(I'm not exactly certain where this post ought to go. The atty is an rda, sort-of, but it's bottom feed. And there doesn't seem to be a spot for BF attys over in the Liquid Feed subforum under APVs and mods. So I put it here. Feel free to move it, Mods, if I am in error.)
Part 1, the atomizer:
I got lucky recently and scored a beautiful 2015 Woodvil in Wenge/Birdseye on the classies here. Since I have been squonking a couple years now and never have found an atomizer I like, I decided my new machine needed a new topper and ordered a Serpent BF from Wotofo to give it a test run. (The perfect squonk topper would be Wotofo's Sapor V1 with a bottom feed pin, but so far I haven't been able to remove the pin from any of my Sapors, of which I have 4 or maybe 6.)
The machine got here last week, and I have been taking pics and trying to decide how to describe it while waiting on the Woodvil. USPS informs me the latter is Out for Delivery, so I'm going to have to build it later today and it's time for this post. The design of the atty is a bit unusual. Superficially it is a three piece rda with a bottom feed pin, but looks can be deceiving, as you will see.
In the box we find the atty and a spare drip tip; one a regular 510 and the other of some pretension to be a chuff cap. Beneath the packaging are three envelopes, one containing a slip of cotton. I really think they're using rayon now, as the piece looks to be cut off a standard rayon rope. I have neither the equipment nor competence to do a chemical test, and rayon is supposed to be chemically identical to cotton anyway, but I've wicked a lot of attys with rayon, and that's what I think. The second package contains three coils. This set all look identical, and wound of (unusually small) Alien (tractor tread) wire. I have not measured the value. The third one has Os and screws, Wotofo's cute little T-handle wrench with two hex and one Phillips point, and a dam (I'm guessing silicone) to block one of the juice wells for single coil use, as shown in the inset photo above. My copy is in Stainless finish, measuring 22mm in diameter and 25mm tall. It is further engraved with the “U-Syne Wave” logo on the quadrant of the barrel not containing an air slit, visible in Photo 1.
The difference in size of the drip tips is pretty dramatic and they are easily exchanged. Simply prise the one off and press the other on. Drawing air through the tip without a build in the machine makes a small whistle. I haven't decided if it's going to be annoying in use.
Looking at the side view of the top cap, you can plainly see the air slots cut in the bottom. The barrel has three matching air slits, in the standard 90 degree configuration, to permit air for duals or a single coil. Obviously, the air volume can be controlled by mis-aligning the top cap and barrel slots, and the top cap is friction fit in the barrel on the visible O-rings.
Now we begin to see some difference from the standard three piece RDA. The atty bottom, with the engraving, is made on the barrel, not the deck/base part. There's a hole in the bottom plate to permit protrusion of the 510 connector, which is attached to the deck as per usual. The deck also is friction fit in the barrel on the O-rings. The posts are set too closely together to permit a single coil build between them. You either build it dual, on either side of the post assembly, or you build it single on one side only using the dam mentioned above to close the other well. I do not believe the positive post can be rotated given the shape and position of the insulator. The negative post probably can be (unless there's a square mill in the deck holding it in place I can not see) as it is not deck milled, being rather attached by a screw through the build deck. You wouldn't gain much space if you did. The screw is out at one end of the post and it would not swing 90 degrees before hitting the barrel; more like 70 degrees or so. There are 4 wire holes, which I caliper at 2mm, to admit some fair sized wire, and the tension screws are hex. The advertising material says the insulator is PEEK, but I haven't any way to test this, either.
Looking at the closeup photo of the deck, the liquid feed hole (green arrow) is located between the posts, some distance above the bottom of the juice wells (red arrow). That means the suction of the squonk bottle upon release will not empty the bottom of the atomizer leaving only wet wick as in some atty designs. The juice wells will remain full, so it will leak a drop or two in that condition if knocked over on it's side. Using my caliper, some guesswork, and my handy-dandy TI36 engineering calculator, I estimate the capacity of the juice wells (combined) to be about 2ml less whatever volume the tails will occupy.
