Let's Talk Temp Control

[Bebop]

Wow.  I have so much to say about this. I'm brand new to temp control so you pros bear with me, lol.

I built a 3mm macro coil of 28g Ni200 on my ST mini targeting .16 ohms. I used Trippers "pancake" method of wicking - I've seen you guys describe this before but you used another name, I forget. Anyway, it's where you pick and fluff your bow tie so your coil ends up looking somewhat like a yo-yo with the edges of the "pancake" just touching the deck. I'm using the mini Invader loaded with efest 2800 mah 35 A 18650.

Ive been vaping my ### off on it for 3 days, lol. The vapor production and flavor is stellar. I pretty much kept the temp control at 450* and I haven't really experimented with that as I wanted a baseline - I'm a little more interested in flavor and coil longevity at this time. The ample vapor is a bonus, lol. I even found myself making tornados just because I could.  

HAfter 3 days and consistent vapor production and flavor with virtually no drop off of either, tonight I pulled the tank apart and inspected the coil. I was shocked.  It was practically pristine!  No coil gunk. The wick looked clean, no sign of scorching, no black gunk. It easily slid out of the coil and the whole wick was clean and uniform and juicy.  Amazing.  Granted it had only been 3 days and I was probably on the low end of the heat band at 450* but yikes, I ran about somewhere around 12 or 15 mls of juice through her, roughly 3 tanks.  I am pleased.

the reason I think 450* is probably low is the coil would ramp up to 450* pretty quickly and then bounce off the temp and hold it pretty consistently.  If I chain vaped it heavily I noticed it seemed a little squelched. It would drop down to 5w or even less and I would get a little drop off in vapor.  But really only if I kept hitting it.  I suspect the coil would retain a lot of heat so a subsequent fire would rise to 450* pretty quickly.   I don't know if that's a characteristic of Ni200 or if it's any different than Kanthal A1.

I'll be playing around with this a bit more but I suspect I'm heading to target a slightly higher resistance and bumping up the temp limit some more.  Over all I'm really impressed with TC and this unit is performing very nicely. 

I'm curious to know what your set ups are? What temp limits you like? What are your experiences with it? Have you run in to any problems? Are there better tanks and wicking options that are better than others? 

What say you?  

[DragonGunner]

I'm just new myself to temp control so I'm not sure if I can offer any solid advise yet. I have found that my sweet spot for ohm is around .15. When it's .15 I usually set me temp control between 490-530 degrees. I get a very consistent and satisfying vape with these settings without my DNA40 board hitting temp control. I try to have settings that allow me to vape similar to a kanthal build. If it hits temp control I know the board is doing its job, but the drop offs due to temp control does not provide a fulfilling vape.

As far as tanks are concerned I have tried the original Lemo, and the Kanger subtank mini. I get better flavor with the Lemo but I personally find it more difficult to build on compared to the subtank. The subtank is very good though and I have probably vaped more with it than with the Lemo due to me finding it more difficult to build (it's not that difficult but the subtank is super easy to build on). Now that I have arrived back at work and have more time on my hands to experiment, I will try a Ni200 build on my new Zephyrus rta.

Like you though I am very pleased with temp control so far. I like the idea of not scorching my wick or getting any dry hits. It's a great experience. I have found that my coils have been gunking up a bit more with my juice as its a heavy VG desert flavor. I haven't done any dry burns on the ni200 wire as I've heard its not very safe, so if my coils get really gunked up I just put in a new rebuild. Usually every 3-6 days depending on how hard I have been vaping. I tend to destroy coils. 

I am interested to hear what other members experiences are as well.

[Bebop]

I am noticing that I get better flavor generally from a kanthal coil. The flavor and vapor are there with Ni200 but it's not as good as kanthal so far.

also, I read somewhere that you have to be consistent on the coil build with Ni200 in order for temp control to work properly. Either a contact coil with the coil loops touching or not touching at all which seems to be the case.  Any inconsistencies and the temp control goes a little bonky.

there is a slight but noticeable suppression on TC over kanthal. It's hard to describe. It's not bad but it just feels a little flat compared to kanthal. 

