Newb's Guide to Vaping

Introduction:
To a newcomer, vaping with rebuildable devices either looks stupidly simple, or
confusingly complex - and both are wrong. Let's look at an example of both:
"Ohms law is what again? Kanthal; what the fuck is Kanthal? Sorry, high drain ba
tteries? So they run out very fast or something? Tools; I need tools? I thought
this was meant to be cheaper than smoking and now I need tools? So a coil isn't
just a coil? Is there a degree course in this shit, because I seriously don't th
ink I'm ready for it - screw it, I'll stick with a protank"
"So it's some wire wrapped around something absorbent? Yeah, I've got this - YOL
O!"
The truth actually lies somewhere in between, but all you Errol Flynns and Ernes
t Hemingways of vape will be sad to learn it's slightly more skewed towards the
former. Let's get the basics out the way. I'm going to assume that you're alread
y using some sort of device such as an Ego style battery with maybe an Aspire or
Kanger tank that takes replaceable atomiser heads.
A rebuildable device is essentially not dissimilar to what you're already using
(most likely a 'cartomiser' or 'clearomiser' for which you purchase disposable p
re-built wicked coils - often called 'heads', though more correctly they are the
atomiser, and what they fit into is your tank ), but instead of there being a h
ole for your factory built heads, you're going to look under the hood (under the
cap or inside the tank) of your new acquisition, and see a big empty space betw
een or around normally two or thee posts, each with a screw on it - yep, you're
going to have to fill that all by yourself. Above and beyond the flexibility thi
s offers you, and an exponentially improved vape experience, it's also going to
save you money. No more dollar a time atomiser heads - you're looking at pennies
to do this yourself. Admittedly there's some small investment required, but onc
e you see how little of everything you use, you'll be saving a bundle in the lon
g run. The following is a very basic shopping list of everything you need, all o
f which can be had cheaply from eBay, and often local hardware stores and market
s:
1/ An ohm reader. This is COMPULSORY. These are usually a small black box with a
digital display and 510 connector onto which you screw your built atomiser. The
y're also handy for holding your deck whilst you build. When you have your coils
installed, you pop your atomiser on there, turn it on, and it will tell you the
resistance of your coil. YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS. Even if you are getting profici
ent and know what your coil SHOULD be, you still need to test it to be sure that
you haven't screwed up along the way by miscalculating the number of wraps, or
caused a short. they can be had for as little as five bucks if you shop around,
though if you're feeling flush, then get the $40 Coil Master 521 burning tab. It
's a clone of a horribly expensive 3D printed thing that few were prepared to po
ny up the cash for. I have recently acquired one, and it's the shizz if you're s
erious about rebuilding, but far from being vital. Some people with regulated de
vices rely on the ohm reader built into the software, but I would still suggest
that a dedicated ohm reader is a must, if only to verify that your mod is readin
g correctly. Is saving $5-10 worthwhile if it causes damage to an expensive rig
(mod and atomiser combination), or worse, to you?
2/ A build calculator. You can either download the Vaper's Tool box app for your
'phone, or visit www.steam-engine.org and use their online version - both are f
ree, and will tell you how many wraps of which gauge of wire will give you what
result.
3/ A mandrel. This is just something to wind around. These usually range from ar
ound one to three millimetres, and obviously the bigger it is, the more wire you
use. Precision screwdrivers work well, but hypodermic needles, awls, drill bits
, and even hex wrenches are all good choices. As you go along, you'll acquire al
l sorts of things to slip in your vape toolbox. I keep a pin vice handy so I can
turn anything into an easy to use mandrel to wind around. I also recommend the
UD coiling jig set - not the revolver, but the earlier model with the stainless
steel handle and drop in mandrels, all supplied in a small and sturdy case - but
that's not a vital investment. Fast Tech actual sell simple stepped mandrels th
at have half a dozen sizes on a rod maybe four inches long, for about a buck and
change - they work really well.
