Battery life: Ti vs. Kanthal

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Vaep

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Which one is gonna be better on my battery? I understand it's going to vary because the Ti in TC mode will have a varying wattage output, but in this test I will set the Ti coil's temp at what I feel is around the same vapor output as the kanthal coil..

identical coils for each type of wire:

26 gauge Kanthal .4ohms and vapes at 38watts
26 gauge Ti .2ohms and is set to about 400F (this number could be completely inaccurate)

without looking too deep into the numbers, will any wire type come out on top as being considered 'better' on battery life?
 
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MotoMudder

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I'm learning TC as we speak, so someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Watts needed to reach a certain temp is almost impossible to state, you can get to that 380f using 50w or 200w. The amount of time to get to said temp is what will vary. TC is about controlling the wattage to limit the temp.

I am curious too what battery life will be, but IME everyone vapes different and its best to find out how it suits you.
I'm patiently awaiting my vape mail.
 

GeorgeS

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    Ok, lets try this....

    assuming the draw time is the same (5 seconds), draw style is the same and a equal resistance coil (0.25 ohm) coil was used in TC mode and in Wattage mode with a iStick TC40 (no odd Joules to contend with). Kanthal 0.25 ohm vs Nickel 0.25 ohm coils.
    • The TC40 will fire the coil in TC mode at 40W until the set temperature is reached and then regulate the output power to maintain the set temperature. As the coil heats up the resistance of it will change to be higher than when we started.
    • If set to 40W in Wattage mode the TC40 will fire at 40W as long as the button is pressed until the hit timer (I don't recall if it is 10 or 15 seconds) times out. The resistance of the coil won't change while it is firing.
    In my experience, in TC mode the TC40W will hit the set temperature almost instantly or at least before 1 second has gone by. So to be generous lets say that for 1 second both modes are using the same amount of power. However for the next 4 seconds the TC mode is using some fraction of the power that the wattage mode is using.

    How much less power is consumed in TC mode vs Power mode is difficult to impossible to calculate as there are to many undefined variables involved.
     

    Croak

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    Right behind you...
    TC mode does indeed use a lower average wattage than you'd see on a Kanthal build. BUT, typical TC builds are in the 0.1 ohm range, which is pulling more amps at the same wattage than a 0.4 Kanthal build. Battery life is measured in amps, do remember.

    Doing the math, that's around 9.75 amps with the 0.4 Kanthal build at 38w, for as long as it's being fired.

    For a Ni200 build at 40w in the realistic 0.1 ohm range, it'll start at 20 amps and then drop as it regulates temp. A typical, well-wicked single coil with "lung hit" airflow in that range would need somewhre around 20w to maintain temp, which still pulls 14a. You'd need to drop down to 10w at 0.1 ohm to match the amperage of a 0.4 ohm Kanthal coil. More restrictive airflow, MTL-style atomizers might put you down that low in regular usage towards the end of the pull (as will a drying wick).

    So, more than twice the amps when it's pulling full power for a second or so, and still 50% more for the rest of the puff (on average) for the TC build compared to your example Kanthal build.

    Now with Titanium, even then, on a 0.2 ohm build, it'd still pull about 50% more amperage than your example Kanthal to start, and only match it when it fell below 20w.

    TL;DR: TC is a power hog compared to a 30-40w friendly Kanthal build.
     
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    sofarsogood

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    A way to test it would be to start with a fully charged battery and vape a know amount of liquid with your prefered TC build and then with a Kanthal build that gives a fairly similar vaping experience. Counting drops should be pretty accturate (my liquid seems to be about 40 drops per ml). Then I believe there are measuring devices that can add up amperage flow over time so recharge the battery after each test and see what's needed to restore them to full charge. My impression is TC is not as efficient with power as kanthal. If I was doing the test I'd be comparing a .15 nickel build at 500 degrees and 40 max watts with a 1.5 ohm kanthal coil fired at 20 watts.
     

    KenD

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    TC mode does indeed use a lower average wattage than you'd see on a Kanthal build. BUT, typical TC builds are in the 0.1 ohm range, which is pulling more amps at the same wattage than a 0.4 Kanthal build. Battery life is measured in amps, do remember.

    Doing the math, that's around 9.75 amps with the 0.4 Kanthal build at 38w, for as long as it's being fired.

    For a Ni200 build at 40w in the realistic 0.1 ohm range, it'll start at 20 amps and then drop as it regulates temp. A typical, well-wicked single coil with "lung hit" airflow in that range would need somewhre around 20w to maintain temp, which still pulls 14a. You'd need to drop down to 10w at 0.1 ohm to match the amperage of a 0.4 ohm Kanthal coil. More restrictive airflow, MTL-style atomizers might put you down that low in regular usage towards the end of the pull (as will a drying wick).

