Turns out it wasn't the preheat that was the issue. It was the mod measuring the resistance differently. When the mesh strip is first inserted into the RDA/mod it measures it as 0.16 and performs poorly but after firing it a couple times and measuring again it registers at 0.17 and performs much better with it set as that. I thought the pre heat was the issue because I turned that off the same time I measured the coil.
Bet y'all love dealing with beginners, huh? 😂