New Koopor 200w TC setup, thoughts?

[DaveP]

I'm running it on the soft strength setting. When I vape in TC mode with SS 316L, the wattage displayed in temp mode at the 250F to 300F setting is going up to a range from 40w to 65W on the display depending on where I set the temperature. It's a hot, snap, crackle, pop vape that's not at all satisfying.

It's obviously not properly reading the coil resistance changes. Either that, or my wick isn't feeding enough juice for the wattage it's operating at. I'm winding my coils the same as I would for a 10W vape. The Kho Gen Do cotton is snug without binding and the wick tails are spread across the deck to prevent blocking the juice channels.

 

[ThaFuzz]

Double check tcr . And are you using spaced or contact coils? Tc seems to like spaced coils.

 

[DaveP]

Double check tcr . And are you using spaced or contact coils? Tc seems to like spaced coils.

I'm using spaced coils. In my search for people with similar problems I'm finding that SS is finicky with the Koopor Plus. People are having the same problem with SS 316L and lowering TCR to almost zero until they find the sweet spot. There's also a group that has discovered that SS 304 works just fine, but 316L not so much.

Apparently, I'm going to be in need of a firmware upgrade. Too bad that has to be done through a dealer who can do it. I do my own BIOS upgrades on my HP laptop. I guess Smok doesn't trust the public to do it properly.

This guy talked with Smok and they helped him figure it out. TCR=75 is the answer. I'll try it.

 

[DaveP]

Update. I tried running TCR at 75 on SS 316L like the video above and played with it all the way down to 50 (minimum). At .83 ohm the SS 316 coil is way too hot even with strength set on soft.

I'm beginning to think that it's going to take a firmware update to fix this problem. Either that or the Koopor Plus 200W I have is defective. I haven't tried 304 SS. Maybe I should try that. Someone said it was designed for 304.

The same .83 coil works just fine in wattage mode. My firmware is at V1.002, FWIW.

 

[ThaFuzz]

I have the same version firmware and run tcr at .00092 for ss316 and ss304. im getting good results even with ridiculous builds. Are you making sure to let the coil cool down after dry firing to remove hot legs and check for even heating?

 

[DaveP]

I have the same version firmware and run tcr at .00092 for ss316 and ss304. im getting good results even with ridiculous builds. Are you making sure to let the coil cool down after dry firing to remove hot legs and check for even heating?

It dry fired fine and with a wet wick it worked normally in wattage mode. There were no hot legs at 10W.

I tried again yesterday with a new spaced coil wound with 28ga 316L. It vaped fine at 10W-15W in wattage mode and produced the vape I'm accustomed to.

Then, I went into TC mode and started at 92 TCR with strength set at soft. It was snap, crackle, pop and very hot. I ran to TCR up and down in increments from 50 (lowest) to about 120 and never got a vape that was anywhere close to satisfactory. It's too hot anywhere I set it. It's set to SC (single coil).

After playing with the settings for a while I went back into wattage mode and vaped it for a while. It vapes fine in wattage mode with the same SS 316 coil. Go figure.

Is your firmware at V1.002? I'm beginning to wonder if mine was one of the first run builds on the firmware. I'll have to take it back to the vape shop and let them see what's going on. It's still within the 90 day warranty.

FWIW, when I pulled the coil deck out to replace the wick after all that heat the coil looked fine and the wick wasn't burned. I expected a crusted mess with all the heat and popping going on. The metal in the atomizer was very warm from all the heat. I had to wrap a cold, wet paper towel around it to cool it back to room temp.

I just removed the SS coil and recoiled it to 1.8 ohms with 28ga kanthal and went back to my usual 10W vape.

 

[ThaFuzz]

Boom, got your problem. Check it if you dont believe me. Koopor on min Setting does not drop until after temp is reached it starts at 45 watts and i cant get mine to drop below the 30 watt mark.thats why you cant get the vape you want and you get all the snapping,its the same reason i cant put a kanger stm on it. My friend i think you need an evic mini. The complaint i have about the koopor is the inability to set the exact watts i want in tc mode.its just a firmware flaw, they need to put out a user upgrade that lets the user set the wattage limit on tc mode like the vtc mini does. You are not doing anything wrong and the box is doing what its programmed to do.its just in desperate need of an update for tootlepuffers.

 

[DaveP]

ThaFuzz, I just got back from my visit to Stormy's They've changed their OTC warranty to 30 days (it's been 90 for as long as I remember). He wants me to wind a SS coil that works in wattage mode and doesn't in TC mode and bring it back for him to try in a Reuleaux RX200 just to see, but I think it's pointless.

The times I've looked at displayed wattage while in TC mode it was in the 45 to 60 range. That was a giveaway for me since I had it set to 200, the minimum TC temp setting. It shouldn't have been running that high.

Being a retired Xerox Field Engineer I'm good with NVM settings and firmware and software updates. I've also built my own computers since the mid 80's and updated firmware in system ROMs. I even wrote software for businesses i the late 80s and 90s.

I could do the FW upgrade, but I understand that you have to buy some specialized hardware to do it. I haven't seen an actual technical procedure in print. It's a shame that you can't just plug it into a laptop and run the install routine like I do with my Garmin GPS.

 

[ThaFuzz]

Its a 20$ programmer,check out koopors forum they have a better description than i remember right now and links to the Google doc of the firmware

 

[ThaFuzz]

Found the page with all that jazz

KOOPOR™ - KOOPOR Firmware Upgrading Guide

 

[Canadian_Vaper]

works perfect without the juice then as soon as you add the juice it bums out...

Only way I can get 316L to work somewhat reliably is to set the TCR to 88, strength to soft and then go into settings and turn initial ohm all the way down.

 

[ThaFuzz]

Where are you guys getting your wire from?

 

[Canadian_Vaper]

me fasttech UD

 

[DaveP]

Where are you guys getting your wire from?

I ordered mine through Amazon. CopperWireUSA was the vendor. I understand that they are a large and reputable vendor.

I may just wind a coil and take it by Stormy's for confirmation and let them try it in another TC mod and show them what happens in the Koopor.

Either way I like the Koopor Plus 200W for regular wattage vaping. I get two days of vaping at 10W from a couple of Samsung 25R's and it fits well in my hand.

 

[Canadian_Vaper]

Either way I like the Koopor Plus 200W for regular wattage vaping. I get two days of vaping from a couple of Samsung 25R's and it fits well in my hand.

Yeah that's why I like SS316L I use my vtc mini for TC and then pop it on my Koopor for wattage mode, works out pretty good.

 

[DaveP]

Found the page with all that jazz

KOOPOR™ - KOOPOR Firmware Upgrading Guide

I found the programmer for $25 from Digikey. Looks like just the USB programmer by itself is $19 if you don't need all the adapter cables.

http://www.digikey.com/product-sear...t=0&page=1&quantity=0&ptm=0&fid=0&pageSize=25

 

[DaveP]

There's a heavy complaint thread at FastTech about the need to buy hardware to do the updates. Quite a few ruffled feathers in the thread.

About KOOPOR Mini Firmware Upgrade: FastTech Forums

 

[DaveP]

Found the page with all that jazz

KOOPOR™ - KOOPOR Firmware Upgrading Guide

Looks easy enough if you buy the USB programmer module