@Vape Dr.: Thanks for the kind words my good fellow, but I wouldn't call myself an expert, at least not on these matters!
But yes I would be glad to help
@little maggie decide when time comes.
Recently I've been in the "less is more" mind state.
I did for instance a comparison between my Milaana and the MistVape Touch, using the exact same LG HG2 cell, same bowl size, same herb, same 14mm stem (with adapter for the Mi as it's 18mm native) and while the Milaana is more powerful, in terms of number of bowls I got 6 in the MVT vs 3 in the Mi.
Oh well, you probably saw that post as we all hang in the same threads anyway! But my point is that more power is not necessarily a positive point, at least with my usage pattern and using these vapes dry.
In the Tubo thread, after extrapolating the number of sessions I would get based on other members reports (whom I know their session count with vapes we have in common) it appeared it was quite low and actually worse than the Milaana.
Despite drawing little current when in TC mode, the 70W setting used during the ramp ups is clearly taking its toll on the batteries. I suggested to FJ to add a lower power setting profile (as the firmware has builtin support for custom profiles) to offer a better battery life for those not drawing like elephants.
Interestingly the solution he implemented in the form of the "cruise mode" is even better and against all odds seems to increase battery life: the trigger is always on, the coils are always at the set point temperature and when the temperature is regulated the current draw is quite low and only rises during your draws. So it seems, and that's the interesting part, that it's more efficient to draw a small current say a couple amps continuously (that is, even when not drawing or using the device, exactly like your average session conduction vapes do in fact) than only draw short but intense currents near 15 amps in bursts and "on demand".
But I digress, and the Splinter will sadly not work in TC mode. Meaning we're left with VW mode, which is already an improvement compared to Milaana and it places the Splinter in the same class as the Zion.
In this configuration it's hard to predict what will be the most efficient: lower Watts setting allowing you to hold the trigger for the entire hit duration, or higher Watts setting that you pulse on and off? It's tempting to assume that if you need to hold the trigger twice as long at half the power, you will consume the same amount of energy but in practice it doesn't seem to be the case, at least not for me, and my Mi vs MVT comparison goes in that direction.