4/ Tweezers. Good flat faced metal tweezers that aren't painted or coated. You c
an buy ceramic tweezers, but they're fragile and quite thick, so the benefit of
them being non conductive is a bit of a trade off. I have a few pairs, but I'd b
e lying if I said I used them much. oh, and if you do buy ceramic tweezers from
Fast Tech, be wary of the ones with black tips - a lot of these have been mislab
elled, and they're actually plastic that will melt. The white ones are all fine
though - all are non conductive ceramic.
5/ Either one of those blue jet lighters, or a chef's/hobby butane torch. These
can be had for a few dollars on eBay or even in your local dollar store if you g
et lucky. If pushed, a regular lighter will work to heat the coil, but it's a sm
okey flame that may initially taint your vape. If you use one, I suggest pressin
g your coil in your tweezers, heating it, and then quenching it in water. That s
hould slough off most of the carbon/naphtha/butane/Chanel number five/whatever y
ou power your lighter with, residue.
6/ Precision side snip wire cutters. Lots of people use nail clippers, but for t
he few extra bucks, it's worth buying a nice pair. You'll be using them a lot, s
o don't skimp here as they will make your life easier. Take a look on eBay for c
uticle cutters. Those are tougher than most nail clippers, cheap, and have small
er jaws than precision snips. They cut anything down to about 24g very easily, t
hough for thicker gauges, try looking for the pairs with longer handles to incre
ase the mechanical advantage. If you're feeling spendy, look for blue handled Pl
ato, or orange/yellow handled Piergiancomi precision snips. They will set you ba
ck about twenty bucks, but will last a lifetime. If all you have are dollar stor
e snips or nail clippers, then don't sweat it - they'll work. Personally I use c
uticle cutters, but only use 26g. I also have a set of Piergiancomi, and they're
definitely worth the money. Plus they haven't been cloned like the Plato snips
- if they're $5 on eBay, they're most likely fakes.
7/ Small sharp scissors. Look for surgical or even fishing scissors. You want th
em small so you can make precise cuts in small spaces, and not end up leaving a
few straggly bits of wick attached after the cut. No need to go mad on cost, but
I've found that fishing scissors are the cheapest and most effective.
8/ Kanthal. This is resistance wire, and will be what you make your coil from. '
Any old wire' will not work, and can actually be harmful - using copper or galva
nised wire can have major negative health impacts. I'd suggest buying 26-28g to
get started with as it's the easiest to work for a new builder. Some stores will
try and charge you anything up to two dollars PER FOOT!! Buy it on Fast Tech, e
Bay, Amazon, or from an online specialist, and you'll get the same thing for $5-
7 per 100' roll - which will last ages. The more you use per coil, the higher th
e resistance. The thicker it is, the lower the resistance. If you build a dual c
oil once you're more proficient, you half the resistance. There are other brands
/formulations of wire available, but for now, just buy some good old Kanthal, un
less you're delving straight into temperature control, as that will require Ni20
0 (99% pure nickel wire), Titanium, or stainless steel if your device supports t
hem. You might also like to try nichrome 80, which has a faster ramp up time, lo
wer overall resistance, but some find it adds a slight metallic taste. I use the
 N80 sold here at FT, and have no issues with it at all. Avoid any 'go faster' w
ires like Haywire, Royals, Gplat, etc. as they're expensive and their benefit i
s deeply questionable in my opinion. Better still, snag a foot or so from a bene
ficent buddy, and try it for yourself once you're more experienced with basic bu
ilds - it might work for you once you've set a baseline of what does and doesn't
work for you with Kanthal.
9/ Wicking material. There are literally dozens of options, but to start with, g
et regular cotton wool from the store. Accepted wisdom is that organic is better
, but at this stage don't sweat it - and never, ever boil it. DO NOT BUY MAGIC V
APE COTTON. Cotton Bacon, Koga, etc are all horrendous cons, and are just anoth
er material repackaged and marked up by 5000% because sadly, a lot of vapers are
dumb as a stump. If you want a really good wick, buy Muji cotton pads direct fr
om your local Muji store or the Muji website. In the UK people on eBay charge 2 fo
r five sheets of the stuff, whilst Muji UK sell it for 2 for 140 pads. Koh Gen Do,
Sheishiedo, and Puffs are other brands highly regarded by vapers, and can be ha
d pretty cheaply from swankier cosmetics departments. Essentially they're all un
bleached (or lightly bleached) organic Japanese cotton.
