TC SS works pretty well, but you need the right equipment.
The only mods that can do accurate TC with SS at the moment are those that can modify their TCR down to SS' level of 0.001. These are:
- The Dicodes chip, as found in the Dicodes 2380, Dicodes Dani Extreme v2 and the Pipeline Pro 2 (which is identical to the Dani Extreme v2 besides name/brand)
- The Evolv DNA 200 chip, as found in an increasing number of mods or self-buildable
- The SXK DNA 40 clones, such as the Zero 50 and 60W clones, rDNA 60W clones (big and small screen), Vapor Flask 40, 50 and 60W clones, and their self-branded big screen Nebula (which in physical form is a clone of the Hana v4s)
The TCR value to use is between 0.001 and 0.00105, I generally use 0.001. On the Dicodes this is a TCR setting of 100, on the SXK this is a 'NIckel Purity' setting of 10. On the DNA 200 you currently can't enter a flat TCR figure of 0.001, because it's hard limited to a min of 0.002 - this will be fixed in the next FW update. But you can instead download the TCR curve data from Steam Engine, and this may be marginally more accurate anyway.
Stainless Steel is right at the lower range of accurate TC with current technology. Dicodes describe it as being accurate to the nearest 30°C / 90°F, compared to Ni200 which is accurate to nearest 5°C / 10°F. That may sound bad, but in practice it's fine. The key word is that SS TC is 'repeatable'. You can change your temperature until you find a vape that's good, and once found you know you can set the same temp again in future and get the same build (assuming same mod and similar enough build.) That's all most people want/need from TC.
Advantages of stainless steel over Ni200 is that it's much stronger, has a much higher base resistance (0.50Ω is my average SS build) which enables a wider range of builds and wire gauges, and it can be dry burnt for cleaning and for checking coil firing (eg check for firing inside-out as we do with Kanthal.)
Its benefit over Titanium is the dry burning, and its strength - I regularly find my 26G Titanium gets chopped up in slightly crappy/sharp post holes, where my 26G Stainless Steel almost never does. And also it's less springy - rolling a SS coil around a 3mm rod I get a 3mm coil, versus a 3.25mm coil with Titanium.