Mod Box Guide

Terms, features & horribilities explained

What's a Mod Box?

What Mods Are Recommended

How Do I Connect My Tank To My Mod?

Podmods (👎 if a 510 Adaptor unavailable)

What's a "Mech Mod" 👎

What's a "Boro Mod" 👎

What's a Squonk Mod

Modes Of Operation

Inaccuracies: Dialled-in vs Actual Wattages

Batteries For Mods

What's a Mod Box?

It's simply a device which provides electrical power for the heating coil(s) in an attached tank. So with a modern regulated mod (i.e. one that can be set by Wattage) you connect your tank to the mod, dial in your chosen Wattage (heating power is measured in Watts). And when activated, the mod attempts to drive the coil(s) at this Wattage.

What Mods Are Recommended

My personal favourite is the Original Geekvape Aegis Solo, which (as of March 2025) is still easily available via UK Ebay. We also have happy users of the Geekvape S100, Lost Vape Thelema Quest/Grus models, besides more expensive DNA mods such as the Thelema Solo DNA, Geekvape Z100C etc. In theory, almost any regulated mod with a 510 connector and capable of delivering 40W or more will suffice. However we've had issues reported with Vaporesso Gen models as well as the Thelema Mini, plus a lack of feedback from Smok models, plus it's apparent there can be significant differences of actual Wattage supplied by different models when set identically (explained below).

How Do I Connect My Tank To My Mod?

Your tanks screws onto the top of your mod using the standard "510" electrical connector. This is a MF7 (Metric Fine) thread with 0.5mm pitch. Tanks have the male end & mods have the female with a central sprung electrode. If yours doesn't have this connector then it may be a "PodMod" 😬

The standard "510" connector. Avoid mods which have anything different to this

Podmods (👎 if a 510 Adaptor unavailable)

Podmods can be very similar to standard mods, but have proprietary connectors that only connect to manufacturer-specific tanks (or "Pods"), which are generally non-rebuildable. The proprietary connector greatly restricts tank choice, with the only advantage that many have a magnetic catch instead of a screw, so they're a little quicker to change. On some podmods, a 510 adaptor is available which should allow attachment of standard tanks, but if not then I suggest avoiding.

What's a "Mech Mod" 👎

These consist of only an internal battery, switch and 510 connector. So the tank/coils will be fed directly from the battery without any kind of regulation or safety features, and the lack of a microcontroller means no error messages, no Wattage control etc. Wattage adjustment can take place only by using coils of a known resistance. IMO these devices have no place in Dimitri vaping, avoid at all costs.

What's a "Boro Mod" 👎

These use the Boro Tank System instead of the usual 510 thread connection. They're basically a tank & mod combined into one unit, appearing to be designed for cosmetic appeal alone, often with little attention paid to ease of setup and vape performance. Google them if you wish, but despite the often hysterical hype and (I suspect) paid influencer praise, I do not recommend these for reasons of cost, compatibility, proprietary connections, limited choice of hardware, and small internal size.

Geekvape E100i "podmod" with proprietary tank connector. A 510 adaptor is available but bizarrely only allows the tank "pod" to be connected to standard 510 mods, not the E100i mod to standard 510 tanks - totally absurd. Geekvape, what on Earth were you thinking?

What's a Squonk Mod

"Squonking" is a way of feeding juice to an atomiser's wick, originally sold as an alternative to manual drip feeding. Squonk mods contain an in-built refillable squeezy (e.g. silicone) juice bottle, which has attached tubes which lead upto the mod's 510 connector.

When juice feed is required, the user manually squeezes the mod (which has a cutout to expose the bottle body), which causes juice to pass via the tube, through a centre hole in the mod's 510, into the lower side of the attached atomiser's juice wells. Of course, the atomiser (normally an RDA) must also be squonk-compatible (or converted using a supplied BF (Bottle Feed) 510 pin).

I've never tried squonking for dimitri. I can certainly envisage certain disadvantages but it might be something to investigate in the future if RTAs (which effectively work as automatic juice feed devices) become unobtainable. Update - I'm currently testing a Vandy Vape Pulse 3 squonk mod with a Dead Rabbit V3 RDA

The classic Geekvape Aegis "squonk" with its included squonk bottle.

