Vaping 101: Temperature Control

We've all been there: we set our vape down for but a minute—mentally noting that it tastes a little dry—but when we return for a quick hit after immediately tossing our mental Post-it note, it's a one-way ticket to dry hit city. If only there were some way to simply prevent such nasty mishaps and unfortunate occurrences. While you're at it, how about something that will stop wicks from charring and maybe even give a cleaner taste as well as a cleaner bill of health. But such wishes will never be realized...pre-2015, that is. Nowadays, however, we have temperature control! What was once a gimmicky add-on is now the golden standard and an essential addition to your vaping arsenal. Read on to find out just how out of control vaping under control has become!

Wait...What?

So, for all that you’ve seen and heard, you’re still wondering, what does TC even really do? Well, all temperature control does is just that: control temperature—specifically, the temperature of your coils. By designating a temperature in the settings of your device, you’ve selected the maximum temperature your coils can reach before the power supplied to it is stopped. This is done in repetition for as long as the firing button is held. The range of benefits that arise from such throttled vaping is wide and extensive, including such helpful features as:

But...How?

But how does a device even know when your coil has reached the selected limit? Are there little elves living in your device that wield thermometers measuring the temperatures coming from your atomizer? No, our devices aren’t powered by anything quite so far-fetched or magical (quite yet). All that’s needed is a little science, a little math, and what already comes in our devices.

When some metals are heated and change temperature, the resistance of that material changes in a proportionate and predictable manner. This proportion is given in terms of TCR and/or TFR:

• Temperature Coefficient of Resistance (TCR) – A single numerical value that describes the relationship between change in temperature and change in resistance for a specific material.
• Temperature Factor of Resistivity (TFR) – A group of values that each describe the relationship between change in temperature and change in resistance for a specific material while within a specific temperature range.

Using a preset or user-input TCR/TFR, TC-enabled devices will read the resistance of your atomizer at rest, then when the temperature rises as you fire your device, it reads it repeatedly in rapid succession until your coils have reached the limited resistance. Then, your device cuts power until your coil has cooled to a hardcoded minimum, then resupplies power. It will continue doing this as the fire button is held, ensuring that the set temperature cannot be exceeded. 

This method works well for materials with a relatively high TCR, but for other materials with very low TCR values such as Kanthal and nichrome, controlling the temperature this way will never work as the resistance changes too little when heat is applied for it to be detected by today’s devices. There are some devices, however, such as the Hohm Slice, that allow for the use of TC with just about any type of heating element material—and does so very well—but such technologies are few and far between.

So...Which?

Though there are many different types of heating elements compatible with temperature control, there are only three that have become standard and are as ubiquitous as temperature control itself:

And...Where?

At first glance, the settings of your TC-enabled device can be disconcerting. Where’d your wattage go? How in tarnation are you supposed to know what temperature to use? Oh, wait, there are your watts...but why are they down there? And joules...you feel like you should know what those are, but for some reason, it escapes you at the moment? Great questions—like so, so good—just keep reading and you’ll find out all you need to know to get you well on your way to happy vaping!

Temperature

Temperature is given in terms of either Fahrenheit or Celsius (sorry, no Kelvin yet!). Clearomizer and sub-ohm tank atomizer heads will usually have a suitable temperature range to use printed clearly on the side of the chassis—if you’re building your own coils or the atomizer head doesn’t say, however, it’s a good idea to select a low temperature and work your way up until you find a suitable level. Provided below is a table of popular ingredients of e-liquid and their boiling points—this will give you some idea of what temperature to aim for when using certain juices:

Wattage/Joules

The amount of power being sent to your coils is described in terms of either ‘watts’ (in DNA boards) or ‘Joules’ (everywhere else). This value serves a different purpose than your temperature setting: while temperature sets a limit on how hot your coil can get, your power setting sets how fast it will get there. Either way, power sent to your coil will be cut when it reaches the designated level, but you get to decide how fast or slow you would like your ramp-up time to be. While two terms—watts and Joules—can be found in use, they’re essentially interchangeable in this application.

Resistance

When using TC-friendly heating elements, it’s important to allow your atomizer to cool completely before attaching it to your TC device in order to get an accurate initial resistance reading. Otherwise, if your coils are still hot and read at a higher ohm than they really are, your TC performance will be severely impacted for the worse.

TCR/TFR

TC devices will come with one or more TC modes equipped with a preset TCR/TFR value for the popular materials—such as Ni200 and Ti—but some will allow users to input the TCR/TFR values of other user-selected materials, allowing them to use that heating element material in TC mode.