning, but I still went ahead and replaced the coils. The resistance changed from 0.14 to 0.18 ohms on the coils (2x24/40 fused claptons) I had in there which still didn't explain why there'd be more heat. It could be more heat transfers to the cap down here because of the denser air. The new coils (4x28/40 fused claptons) come in at 0.11ohm and seem to put less heat into the top cap, but also seem to have less flavour. 0.11ohm on a fresh battery is mental though.

I'm one of those who seems to always get lower flavour out of their vape than others, so the only way I'm going to be able to confirm a reduced flavour is by ordering the same NOMS X2 juice I had in the USA and get a fresh set of the same fused claptons.

All I know right now is I need a taller drip tip or I'm going to lose my lips.

 

[SinnerG]

Your question bugged me so I did the 20th-century thing and googled it.

According to "The Vape Mall" there are two effects of high altitude on vaping :

• Your vapor is going to be thinner than normal because the air around you is thinner.
  
• You’re going to get a bigger buzz from the vapor when you are at a higher altitude. The vapor is going to get into your blood faster because the air is so thin, and you need to be careful if vaping has a strong effect on you in the first place

I have no idea if this info is accurate but it sounds possible.

Didn't notice much of a difference in buzz and the clouds were just as thick up there.

Air is an insulator, but no air is even more so I guess.

 

[Timwis]

Thanks for all the feedback.

The extremely hot top cap didn't happen much this morning, but I still went ahead and replaced the coils. The resistance changed from 0.14 to 0.18 ohms on the coils (2x24/40 fused claptons) I had in there which still didn't explain why there'd be more heat. It could be more heat transfers to the cap down here because of the denser air. The new coils (4x28/40 fused claptons) come in at 0.11ohm and seem to put less heat into the top cap, but also seem to have less flavour. 0.11ohm on a fresh battery is mental though.

I'm one of those who seems to always get lower flavour out of their vape than others, so the only way I'm going to be able to confirm a reduced flavour is by ordering the same NOMS X2 juice I had in the USA and get a fresh set of the same fused claptons.

All I know right now is I need a taller drip tip or I'm going to lose my lips.

It's well known to us all that with more heat and humidity e-liquid thins so i can only guess the heat of the top-cap is caused because i'm pretty certain heat transfers from the liquid easier the thinner it is. When the e-juice is thicker and it heats up through vaping it thins the e-liquid before then transferring heat to the top-cap but if that e-liquid is already thin due to the ambient temperature and humidity then it will immediately heat up the atty because the e-liquid is already thin.

 

[Mr. B]

Thanks for all the feedback.

The extremely hot top cap didn't happen much this morning, but I still went ahead and replaced the coils. The resistance changed from 0.14 to 0.18 ohms on the coils (2x24/40 fused claptons) I had in there which still didn't explain why there'd be more heat. It could be more heat transfers to the cap down here because of the denser air. The new coils (4x28/40 fused claptons) come in at 0.11ohm and seem to put less heat into the top cap, but also seem to have less flavour. 0.11ohm on a fresh battery is mental though.

I'm one of those who seems to always get lower flavour out of their vape than others, so the only way I'm going to be able to confirm a reduced flavour is by ordering the same NOMS X2 juice I had in the USA and get a fresh set of the same fused claptons.

All I know right now is I need a taller drip tip or I'm going to lose my lips.

I have an assumption I want to put out there:

Maybe it's a combination of the coils you used plus temperature/altitude. 24g wire is quite thick, and when I used to use it in fused claptons I would notice that the coils would need a lot of power to heat up because of the weight of the coil, and the top caps of my drippers would remain hot for longer periods of time. The extra weight/mass of the wire the coils would retain heat for much longer than a less weighty coil and that heat would transfer to the top cap.

This might not have happened much in Colorado with the lower temperatures and altitude but I definitely think the weight of the 24g coils is a factor.

 

[Hakhan]

maybe check the 510 pin of the RDA. and check for any arcing buildup on batteries and contact button.