Modes Of Operation

There's many different modes with varying degree of usefulness. Gimmickery, ludicrous claims, & confusion are common, with often with barely a mention in the user manual. Here are a few you may encounter

👍 Power (Variable Wattage) mode The main mode I use. Desired Wattage (heating power) is dialled in by the user, and upon pressing the "Fire" button the mod attempts to drive your coils/tank at this Wattage.
Boost, Preheat, Turbo On many mods, this is a Power mode sub-option, settable as hard/normal/soft. Typically introduces a Wattage overshoot for the ½ second or so of the fire cycle, supposedly for a quicker coil warmup. Manufacturers seldom provide information on their exact operation, so if you wish to manipulate your wattage ramp up times, I suggest instead considering VPC mode as descibed below.

The pic shows the minor differences between soft/normal/hard Boost on a Lost Vape Thelema Solo Quest on a 5.5 sec fire cycle. Shows a tiny overshoot for the first ~500ms plus a slightly increased steady-state firing Voltage on the Normal and Hard setting, but I can't believe anyone would notice in a blind test.

👍 VPC (Variable Power Curve or Wattage Curve) Allows preset Wattage levels to be set up at intervals during the fire cycle. Intervals can be mod-dependent but normally full or ½ seconds, with the final level applied for any remaining firing time. So say if a mod has five 1 second VPC Wattage levels, then first four are used for the first 4 seconds, and the 5th applied for the remainder until the fire cycle ends.
For example, setting VPC powers to 5, 35, 10, 25, and 5. When the fire button is held down, the mod acts as follows...

- From start to 1st second: 5W, rising to 35W

-1st to 2nd second: 35W falling to 10W

-2nd to 3rd second: 10W rising to 25W

-3rd to 4th second: 25W falling to 5W

-4th second to end of cycle: 5W

The above is just a demo. VPC can be used to speed coil heatup by raising the Wattage above the intended vaping power for the first second or half-second (if allowable).

Temperature Control (TC-SS, TC-TCR, etc) I no longer use/recommend for Dimitri. Introduced as a revolutionary innovation, but only works reliably in virtually perfect conditions even when the correct kit is used and correct procedure is followed (it's not a simple set and forget). Aims to heat the coil to specific temperatures using natural increases in electrical resistance (as the wire get hotter) to calculate temperature. Many mods have TC mode, but experience shows that few are capable of accurate performance. And even with top tier mods, and observing correct procedures (coil resets, confidence checking, and using TC-compatible wires, perfect internal connections etc) even slight extraneous resistances can totally screw up the TC algorithm.
👎 Bypass Almost useless for Dimitri vaping. Simulates a "mech mod" (but retaining short circuit/over-current protection) in that it can apply almost full battery Voltage to the coil. Actual Wattage (power) will depend upon the coil's resistance (and possibly the state of battery charge), but could be much higher than you'd dial in yourself. Exact action can be mod-dependent, e.g. the Geekvape L200 manual says it "supplies a constant 4.15V", which for a 0.3Ω coil equates to a hefty V² /R = 57.4W.
👎 Smart Mode (Auto Coil Detection) Again, useless in Dimitri vaping. When set, the mod claims to "select the best Wattage for your coil automatically". Basically, it measures coil resistance and the lower it is, the higher the Wattage will be selected and vice-versa. This lower resistance = higher power might have a rough correlation for non-rebuildable coils of the same construction type, but the Wattages will be intended for nicotine vaping, not Dimitri (which tend to be much lower). Furthermore, this already unsafe assumption goes straight down the toilet for rebuildable tanks.
👍 RBA (DIY, Custom) Mode Select this mode if your mod has it, and it probably will if it also has a "Smart Mode". RBA mode basically disables the "Smart" function, fully allowing the Wattage to be set manually, making your mod act as a normal wattage-settable device without "help".
Voltage Mode I've seen much misinformation but in short, use Power mode instead. Recall that Wattage is the only unit for heating power (Watts= Joules per second). Voltage acts as electrical force needed to push sufficient charge through your coil's resistance to generate that Wattage. The only practical useage I can think of is for driving atomisers from "dumber" Voltage-settable devices like cart/APX Volt atomiser etc. However the Voltage to Wattage conversion is so simple it's hardly worth the menu space. Volts = √ (Power in Watts x resistance in Ω)
Eco Mode Almost certainly a useless illusionary marketing gimmick. Very difficult to get info on exactly what this does on various mods. One possibility may be to output less power when the battery falls below a threshold charge level, or more gradual ramp-up times. But whatever, IMO unnecessary bloatware
Pulse Mode Again, almost impossible to obtain reliable detailed info on exactly how this mode drives coils, so I suspect another "placebo mode". Sure I've read all the marketing drivel, but without actually buying and metering a mod that has it, who knows. For now, I'll assume it's almost certainly yet another useless gimmick to feed down to paid influencers/utube chains, etc that gush biassed praise (or at least avoid realistic criticism for such trashy features) in exchange for complimentary products.

