7.3 e-Cigarette info
An e-cigarette is a device that converts electrical energy into heat to vaporize a viscous liquid composed of vegetable glycerine and/or propylene glycol (e-juice). Every e-cigarette has at least three main components: a power source, a tank and an atomizer. The atomizer sits in a tank filled with e-juice and exists of a coil surrounded by a liquid absorbing material called a wick. The coil is electrically heated by a power source, heating the e-juice turning it into vapor. The wick regulates the flow of e-juice to the coil. This produces the right amount of vapor at a reasonable rate.
Types of e-cigarettes
Dripping Atomizers
The atomizer coil is located on the bottom with a metal mesh or silica wick on top. Dripping Atmomizers have a fairly small capacity and are best for people who prefer dripping. Users drip small amounts of e-juice directly on to the coils and wick before every few puffs. Dripping Atomizers are complex, inconvenient and needs to be continuously refilled. Rebuildable atomizers (power increase) require considerable skill. Its hard to track amount of e-juice left inside. All this makes them not suitable for what we need.
Cartomizers
Cartomizers have their artomizers housed inside a cylindrical tank. This allows a cartomizer to hold a lot more liquid than a dripping atomizer. The coil is surrounded by Polyfill which functions as the wick. It absorbs e-juice allowing for a longer vape time. The main disadvantage of cartomizers is that they are not suitable for heavy vaping - which we need.
Clearomizers
Clearmizers are the newest devices on the market. They differ from cartomizers by having transparent tanks. This lets you see how much e-juice remains. Instead of polyfill they have a wick made from a fibrous material, usually organic cotton. This allows for heavy vaping. Some designs feature top coils with longer wicks. Others have bottom coils with short wicks. Bottom coils produce cooler vapor, have better wick saturation and allow for lower e-juice levels.
+ prefabricated, no need for manual building
+ large capacity of e-juice for sufficient vapes
+ transparent tank allows you to see exact amount of e-juice left
+ atomizer heads are easy to snap on and off and cheap to replace
+ allow for easy customization if desired (different Mod Boxes, OCC, RBA)
The development of sub-ohm vaping
Sub-ohm vaping is vaping on a device whose atomizer coils have a resistance of less than one ohm. This increases the power output to create more vapor. When vaping using sub-ohm coils a substantial amount of vapor is produced compared to using coils above 1 ohm on the same device. This is because sub-ohm vaping utilizes the principles of Ohm's and Joule’s laws of electricity: a non-variable voltage source (battery) in a mechanical vape mod will increase the overall power output (wattage) of your device when you decrease the resistance (ohms) of your coils. As you decrease your resistance you will increase the amperage your device uses to supply the current needed. Up to recently, sub-ohm vapes were not sold so you had to build one yourself.
Rebuildable Dripping Atomizers (RDA)
Rebuildable drippers are the original way to sub-ohm. They are small devices that attach to Mechanical or Box Mods. They contain a deck where coils are built wicked with cotton attached using a screwdriver. Rebuilding requires considerable skill.
Rebuildable Tank Atomizers (RTA)
For people who want to build coils but do not want to drip. RTA’s are essentially clearomizers that require the user to build their own custom atomizer (sub-ohm coil and wick). Rebuilding requires considerable skill.
Sub-ohm Tank Clearomizers
Similar to RTA’s except that Clearomizers can be bought 'sub-ohm ready'. This means you don't need to build anything yourself anymore. The internal atomizers come in the form of pre-made disposable coil+wick packs called OCC's (Organic Cotton Coils). OCC's are easily swappable when due for replacement. Instead of OCC's you can also buy RBA's (ReBuildable Atomizers) The wick of a RBA can be easily manually changed when due for replacement while the coil is left inside. RBA's are cheaper to maintain than OCC's and are said to vape better.
As can be seen, if you wanted to sub-ohm in the past it would require considerable skill. These days all it takes is the purchase of a sub-ohm Clearomizer with OCC /RBA and a Box Mod with sufficient Watts. This setup makes it possible to inhale a large amount of e-juice with sufficient DMT in a single puff. A couple of years ago with the pen-type vapes this was not possible.
