Temp Controlled Vaping Rocks

[Mr.Watkins]

I'm still pretty new to vaping, maybe six months or so. When I first got into it, I thought I would enjoy playing around with different coil builds and stuff. I thought I wouldn't mind if the builds weren't quite right, or the atomizer was a pain in the tail to build on... orchid v4, I'm looking at you! Turns out, I'm lazy. I don't want to spend an hour on a build and then get an atty short message. Or, I get a lovely build, and it lasts for less than a week, then starts to taste a bit burnt... dang it. Have to do it again... I don't like doing the same thing (that doesn't feel fun to me) more than twice.

Why do my builds burn so fast? I reckon it' because of the way I vape. I want full flavor, and take hits for somewhere between 6 and 10 seconds, just like I would a cigarette. Maybe I was building wrong, or setting the wattage wrong, I don't know. I tried firing and releasing multiple times during a hit, didn't seem to help.

Whatever the problem was, it has become a moot point, because I have discovered temperature controlled vaping. I've been using the same coil for a couple of weeks now, no problem, no burnt taste, no black juice that stains my teeth. I guess the temp control keeps me from overheating the cotton and stuff, whatever. The point is that it seems to be working on my tank, and I love it. Wish I had found it earlier. The small costs of buying prebuilt coils does not compare to the time saved and general contentment I feel. It rocks.

 

[Eskie]

Congrats on finding something that works for you. The goal should always be to find the setup best for you. I like TC as well, but still use power/wattage mode with some tanks/builds.

 

[BrotherBob]

Many thanks for the post, you will probably help many.

 

[Gramdogg]

Yeah I love the long hauls of TC too. Found lowering watts to make a longer ramp up time in power mode worked about the same as well.

 

[NealBJr]

I've heard some great things about TC. Unfortunately, I have yet to get it to work in a consistent manner. I don't blame the setup, just my lack of experience with it. It is on my "to do" list, but for now, kanthal works just fine for me.

If done right, kanthal can last just as long as a TC build. I've already got a set build that works for me. 26 gauge kanthal, wrapped 7-8 times, perfect amount of cotton in an atomizer that wicks well running at 25-30 watts... works well for me. About once every 2 weeks, I will pull the cotton out, dry burn the coil, give it a rinse, put new cotton in, and I'm good to go for another 3 weeks. longest I've went was 4 months with one set of coils.

I have the stainless steel/nickel for temp control.. I just haven't gotten a round to it. My first attempt was with 26 gauge nickel... and it was WAY too thick to have a decent coil. I now have 30 gauge 316 steel, 30 gauge nickel, and 32 gauge titanium to work with... so if you have any pointers, I have an open ear.

 

[Gramdogg]

I've heard some great things about TC. Unfortunately, I have yet to get it to work in a consistent manner. I don't blame the setup, just my lack of experience with it. It is on my "to do" list, but for now, kanthal works just fine for me.

If done right, kanthal can last just as long as a TC build. I've already got a set build that works for me. 26 gauge kanthal, wrapped 7-8 times, perfect amount of cotton in an atomizer that wicks well running at 25-30 watts... works well for me. About once every 2 weeks, I will pull the cotton out, dry burn the coil, give it a rinse, put new cotton in, and I'm good to go for another 3 weeks. longest I've went was 4 months with one set of coils.

I have the stainless steel/nickel for temp control.. I just haven't gotten a round to it. My first attempt was with 26 gauge nickel... and it was WAY too thick to have a decent coil. I now have 30 gauge 316 steel, 30 gauge nickel, and 32 gauge titanium to work with... so if you have any pointers, I have an open ear.

Basically if your mod don't run TC very well you just need to go to TCR or M1 etc settings, look up the value for your build and set it to that. Should fix any problems you get from the preset values.

 

[Canadian_Vaper]

I absolutely love TC with SS316L it's just freakin great, best is no dry hits when I'm drinking lol

 

[Gramdogg]

Wish my shop sold 316L, only way to get it here is to buy a UD Wire Box. 10m Kanthal, 10m Nichrome, 10m SS, 5m Clapton, 5m twisted lol. The 10m of SS would last me years lol.

 

[Canadian_Vaper]

I get all my wire (Youde Brand) from www.fasttech.com it's dirt cheap but takes a while to get to you....

