What’s up vapers!
SirRisc here with another gear review!
On todays menu is the Coolfire IV TC100, a new iteration of the Coolfire series with a bit more power.
Innokin has entered the triple digits of wattage, cloudchasers rejoice!
These Coolfire IV TC100 kits were sent to me for the purpose of this review by Innokin!
Thank you, Innokin!
Premise.
I always get excited when Innokin emails me, because it’s always good news. Always.
And when they emailed me about the new iteration of the Coolfire IV, I got excited again.
They first announced the Aethon board, which was a 100W capable board with temperature control and incredible accuracy.
This was to be the second TC board developed in-house by Innokin, the Ikarno S1 being the first.
Then they announced the Aethon board was set to appear in the new Coolfire IV mod, which borrowed the body of its predecessor, the Coolfire IV+.
I love the Coolfire IV+, let’s not kid around here. The Storm Edition is still one of my favorite grab-and-run mods and it will continue to be that until the battery dies.
But fanboying aside, I have to be unbiased as a reviewer and test the Coolfire IV TC100 as a standalone mod.
So how does it do on its own?
Let’s have a look!
Specifications.
- Coolfire IV+ body
- Aethon board inside
- Built-in battery of 3300mAh
- 2A capable USB Charging
- 100W maximum power output
- Temperature control for Ni200, Ti01, and SS316
- Ultrafast response (0.2s from push to vapor)
- VDC (Variable Direct Current) power output with Clearwave Noise Cancelation technology
- Precise resistance detection (down to .00000)
- Springloaded 510 connection with goldplated positive pin
- Available in black, blue, red and white!
Specifications.
- 3ml capacity (There is a misprint on the packaging that states 3.8ml)
- Stainless steel construction
- Replaceable glass section
- No Spill Coil swapping system
- iSub coil compatible
- Clean topfill
- Adjustable bottom airflow
- 510 driptip compatible, black delrin driptip included
- Available in stainless, white, red, blue and black
MSRP prices
- Coolfire IV TC100 starterkit with iSub V: $79.99
- Coolfire IV TC100 starterkit without iSub V: $64.99
- iSub V tank: $18.99
Prices are MSRP, which means they may differ from vendor to vendor.
Packaging.
The packaging is usually very much on point with Innokin, especially for their mods.
The TC100 comes in a nice and sturdy box that depicts the mod in the relative color.
The box of the black TC100 shows the TC100 logo in black, the white version shows it in shiny silver.
On both boxes the Aethon logo is in the upper right corner in blue, similar to how computers are branded with the Intel or AMD logo.
The bottom of the box shows a slew of information about the mod and its functionality, including the specifications and a big warning that takes up nearly half of the bottom surface.
Sliding the sleeve off reveals a black box with the TC100 logo in shiny silver, which I might add looks quite classy.
It reminds me of the boxes Smok uses, but these are slightly more luxurious.
They open up in the front with a magnet, and the first thing you’ll see is the Quick Start Guide which has the stunning visual art of Jimmith.
Jimmith has done work for Innokin before which always got good response, and I reckon this will be no different. The Quick Start Guide is very clear and very nicely illustrated.
Removing the Quick Start Guide reveals the mod sitting in a black foam insert, and trust me when I say it’s sitting snug in there.
I had to pry the black version out with quite some force, the white version was a bit easier.
There is also a ribbon attached to the foam insert which allows you to lift it out to get to the accessories.
The accessories include an extensive usermanual, a white USB cable labeled iTazte, and as always two Innokin stickers.
The usermanual is well illustrated and very well explained.
You’ll find very few spelling mistakes or strangely formed sentences here, in fact it’s very much flawless.
It also details the differences between the regular powermode and the TC mode, and the dangers of using a TC coil in powermode.
The iSub V comes in the standard box the other iSubs also came in.
A silver colored box with a plastic window that shows the tank sitting in a white foam insert.
Next to the window is a bit of information about the tank, and on the back of the box is where the type-o resides.
It states 3.8ml but the tank is in fact 3.0ml in capacity. This has already been rectified in retail packaging.
Opening the box and sliding out the foam insert reveals the tank in one compartment, with two smaller compartments next to it.
In the top compartment is a branded vapeband, which is a new addition for Innokin.
I quite like the idea of having an Innokin vapeband, it’s a cool extra to prtect your tanks or to pry open those hard to open tanks.
Underneath the vapeband is a bag with spare o-rings, though I’ve never had to replace o-rings on any of my iSub tanks so far.
