TC: Any reason against it?

[KurtVD]

Now that I’ve started using an rda and an RTA on my two istick Picos 75, I’ve realized that I can easily switch to temperature control, if I use the right coils. It seems to me that there are only upsides to TC, and it’s basically a no-brainer to switch to it. Or is there a significant downside that I’m missing?

 

[Eskie]

No, not really. The only downside is finding SS drop in coils if you're using a non-rebuildable tank. Otherwise there's no catch. Maybe a little bit more fussing than setting up in wattage mode, but once you've got that set it's only an upside with it.

 

[untar]

There's no real downside apart from the setup Eskie mentioned, some mods are bad at TC and you won't get a good experience (I think the pico is acceptable, with arctic fox it may even be good, don't remember).
Apart from that it's a question of taste/personal perception. Some like it, some don't, some liquids have different tastes in TC and VW (or replay) mode - up to you to find out if it's for you.

 

[Zaryk]

The down side to it is you have a limited selection of wire types to choose from. For some people, like me, that is a deal breaker since I don't enjoy any of the TC compatible wires.

Another downside is the setup as mentioned above.

You also can get fluctuations in your vape if you go from a cool environment, like a house with AC, into a warm environment, like outside on a hot day. In this situation you may need to do some tweeking of your settings to get it to vape the way you like since the coils ohms while at rest may be different in the heat than it was in the cool.

 

[zoiDman]

Now that I’ve started using an RDA and an RTA on my two iStick Picos 75, I’ve realized that I can easily switch to temperature control, if I use the right coils. It seems to me that there are only upsides to TC, and it’s basically a no-brainer to switch to it. Or is there a significant downside that I’m missing?

I was Never plagued with getting Dry Hits. And my Vaping Style/e-Liquids keep Wire Temperatures in a range that I am OK with. For me, TC offers solutions to Problems that I Don't have.

So it gets down to which Hit do I like Best?

I like the Hit I get from VV/VW Better than the Hit I get from TC. It isn't Monumentally Better. But Better (for Me) none the Less. And running in VV/VW is "Glitchless".

 

[stols001]

Frankly I use both and there are maybe a few downsides to TC, one being that at least in some mods, the batteries are continually monitoring and sensing the coil (I think some DNA mods use a good enough conversion system that it doesn't much matter) but battery life may be a TAD shorter. Getting it set up with the right wire and settings can be a pain, but once you've done it a few times, you probably (usually) are going to find that easy enough. You are limited to TC wire.

I really had to work hard to think of those downsides, and yes, with small drop in MTL coils, good luck findig a TC capable one.

Otherwise I mostly think its great although I have enough setups, rotate them enough, and use other TC best practices that even in some of my drop in tanks, I don't worry excessivevly about temperature. I'm not going to let it STOP me from using some of my favorites, let me put it that way.

I do use TC if out and about and with fewer setups, because it is then, and mostly only then, that I'm going to hit my temperature "ceiling" honestly, so it's nice to have, but sort of not 100% necessary.

But I'd say the best way to find out how YOU like it is to try it. Some folks love it and use it all the time, some folks use it sometimes, and some just don't use it at all.

Anna

 

[Psihoza]

You also can get fluctuations in your vape if you go from a cool environment, like a house with AC, into a warm environment, like outside on a hot day. In this situation you may need to do some tweeking of your settings to get it to vape the way you like since the coils ohms while at rest may be different in the heat than it was in the cool.

Hmm, I don't think this is correct. That's why there is resistance locking. Once you build your coil, you measure its resistance (at room temperature), type it in your mod and lock. From now on, outside temperatures doesn't matter anymore.

 

[Psihoza]

Now that I’ve started using an RDA and an RTA on my two iStick Picos 75

I own Pico. It's ok in TC. With ArcticFox firmware it is very good though.

 

[Myk]

You also can get fluctuations in your vape if you go from a cool environment, like a house with AC, into a warm environment, like outside on a hot day. In this situation you may need to do some tweeking of your settings to get it to vape the way you like since the coils ohms while at rest may be different in the heat than it was in the cool.

Other way around.
With VW in the winter vaping in my truck would be nothing or burnt. TC applies just enough to get over the temperature of the air flowing over the coil and then stops before burnt.

It's setting the coils that's a pain with TC and varies between summer/winter room temperatures. There's no real tweaking to settings to get over it. A .18Ω that gets locked in at .186Ω is going to be hot.
I often have to run to the AC to pull the cool air over new coils to get them working right, or put the mod in the freezer for a bit.
Getting locked in too cool is easier to deal with, you just fire the coil and lock it in while it's cooling off until it works right.

 

[Beamslider]

Most of any downside is going to come down to the mod used. A lot of Mods just don't work that well with TC.

DNA has given me very good results with TC also the no longer available Homhtech mods work well with SS. I don't lock the ohm reading on either and neither seem to forget the original setting and jump around based on the ambient room temperature jumping around. I am sure there are other good chipsets that work well but I don't think most of the lower end $30 mods will do it very well. Both of these seem to keep the original reading until you actually remove the atomizer and hit the fire button to get rid of it.

I did have decent results with a Pico which I still occasionally use but have Arctic Fox firmware on it which helped it a lot.

