How to build accurately with SS316L on non-step-up mods (ohm jumps)?

[UncLeJunkLe]

If you are steadfast on 28ga, Nifethal 52 would give you 6 wraps of 28ga on 3mm for 0.337Ω, if you went to Nifethal 70 you could have 12 wraps for 0.352Ω. NiFe's resistance goes up when heated just like SS.

A good source for NiFe.
Resistance Heating Wire

Is Nifethal 52 and 70 safe for power mode or is it only safe for TC under a certain temp?

 

[TrollDragon]

Is Nifethal 52 and 70 safe for power mode or is it only safe for TC under a certain temp?

It's safe and nothing like nickel or titanium.

 

[Aerodan]

I've not heard the term Step Up in relation to vaping controllers, and not much after searching for it. What does that mean?

Here's my 316 stainless coil from wireoptim under load. It's a two core 28/30 7 wraps 3mm, mod is using dna 60 chip.

FullSizeRender.MOV

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

I've not heard the term Step Up in relation to vaping controllers, and not much after searching for it. What does that mean?

Step-up capability in a circuit allows the mod (or any electronic device) to apply a voltage greater than the power source can supply on it's own. Step-down is what allows the mod to apply a voltage lower than what the power source can supply at that moment. Step-down/step-up are also commonly called buck/boost.

Example, you vape 1.2 ohms at 25 watts with a single battery mod. That means you need ~5.5 volts applied to your coil to get that 25W. But your mod's power source (aka battery) can only ever supply 4.2 volts or less depending on it's charge and other factors. So if a mod has no step-up capability, the mod would only ever be able to supply a max of 4.2v to your 1.2 ohm coil, which will only give you 14.5 watts max at that resistance & that wattage would also decrease as your battery's voltage decreases as you vape (very noticeably weak vape for someone who vapes 25W!). But if the mod has step-up capability it would be able to "step-up" the voltage and apply the ~5.5 volts you need to achieve your 25 watt setting. And in having that step-up capability, you will get that consistent 25W vape no matter what charge your battery is at any point in time.

Assuming you vape at a wattage & resistance that requires a voltage above 3.4-4.2 volts, the only way around this limitation on a non-step-up mod is to build/use a factory coil low enough such that at any point in time of your battery's voltage level you will never need more voltage than that and will even have to decrease the voltage (step-down). This allows you to have a consistent 25W vape in the scenario above for almost the whole time before the mod's low batt cutoff kicks in.

So using the example above, you could use a coil that is 0.4 ohms. Vaping that at 25W would only require the mod to apply ~3.16 volts to your coils to get 25 watt output. That voltage will be much lower than your battery's voltage at any given time before your mod's low battery cut-off kicks in and you will have a consistent 25W vape for just about the whole time you are vaping that battery before it's time to recharge. Incidentally, this is where the step-down kicks in. You only need 3.16v but your battery is at, say, 3.9 volts right now, so the mod has to step-down the voltage below the battery's current voltage level of 3.9 volts to 3.16 volts (if it didn't you would get a wattage output much higher than 25 watts - about 38 watts).

Lack of step-up is a real hindrance for some vapers and unfortunately too many chinese mods these days are being manufactured without step-up, excluding the high ohm vaping market almost entirely! An exception would be for a "tootle puffer". If that tootle puffer vapes a 1.2ohm coil at 9 watts, they would only ever need about 3.3 volts to get that 9 watts and would therefore be using step-down the whole time and would be able to vape the life of the battery at a consistent 9 watts. Such a vaper would never even realize that the mod has no step-up capability. Same as a vaper who vapes 0.2 ohms at 55W. That vaper only needs 3.32 volts and would likely never realize a if mod lacks step-up.

 

[TrollDragon]

The old iPV D2 had no step down, it was a great mod unless you need lower wattage with a sub ohm coil. You could get around this problem by switching it over to Joule mode and making the TC setting high.

 

[TrollDragon]

Once I switched over fully regulated or DNA based mods, I stopped letting mods dictate the way I vaped and started vaping as I wanted to.

This is one reason why my mechanical and unregulated mods didn't see a lot of use.

 

[Aerodan]

Great explanation! Thank you.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

The old iPV D2 had no step down

I didn't think any mods lacked step-down lol.

The only reason I bought this mod is because it was cheap and it filled a niche in my vapocalypse stash where I was lacking. But I decided that I will go with 26ga SS316 when I build on it. The 26ga at ~0.33 allows me to avoid noticing the lack of step-up even with the ohms jumping upon firing, yet still allow a decent amount of wraps. And according to to steam engine it should not have the horrendous rampup that 26g Kanthal does at 5-6 wraps (though not as fast as 28g). I like instant rampup but I have to work with what I have now.

 

[TrollDragon]

A lot of the early (low end) YiHi chips lacked a step down function.

26ga is definitely the way to go for your use case, I think you will be very pleased with the results.

 

[Fidola13]

It is normal for ss wire to ohm up when firing. If you want consistent resistance you'll be wanting tc settings. I use ss but I don't care for tc so can't help out there. I don't pay much attention to battery life honestly; just change them out when out when needed.

Nvm