Help needed with batteries

[Mahir]

I would just like to know what are the best batteries for mech mods. I own many tube mech mods and were always told Efest are the best but I'm unconvinced with their lifespans. I heard Sony batteries are the best? For mech mods. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Silver]

Hi @Mahir

Good question, glad you raised it

The safest battery for a mech mod is a good quality battery that has the highest safety margin between the amps your build is drawing and the maximum continuous discharge rating of that battery.

The "best" battery for a mech mod is debatable but in my view is a battery with a decent safety margin at the amp draw you require but also has the longest battery life.

Generally, battery capacity and maximum continuous amp draw are inversely proportional. So a battery that is capable of a high continuous amp draw generally has a lower capacity.

Here is a table of some batteries as tested by Mooch, who is a battery tester and expert. He maintains a blog on ECF.

You need to find the continuous draw rating for a battery on his table and then determine if you have enough safety margin given the build you have in your mech. Or just build a coil with a decent safety margin given the battery you have.

The source of this table is here:
https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/f...ngs-picking-a-safe-battery-to-vape-with.7447/

 

[Mahir]

Cheers @Silver for the info. What batteries do you recommend for tube mechs?

 

[Silver]

It depends on your build

What build resistance do you typically use?

 

[Gazzacpt]

I would just like to know what are the best batteries for mech mods. I own many tube mech mods and were always told Efest are the best but I'm unconvinced with their lifespans. I heard Sony batteries are the best? For mech mods. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

If you staying over 0.2 ohms Samsung 25r/Sony VTC

0.25 and up LG HG or turds we call them here will do.

Anything under 0.2 which I really wouldn't recommend to you at this point the LG HB's

NB!!!
If you are planning in building below 0.5 please get yourself an accurate ohm reader and be very carefull.
Facial reconstructive surgery is expensive these days I've been told

I don't trust Efest batteries since we discovered that they overstate current handling and in some cases it is grossly overstated. I do still use the few I have, but in my Reo which generally runs a 1ohm coil and a dna 30 that I still use on occasion.

Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk

 

[Puff the Magic Dragon]

@Mahir was told that Efest batteries are best for mech mods.

This reminded me of when I bought 2 Efests about a year ago. The vendor didn't point out that the actual CDR was half of the MFGs CDR rating printed on the batteries. As it happened I knew about this, and in any event had no intention of using them for super low ohm builds (I no longer buy Efests) .

Has Efest altered its rating ? If not, which I think is the case, do vendors warn vapers about the true CDR. One even wonders why they would continue to stock them. If I sold 1l bottles of milk with only 500ml of milk inside I think it is likely that I would go out of business in a matter of days. And milk is not potentially dangerous. (OK, not short term).

From threads on this forum it is clear that a number of new, and not so new inexperienced vapers, are building very low ohm builds. Hopefully not on mech mods.

 

[Silver]

Just following on from the above posts and just to explain a bit further

Lets consider the situation of using a tube mech.

The current you will draw, using ohms law is V/R. With a fresh battery V=4.2 volts. Lets ignore volt drop.
Lets say you build a coil with a resistance of 0.2 ohms.
The current draw on a fresh batt will be 21 amps

Lets say you are using an Efest purple which says 40A on the wrapper. Dont believe that. Rather check what Mooch's tests have found. Look for it on the table. Its the second one in the middle column. The manufacturer CDR is 40A. Mooch's testing says it only has a 20A continuous discharge rating. So you will be exceeding the continuous rating by 1 amp.

Exceeding the CDR is not a good thing. The battery can get unstable and can vent when this happens. This could lead to injury. This is bad in any situation but can be worse in a tube mech that doesnt have adequate venting holes for the hot gasses to escape.

Another problem is that your ohm reading may be a bit out. So instead of 0.20 ohms it might actually be 0.17 ohms in which case the amp draw is actually 25 amps. This is now quite a lot over the actual CDR of the battery.

The issue is not just while vaping but what if the tube mech is in your pocket and somehow the fire button gets caught on something or gets stuck and it just keeps on firing. (Happened to Rob Fisher on his woodvil at the second CT Vape Meet in 2014.) Well then you have a potential problem in your pocket and worse, you probably wont know about it until its too late. So its better if your build is well within the continuous max current draw of the battery.

So to be safe, in the example used with that battery, build in a decent safety margin to account for inaccuracies in your ohm reader as well as inaccuracies for the battery itself. Maybe its not 20amps and maybe its 19A. So take 20% off that for example and build to draw a maximum of lets say 16A. So 0.263 ohms. Perhaps round that up further to 0.3 ohms.

The LGHG2 (brownie) has a CDR (according to Mooch) of 18A. I have several of these. 0.23 ohms is the theoretical lowest resistance one should go on them to stay below this CDR. I use them for their high 3000mah capacity but I have never gone below 0.4 on them.

I have tried to explain this as easily as possible. If anyone is reading this and is totally confused then i suggest you learn about ohms law and the basic principles of battery safety before using mech mods.

Not taking this seriously and being casual about it can lead to problems and potential injury.

 

[Puff the Magic Dragon]

Agree with @Silver .

Can we fully trust regulated mods to always protect us from dangerously low builds ? I hope so. I have never gone below 0.35 with LGHG2s so should be safe anyway.

 

[Mahir]

It depends on your build

What build resistance do you typically use?

0.07 ohms on a tube mech.

 

[zadiac]

0.07 ohms on a tube mech.

And the batteries that you are using with that build?

 

[Mahir]

And the batteries that you are using with that build?

Efest 40A but my mechs do overheat after chain vaping. Although luckily for me, I haven't had any bad experiences with mech mods despite building super sub ohm coils.

 

[zadiac]

Efest 40A but my mechs do overheat after chain vaping. Although luckily for me, I haven't had any bad experiences with mech mods despite building super sub ohm coils.

That's because those bats are not 40A at all, but 20A. You're trying to pull a 60A current from 20A batteries. You're playing a very dangerous game with those builds and if something bad happens to you, it will add to the global propaganda that vaping is dangerous. For your sake and the sake of vaping, please be careful and don't continue with those builds in mech mods. It's dangerous.

 

[Silver]

0.07 ohms on a tube mech.

@Mahir

At 0.07 ohms and with a fresh battery, you are drawing 60 amps !

I don't think there is a battery that has a continuous discharge rating of 60 amps.
The highest on the Mooch list (of the ones we usually see here locally) is the LG HB series which has 30 amps CDR. This is the same that @Gazzacpt suggested above for lower than 0.2 builds.

CAUTION
If I were you I wouldn't be building that low on a tube mech. You are looking for trouble. Way over the CDR rating.

And if you do, do it at your own risk. Please don't suggest these types of builds to other vapers.

And certainly don't leave the battery in there after you are done vaping. Take it out. Worst thing would be to leave the battery in and put the whole thing in your pocket. If there is a problem or a continuous firing, it could very well end up in lots of trouble and could lead to injury.

 

[Gazzacpt]

Efest 40A but my mechs do overheat after chain vaping. Although luckily for me, I haven't had any bad experiences with mech mods despite building super sub ohm coils.

I'll say this again.

Facial reconstructive surgery is expensive.
So is hospital treatment for burns.......

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[Puff the Magic Dragon]

I would object to my taxes being used to fund medical expenses for a vaper who vaped at or below 0.07 ohms in mech mod.