Still experimenting. I'm also gonna get the new Zephyrus tank as well. 

[DragonGunner]

Yeah Bebop. I also notice that the difference between the Kanthal vs the ni200 builds. I also feel that the kanthal tastes better, however I'm not sure if its just because that's all I've ever vaped before. Just doesn't feel like it hits as hard as the kanthal. More experiments will be coming up with pics of ni200 builds.

You are gonna have so much fun with the Zephyrus tank. I can't wait to hear your opinion.

[iQuit]

I am also relatively new to TC and very pleased with it. The first few days it was glued to my hand. lol
I am experimenting with different tanks and found that subtank mini is the easiest to build on. Lemo is good too but harder to build without replacing the screws. I searched for cheese head  screws locally but not able to find any that small, so I sourced them online. Kayfun V4 is a breeze but resistance change every time I top fill K4 ecause of the juice control.

Dual coil tanks are much harder for me. Not many tanks out there that can accomodate dual spaced 3mm ID Ni builds without touching the chimney, and I am too lazy to experiment with twisted wires... too soft for me to work it. 

RDAs are great with TC though. I can vape it bone dry, and switch flavors without re-wicking. Can't wait to get Velocity and Petri RDAs to play with, maybe even try dual coil build with them. It seems their decks are roomy enough for dual. For me, 400-410F at 28J with .12-.16 is my sweet spot. Anything higher and the driptip gets too hot for me.

Anyone else notice slightly longer battery life? 

Edited June 4, 2015 by iQuit

[Bebop]

Well the other thing I've noticed with TC is that airflow is super critical as well. TC loves lots of airflow which may be contributing to the flavor factor. How much air, how hard you pull, settings - all change the experience.  I suspect I've got a good learning curve on this ahead off me.  And trying different tanks may be a thing too. Every tank has it's little personality and some tanks may favor TC over others - I don't know yet - just speculating at this point.

This morning I took a great deal of care making my coil and positioning it and making it as perfect as I could - non ccontact , but tight and it's performing beautifully but still not quite "there" compared to kanthal.

 

Ive got the Zeph in my cart.

[jasonculp]

I am in the same boat as y'all.  I was going to really mess with it this past weekend, but life keeps happening.  It does seem to take a bit of messing around with.  I adjust my mod with every little change.  VG/PG ratio makes a big difference and like y'all said airflow.  I really love the vape after I get everything set the way I want it, but just filling the tank seems to change things and I have to adjust it again.  It is going to be another learning curve.

 

I am also finding that I get better flavor with Kanthal.

[cany]

Whats Kanthal??

 

[Bebop]

kanthal is short for kanthal A1 which is the standard wire used for building coils not temp controlled

[cany]

Got ya thanks Bebop

[iQuit]

I have not decided which is better tasting between Kanthal and Ni200 yet. It is harder for me to gauge since I use Joules and not really sure how that correlates to watts, and obviously the ohm difference. 

I think it may be dependent on the juice profile and settings? I just swapped tanks just now with same .12 build, used same settings but with a different juice, and it tasted muted. I uppded my Joules to 30 and bumped it 460F from 28J/400F, and was very impressed with the flavor.

Compared to the same juice on the same tank (subtank mini) with .5 kanthal @ 28-30 watts  tastes good too, but it seems I am vaping 2 different juices.  Some taste better with nickel wire but most taste better with kanthal regardless of settings 

[cany]

Im new to vaping and even newer to TC Im using a subtank mini with premade NI coils To me TC is a world of difference flavor, clouds so much better  Im so glad you guys talked me into it

[Jeffb]

What are some good temp control devices out there?

[jasonculp]

What are some good temp control devices out there?