$2.25 Authentic UD 316L Stainless Steel Resistance Wire for Rebuildable Atomizers - 26 AWG / 0.4mm*10m / 11.3ohm at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping

Use DHL global mail, best cheap shipping option they have...

 

[ddirtyvapes]

Wish my shop sold 316L, only way to get it here is to buy a UD Wire Box. 10m Kanthal, 10m Nichrome, 10m SS, 5m Clapton, 5m twisted lol. The 10m of SS would last me years lol.

I picked up a Youde wire box just for variety and it was great to get to try out a few different wires. I'd recommend it if you don't go the Fasttech route, especially if you've never played around with SS or Nichrome (not for TC). The only bad thing about it is the 26g nickel... wish it had been 28g, personally. It's basically impossible to do dual nickel with 26g imo.

 

[NealBJr]

I picked up a Youde wire box just for variety and it was great to get to try out a few different wires. I'd recommend it if you don't go the Fasttech route, especially if you've never played around with SS or Nichrome (not for TC). The only bad thing about it is the 26g nickel... wish it had been 28g, personally. It's basically impossible to do dual nickel with 26g imo.

Lol.. that is why I had to order more... I bought 26 gauge nickel on the basis that I liked 26 gauge kanthal. I knew the resistance would be lower, but then again, most TC builds are much lower.. the resistance was so low, however, that in a dual coil setup, I'd have to do over 20 wraps for each coil just to get a .2 resistance. So, the 26 gauge nickel will go with my 24 gauge kanthal... wire I'll never use.

 

[Gramdogg]

I picked up a Youde wire box just for variety and it was great to get to try out a few different wires. I'd recommend it if you don't go the Fasttech route, especially if you've never played around with SS or Nichrome (not for TC). The only bad thing about it is the 26g nickel... wish it had been 28g, personally. It's basically impossible to do dual nickel with 26g imo.

Yeah I just shop local, I don't use nickel and twisted and claptons are to big for me so all I could use is the kanthal and SS. When I upgrade to bigger deck maybe. Think I'll be downgrading instead of upgrading though or getting into RDA's to ween off the habit of chain vaping.

 

[ddirtyvapes]

Lol.. that is why I had to order more... I bought 26 gauge nickel on the basis that I liked 26 gauge kanthal. I knew the resistance would be lower, but then again, most TC builds are much lower.. the resistance was so low, however, that in a dual coil setup, I'd have to do over 20 wraps for each coil just to get a .2 resistance. So, the 26 gauge nickel will go with my 24 gauge kanthal... wire I'll never use.

You don't have any set-ups for single coil? The 26g nickel makes a pretty nice single... but I understand we all have wires we just don't use. I hate 22g kanthal with a passion.

 

[JRFII]

I tried TC with my KBOX mini and missed the long hits. This mod fires until it reaches the temp setting and then shuts off. I could double bump the fire button but found this annoying and went back to wattage. What is a good mod for TC?

 

[NealBJr]

You don't have any set-ups for single coil? The 26g nickel makes a pretty nice single... but I understand we all have wires we just don't use. I hate 22g kanthal with a passion.

I have a couple of orchid GT2's, but my airflow preference is slightly above what those have. I have a Kanger subtank with the RBA head but that build deck is so small, and a kanger subtank nano which I haven't tried the RBA head in, but even so, still a tiny tiny build deck. the other option would be the TFV4 with the single coil rebuildable, but the TFV4 is my "heavy hitting" tank, and usually keep a tri coil head in it.

My preferred ATM is a goblin mini. I just dropped the last of those "glass drip tips", so either I have to order more, buy an expensive "special made" drip tip, or I'll probably go to home depot or a hobby store and find some aluminum tubing that fits, and just cut small drip tips.... (looking around some more) other options are a Caravela dripper, tugboat dripper, squape "leak monster", dusty aqua/origin combo, Fogger V4 (dual head)...

most of my tanks are dual heads. I'd have to look ,but I think I have a Kayfun lite and an AGA-T2 laying around as well.

Right now as I speak, I am trying a titanium build on one of my goblin mini's. 32 gauge titanium 7 wraps 2 coil.... 32 gauge titanium is not easy to work with.. very springy... I have to wrap an EXTRA 1.5 wraps so it will spring back to my target wraps

 

[ddirtyvapes]

I tried TC with my KBOX mini and missed the long hits. This mod fires until it reaches the temp setting and then shuts off. I could double bump the fire button but found this annoying and went back to wattage. What is a good mod for TC?

