Experiments with TC

[paul2566]

First let me state I know dick about TC, and intend to post my findings to this thread based on real experiences, and welcome other input and findings.

Hopefully this may help prevent some of the mistakes I am bound to make.

Unless stated otherwise I will be using the Smoke X Cube 2, with the latest software upgrade. I chose this as a base as its the best mod I have with a reasonably wide range of TCR variability.

 

[paul2566]

#1

Tobecco Velocity clone.
Air flow wide open.

Single coil (contact)
Fused clapton around 2.5mm screwdriver.
Dual core wires 0.4mm SS316L
Wrap 0.32mm Kanthal
Coil wraps = 6

TCR set to 88

Mod set to 175 degrees C
Coil reads 0.28 Ohms which is spot on with Steam Engine

Below is the info I got from the Steam Engine wire wizard, no idea what most of it means, but it gave me the TCR. Dont know if the TC precision is good or bad, but I assume its worse that plain stainless.

Resistance 0.287 Ω
Resistivity 2.95 Ω/m
TCR in vaping range 878 ×10-6
TC precision 252
Heat flux per Watt 0.64 mW/mm²
Heat capacity 441.26 mJ/K
Current per Volt 3.49 A
Power dissipated 100 %
Width 1.44 mm
Thickness 1.04 mm
Length 97.27 mm
Surface area 1559.04 mm²
Cross section area 0.33 mm²
Volume 129.61 mm³
Mass 942.25 mg
Density 7.27 g/ccm

My results;
Temp control works to a degree, I get a noticeable drop in vapour and flavour prior to any dry hits, and the device cuts power, which prevents dry hits, and is partly the object of the exercise for me.
If I continue to vape I do eventually get a dry hit, but not as extreme as without TC.
Ramp up time isnt too bad, but by blowing for a second or so before inhaling works well.
Very good clouds.
Good flavour.
Consumes ejuice like its going out of fashion.
Im no coil guru but if I had to I could probably get another coil in there, but it would be tight.

 

[paul2566]

#2

Zorro RDA.
Air flow wide open.

Single coil (contact)
Fused clapton around 2.5mm screwdriver.
Dual core wires 0.32mm Stealthvape NiFe30
Wrap 0.32mm Kanthal
Coil wraps = 6

TCR set to 500

Mod set to 185 degrees C
Coil reads 0.13 Ohms which is a little off by Steam Engine


Below is the info I got from the Steam Engine wire wizard.

Resistance 0.116 Ω
Resistivity 1.3 Ω/m
TCR in vaping range 5000 ×10-6
TC precision 581
Heat flux per Watt 0.79 mW/mm²
Heat capacity 340.81 mJ/K
Current per Volt 8.61 A
Power dissipated 100 %
Width 1.28 mm
Thickness 0.96 mm
Length 89.54 mm
Surface area 1273.59 mm²
Cross section area 0.24 mm²
Volume 101.89 mm³
Mass 743.56 mg
Density 7.3 g/ccm

My results;
Vape is warm but not too hot.
Temp control works quite well, I get a noticeable drop in vapour and flavour prior to any dry hits, and the device cuts power as it should.
I pretty much vaped it down to an almost dry coil, with very pale cotton (Cotton Bacon V2). Temp control kept cutting in, and I didn't get a dry hit.
Ramp up time was less than experiment #1 at around 1 to 2 seconds.
Very good clouds.
Good flavour.
Consumes ejuice like its going out of fashion.
No way an amateur like me could get another coil in there.

Additional notes;
Dropped temp down to 150 degC, still get good clouds and vapour but ramp time has gone up, and TC cuts power on nearly every draw.

 

[danb]

Dont know if the TC precision is good or bad, but I assume its worse that plain stainless.

TC precision 252

It's bad. I normally coil around 700-800 (with NiFe wires), for me it just works better.

 

[paul2566]

#3

Plume Veil V2 RDA, with chuff cap.
Air flow wide open.

Single coil (contact)
Fused clapton around 2.5mm screwdriver.
Single core wire 0.32mm Stealthvape NiFe30
Wrap 0.32mm Kanthal
Coil wraps = 6

TCR set to 500

Mod set to 170 degrees C
Coil reads 0.21 Ohms which is a little off by Steam Engine


Below is the info I got from the Steam Engine wire wizard.

Resistance 0.23 Ω
Resistivity 2.57 Ω/m
TCR in vaping range 4996 ×10-6
TC precision 1148
Heat flux per Watt 1.21 mW/mm²
Heat capacity 220.68 mJ/K
Current per Volt 4.35 A
Power dissipated 100 %
Width 0.96 mm
Thickness 0.96 mm
Length 89.54 mm
Surface area 829.2 mm²
Cross section area 0.16 mm²
Volume 66.34 mm³
Mass 481.07 mg
Density 7.25 g/ccm


My results;
Vape is gentle and warm.
Temp control works quite well, I get a noticeable drop in vapour and flavour prior to any dry hits, and the device cuts power as it should.
I pretty much vaped it down to an almost dry coil, with very pale cotton (Cotton Bacon V2). Temp control kept cutting in, and I didn't get a dry hit.
Ramp up time was about the same as experiment #2 at around 1 to 2 seconds.
Good clouds, not quite as plentiful as #1 or #2 above.
Good flavour, but a little down on#1 or #2 above .
Still consumes ejuice like its going out of fashion.
I could get another coil in the RDA, but I dont want to go that low on resistance, only because I have read that the lower the coil resistance the less accurate TC becomes, and I figure doing this its off far enough already.

 

[paul2566]

Oh and I keep changing the RDAs, because I am quite liking how the builds vape so don't want to discard them yet, although to my surprise the little cheap Zorro build is my favourite so far.

I'm also rubbish at getting the wicking right on TC builds, but these builds must be very forgiving as so far they have performed as desired.

My building skills are in the novice area, and all the builds I have done were easy, so if like me you are a novice, don't be put off, trust me if I can do it anyone can.

 

[Mr Numpty]

If you want a good TC vape, just make some single strand spaced coils with the 0.32 NiFe30, aiming for 0.15 Ohms up and wick them loosely.

 

[Tubbyengineer]

If you want a good TC vape, just make some single strand spaced coils with the 0.32 NiFe30, aiming for 0.15 Ohms up and wick them loosely.

This, in spades, with whipped cream and a cherry on top...

 

[Tubbyengineer]

For Tc the best thing to do is to adhere to the K.I.S.S. mantra. The less complex it is the less there is to fault find and fewer confounding variables if something doesn't work well.

 

[paul2566]

If you want a good TC vape, just make some single strand spaced coils with the 0.32 NiFe30, aiming for 0.15 Ohms up and wick them loosely.

Yep tried that, so far my actual experience is different.

Tried NiFe30, NiFe48 with some success, but I was a little disappointed.
Tried Ni200, which was just plain a pain in the arse.
Titanium, not much better.