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On another note - I put a 0.23? ø3mm 30ga standard coil build in a Kanger Subtank (full size) RBA last night. I was worried the small-ish juice channels wouldn't be enough to keep up with the wicking requirements but I was surprised to find that it hit 390°F and just stuck there for repeated 6-7 second draws. The RBA section has a tighter draw than the pre-build coil heads so the draw was longer than I expected. Lots of vapour and good taste.

It was interesting reading people's experiences. As for my experience, I'm using the TC as TP, that is as a way to avoid burnt cotton and dry hits, but I never really get to the point of TP. My observations are that during a 4-5 second draw on a Lemo the temperature never goes above 400°F @ 20W and on a single coil Magma it sits around 380-390°F for as long as I can inhale @ 25W. Both of these situations give a satisfying vape with plenty of vapour. It's a tiny bit cooler than before I used TC but I'm happy with the trade-off to avoid dry hits. I intend to dual-coil a Plume Veil shortly and see how that goes. I expect much better wicking and therefore the ability to run it harder for longer.

All in all the experience has been good. It was certainly a learning experience and not without trials and tribulations, working with nickel coils being one and wicking issues being the other.

For those that are interested:

In addition to buying a DNA40 VF clone from 3FVape I also ordered a Hana Modz DNA40 clone a few days later. I asked if the Hana used the same board as the VF clone and was told it used a different board, a Smocare board. On power-up the display shows "Smocare" rather than "KX-40D" but I have not been able to find a difference in the operation after a week's use (including showing the "limited" watts if you let go of the fire button when TC is active and watts are being displayed). Functionally they appear to work identically, although it's hard to check details on the display because I can't read the display as well on the Hana when vaping.

Quality wise it's a good clone but the buttons are spongy rather than clicky, probably the most annoying aspect for me. They still click but the feeling is rubbery getting to the point where they click. Also, the charge indicator LED is in a strange place, being underneath the micro-USB connection. The wiring looks neat enough and it isn't full of hot glue like some.

I have used this with a Magma, basically vaping from fully saturated to barely any vapour being produced with no taste of burned cotton and still vapable (is that a word?). On opening it up I found the cotton to be white and dry, almost bleached. Looking at the cotton where it goes through the coil there was a small light brown mark under the top of one wrap only. Seeing as the DNA40 TC uses average temperature I'm assuming this was a hot spot on the coil. I was using what has become my go-to coil, 30ga Ø3mm twisted nickel with standard spacing, coming out at 0.11? after the refinement period (initially 0.12?).

My VF came via China Post Registered Airmail. It took two weeks from China to Australia.

So your coils drop to a 1/10 of their resistance after pinching them?

Another +1 for robby.

Nickel builds have been a learning curve but I think I have the hang of it now. One thing I would mention, and I'm not sure if this is the case with the genuine DNA40, is that the pre-heat seems to be a bit slow if it has been sitting idle a while (coil is at room temperature). I notice it takes a second, maybe 1.5 seconds for the coil to get up to ~390°F. Second and subsequent vapes are pretty much immediate.

From what I understand the DNA40 hits the coil with a pre-heat voltage for 1 second or until the coil is 100°F below the set temperature, whichever happens first. I'm not sure if this is happening or not as I don't have any equipment to test it.

Never mind, I found it. Thanks anyway.