 

[Myk]

No real downsides if you're building. Even mods that don't do the best often have their own tricks.
Other than metal flavors or liking the rougher VW hit I don't know why more people don't like TC, unless their issue was with the temperature the coil was locked in at and they couldn't get it figured out or the mod wasn't easy to get it reset.

 

[Psihoza]

I have no issues with locking. I use ArcticFox where you can set manually. I measure as soon as I build it, lock it. I do build over 0.6 ohms which gives me more tollerance but if my vape is too warm I manually increase locked value. If too hot, I decrease it. By now I can guess correct temp when I vape.

However, thats only temporary. In the morning when I wake up and coil was not used for long (also temperature of the room stabilized if summer). I measure again and fine tune.

This way all my coils wotk perfectly within 5 degrees tolerance.

 

[zoiDman]

Most of any downside is going to come down to the mod used. A lot of Mods just don't work that well with TC.

...

This is an Exceptionally Good Point.

Because we tend to Talk About TC like it is some Standardized Technology. And Every Mod does it just as Well (or just Bad) as another.

And that Really Couldn't be Farther from the Truth.

 

[Zaryk]

Other way around.
With VW in the winter vaping in my truck would be nothing or burnt. TC applies just enough to get over the temperature of the air flowing over the coil and then stops before burnt.

It's setting the coils that's a pain with TC and varies between summer/winter room temperatures. There's no real tweaking to settings to get over it. A .18Ω that gets locked in at .186Ω is going to be hot.
I often have to run to the AC to pull the cool air over new coils to get them working right, or put the mod in the freezer for a bit.
Getting locked in too cool is easier to deal with, you just fire the coil and lock it in while it's cooling off until it works right.

Yeah, I may have gotten it backwards. It's been a while since the last time I explained it.

Hmm, I don't think this is correct. That's why there is resistance locking. Once you build your coil, you measure its resistance (at room temperature), type it in your mod and lock. From now on, outside temperatures doesn't matter anymore.

It does effect the vape, even after locking the resistance. Not if you are staying in similar temperatures but if there are semi extream changes then the temp of the environment, that has an effect on it. You could have the ohms locked in, but after a large temp change, the coils themselves could be at a different ohm than when it was locked, which can effect preformance.

 

[Myk]

Yeah, I may have gotten it backwards. It's been a while since the last time I explained it.

TC really rained on my parade of complaints to lawmakers that sending people out to vape in the cold is telling them to smoke because vaping doesn't work right in the cold while cigarettes work fine.
I've tried it in sub-zero temperatures even leaving my mod outside for a while before hitting it.

 

[Psihoza]

It does effect the vape, even after locking the resistance. Not if you are staying in similar temperatures but if there are semi extream changes then the temp of the environment, that has an effect on it. You could have the ohms locked in, but after a large temp change, the coils themselves could be at a different ohm than when it was locked, which can effect preformance.

Sorry but again, not correct. When you 'lock' resistance you dont DO anything to the coil itself. You just save refference point in your mod which says to your mod that when coil resistance equals that resistance, it is on 21 degrees celsius. If mod later mesures higher resistance of the coil, it will tell it that temperature changed up. Using resistance/temperature curve for each material mod can calculate temperature by measuring resistance of the coil.

So yes, coil could (and will) be of different resistance than when locked but that is no issue. Mod will measure resistance and calculate new temperature based on that, and adjust wattage to reache desired temperature of the coil.

 

[TrollDragon]

I lock resistance on Arctic Fox compatible mods. I do not lock resistance on DNA mods, I let refinement do it's job. Now that Replay is out for the DNA mods I don't even bother with regular TC anymore, it just works and is dead simple to get excellent results.

I have TC'ed Kanthal and Ni80 on my Hohm Wreckers, it does work perfectly, but requires a little fine tuning.

 

[Beamslider]

I also tried Kanthal and TC with the Hohm Slice. It worked well too but I prefer SS so I only tried the Kanthal to see if it would work

 

[Brewdawg1181]

For me, the downside of TC is due to me...

Just like when I smoked, I don't hit as hard or inhale as deeply in the am. By evening, I hit the cig a little harder. Same now with vaping - I start at around 8.5W, and over the course of the day, it increases, usually only up to 9.- or 10W.

I really liked TC when I first started it with a DNA, so I just set up different profiles. But that gets kind of fiddly, to know which profile to change to, or change the settings within a profile. And every now and then, I just want a more powerful hit. Using watts allows the temp to increase with longer draws, so it allows for that.

But once I looked at all the data in eScribe, I realized I never approached "dangerous" temp levels anyway, so now I'm back to watts. Much easier just to bump up a half watt or so at a time. Truth is, though - I'm glad I did TC, because it now gives me a little piece of mind. But if you like a consistent vape, TC on a mod that does TC well is fantastic.

 

[Beamslider]

I kind of like more vape coming out later in the day as well. First thing in the Morning it is quite a hit on the nicotine which I don't want. With TC, I just lower the set Temp for the first hour or so then raise it back up to the 400F I usually like.

Building your own coils certainly helps a lot with TC. I usually get around a week out of a coil before the taste says it needs to be changed. Since the coil has been working well in TC, I just clean off the burned on juice rewick and know already what the ohm reading should be.