10/ If you haven't already got precision screwdrivers to wrap around, buy a chea
p set anyway. Don't go mad, just snag the same old silver metal handled watchmak
er's screwdrivers with the twisty bit on the top, that have been sold in markets
around the world for decades.
11/ Copper anti seize grease, and self adhesive copper tape. OK, you don't NEED
these, but they're both good to have around. Use the grease on threads and insid
e switches, and the copper tape is to vapers what duct tape is to.....well......
everyone else really. You can repair stripped threads, line mods with it to redu
ce voltage drop, make contacts and top caps less likely to unscrew. I'll cover t
his in a separate document, but for the sake of a few dollars, they're worth hav
ing handy. The copper grease is sold in auto stores to stop brake pads squealing
, and the tape is found in craft stores or even garden centres where it's sold a
s 'slug tape'.
If you haven't discovered www.FastTech.com already, the following SKUs would mak
e up an excellent beginners' kit, which contains everything you'll need other th
an your mod, atty, and batteries. In reality, the only specialist item you need
to buy is an ohm meter, though if you have your own multimeter capable of measur
ing low ohms accurately (and assuming you know how to use it correctly) that wil
l work.
Torch SKU1166700
Coil jig SKU2049902
METER SKU2370600
Wire cutters SKU2389902
Screwdriver SKU2316901
Cotton SKU2126500
Wire SKU2221000
Tweezers SKU2316912
Silica wick SKU1680401
Charger SKU2410700
Scissors SKU1444508
Atomiser stand SKU1579700
There, that wasn't too painful, was it? Next let's look at the devices (your 'ri
g' - a combination of atomiser or 'atty' plus your 'mod' which houses the batter
y) you're going to be vaping with:

Mods:
These will either be 'regulated' (variable watt, variable voltage, temperature c
ontrol, or a combination of those) or 'mechanical' (a 'mech'). Regulated means
that there's a circuit allowing you to change your voltage/watts/maximum operati
ng temperature, so you can adjust the heat and quantity of your vape. Some boost
/kick your current (so you can use a 4.2v battery, but the output may be 6v), wh
ilst others that use batteries in series and buck/dump your current (so you can
use two 4.2v batteries in series to get 8.4v, but decrease that to say 3.5v if y
ou so wish) - many do both. These devices often come with loads of different add
ed features such as reverse polarity protection, over charge/discharge protectio
n, and nifty little screens telling you everything from the date to what resista
nce your coil is. Pretty neat, huh? Mechs on the other hand don't even have wire
s - they're basically a metal tube with a momentary switch on one end, and a thr
eaded cap at the other into which you screw your atty. Therefore they push whate
ver your battery can deliver depending on charge - so usually 3.5-4.2v depending
how drained it is. This means that unlike a regulated device, your vape will le
ssen as the battery discharges, whilst a regulated device will deliver the volta
ge you select until the battery dips below that level. Oh, and the battery goes
in the middle, normally with the positive end facing the cap, but check the inst
ructions with regulated devices, as those may differ. Speaking of batteries....

Battery Choice:
Don't skimp on batteries. Most devices take an 18650 cell, which you often see i
n high end torches, so we will use those as our example. Batteries are rated wit
h a capacity (mah) and amperage, and the two are interrelated. High capacity bat
teries (3000-5000mah) tend to be low drain (3-10a), and high drain batteries (20
-30a) tend to be low capacity (1800-3000mah). Whilst high capacity sounds like a
good thing, we vapers can put our cells through torture, so the amp rating is w
hat we want to focus on. In overly simplistic terms terms, the higher the ampera
ge, the harder they work, and the more resilient they are to heavy use. All of w
hich depends on ohms law......

