Modified Electronic Cigarettes

In the world of the personal vaporizer - or e-cig - a Mod (or Modified Electronic Cigarette) is a modification of an existing product or, most commonly, a PV that retains the fundamental operating principles of atomized juice, but has little in common, appearance wise, with a conventional tobacco cigarette.

Mods may be commercially produced and sold - such as those listed at the E-Cig Mods Database - or assembled by hobbyists from widely available components. The object of the mod is to improve the vaping experience to the user's satisfaction.

Mods can generally fall in to one of two types:

1. The Box Mod is usually built into a small, rectangular, plastic or wooden box. This box contains the batteries and, increasingly, a juice reservoir. Well known box-types include the Boge Revolution (and Revolution II), the Reo Mini and Reo Grand.

2. The Tube Type Mod is, as the name implies, a metal cylinder - sizes range from 3" to 6" (7cm to 15cm) - that contains batteries, a power regulation device and the activation button. Well known tube-types include the Golden Greek, The Copper and the Sparkplug SP2.

Mods can also be subdivided by their control type.

• Mechanical mods feature no electronics, and have a simple pushbutton to activate the atomizer. These types should use protected batteries.
• Electronic mods have some kind of power regulation (such as a solid-state power regulator chip) to control the voltage reaching the atomizer. This may allow for a more consistent operation as the batteries lose their charge and supply voltage begins to fall.
• Variable voltage mods allow the user to adjust the battery voltage reaching the atomizer to optimize the vapor production, throat hit, and user experience.

Controversy and dangers

In early mid 2009 in this ECF post, and 2010 in this one, users were made aware of a couple of incidences in which injury had been caused by the explosion of batteries in mods. Many mods are fully contained with no ventilation, and exploding batteries can be dangerous if they cause the (typically metal) casing to rupture. Some manufacturers have added ventilation holes to counter this danger, but to what degree this would mitigate the explosive dangers caused by unprotected batteries is currently unknown.

Users have been advised only to use protected batteries in mods, as these are less likely to explode under electrical shorting conditions. However, this is not a panacea, and other factors may come into play regarding the safety of an individual mod as described in this ECF post.