So here I am 2-1/2 weeks later and much wiser
I can understand why so many vapers try TC, find the results less-than-satisfactory, give up and go back to power mode. The finer points of TC are a bit tricky and not immediately obvious. It doesn't help that mod makers' various implementations of TC are sometimes wildly different from one another, and not always correct.
First, one the tricky parts: With each of my three TC mods (
SMOK Mag P3,
Vandy Vape & Tony B Swell, and
Wismec Sinuous Ravage230), it seems making
any adjustment other than target temperature will cause the mod to re-read the coils' current base resistance. If you've been using the coil it'll be quite a bit hotter than room temperature. This will result in the mod inaccurately controlling temperature. If you're not expecting it you can burn cotton, destroy the coil, and burn your throat. Yes: I learned this the hard way.
As to the various inconsistencies in mod behaviour: The only one of the three I have that behaved
as I would have expected has been the
SMOK Mag P3. It's damn lucky I started with that one!
Of the other two:
The
Vandy Vape Swell uses an uncommon TCR range and has a default max power setting that does not allow enough power to the coils to actually hit the target temperatures with many builds. (See:
Vandy Vape Swell: A Nice Mod That's A Temp. Control Fail) Once I got those two figured out it worked fine. (I'll update my capsule review later.)
The
Wismec Sinuous Ravage230 was even wonkier. The pre-set TCR for SS316, whatever it is, certainly is nowhere close to right in my experience. Near as I can tell it
never goes into limiting. To make matters worse: They have the default power in TC set to 230 watts! Luckily the mod has a TCR mode. But that would go into limit
way too soon, even turning the temperature way up to 315°C (600°F). Finally I decided to simply disregard the recommended TCR range for SS316L (88-92) and bump it up until it worked right. Looks like somewhere around 114 works. (This mod has other issues. I will be doing another of my capsule reviews for this mod.)
In the end, all this grief has been worth it to me. I do long pulls, and TC lets me do those long pulls without getting dry hits--or even sometimes burning cotton.