Ohm's Law:
This is the fundamental of safe vaping, and is expressed as V=IR, where V is vol
tage, I is amps (A was taken), and R is resistance. Naturally this can be flippe
d around as you please to work out other factors so I=V/R, which is what matters
here. So, if you have a battery which is pushing 4.2v, and divide that by your
1ohm coil, you are drawing 4.2A. Sure, you can get away with using a very weedy
battery for that, but once you get more advanced, you'll soon find that even 30a
isn't enough, which gets us into the difference between continuous and pulsed r
atings, but that'll wait for another day. The bottom line is to buy good cells s
uch as the Sony VTC range of 30a batteries, or similarly rated cells from LG, Sa
msung, etc.

Battery Chemistry:
There are loads of different types of batteries, but let's focus on the two main
ones you'll come across - IMR and ICR. ICR cells are often but not always 'prot
ected' cells, and therefore contain a small circuit in them like a tiny regulate
d mod. This prevents over and under charging, and SHOULD prevent them going the
rmal and venting (in layman's terms - *BOOM*). Whilst that sounds good, it shoul
d be said that the circuits are not what one would call reliable. Plus ICR is no
t 'safe chemistry', which means that if they do go south on you, it can be excit
ing - as in 'short-stainingly can someone please drive me to the nearest emergen
cy room?' exciting. Also, even if they just vent quietly, what they vent is real
ly quite toxic. Remember that you will be holding this in your hand and a couple
of inches from your face when this happens. IMR on the other hand usually have
no protection. Overcharge them; they die. Let them run down flat; they die. Push
them beyond their limits; death plus venting. However, an IMR venting is far le
ss dramatic, and doesn't fart toxic gas in your face. Just to be clear, you've g
ot to work very hard to make a battery vent, but the more precautions you take,
the less likely it is to happen. Why save a couple of bucks on your safety when
for a little extra you can buy top of the line batteries? Even if you never go h
ugely sub ohm, they will usually survive more duty cycles (times they can be cha
rged and recharged), and having all that headroom gives you loads of latitude an
d will forgive an unchecked error. We all make mistakes, but try not to do it wi
th a battery that turns your mod into a pipe bomb.
In conclusion, buy good high drain batteries and an intelligent charger that wil
l look after them for you. I recommend the Nitecore i2/i4, Luc V2/V4, and Xtar V
C2/4 (the numbers designate how many batteries the models take), as they're wide
ly accepted as being about equal when you take into consideration the price poin
t. Nitecores are less flashy and a bit slower than the Lucs (avoid the Nitecore
D series, as it's just an i series with a screen), but cheaper as a result. I pe
rsonally favour the new Xtar VC4 and their MC1+ as a handy single cell unit for
backup and travelling. I have chargers from all three companies, and I'm happy t
o endorse them - they're excellent reliable devices. Cheaper chargers can lack p
rotection, and can overcharge cells if left unchecked - batteries tend to show t
heir displeasure at such treatment by venting/exploding/bursting into flames/com
bination of the above, so don't be a cheap ass. A more lengthy version of this s
ection of the guide, which goes into greater detail about battery safety, can be
be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4kwv948wqfgdpay/%23GUIDE%20-%20BATTERY
%20BASICS%20AND%20OHMS%20LAW.txt?dl=0

Mods with built in batteries:

With built in batteries v replaceable batteries, there's a number of largely eco
nomic factors that drive a new vaper's decision to go down this route, but it ma
y not pay out in the long run:
1/ Built in means no buying cells and chargers.
2/ Battery technology is good, but not perfect - they go wrong.
3/ If a device with a built in battery goes south outside of the warranty period
, you have to throw it away and buy a new one, or get the soldering iron out and
start learning about batteries and basic electronics pretty damned fast.
4/ If a battery dies in a mod that uses regular 18650s, swap it out for a spare
and keep vaping.
5/ Most vapers eventually upgrade from mods with built in batteries, to more pow
erful ones that demand often multiple high drain cells, so your cost saving move
could end up being an expensive paperweight. Two decent batteries and the cheap
est Xtar MP charger could hit you for twenty bucks, but it's twenty bucks well s
pent if it saves you tossing a whole regulated mod.