I doubt many would consider any of these the absolute best TC mods, but I have had very satisfying vapes from my iStick Pico, Joyetech Cuboid, and Wismec RX200. They all do TC well, imo. Especially with the TCR settings.

Then of course there's always the DNA devices (75, 200 especially) or the Hohmwrecker G2 up closer to the top of the line.

@NealBJr Sure, I understand. I often look for toppers that are single/dual capable (or at least, capable of more than one type of build) so I have some options for the 26g nickel. It definitely doesn't work great in every topper so I understand why you wouldn't have a great urge (or it would just be impossible) to use it in the ones you mentioned. I haven't used Titanium much. It kind of scares me with the thought of it catching on fire potentially, and I do like SS for TC so I use that a lot. Right now I'm using a clapton with a 26g stainless core wrapped with 32g kanthal on TC (around 230C) and it's working beautifully. I can't quite tell to what degree the kanthal is messing with the reading but it is working basically as I'd expect it to.

 

[JRFII]

Thanks for the recommendations! I use SS for all my coils now. Tried TT for TC knowing you need to be careful. Really appreciate your reply.

 

[NealBJr]

GRRRR... the last two hours have been spent trying to mount at least one titanium wire on my mod, and none were successfull. I have 32 gauge wire, which seems to be quite a mistake. 32 gauge titanium is springy.. more so than any other wire I've tried.... I have to wrap 12 times, and it springs back to 8 wraps... if I coil it around a 2mm, it springs out to about 3.5mm, and when I tighten the legs, they all break so easily. I tried twisting it, and the same thing happens. Even though I'd never vape it, I tried out of frustration to temper it, and even that was no help. Now, I am at least trying to get some fun out of it... Titanium does burn, and it burns a bright white.. I took one of my strands out of the back deck and took a blow torch to it... man, it's bright.

the whole time, I was vaping on my kanthal vape which took me all of 10 minutes to build. I'm scrapping temperature control for a few months again. maybe another year.

 

[Mr.Watkins]

Wow, didn't expect to start such an interesting and technically enlightened discussion. I'm afraid you guys have gone way beyond my knowledge level.

Up until about a month and a half ago, I was vaping at a very low wattage, 12-15 or so on 6 wraps of 24 gauge kanthal at 2.5mm in a subtank mini. Same, but with 2 vertical coils for the Orchid v4 (not enough space), similar again my rdas. It lacked flavor, and I would often time out (10 secs) before I felt like I had a good inhale. Then I would chain it, till the tank got too hot to touch. See, I don't know anyone nearby who vapes, and its hard to find a "this is my simple build and wattage settings for atomizer XXX" guide. I though, hotter will be too hot, better to run it at a low temp and take a reaaaaly long drag.

So, finally, I ran into a friend who vapes, and he said... "your wattage is too low, try it on 25-30." He was right. The taste was way different, and I could actually put the vaporizer down sometimes. But, I found that my builds were lasting days, not weeks. I would rebuild something and then have the cotton burn out and the tank start to fill with black sludge within two days. The taste would be great, initially,then not so great... and my wife wouldn't stop telling me to go brush my teeth. Clearly I was still doing something wrong. I'm open to suggestions on that front, since I've got a bunch of kanthal sitting around, and working on a coil still counts as avoidance of actual work (so occasionally desirable).

Anyhow, I happened to buy a kanger toptank, which came with an ssocc ni200. I put that thing on my rx200 and do not intend to look back. Sure, I've just bought a bunch of replacement ssocc ni200s for about 4$ a pop, which would have bought me a heck of a lot of kanthal, but those badboys are ready to go. Plug and play, just confirm new coil head on the rx200 and start vaping. In case anyone just got the same setup and is wondering what settings to use... I've got it running at 35 watts, 480f. Actually, I'm not saying that that will be the best setting for you (maybe someone will post to tell me its wrong), but you can start around there and play your way up and down the scale a bit.

 

[flavorchaser077]

My friend uses a 1.8 ohm ceramic cool at 18 watts and gets huge flavor