Apollo Reliant 60W - TC with TCR adjustment, including Stainless Steel support

[cigatron]

This just in from Apollo:

"""Hello Lonnie,

Thank you for that reply. I apologize for the confusion on my part. As of right now the USB port is only used for charging (not for updates). As the Reliant is already a 60w device with Temperature Control, I don't see any updates that we can come out with but I could be wrong. I hope this helps. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.

Warm Regards,
Apollo Team
Jason"""

Still not a game killer for me as long as it doesn't do anything crazy. My Evic is off about 80°f in Ti mode so I run it at 510-520°f and just live with it. It can be tricked into a higher locked res to show the correct temp but then it autorefines the res if left to cool down. Then I have to go right back to 510-520.

As @USMCotaku mentioned, the Evic temp regulation is almost unnoticeable. Glassy smooth when dialed in. Good to hear that the Reliant is smooth as well.

 

[cigatron]

If I was using more unreliable atomizers, like I've heard the Subtank Mini is, I might feel a bit differently. And maybe I should get out my venerable STM and test its rda deck sometime, to see what SR it gives.

Whoa, easy there @TheBloke, STminis are all I use for TC. Absolutely rock solid with the RBA deck. I have three STms on three Evic VT60's. They all three read exactly the same res all day, every day. Well, except for the fact that my Ti coils are getting old and read .02 ohms higher than when brand new. Most reports I've read about of unstable res could be attributed to the use of nickel occ coils. All of those rubber insulator type coil heads are unreliable imo.

You should try your STm rba deck, I think you'll be pleasantly pleased.

 

[TheBloke]

Whoa, easy there @TheBloke, STminis are all I use for TC. Absolutely rock solid with the RBA deck. I have three STms on three Evic VT60's. They all three read exactly the same res all day, every day. Well, except for the fact that my Ti coils are getting old and read .02 ohms higher than when brand new. Most reports I've read about of unstable res could be attributed to the use of nickel occ coils. All of those rubber insulator type coil heads are unreliable imo.

You should try your STm rba deck, I think you'll be pleasantly pleased.

Fair enough I'll give it a go. You're certainly right that the majority of STM cases are likely coil heads, but I do know I've definitely heard of issues from a number of RBA users as well.

It could of course simply be that the STM is used by a great number of people and that therefore they feature in a larger number of problem reports than any other single deck, enough to stick in my mind when I hear people say "I'm having problems; I use the STM".

 

[Carnage9270]

Have to make sure the bottom of the deck is tight as well. A lot of times they come out of the box loose and need some tightening. Just don't tighten them too much...they have a tendency to strip really fast and pop threads off the top of the airflow. Then your resistances are truly screwed.

 

[cigatron]

Fair enough I'll give it a go. You're certainly right that the majority of STM cases are likely coil heads, but I do know I've definitely heard of issues from a number of RBA users as well.

It could of course simply be that the STM is used by a great number of people and that therefore they feature in a larger number of problem reports than any other single deck, enough to stick in my mind when I hear people say "I'm having problems; I use the STM".

True, lots of users, lots of reports, both good and bad.

A couple of stand out when peeps complain about the rba deck and what it took to fix them.

1. The STmini rba deck itself sometimes loosens from the tank base if not sufficiently tightened.

2. The STmini rba pos pin sometimes loosens from the pos deck post if not sufficiently tightened.

The rest of the complaints seem to be normal user errors like loose coil legs, shorting Ni coil turns, not accounting for high thermal expansion of Ni..etc. It is truely a solid performer but as with any atty familiarity rules.

With my spaced Ti builds and tight wicking my STminis run 75vg at 30w bouncing off of tp.

 

[AlaskaVaper]

I'll give you one example of where I for sure thought I could use Adjustable Iniital Ohms: my Kayfun 4 clone, with its infamous spring in the positive path which I haven't yet got around to fixing, has SR of up to 0.03Ω, huge. I thought I could use Adjustable Initial Ohms to remove this huge amount, because it's going to need a significant temperature offset.

Sadly when I tried it, it didn't work - after a few vapes, the locked resistance figure on screen had changed back to the initial reading, before correction. I did further tests, changing the Adjustable Initial Ohms by smaller increments, and they did stick. I don't know what's going on there. (I haven't yet gone back to trying it because I managed to get my KF4 stable in resistance, enough to vape on for now.)

But that gives you an idea as to when it might be used - cases of large inaccuracy in ohms, which are known about in advance. Then again, it of course only works if the SR is consistent; which in the KF4 it is not. What atomizers might have a large SR that doesn't change? I'm not sure.

I will definitely be playing with the feature more to see if I can find a useful case where it works reliably.

But so far I have preferred to instead work on reducing the SR in my atomizers - for example replacing stainless screws with brass ones - rather than measuring them all to adjust their ohms, which in any case I can only currently do on one mod (+ the DNA 200 but it's much less convenient to do there currently.)

(Sorry for the length of this answer, I wrote most of it in the morning when I wasn't feeling succinct, and while I've now tried to edit a bit, that only seemed to make it longer )

Bloke- I sure would hate to engage with you when you are more succinct...lol. Your quite comprehensive answer to my original question is more than I could have hoped for. It not only gives me much greater understanding of the range of issues that TC attempts to address but, provided me with a much better understanding and insight into the empirical aspects, that as a user and devotee of this most interesting TC development that I find somewhat puzzling. Your answer provides for me and, others i'm sure, a greater clarity and depth of understanding of the practicalities involved. I would assume that most folks that enjoy the vaping arts have no desire to learn the more techie aspects but, rather just enjoy a reliable nic/vaper delivery system. For those like myself however I want to be able to fully understand these tech elements and be able to control those to a certain degree. Your most erudite understanding and extremely clear exposition put forward in your answers always amazes me and I am most appreciative. Thank you very much for your comprehensive answer to my question It was more than I had expected and your generous sharing of your experiences is what makes ECF the fine resource that it is. I now have increased my understanding of TC so I thank you.