In the bottom compartment you’ll see a blue plastic bag which has a spare SS316 coilhead.
The tank itself comes with an SS316 coilhead preinstalled.
Innokin was also nice enough to provide me with plenty of their new coilheads for the iSub tanks.
These have changed packaging to reflect the alloy used more clearly.
The colors on the boxes are a fair bit brighter than they used to be, and the plastic bags that seal the coilheads are now also colored.
The 0.5ohm BVC coils are now packed in black bags, the 0.5ohm SS BVC coils in blue bags, the 0.1ohm Nickel coils in red bags, and the 0.4ohm Titanium coils in orange bags.
This should be less confusing for people who carry a spare coilhead in their pockets.
On the plastic bags you’ll also have the alloy printed, with a warning below it for the TC capable coils.
Remember, Ni and Ti coils can only be used in TC mode!
The SS BVC coils can be used in both TC mode and powermode, the BVC coils can only be used in powermode.
Performance.
The Coolfire IV TC100 is the second TC capable mod from Innokin, and the first one to hit triple digits when it comes to poweroutput.
Inside of the mod resides a fully in-house designed board called the Aethon, which boasts a lot of precision technology that helps the mod be as precise as possible.
The menustructure is simple and very straightforward, and the mod will try to be as clever as it can be when you attach a new coil by asking if it’s the same coil or a different alloy.
This means when you put on a regular Kanthal coil it will ask you, but it will also ask you when you put on a TC capable coil. The board is faultless in that regard, it has never failed to detect a new atomizer.
So, what is Clearwave Noise Cancellation Technology besides a mouthful? Well, let me explain in rather simple terms…
When you press the button, you receive bacon. Wait… No, that’s not it.
When you press the button the board will detect the resistance and send power to the atomizer according to the resistance and the power you’ve set.
This is where the Clearwave technology comes in, it stabilizes the current and provides a much smoother curve which in turn provides a much smoother vape.
If you’d hook the mod up to a scope and press the firebutton to see the curve, you’d see a stable line instead of the erratic jumping to stay at temperature.
Now, my explanation might be a bit simplistic but that’s the basic idea of it. I’m still stuck on the bacon.
The Aethon board is also one of the most precise boards when it comes to resistance detection, it will measure down to 0.00000 to ensure the most crucial factor in TC is a correct one.
Because when the resistance is measured wrong, the TC will also be wrong. In the case of the Aethon board, there’s very little margin for error in resistance.
All this means is that the board will detect smaller changes in the resistance of the coil and adjust quicker and more precise, thus giving you better control over the temperature.
Enough with the technobabble! Let’s look at the basic operation and use of the mod.
It borrows the body and buttons from its predecessor, the Coolfire IV+.
The buttons are placed perfectly along the body, with a USB charging port near the bottom of the flattened side.
Above the USB port are the + and - buttons, small plastic buttons that are fairly smooth in their tactile feedback.
The display resides just above it, and on top of that sits the firebutton.
As always with Innokin mods (with exception of the Cortex) the firebutton has a 3 color LED surrounding the button to indicate the battery status.
Green means good to go, orange means you’ll have to charge it soon, red means “Get to da chargah!”.
The screen is also the same but utilizes a different font and layout.
On the left side you’ll see the resistance and the voltage when the mod is being used in powermode.
In the middle you’ll see the wattage in powermode, or the temperature in TC mode.
In TC mode the wattage is moved over to the left where the voltage would be.
Both the power and temperature are shown in realtime when firing the mod, in TC mode as well as powermode. Of course the numbers will differ a lot more in TC mode.
On the far right side of the display is the battery indicator and the pufftimer, which has a maximum duration of 15 seconds.
On top of the mod you’ll find the 510 connection, which has a springloaded positive pin that sits slightly deeper as the one on the Coolfire IV+.
This allows more atomizers to sit flush on the mod because there’s slightly more room.
For example the TF-RTA G2 doesn’t sit flush on the Coolfire IV+, you can screw it down to almost being flush but a gap of about 0.5mm always remains.
On the TC100 it sits completely flush however.
The positive pin is also goldplated for a better connection, this is especially important for the resistance detection and temperature control.
The general performance of the Coolfire IV TC100 is absolutely perfect.
I’ve been using the black version with a myriad of atomizers, and the white version with the included iSub V with different coils.
In Ni mode the mod performs excellent, the resistance detection is very quick and the mod responds immediately when pushing the firebutton.