​These are the ones I am looking at right now:

Vapor Shark rDNA (40W Version)  $130

Invader Mini 50W  $54.99

iPV4 100W Box Mod by Pioneer4You $79.99

YiHi SX Mini M Class $199

The new ipv mini, Evic-VT, and Sigelei 75 watt are all going to be out in the near future.

[Bebop]

Yes.  And I'm sure there is more to come. 

Rixter must have forgot about us.   I was hoping he'd chime in on this too.

I'm finding in general that TC does not tolerate any mistakes. I can't speak for factory premade Ni200 coils because I haven't used them.  On my KST mini, the RBA base center pin theads to the positive post base. Mine worked itself a little loose and I didnt catch it and my ohms reading was jumping all over the place until I figured it out.   I have a couple of design issues with the ST mini. 

1. The base piece that theads to the tank is the smallest, thinnest, piece of the base, isn't knurled and can be difficult to grab. The tendency to unscrew the airflow assembly, which is knurled before the base unscrews is something you only want to do once which leads to....

2. The airflow base if it unscrews and slips has spring and bearing assembly that pops out very easily. You only wanna do that once lol. The bearing is about as small as a gnats eyeball and if you lose that you lose that nice little click in your airflow settings. And reassembly it is not fun.

3. I kind of wish they did a reverse thread on the RBA sleeve that surrounds the coil. Sometimes when backing out the base, the coil sleeve unscrews first leaving the coil base in the tank. Once that happens you have to pull the coil base and start over. No biggie but a minor issue that could be solved with reverse threading.

I have most of these issues solved more or less now that I know what works well and how to avoid these issues but the reason I bring it up is the point that you should know your tank well as eliminating other issues only helps to make sure everything is optimized so TC works well.

[iQuit]

What are some good temp control devices out there?

SnowWolf 50W TC looks sexy. I just do not know anything about GX50 chip. It is not out yet but some are taking pre-orders for $99

​SnowWolf 50W - $109

Edited June 5, 2015 by iQuit

[DragonGunner]

Vaping a new ni200 coil. 9 wraps spaced with a 3mm ID on a Lemo. Set at 480 degrees at 35 watts. Not even close to hitting temp control (reaches about 445 degrees). Great vape. I just love the fact that I can finally take long hits and not worry about dry hits.

Edited June 5, 2015 by DragonGunner

[cany]

How do you guys know when you hit Temp control?

[Compenstine]

I need to revisit Temp control. I'm spoiled on Tiger coils and think I need to do some builds that give me the flavor I like yet allow me to do Temp control.

[cany]

I need to revisit Temp control. I'm spoiled on Tiger coils and think I need to do some builds that give me the flavor I like yet allow me to do Temp control.

​Practice on subtank mini coils so I can send you some to build for me

Edited June 5, 2015 by cany

[Bebop]

That's what we need!  We need the Flavor Wizard in on this.  Go Comp go!

 

 

btw the way I have to get another order of to you Comp.  I'm dying to try a max VG Hydras in my tank!

Edited June 5, 2015 by Bebop

[cany]

That's what we need!  We need the Flavor Wizard in on this.  Go Comp go!

​

[Compenstine]

Consider me on it! Jason send me a few of the used ones you have. I don't have any to work with atm. I'm still on my first one. LOL I don't use that tank often so my coil is still in good shape.

[jasonculp]

Consider me on it! Jason send me a few of the used ones you have. I don't have any to work with atm. I'm still on my first one. LOL I don't use that tank often so my coil is still in good shape.

​I will do it!  I only have 4 or 5 kanthal coils and 1 Ni200 I am still vaping.

I do miss my Tiger wire.  This nickel is a PITA.  I am spoiled to the airflow and ease of build on the SubTank mini and don't want to go back to the Lemo 2, but I am missing the top fill and great wicking.

I may make some twisted nickel wire tonight and try it in the Lemo.  It will take a large build deck to hold that much wire.

[Compenstine]

I'll work on the wicking and see if I can improve it with a rebuild.