 

[TheBloke]

Bloke- I sure would hate to engage with you when you are more succinct...lol. Your quite comprehensive answer to my original question is more than I could have hoped for. It not only gives me much greater understanding of the range of issues that TC attempts to address but, provided me with a much better understanding and insight into the empirical aspects, that as a user and devotee of this most interesting TC development that I find somewhat puzzling. Your answer provides for me and, others i'm sure, a greater clarity and depth of understanding of the practicalities involved. I would assume that most folks that enjoy the vaping arts have no desire to learn the more techie aspects but, rather just enjoy a reliable nic/vaper delivery system. For those like myself however I want to be able to fully understand these tech elements and be able to control those to a certain degree. Your most erudite understanding and extremely clear exposition put forward in your answers always amazes me and I am most appreciative. Thank you very much for your comprehensive answer to my question It was more than I had expected and your generous sharing of your experiences is what makes ECF the fine resource that it is. I now have increased my understanding of TC so I thank you.

Thank you sir, I can assure you it's a pleasure!

I love vaping, experimenting with vaping, and talking about experimenting with vaping, and responses such as yours make it even more worthwhile.

 

[Angus337]

I'm might be interested in this, as I want SS temp control on my next mod. Probably wait a while before ordering as I've only just got the IPV d2. Hopefully get a couple of reviews in the meantime as well.

 

[f1vefour]

It's a pleasure to use, I just need to get some stainless steel and titanium wire to do any real review.

 

[TheBloke]

I'll have one fairly soon and will do a full analysis

PS. I was right, the chip was made "in conjunction with" SXK The TCR scale matching, and some other similarities, was no coincidence.

 

[gorman]

... this doesn't make me too happy. I ordered it thinking it would not have the "crude" TC of SXK... let's hope for the best. I still remember the rattlesnake effect of the original Vamo (old vaper, I know...).

 

[TheBloke]

... this doesn't make me to happy. I ordered it thinking it would not have the "crude" TC of SXK... let's hope for the best. I still remember the rattlesnake effect of the original Vamo (old vaper, I know...).

I understand. Fingers crossed they've improved it - it was definitely a partnership between SXK and Apollo, and we know they've added things like Mech Mode. So good chance they also insisted on a better vape and/or SXK have already improved that themselves.

 

[gorman]

Do the people that have it already here notice any "rattlesnaking" while vaping with TC?

 

[cigatron]

Do the people that have it already here notice any "rattlesnaking" while vaping with TC?

I would like to know this too. We have pretty good hearing in our family. My brother's IPV D2 drives him crazy with the rattlesnaking, but then again, he can hear the flyback transformer in a CRT television....from outside of the house!! Mutant!...lol

 

[pevinsghost]

I would like to know this too. We have pretty good hearing in our family. My brother's IPV D2 drives him crazy with the rattlesnaking, but then again, he can hear the flyback transformer in a CRT television....from outside of the house!! Mutant!...lol

I always knew if someone was awake in the house before I opened the door when I was a kid because of this, but I often miss when my wife tells me to do the damn dishes for the fifth time.

Funny how that works.

 

[cigatron]

I always knew if someone was awake in the house before I opened the door when I was a kid because of this, but I often miss when my wife tells me to do the damn dishes for the fifth time.

Funny how that works.

....yes, selective hearing loss....I think it's directly proportional to number of years married.

On seccond thought there may be a curve to it.

 

[cigatron]

... this doesn't make me too happy. I ordered it thinking it would not have the "crude" TC of SXK... let's hope for the best. I still remember the rattlesnake effect of the original Vamo (old vaper, I know...).

I understand. Fingers crossed they've improved it - it was definitely a partnership between SXK and Apollo, and we know they've added things like Mech Mode. So good chance they also insisted on a better vape and/or SXK have already improved that themselves.

When I order a new car from a dealership with "special options" does that mean I "Designed and developed it"? I hope Apollo had more to do with the board design than just ordering special options from SXK. Can't wait for more of you to run it through its paces.

 

[AlaskaVaper]

I would like to know this too. We have pretty good hearing in our family. My brother's IPV D2 drives him crazy with the rattlesnaking, but then again, he can hear the flyback transformer in a CRT television....from outside of the house!! Mutant!...lol

LMAO!!!

 

[f1vefour]

No PWM that I can detect, it seems smoother than the CF4 which has an excellent flat DC signal unless bucking and then it's high frequency PWM (none of that 33.3hz VAMO mess). I have a v3 VAMO and it's nothing like it, no rattlesnakes included.

Keep in mind most all devices PWM to buck (lower) the voltage, how well depends on how fast and accurate.

I do want to see the numbers as well, wish I had an oscilloscope. I just ran it in boost and buck on a dripper and I can't hear a difference, of course a dripper is noisy though.

 

[f1vefour]

When I order a new car from a dealership with "special options" does that mean I "Designed and developed it"? I hope Apollo had more to do with the board design than just ordering special options from SXK. Can't wait for more of you to run it through its paces.

Actually yes, it sort of used to. Some dealers of muscle cars had special named packages they created and their mechanics installed on new cars.

I imagine Apollo provided the specs they wanted and the manufacturer simply produced them to spec.