Let’s talk about mechs!   Mech mods are increasingly popular, more widely available and cheaper than ever before.  Whether a simple tube mod or a mech squonker, they come with inherent safety risks and if you’re considering your first mech purchase, you need to be aware of these risks and how to mitigate them in order to vape as safely as possible.

What is a Mech Mod?

A mech mod, or mechanical mod, is a device without any circuitry.  Traditionally, mechs were a simple metal tube with a firing button.  A battery in placed inside the mech and an atomiser (RDA/RTA/RDTA) is attached to the top.  When the button is pressed, the firing pin makes contact with the battery and creates a circuit with the atomiser, causing the coil(s) to heat up and vaporise the juice.  They are electronically simple and without the proper knowledge can be dangerous.

These days, Mechs come in all shapes and sizes.  The traditional tube mechs are still very popular, particularly with vapers who appreciate their sleek lines and minimal look.  Mech box mods run on two batteries in either parallel or series configuration, providing the user with either longer running time or more power.  Squonking has recently taken the vaping world by storm and mech squonkers generally run on a single battery, with a similar form to a small mech box mod allowing room for the squonk bottle to sit inside next to the battery.

Hybrid Connectors

Some mech mods have what is known as a hybrid connector, these have a 510 connection without a positive centre pin.  Using a hybrid connector safely requires an atomiser with an extended positive centre pin connection.  The extended positive contact on the atomiser touches the positive end of the battery, completing the circuit.  Using an improper atomiser can have disastrous consequences by creating a hard short.   If in doubt, please ask if your atomiser is suitable for use with a hybrid connector.

Are Mech Mods Safe?

Any device powered by a lithium battery (including mobile phones and laptops) can’t be said to be 100% safe given the amount of energy stored in what is a comparatively small battery.  Regulated mods are generally safer than mechanical mods due to their inbuilt safety features that protect against faults such as short circuits.

Short circuits and other faults can be caused by coil building issues, worn insulators or incompatibility between mod and atomiser.  They cause the batteries to discharge at speed, resulting in them heating up so much that they vent and ignite.  If the vent gases can’t escape, pressure builds and explosion is also a possibility.  A good quality mechanical mod should have adequate ventilation for pressure release if the worst should happen.

Which Batteries should I use?

Choose the right type of battery.  Good quality IMR (Lithium Manganese Oxide) battery or INR (Lithium Manganese Nickel) batteries are the best choices, due to the battery chemistry being less volatile than ICR (Lithium Cobalt Oxide) batteries.

Don't buy cheap when it comes to batteries - it's not worth the risk to the safety of you and those around you, to save a relatively small amount of money.  You will also need to keep a close eye on the wraps and insulators on your batteries.   If these get damaged, they will need replacing.  Re-wrapping batteries is a very easy job and can prevent shorts.  If your battery wraps are damaged, stop using them until you are able to re-wrap them.

A good quality battery charger is also crucial.  A poor quality charger can over-charge a battery, making it unstable and greatly increasing the chance of batteries overheating or venting when they are used.

A fully charged IMR battery should be somewhere between 4.15 and 4.20 volts.  Much above that (4.25V) and its life will be shortened and instability becomes a concern.

Regulated mods have built in protection that will prevent your device from working if your batteries are too flat.  A mech does not have this protection and will run the battery until it is absolutely flat, which is very bad for lithium batteries.  You will be able to tell when your battery voltage is running low due to a substantial decrease in vapour production.   For the best experience, recharging at, or above, 3.6V is advised.   It is always a good idea to err on the side of caution, particularly until you are used to judging your batteries charge by the loss of power, so removing the battery and checking it’s voltage in your battery charger regularly is advised.

What resistance should my build be?

It is very important that you don’t try to make your battery work harder than it is capable of.  Your battery will have an Amp rating and you need to make sure that the resistance of your atomiser will not try to draw more power than your battery is designed to provide.   This is where Ohm’s Law comes into play.   A good understanding of Ohm’s Law is essential to safety when using mech mods.   The chart below shows the power provided and amp draw that various resistances will pull from your battery at various voltages.

Please note, the above table does not take into account dual battery mods with the batteries in series configuration.  If you have a dual battery series mech, we would recommend that you make yourself very familiar with both ohm’s law and Steam Engine

A resistance tester or a good quality regulated mod is essential for testing the resistance of your build before you use it with your mech mod to ensure that; not only is the resistance suitable for your battery, but also that there are no shorts (usually due to part of the coil touching part of the atomiser.   Always check once the atomiser is fully assembled.

This is by no means an exhaustive safety checklist, but by following the principles in this guide you’ll have a solid foundation for mech safety to build from.  If you’re ever unsure, please get in touch with us - our team are always happy to help with any safety concerns.