What you need
Mod Box
For DMT 40-60 W is sufficient. A 100W box able to power a 0.5 ohm coil gives plenty of over-capacity for vaping at around 50W. The batteries will run cooler than a 50W box. Look for a Mod Box with a large range eg. 10W-100W. This enables you to find your preferred spot. A good Mod Box displays voltage, watts and coil resistance. Some Mod Boxes support both variable Wattage and temperature control. Certain metals increase in resistance when the temperature goes up. By applying power and measuring to reach a known resistance at a certain temperature, a mod box can reach and stay at that temperature. Note that some coils are 0.15 ohms. When using these, make sure your mod box and batteries can handle it!
Batteries
For sub-ohm vaping your batteries are the most crucial component of the setup. Only a few lithium battery types are suitable. Batteries can either be high storage capacity (mAh) or high drain capacity (Amps). High storage requires less charging. High drain gives more current. Sub-ohm coils should only be used with high-drain batteries. ICR (LiCoO2 or LiCd) batteries are usually rated for their higher storage capacity (mAh). They are often unable to safely deliver the amperage needed for high power, low resistance devices. Being high risk, ICR's are commonly sold with protection circuits. IMR (LiMn) batteries allow higher drain rates compared to ICR's. This makes them much more suitable for low resistance devices. IMR batteries use safer chemistry than ICR's and don't have a protection circuit built in. Note that they should never be discharged below 2.5 volts or cycle life/performance will be reduced. Packing your Mod Box with 3.7V, 30A MCD, 18650 type, IMR batteries from a well-established manufacturer ensures you have the best you can get, so you can't go wrong.
Clearomizer
A relatively small Tank is preferred: 1.5 - 2ml. Allows for experimentation with spice concentrations. Also saves on making large amounts of spice to mix in. 2ml should be good for 10+ hits. Buy a tank that can be refilled from the top, this is convenient. Also, make sure the tank isn't prone to leakage. The 'Kangertech CL tank 2.0' is said to be good.
Coils
Coils come manufactured in OCC's or RBA's. Your Clearomizer will come with them included. When buying new ones make sure they are compatible with your Clearomizer. Coils can be made of different metals such as Stainless Steel, Nickel, Nichrome, Titanium and Kanthal. Some can be used for temperature control mode (Ni, Ti), some for wattage control (NiCr, Kantal) and some for both (SS). Nickel and Titanium can release hazardous chemicals when heated over a certain temperature, that's why they should only be used for temp control. Note that no one talks about this danger for titanium dabbing nails.
e-Juice
PG (Propylene Glycol) and VG (Vegetable Glycerin) are odorless liquids that are combined with flavor to create e-juice. They produce vapor when heated, which allow them to be inhaled. PG is a petroleum by-product. The fluid has no odor or color, and is less viscous than VG. In vaping it is used to provide a ‘throat hit’. Some users claim is similar to the sensation experienced when smoking tobacco. It also carries flavor more effectively than VG. VG is a natural chemical derived from vegetable oil. The hit from a high VG fluid is a lot smoother than with PG, making it more suitable for sub-ohm vaping. The increased thickness of VG means it can reduce the life of Atomizers quicker than PG-based juice. High ratio VG liquids clog up coils more rapidly and will not work well in certain tanks. A good ratio is 50/50. Note that some studies suggest that e-juice flavors are toxic when smoked. For DMT buy zero-nicotine 100% pure flavorless VG and PG and mix them to your desired ratio preference (50/50 - 40/60 PG/VG).
Clearomizer kit components (for reference only)
- Batteries: The power source of the device. Located inside the Box Mod.
- Box Mod: The unit which controls the power output and holds the batteries.
- Tank: Holds the e-liquid and Atomizer. Sits on top of the Base.
- Base: The bottom part of the Tank. Screwed into the Mod Box. Usually has airflow control.
- Atomizer head: Either OCC or RBA (see below). Located inside the Tank.
- OCC: Organic Cotton Coils contain the coil and wick. They come pre-built and get replaced when used up.
- RBA: ReBuildable Atomizers are designed to be refurbished with new wick when used up.
- BTC: Bottom Turbine Coil is prefered over top coil.
- BTDC: Bottom Turbine Dual Coil has two coils for cooler vapor. More batteries, more Watts, shorter battery life.
- Wick: Usually made from organic cotton. It either fills the empty space inside the coil or is wrapped around the outside.
- Coil: Wire from a metalic alloy. Comes pre-made with the resistance desired.
- e-juice: Stored in the Tank.
- Drip tip: Tube on top of the Tank from which you inhale.
It's something like 1:3 Harmala:E-juice. The Harmala freebase was converted with 1 drop of lemon juice to make it HCL salt. You don't taste it in the vaporizer.