Ti mode gave me the same experience though there does seem to be a slightly longer rampup time.
This isn’t abnormal considering the wire is thicker, this can be solved by using a higher Preboost wattage.
In SS316 mode the mod performs well, but does seem to be slightly less powerful.
Running the same tank/coils on the Coolfire IV TC100 set at 100W and limiting at 240°C comparing to the SMY SDNA200 set 100W and limiting at 240°C, the vape felt a fair bit warmer on the SDNA.
This doesn’t mean the Coolfire is inaccurate, but it does mean that it doesn’t put out the full 100W in this mode.
Why this happens is a mystery to me…
This brings me to the next part, the iSub V, or the iSub Vortex, or the iSub V TC.
For comforts sake I’ll just call it the iSub V… 
The iSub V is the newest iteration in the iSub series, and logically speaking it uses the same iSub coilheads.
The tank has a capacity of 3ml which should last you throughout the day, because it is quite frugal in terms of juiceconsumption.
Filling it is done through a topfill system that is rather flimsy unfortunately.
The topcap screws off but it only has a few threads, which quite honestly are thin and fragile.
Screwing it back on requires you to push down the chimney due to the spillproof system in the tank, and that’s where things can go wrong very quickly.
You exert force on the topcap and thus on the threading and then turn to screw it on. If you’re slightly crooked and the threads catch, you get crossthreading.
And once the threads are broken, the tank is broken.
That flaw aside the spillproof system works flawlessly, when the topcap is off the juiceflow is fully closed off from the coilhead and you can swap your coils without having to worry about the contents of your iSub running across your desk.
Swapping the coils is also very easy, the bottom part of the tank screws off to allow you to pull the coilhead out. Just like the predecessors.
The iSub is not a cloudchasing tank by any means, though it does put out a conciderable amount of vapor.
The airflow is a bit too restrictive to make it a cloudchasing tank, but allows for a nice direct lunghit without issue.
It’s less noisy and turbulent than the iSub S which makes it a much more pleasant daily vape.
Where this tank does shine is flavor. Due to the short build on the chimney and the tank overall, the flavor reaches your tastebuds a fair bit quicker.
Innokin claims that the iSub V creates a vortex of vapor to keep the flavor clean and crisp, but I don’t really see any clues as to how the tank would achieve this.
Aesthetics.
The Coolfire IV TC100 uses the same body as the Coolfire IV+, and that’s ok.
Both the mods feel very comfortable in the hand, and due to their light weight they also carry easily.
The differences between the two are small and don’t change any of the functionality.
On the TC100 you’ll see a slightly different badge which reflects the mods name, and alongside there are 3 lines on the body.
And that’s where the visual differences pretty much end, though the display on the TC100 does use a different font.
The mod is available in a stormtrooper white, a darth vader black, a lightsaber red and a lightsaber blue.
Or at least that’s how you could interpret the colors if you’re a Star Wars fan.
The tank can be colormatched and additionally comes in stainless steel if you dislike color.
A comparison with the Coolfire IV+ Storm Edition.
Pros and Cons.
Pro.
- Easy to use
- 100W poweroutput
- Clearwave provides a very stable vape
- Excellent flavorchaser
- 2A charging is fast
- 3300mAh battery lasts long
- Lightweight
- Comes in different colors with colormatched tank
Con.
- SS TC for SS316 only (no 304, 317, 317L)
- No custom TCoR
- Airflow on the iSub could be a little more open
- Threading on the iSub topcap is flimsy
In conclusion.
The Coolfire IV TC100 is a beautiful piece of technology, and it will be in my rotation for as long as the battery will live.
The mod handles so easily and is so intuitive that it makes a perfect backup for advanced vapers or an excellent starter device for people who want to dip their first toe into temperature control.
The iSub V is an excellent flavorchasing tank and the coilheads are now very varied to tailor different experiences.
Whether you want a light setup to carry around or you want a setup that is just easy to use, the Coolfire IV TC100 will serve you well.
The mod itself is beautiful in its simplicity and with a colormatched tank on top, it only gets prettier.
Overall I’d give the Coolfire IV TC100 a definite thumbs up, and I’d buy another one in a heartbeat if this one breaks.
In closing I would like to thank Innokin for sending me the Coolfire IV TC100 and iSub V for review!
Thanks for reading, join me next time as I take a look at the Smok TF-RDTA! Clouds ahoy!
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Want to know more about DIY? Head over to ELR.
#staycloudy !
SirRisc disappears in a cloud of fruit loops scented vapor
