{"id":1041,"date":"2010-10-05T16:06:28","date_gmt":"2010-10-05T20:06:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vapingguides.com\/blog\/?page_id=1041"},"modified":"2011-09-03T16:08:14","modified_gmt":"2011-09-03T20:08:14","slug":"wwv-part-v-page-4","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/vapingguides.com\/blog\/archives\/the-wonderful-world-of-vapingan-illustrated-guide-to-e-cigs\/wwv-part-v-%e2%80%93-buying-your-first-e-cigbig-guys-and-juice\/wwv-part-v-page-4\/","title":{"rendered":"
WWV Part V (page 4)<\/em><\/center>"},"content":{"rendered":"

DaBoomVape’s Buyers Guide to…<\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n

7. The Mods<\/h3>\n

If you would like to puff for a long <\/em>time<\/strong> between battery charges and\/or want maximum <\/em>vapor<\/strong> and throat hit<\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2026(and don\u2019t care if it doesn\u2019t look anything like a cigarette…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Clockwise from upper left: Copper<\/em><\/a>, AdapteveR<\/em>, Bulli<\/em>, Zimoshi <\/em>(not to scale)<\/p>\n

…and <\/strong>are willing and able to invest more money upfront), then one of the Mods <\/strong>is for you. [I don’t <\/em>recommend them as a first e-cig, however. They can be wonderful to evolve to, perhaps even quickly. I got my first mod after one month of vaping.]<\/p>\n

These all have a manual <\/strong>switch. Mods can cost 2-6<\/strong> times as much as a standard e-cig, but (the battery housing) can last for years<\/strong>, rather than weeks or months.<\/p>\n

[NOTE: The term, ‘mod’, is also used to describe modifications to other parts of personal vaporizers (e.g., carts, attys, mouthpieces, and cosmetic) and to hobbyist creations. Those are covered in Part VI. Here we are concerned with electronic cigarette battery <\/strong>mods available for purchase <\/em>(e.g., for lazy and\/or thumb-fingered vapers like me \ud83d\ude09 ).]<\/p>\n

CAUTION:<\/span><\/h4>\n

As we have previously mentioned, these electronic cigarette battery mods are housings for generic batteries … and some batteries are safer to use than others. It is strongly recommended that you use only “protected<\/strong>” batteries in your mod. Such protection can be in the form of a PCB <\/em>(printed circuit board) built into the battery and\/or the battery’s chemistry <\/em>(e.g., LiFePO4 or LiMN is safer than Li-Ion).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Also ensure that safety features such as venting <\/em>are built into the mod itself … especially if you will be stacking <\/em>batteries (which increases risk). Some manufacturers\/suppliers (e.g., AltSmoke<\/a>) explicitly warn customers against <\/em>stacking batteries in their mods. Unfortunately, many vapers ignore this warning and\/or use unprotected batteries. Fortunately, most have not had problems, but accidents do happen and there have been a couple serious ones.<\/p>\n

Myriad Choices<\/h4>\n

Unlike the electronic cigarette models in the preceding categories, most commercial battery mods are not mass produced, but are handmade in the modder’s workshop (e.g., kitchen table or basement) or manufactured in small production runs. So not nearly as many units of any one model, but in the intervening year since I wrote version one of this guide \u2013 and more than any other category \u2013 there has been an explosion <\/strong>in the number of models to choose from. There are now over a hundred<\/strong> … many with capabilities only dreamed of a year ago.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, I don’t have to enumerate all of them here (although I did wind up covering most). ViZi has already done that in his incomparable illustrated database of mods: Ecigarette-Mods.com<\/strong><\/a>. His database is to electronic cigarette mods (including fat batts) what I hope my own guide is to the world of vaping. [Also explore youtubecommercial’s A Side-By-Side Comparison of e-cigs and Mods<\/a> (and her updated post<\/a>) on ECF<\/acronym> for photos and descriptions (with links) of her vast <\/em>collection of PVs.]<\/p>\n

What I will do here (on this and the next two pages)\u00a0\u2013 in narrative form\u00a0\u2013 is offer seven parameters <\/em>to use when selecting among electronic cigarette mods and provide examples (including up-to-date prices and links to relevant suppliers) with, of course, lots of photos.<\/p>\n

Parameters<\/h4>\n

Mods can be categorized by:<\/p>\n

1. Shape<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

2. Size<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

3. Voltage<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

4. mAh <\/a>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

5. Juice-fed<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

6. Switch<\/a> <\/em>(position and feel)<\/p>\n

7. Price<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Also on that last page of this Mods section is a Mods Wrap-up<\/em><\/a> \u2013 providing suggestions for putting this all together when making a purchasing decision.<\/p>\n

Shape<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

There are three basic shapes: tube<\/a>, box<\/a>, and…weird. I’ve provided links to the relevant section of ViZi’s guide for the first two. [ViZi’s third grouping, “Custom<\/a>,” is what I have called “Fat Batts,” covered on the previous page<\/a>.]<\/p>\n