Best TC mod by budget
TC Box Mod Specs Face-Off
How We Rate TC Mods
Not all products you’ll see in our list are equal for, as we explained, TC is hard to pull off. Many are old models but so good at TC that they still give newcomers a run for their money. Some do it better than others, but they usually ask more from your wallet for that ability. Others are the strange fluke, the exception to the rule, an affordable mod that somehow manages the impossible.
Thus, their chops in TC were our main priority in choosing them – not their looks, not their colors, not their weight, or the time of release, although we did take into account those factors as well. We used our straightforward single-flavor testing juice, with which we’re intimately familiar after years of vaping the particular recipe. It’s 20 drops of Atmos Lab Vanilla (plain/classic) in 10 ml of 70VG/30PG 3mg base for DL tanks and 10 drops in 10 ml of 50VG/50PG 12mg base for MTL tanks .
Similarly, we used simple SS316L builds in atomizers known for their flavor, despite their age: a Kayfun v3 RTA and a Derringer RDA for MTL and restricted DL. A Wasp Nano RDTA and a Boreas RTA (which this humble writer always preferred to the much more popular Aromamizer RDTAs) for open DL. Those might be old-ish options, too, but you want to keep everything else a known constant when you’re testing new devices. Thus, we used the same atomizers on those mods that we use to check the capabilities of every other mod – consider them this humble writer’s “testing suite.”
Now, on to the unicorns!
Guide To TC Mods
Is Temperature Control a big enough deal to warrant swapping your existing mod for one that’s better in that regard? Here’s the short version: Yup!
If you need more convincing than a “yup,” think of it like this: TC can help you avoid nasty burnt hits when the wicks in your atomizers dry up. Apart from that, it leads to a continuously consistent vape, where the produced vapor is always at the temperature you like. Avoiding higher temperatures also leads to safer vaping. The higher the heat levels, the more byproducts are created from our heated-up juice and coils.
It’s not rocket science, but neither Voodoo magic. It’s thanks to our modern knowledge of materials and some nifty Math.
How Does TC Work?
You might have noticed that to use TC on any mod, you also have to use a particular type of wire. No matter what some snake-oil equivalents claim, you can’t do TC with Kanthal or even Nichrome (Ni80).
That’s because TC doesn’t rely on sensors or some exotic type of monitoring technology. Instead, it works by continuously monitoring your coil’s resistance. As Titanium, Ni200, and Stainless Steel coils heat up, their resistance increases. The chips in our mods may not read their actual temperature, but they know how each metal’s resistivity changes by heat. Based on that, they can guess the temperature purely based on the coil’s Ohm reading.
It’s based on simple math. To provide a similarly simple example, if the coil reads 1Ohm in room temperature, then when it reads 1.5Ohm, it must have changed to room temperature +X% extra temperature.
How Can I Use It?
In many mods, you have to set this initial “reference point” manually for proper TC. You can do this by “locking your resistance” when you first screw on your atomizer, while your coils are at room temperature. This is done differently in each mod, and some do it automatically when they detect a new atomizer. You should refer to your mod’s manual to check if you should manually lock your coils’ resistance – and how. After locking your resistance, select the correct TC setting in your mod, based on your coils’ material. Stainless Steel has different TCR values than Titanium, and both differ from Ni200, so you need a different setting for each. It’s according to those values that the mod guestimates temperatures based on the changes in resistance.
Proceed by setting a “mild” value in both your mod’s temperature and Wattage settings. Then, try to vape. If no vapor is produced, increase your Wattage. If it’s too cold, increase your temperature. If, despite increasing the temperature, nothing changes, increase the Wattage some more. In top-of-the-line mods, you can set your Wattage at its max value and only play with the Temperature setting. Cheaper mods, though, might struggle to regulate the full range of power available to their chip, so that’s why you also have to play with the Wattage setting. The worse a chip’s response times to temperature fluctuations, the more you have to tweak the Wattage.
When you hit your sweet spot, though, or if you have a premium mod that can easily pull it off at the touch of a button (like DNA250C-equipped mods), and you enjoy your first good TC hit, there’s no going back to straight power mode.
Are you using TC, and if yes, on which mod, and with what type of coils? Tell us in the comments section below!
Note: We have to thank AussieGeekVaper for his support and the information he provided us, which played a significant role in our choice of devices.
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