Introducing a quick overview of Temperature Control Vaping. Are you tired of that horrible taste you get from a dry hit? Tired of burning the wick in your coil and having to replace it, and at the worst possible time too? Are you tired of vapes that are just too hot? If so, it sounds like Temperature Control Vaping might be right for you. Temperature Control Vaping seems to be the next step in harm reduction for nicotine users by creating a fool proof way of limiting the temperature of the coils preventing burnt wicks or dry hits or simply keeping it from getting hotter than you prefer. Here we will discuss this technology, what it is, and why we want it.
In May 2014 a study conducted in Poland released their results. The study tested various e-liquids in a standard smoking machine with a top coil clearomizer using a 2.4Ω coil on a stick type eGo battery at 3.2, 4.0, and 4.8 volts. While the levels of carbonyls found were very low at 3.2 and 4.0 volts, researchers noticed that at 4.8 volts a dramatically higher level of carbonyls were present in the vapor. So what caused this drastic exponential increase in in carbonyls? Simple; dry wicks. It seems when the wick is dry and burned, some of the by-products of combustion are the culprit at hand. So how do we prevent this from happening to us? Not letting the wick get dry isn’t always possible, which is where temp control comes into the picture.
Temperature Control Vaping is a technology that limits the temperature the coil is allowed to heat up to. The name temperature control is actually a misnomer because these devices lack any thermostat or temperature sensor. Mods using this technology do not sense the actual temperature of the coil but instead rely on the change in resistance as the coil is heated. When a specific resistance change is determined, the device will adjust, restrict, or cut-off the power to the coil. Many temperature controlled devices will only work with Ni-200 Nickel Coil or TI Pure Titanium wire. This is used because when compared to Kanthal or NiChrome they have a more linear relationship between resistance and temperature. As the coil heats the resistance rises since the increase in resistance is a relatively constant value based on its temperature it can use the change in resistance to roughly control temperature within 10° F.
Coils intended for use with temperature control devices are quite different from the standard coils made from Kanthal or Ni-Chrome. Temperature controlled device coils typically have many more wraps. It is quite common for a coil made from Ni-200 to use double or even triple the amount of wraps than a similar coil of the same resistance made from Kanthal or Ni-Chrome. The TC coil builds up heat quickly and requires the additional wraps to “slow it down”. For this reason there is typically even spacing between the wraps of a TC coil. Additionally it’s important to note that Ni-200 or Ti coils have very little electrical resistance altogether. Before temperature control devices Nickel or Titanium coils were not used because there was no way to safely limit the amount of electricity to them and their use would have likely have resulted in injuries and property damage.
At first Temperature Control Vaping technology seemed hard to find with devices costing near or above the $400 mark but as we see now there are several companies releasing devices with Temperature Control Vaping. Until recently temperature controlled mods were quite expensive and the price point simply put them out of reach of the majority of vapers but the landscape is changing as more and more temperature controlled devices are released. Currently there are 3 major types of temperature controlled device available. Some simply cut off the power when the desired temperature is reached (DNA40 RDNA40 devices), while others gradually reduce the output power to keep it firing at the maximum temperature set (SMOK, Evic VT), and lastly those that do both (SX mini, IPV4). Most devices only allow temperature changes, while some also have a Joules mode.
The ability to adjust and precisely control the temperature of your vape does more than make it safer. It also allows you to further fine tune your vape to find your exact sweet spot. In fact many temperature controlled mods have a memory function that remembers the resistance of a coil in case you need to remove your atomizer for a moment but also makes it as easy as a click of a button to adjust a new coil to your previous settings ushering in a new level of convenience as well the obvious benefits of not getting any dry hits.