That said, it's all a matter of personal choice, and what works for you. I perso
nally won't buy a mod with built in batteries, but maybe it fits your needs. Jus
t be aware of the wider issues before spending your hard earned cash.

Atomisers:
Your choice of 'atty' is between drippers (RDA - rebuildable dripping atomiser)
and tanks (RTA or RBA, though 'Re Buildable Atomiser' technically refers to all
atties in which you apply your own coils). The latter is much like the protank y
ou're probably used to, and which holds a reservoir of juice; whilst drippers ha
ve a cap covering your coils and wicks, plus usually a small juice well. A tank
is convenient, but drippers are beloved of cloud chasers because they can be run
hotter and produce more vapor, though you need to drip juice onto the wicks reg
ularly whilst you vape. Most of us use both depending on what we're doing. When
it comes to choosing a dripper, look for something with airflow capable of addin
g enough resistance for 'mouth to lung' vaping (as in the way you're used to tak
ing in smoke), and a large open deck area. Don't get dragged into buying this we
ek's latest dripper, when a more simple one will help get you used to building,
and will cost you less. For tanks, I suggest the Taifun GT V2 - it's a joy to bu
ild on, and the flavour is excellent.
So, you've bought your mod, safely charged your high drain IMR batteries, and al
l you need to do is fit your wick and coil. The easiest way to explain this is v
isually, so I suggest you subscribe to the YouTube channels of Rip Trippers, Gri
m Green, and Twisted 420. All have everything from super easy to stupidly compli
cated builds, and half an hour with those guys will be more useful than me whitt
ering on here. However, I will give you a very basic aide memoire for you to ref
er back to.
1/ Work out your build using one of the apps I suggested. It will even tell you
how much wire you need, but always cut a bit more to start with. it's cheap, so
throwing away a couple of inches per coil is no big deal - better that than to s
truggle with screwing tiny legs of wire into your atty.
2/ Hold the wire in your tweezers, and run your torch or lighter over them quick
ly just to take some of the springiness out of it.
3/ Wind your coil around the mandrel as per the 'recipe' you app gave you. Keep
the wraps nice and close, and use as much pressure as you can so they're good an
d tight. Depending on the layout of your atomiser, you will need to ensure the e
nds are either on the same or different sides. when building for certain atomise
rs, it's even important to have the coil wrapped in the correct direction, and f
or two coils in a dual build to be mirrored. If you're using a three post drippe
r with the negative (outer) post holes lower than the hole or holes on the centr
al positive post, you will want the tails of your coil to be coming from the bot
tom where it attaches to the neg, and the top where it joins the post.
4/ Take your coil off the mandrel and it will most likely be quite gappy like a
spring. Press this spring in your tweezers firmly so it compresses evenly, but n
ot so hard that it collapses. When it's a nice even tube of wire, hit it with yo
ur torch or lighter until it glows red. Either let it cool, or quench it whilst
still firmly gripped. Your coil should now be gap free when you release your gri
p.
5/ Install it in your atty so only the ends of the wire touch the posts. There w
ill be 'legs' of wire between the posts/screws and the coil, and some excess or
'tails' coming out the other side. Snip off the tails as flush as you can. Make
sure the screws holding the wire are nice and tight, but not so tight they cut i
t.
6/ Check your build on your ohm tester. If you're a tenth of an ohm out, don't s
weat it. As long as your device will fire it safely, we won't worry about total
accuracy - that will come with time. If you're waaaaaaaaaay off, then check your
build thoroughly for errors, shorts, loose screws, etc.
7/ Fit the built deck of the atty onto your mod, and press the button until the
coil glows. TAKE YOUR FINGER OFF THE BUTTON and then use your tweezers to press
the coil together. Keep doing this until it glows evenly from the middle of the
coil first, and then spreads to the legs. If you have hot spots or uneven heatin
g, then keep working on pulsing and pressing the coil until it's as near to perf
ect as you can. NEVER USE METAL TWEEZERS ON A COIL THAT'S FIRING (that's where c
eramic tweezers come in handy). You should retest your build again, and observe
any change. A well pressed coil will often lose a tenth of a ohm, it just means
your wraps were a little spaced, and the extra pressing has sorted it out. As yo
u gather experience, your builds will become far more predictable - only worry a
bout 1/4ohm + differences for now, as you shouldn't be super sub ohm to start of
f with anyway.
