Pico Temp Control Help Needed!

[Bundy1971]

I'm back after figuring out how to build on my Ammit rta. Thanks to all that helped me with that! Now on to my next question, specifically about the Pico TC setup...

I built my coil, got it working on TC SS mode, but for some reason I'm having an issue with the memory modes/TCR. Here's my set up:

316L SS, 28g (Master of Clouds)
6 wraps (spaced); 3mm ID
.66 ohm (locked in at room temp)

When I use it in TC SS mode, it seems to be working fine. I have it set to 360ºF, which gives me a cool/warm vape, but I feel like it's firing warmer than the setting. If not, I have no idea how some people vape >500º without seriously hurting themselves.

So I figured I would try one of the memory modes. I set M1 to:

TCR: 79 (the suggested setting for 316L)
Power: 20W
Time: .4 seconds

When I choose M1, and set the temperature to 400º, I get nothing but the Temp protect as soon as I fire it. I have yet to get a vape in that mode and I'm clearly doing something wrong. Any ideas?

 

[Evi|grin]

TCR for 316L should be 91-92

 

[Bundy1971]

According to this video it should be 79. Maybe something was updated in 1.03 firmware?



I tried 92, and it did produce a very small amount of very cool vapor. Can't figure out where I'm going wrong!!

 

[Shawn Hoefer]

Turn off the preheat. In my experience, it mucks up TC on some mods.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[DaveP]

On the Pico go into wattage mode and find the power setting that gives you a good vape for your coil. Then, go into TC mode and try it. While in TC mode click 4 times to enter the wattage setup for TC mode. Set that to whatever gives you a good vape without immediately going to overtemp cutoff. The immediate shutdown in TC mode is happening because your 20W setting is too high to keep the heat in range.

You may have already done this. I'm just covering the bases. There are two wattage settings. One is for standalone wattage mode and the other is for the wattage setting while in TC mode.

 

[Bundy1971]

Sounds like the preheat is only for Wattage mode.

So frustrating that it works fine in Temp SS mode but not in Memory mode. I'd really like to be able to use the right TCR for my build. I wonder if it's something with my coil/wick?

 

[Bundy1971]

Adjusted the wattage up, down and sideways, and still nothing! When in M1 with the TCR at 79 and at 92 with temp set to 420º, it immediately displays "Temp Protection" and produces no vapor.

 

[DaveP]

Adjusted the wattage up, down and sideways, and still nothing! When in M1 with the TCR at 79 and at 92 with temp set to 420º, it immediately displays "Temp Protection" and produces no vapor.

The Ammit RTA is a mouth to lung atty. 20W may be too hot for it to work in TC mode because of airfow. I run my .7 ohm coil at 10w to 12W in TC mode at 400F. Try the 4 click entry to the TC wattage setting and turn it down until it doesn't go into overtemp so quickly. TC mode also depends on airflow to prevent the coil from overheating.

4 clicks while in TC mode gets you to the TC mode wattage setting which is different than the wattage setting for wattage mode. Set it to 10W and then progress from there. If my TC mode wattage is set too high I get the same over temp error.

I don't remember if you said your coil is spaced vs compressed. Compressed coils (touching) don't work in TC mode. That will also give you fits with overheat and temp cutoff. The mod has to be able to read a spaced coil to control temperature.

 

[Evi|grin]

I run 26g 316L .5-.7 spaced at 22-25watt (Joules actually) 430F-450F in my Ammit all the time. TCR set to 92 and airflow wide open. No preheat. Works fine for DTL? Pretty much the same on an old Cuboid in SS316 mode.

Another thought...on the Pico can you change the ohms a tiny bit after locking the resistance? Say increase it by about .03ohm after locking.

 

[Bundy1971]

So another thing I noticed: I locked the ohms in at .65 when I first put this build on (was at room temp), but just looked and it's now locked in at .67 without me changing it.

 

[Evi|grin]

Do you have any 26guage to try?...Ramp up time will be slower. Steam engine suggests your wattage is high for 28g at .65ohms. All ive ever used in my Ammit with SS316 has been 26guage made by ThunderHead (Chinese). It was temperamental in the Cuboid if i built under .5ohms but otherwise its not too terribly bad. Steam Engines suggested watts matches up on my build....22watts suggested for a cool/warm vape. (Green)

Using my SxMini it does help if i increase my locked ohms a tiny bit but it still works at the cold locked resistance.

 

[Beamslider]

I have had some success with the Pico and TC with both 28 gauge and 26 gauge ss. I have changed over to the arctic fox firmware as it works a lot better than the Pico firmware for me.

With the pico firmware from what I remember it worked better with the preset 105 tcr selected instead of SS316.

 

[Bundy1971]

Thanks guys.

Things keep getting curiouser and curiouser. I just tested my resistance on that same coil using my ohm meter and it reads .71Ω. On another mod (iStick 30W) it reads .8Ω.

I've tried the steps outlined by David Wolf (towards the bottom of the page) to get it to show the "New coil up same down"message, and I can't get it to display. In fact, I've never seen that message; did they remove it in 1.03?

A .05+Ω variation in resistance could explain my problems I suppose, but how the hell do I fix that?

 

[stols001]

I have no clue, I haven't unboxed my new Pico yet but this thread is kind of making me not want to, but the best of luck.... There ought to be a way to manually input the resistance, but do you really think a 0.05 variation would make that much of a difference?

Anna

 

[Bundy1971]

I have no clue, I haven't unboxed my new Pico yet but this thread is kind of making me not want to, but the best of luck.... There ought to be a way to manually input the resistance, but do you really think a 0.05 variation would make that much of a difference?

Anna

According to what some of the electrical smart guys (which I'm not) said in other threads, a .02 difference is a big deal, so I guess.

Don't let what I'm going through turn you off of the Pico—it's a great mod. If the worst case scenario is that I have to not use TCR and set the temp manually to my liking, even if it's not precise, isn't a big deal. Not to mention that there's a decent chance it's completely operator error since I'm new to building coils and TC.

 

[Beamslider]

I would recommend using arctic fox firmware for TC on the PICO. You can erase the ohm reading on it by clicking power button 3 times then holding both up and down buttons before choosing the mod of operation.

NFE Team

If you ohm reading is changing all over the place. It could mean the coils is in contact somewhere and has a hot spot. The coil isn't secured tight enough or the ambient temperature has changed dramatically.

 

[Bundy1971]

Thanks, Beam. I'm thinking about just building a new coil and trying from scratch first—the AF software looks a bit sophisticated for a dopey dude like me. Other coils were reading pretty close between the Pico and other devices (before I had an ohm meter), so maybe there's a problem with this one and the Pico?

 

[TheotherSteveS]

If the Ω display shows the locked sign it won't ask for' new coil up..'. Take off the atty, hit the fire button and put it back, then fire. It should ask then. If not, it means it thinks it's the same coil as the resistance is the same. It's the same problem the DNA40 had - there is no way of forcing it to re-read the resistance. You can try taking out the batt and putting it back and repeat the above. Good chance it will ask then! Just to confirm what others have said, the 316 TCR is 92 (91.5 actually...haha).

 

[Bundy1971]

So the combination of TCR 92, 15W, on a .65 ohm coil, set to 390ºF seems to give me pretty decent results. But I would love to know what temp I'm actually vaping at! I just don't know how accurate the temp is based on the conflicting TCR settings and the inaccuracy of the Pico noted in the video above.

 

[Beamslider]

Just like using wattage or other modes, you have to just go with what seems right. No matter what type of mod you use for TC, you will never know what the real temperature is. If it doesn't burn, isn't too hot and tastes right, you just have to go with it.