Inaccuracies: Dialled-in vs Actual Wattages

In short, be aware that Wattage settings cannot be regarded as seamlessly portable between different mod models/firmware, and can produce significantly different outputs, even with the same settings/conditions. An also - actual vs true Wattage can also vary significantly. I've encountered the following issues so far.

Internal resistance The Original Geekvape Solo appears to provide a correction factor for this, but others aseem to produce theoretical Wattages based upon an assumption of zero ohms internal resistance. I'm still reseaching this, and will update when more is known.
Wattage Calculated For Cold Coil Resistance (See graph) Affects only coil materials that increase resistance with temperature (e.g. Stainless Steel & Ni200, but Kanthal A1 is OK, as is Ni80 as its resistance increase with temp is minimal). During a fire cycle, mods should continuously measure resistance & use this value to make small corrections to maintain desired Wattage. However, some mods only do this only at the very start of the fire cycle when the coil is still cold, which results in an uncorrected drop in power as the coil heats up. So far I've seen this affecting Geekvape Z50, and Thelema Solo Quest, but suspect many others also have this flaw. There are a few workarounds, perhaps the easiest is to use Kanthal or Ni80 coils.

Proven workaround options for using stainless steel coils with Z50 and Thelema Solo Quest include one of these...

- Use Kanthal or Ni80 coils instead, but not SS316L or Ni200 (quite rare anyway)
- Just live with the power reduction with temperature (graph above)
- Once the coil is upto temperature, quickly release, then immediately re-press/hold the fire button
- Reset coil, set to "Ni" mode (or TC-TCR with TCR set to its max value), and use "Watts" in this mode to set the Wattage you wish to use

Battery Condition/Charge state Be aware some mods silently reduce your selected power (to prevent a low battery cutout) without you knowing (e.g Original Solo). This can happen with a low charge or worn-out cells, and can be indicated on the display (i.e. out of sight when toking). Other mods can either perform more limited throttling or simply cut out with a "low battery" message if the battery Voltage falls to <3V during a toke.
Unexplained Differences As well as the above, some mods just seem to have as yet unexplained anomalies with power delivery (e.g. L200). The motto here with any mod - treat the Wattage setting/reading only as a very rough guide.

Different brightnesses showing wide variance in actual power delivered to the mesh, despite same Wattage setting. All set to 25W, 6.0 secs into fire cycle. Mesh SS316L 39x10mm.

Batteries For Mods

I published a video about vape batteries. However in short, go for branded genuine unprotected flat top cells from a reputable vendor. A Continuous Discharge Rating (CDR) of 15A or greater is highly recommended. The 18650 and larger 21700 li-ion cells are most common in vapes, and many 21700 mods include an adaptor so that 18650s can be used. Don't be spooked if a text on your cell says not to use for vapes, this is just a liability transfer to you. Despite unbiquitous claims to the contrary, there will generally be no need for external chargers unless you specifically want one.

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