I was tidying up some old stuff, and discovered some SS mesh. I used it for a project a long long time ago. So I immediately thought: Let's try connecting it to my mod.
So I cut off a stripe (150x13mm), with no deliberate intention of getting any specific size or resistance, as I had no technical data about this mesh (and the width of the mesh happened to be 150mm).
Then I connected it to the base of the DT V3 in a very crude setup, just with the intention to do some tests. As it turned out, this setup has 0.4 Ohm. So next time I should go for a lower resistance.
It worked in TC mode, but due to the very improvised connection of the mesh (with paperclips), the slightest movement of the mesh, immediately changed the resistance of the connections a bit and threw the mod out of TC mode.
So for the tests I therefore used it in wattage mode. I put a glass tube over the mesh, and connected a hose to the other side for inhalation.
And what can I say, even with this crude setup:
Electric heated mesh vaping is by far the most efficient way to vape such substances, I have ever encountered.Evaporation of all the substance in a very small time window and still nothing burnt at all. A totally clean vape.
I think surface is the key here. Also there's an even temp distribution, so the substance cannot creep away (temp difference), not evaporate (colder), or get burnt (hotter).
Just right where the connections are, the mesh is a bit colder, but for that I just left 1-1.5cm mesh from the connectors always dry, and so this was never a problem.
I used it at quite low evaporation temps (so nothing gets burnt), so that the evaporation rate per surface is actually quite low. But as you have
a huge evaporation surface (e.g.in my setup about 2x15=30cm^2), the total evaporation rate is quite big. So as it has in total this high evaporation rate, you also need a big airflow or the air gets vapor saturated which will immediately lead to condensing.
I also had to discover, that this only works properly if the substance is distributed over/in the mesh in a very thin film. If you have some bigger rocks somewhere, this will lead to melted puddles, and then some material will burn there!
For this I simply improvised some means for distribution. E.g. I added two small mica plates to a SMD tweezer. Set to melt temp and then clinched the mesh between the mica plates and drew over the mesh. Like that you could very quickly distribute it thinly over the mesh.
But the big problem was the loading. As I usually do this with my plastic scoops. And it's obvious I cannot get close to the mesh with them, when it is on melt temp. Always some amount went past the mesh and fell to the floor...ARRGGG...
Really tedious work...Totally unpractical.
But then I got an idea, and like that loading was dead simple.
Powder your substance, throw your dosage on a flat heat resistant, poor thermal conducting surface (e.g. I just used paper).
Now get the mesh just so to melt temp, and simply draw it through the powder. The powder will immediately cling to it and no powder remains on your surface, but everything is on/in your mesh. Very quickly and easily done.
But then you still have to do the distribution as mentioned above. But that is also quite quickly done.
And then set vape temp (as said I couldn't and therefore just used wattage mode) and go.
But as the surface is really big it is obvious that you need quite some power. E.g. I would say, for a mesh of the size I indicated, I wouldn't go below 40-50W, but rather in the 60W or even higher region. But as the total heating mass is still very small, heat up times are quite fast compared to donut/plate/cup-atomizers.
This was just some crude setup for some testing. When I find the time, I will do a more elaborate setup, with proper mesh connectors, proper mesh holding structure, and good airflow (so that the air has to flow over the mesh surface, and maybe with some heat exchanger to have less wattage demand from the mod).
But this method seems very promising to me. So I think I will totally trash the e-foil idea and instead go for the mesh only idea. The big advantage of the mesh is IMHO that it can hold quite some substance on it's own, so there's really nowhere any significant heat difference.
But it is certainly only a meaningful method, for some critical substances like DMT (e.g. which need to be supplied quickly, and in a specific dose, and/or: burn easily, creep easily).
BTW, about the Mr Bald T:I made some additional measurements, and although it does work in TC mode, the temp curve is highly nonlinear.
E.g. with my setting as TCNi:
set 100C -> 100C (here it is basically correct)
set 120C -> 130C (so temp until here increases slightly faster, than set)
set 125C -> 160C (suddenly a steep temp increase)
set 130C -> 170C
set 135C -> 180C
(from here on the temp increase is again much flatter)
As you can see, the temp curve is really strange, and so certainly no simple TCR value would ever match that behavior.
It is also important to note the steep temp increase from 130C to 160C. So if you need to vape a substance in this temp window, it's gonna be delicate...
I claim not that this is the truth. As this is just what got manifested into my mind at the current position in time on this physical plane. So please feel not offended by anything I say.