8/ Wash your hands, and then take a 1-2" long piece of cotton wool. Thinner.....
.less than that.....no, still less.......nope, a little less. OK, that's about r
ight. Roll one end into a point and feed it through your coils. DO NOT TOUCH YOU
R COILS AND ONLY TOUCH THE ENDS OF YOUR WICKS OR YOUR VAPE WILL TASTE LIKE ASS F
OR THE FIRST FEW PULLS. Pull the cotton wool through gently. If it gets stuck an
d breaks, you're using took much. You should also grip the other end and twist i
t so it feeds more easily. Once your wick is centred, it should move easily but
not fall out.
9/ Trim you wicks, set them as per the needs of your chosen atty, and juice them
up.
10/ Reassemble, fill your tank if that's what you're using, and vape that sucker
. Your coil can last indefinitely with regular cleaning, but you should change y
our wicks often. Some do it daily, some leave them for weeks *yeurch*. If it's t
asting bad or not wicking well, just throw a new one in the existing coil, which
you should dry burn (remove the wick and pulse the coil like you did during the
build, in order to burn off any juice residue) first, repressing it and brushin
g off any carbon. A common complaint is a dry burning cotton taste. Surprisingly
, this is usually caused by burning cotton. Just throw in a new wick and you're
all good. Get into the habit of cleaning especially tank atties fairly often - I
soak mine in some booze while I make up a new build. Some can be stripped down,
whilst others like the Taifun have sealed inner chambers of mystery, and juice
can collect there causing gurgling and probably drip tip cooties.

Maintenance:
Despite being generally simple, your gear does need a degree of care. Whilst fin
ishes can be maintained with anything from a soft cloth to metal polish dependin
g on the material and surface treatment, you still need to ensure that threads a
re cleaned and then lubricated with copper grease, contacts are kept free of cor
rosion and spark erosion, atties are regularly stripped and cleaned with hot wat
er and detergent (make sure you rinse well, though I clean mine with rum, so any
residue is nommy), and battery wraps are patched up if they snag and tear. Batt
eries should also be kept well above 2.5v at all times, and stored so the termin
als don't accidentally touch anything conductive to complete the circuit. We oft
en see batteries that have gone thermal in someone's pocket because they touched
keys or even loose change. Buy soft silicone 'battery condoms' or small two cel
l cases if you're taking spares out with you. Also keep wicking material in seal
ed containers to ensure it doesn't pick up contaminants, and even check tools li
ke scissors, mandrels, and screwdrivers aren't dumping any dirt they've picked u
p into your build. Keep vape tools separate from others, and treat them more as
you would culinary implements - they are after all coming into contact with some
thing you inhale.
I'd also suggest that you're careful with your gear, and even invest in some sor
t of case for when it's not in use and being transported. I'm not one to get pri
ssy about scratches and dings - and mech mods at least are by nature pretty toug
h - but they can still have stupidly annoying things go wrong if you're not care
ful. Dropping a mod on the switch can shatter magnets if it has them, or shunt t
he lock ring off it's thread. Whilst the former is a pain, it's cheaply fixed wi
th new magnets; but the latter can be the death knell for a clone, as it will of
ten be beyond financially viable repair. That's not to say that clones are more
prone to damage - far from it. Drop an authentic and the same can happen just as
easily, and leave you facing a $60 repair to save a $300 device. With a $20 clo
ne, you just throw it away and buy a new one.
Conclusion:
So there you go - a concise overview of the basics, which hopefully are easy to
follow, and should see you on your way to vape nirvana. Hopefully it's nothing t
oo scary, as it's all pretty easy stuff. Always remember that your fellow Fastte
chians have your back.
Nymza Vril 2014