    So, more than twice the amps when it's pulling full power for a second or so, and still 50% more for the rest of the puff (on average) for the TC build compared to your example Kanthal build.

    Now with Titanium, even then, on a 0.2 ohm build, it'd still pull about 50% more amperage than your example Kanthal to start, and only match it when it fell below 20w.

    TL;DR: TC is a power hog compared to a 30-40w friendly Kanthal build.
    But remember that lower resistance also amounts to lower voltage at the same watts. On a regulated device the amp draw, at the battery, is mainly determined by the set wattage and the battery charge level (lower charge means that the battery needs to work harder to provide the required power = higher amp draw). I'm guessing that any higher battery drain in tc mode would be due to the chip needing to put more work into reading resistance and fluctuating power.

    Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk
     

    bky16

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    I think there's to many variables involved.
    1. The amount of favor for a 3 sec drag on a regulated mod might be different to a TC mod. So you may have a shorter drag with a different mod.
    2. Further, what about the conductivity, built quality, the standby power consumption ? Even when you use exactly the same setting on 2 MODs with different chipsets might differ.
     
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    Croak

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    Right behind you...
    Ken, battery consumption is all about the current (amps). It doesn't matter that voltage climbs as resistance increases, because at the same time, current drops.

    Think about a battery as a water tower full of water, with the water being the charge. When you're out of water, you're out of charge. Now think about resistance as a hose attached to the bottom of the tank. The lower the resistance is, the larger the diameter of the "hose" is. Gravity feeds the water so it's a constant no matter what the size of the hose (that simulates your wattage and/or temp settings).

    Now think about voltage as the pressure of the water escaping the hose. With a smaller diameter hose, there's more pressure but the actual volume of water (the current) coming out is less than it would be with the larger hose. That smaller hose resists the flow of water more than a large one, so it will always take longer to drain the water tower, all else being equal.

    Now Ni200 and titanium doesn't maintain a steady resistance, it increases as it heats up, so my example a few posts ago is a bit simplistic, but still holds true, because even at its peak resistance/temp, the two types of wires are generally still lower resistance than the kanthal build the OP mentioned.
     

    KenD

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    Ken, battery consumption is all about the current (amps). It doesn't matter that voltage climbs as resistance increases, because at the same time, current drops.

    Think about a battery as a water tower full of water, with the water being the charge. When you're out of water, you're out of charge. Now think about resistance as a hose attached to the bottom of the tank. The lower the resistance is, the larger the diameter of the "hose" is. Gravity feeds the water so it's a constant no matter what the size of the hose (that simulates your wattage and/or temp settings).

    Now think about voltage as the pressure of the water escaping the hose. With a smaller diameter hose, there's more pressure but the actual volume of water (the current) coming out is less than it would be with the larger hose. That smaller hose resists the flow of water more than a large one, so it will always take longer to drain the water tower, all else being equal.

    Now Ni200 and titanium doesn't maintain a steady resistance, it increases as it heats up, so my example a few posts ago is a bit simplistic, but still holds true, because even at its peak resistance/temp, the two types of wires are generally still lower resistance than the kanthal build the OP mentioned.
    Yes, I know. My point was that tc mode might, possibly, use more power due to additional/a greater number of calculations being made than compared to a simpler vw mode. In effect, the chip itself consuming more power in tc mode than in vw mode. Guess that could be expressed as the device efficiency being lower in tc mode. I don't know, I'm just wildly speculating. I haven't (subjectively) noticed any difference in battery life between my vw mods and tc mods when using similar settings and the same batteries. Different mods though, as I haven't used kanthal builds on my tc mods, and I haven't made any sort of consistent testing.

    Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk
     
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    Croak

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    Right behind you...
    In practice, the little bit of extra power the processor consumes in TC mode monitoring resistance and comparing it to a table to adjust power is negligible in the grand scheme of things. Might be the difference between a short puff or two over the course of a battery charge.
     
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    Hitcat44

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    If any Diff-Negligible.
    Vape On and don't sweat the insignificant or inconsequential.

    IF ya just "Gotta",,,, Ask Mooch. IF anyone honestly knows or can definitively determine it would be him.
    He may not care or wish to devote the Effort. But, he may be able to apply what he already knows to TC theory and extrapolate close enough to confirm or deny the Concern/Triviality.
     
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