The really odd thing about the design is the bottom plate machined on the barrel. I suspect Wotofo has done this to make it drier than other BF atomizers. I am not yet certain if this will turn out to be the case. Unlike normal three piece RDA's, you can't grab the barrel and lift it off the deck to get to the wick and wire. The base will only come out in the upward direction. Properly installed in the barrel, the upper part of the deck and the bottom rim of the top cap are in contact with each other, leaving pretty much only the air slits open between them. Look at the photo closely and you will see a slight difference in diameter: the base is smaller than the top cap. There is further a ledge machined in the bottom 5mm or so of the barrel. The base fits tightly in the barrel below this ledge, but does not contact the sides above it. If you grasp the barrel and push up on the 510 connector, the deck will force the top cap out of the barrel, and then be far enough up to fall out on its own. As of this writing I have not yet put a single build in the machine; it will be interesting to see how much juice is going to collect along the barrel sides and between the O-rings in practice as, when you disassemble it to rewick or whatever, the only place such juice can go is on your hands. It is possible to remove the top cap by grabbing the knurls and twisting. For a younger and less arthritic person, it might be easy.
On to part 2 (two days later). The Woodvil just got here, so it's time for a build.
The Woodvil being a single battery mechanical, I settled on a .7Ω build for the first try. I will probably rebuild in the .4-.5Ω range shortly.
The coils are 28ga SS316, 10/9 wrap, 3mm mandrel dualies. The wick is rayon.
Wicking the machine is simple. The lower right tail is full bush, the other three are trimmed to the outside of the base and thinned by 2/3rds. Just push the ends down into the juice wells and wet with juice.
And we're getting good vapor production from both coils on the 521 Tab. Output is better on the mod as the 521 is current limited in fire mode.
My initial impression of the atty is very positive. The deck is easy to build, if a bit limited in possibilities for arrangement, given the wide post setup. For tiny wire like the 28ga I am using, the post holes and tension screws are overkill and one must be careful not to over tighten. As soon as I put the build in the machine, the slight whistling noise is gone. I am now sure it was an artifact of the hollow, empty barrel.
It is perhaps a bit too early to judge the flavor. The build is not yet 20 minutes old and I have just barely vaped it past the rayon break-in taste. Nonetheless, I am favorably impressed so far. The flavor is on par with the Wotofo Sapor, maybe just a slight tick under, and the Sapor is the best flavor atty I have yet found that breathes well enough for deep lung hits in the mid-power range.
The configuration I am vaping is using the chuff cap, and with the air half closed; resulting in a better cloud than I was expecting from a coil set in this ohm range. It's not a contest winner by any stretch, or at least not in this build. I think it would get pretty cloudy with a lower build and more air on a regulated mod or a bigger mechanical.
Part 1, the atomizer:
I got lucky recently and scored a beautiful 2015 Woodvil in Wenge/Birdseye on the classies here. Since I have been squonking a couple years now and never have found an atomizer I like, I decided my new machine needed a new topper and ordered a Serpent BF from Wotofo to give it a test run. (The perfect squonk topper would be Wotofo's Sapor V1 with a bottom feed pin, but so far I haven't been able to remove the pin from any of my Sapors, of which I have 4 or maybe 6.)
The machine got here last week, and I have been taking pics and trying to decide how to describe it while waiting on the Woodvil. USPS informs me the latter is Out for Delivery, so I'm going to have to build it later today and it's time for this post. The design of the atty is a bit unusual. Superficially it is a three piece rda with a bottom feed pin, but looks can be deceiving, as you will see.
In the box we find the atty and a spare drip tip; one a regular 510 and the other of some pretension to be a chuff cap. Beneath the packaging are three envelopes, one containing a slip of cotton. I really think they're using rayon now, as the piece looks to be cut off a standard rayon rope. I have neither the equipment nor competence to do a chemical test, and rayon is supposed to be chemically identical to cotton anyway, but I've wicked a lot of attys with rayon, and that's what I think. The second package contains three coils. This set all look identical, and wound of (unusually small) Alien (tractor tread) wire. I have not measured the value. The third one has Os and screws, Wotofo's cute little T-handle wrench with two hex and one Phillips point, and a dam (I'm guessing silicone) to block one of the juice wells for single coil use, as shown in the inset photo above. My copy is in Stainless finish, measuring 22mm in diameter and 25mm tall. It is further engraved with the “U-Syne Wave” logo on the quadrant of the barrel not containing an air slit, visible in Photo 1.
The difference in size of the drip tips is pretty dramatic and they are easily exchanged. Simply prise the one off and press the other on. Drawing air through the tip without a build in the machine makes a small whistle. I haven't decided if it's going to be annoying in use.
Looking at the side view of the top cap, you can plainly see the air slots cut in the bottom. The barrel has three matching air slits, in the standard 90 degree configuration, to permit air for duals or a single coil. Obviously, the air volume can be controlled by mis-aligning the top cap and barrel slots, and the top cap is friction fit in the barrel on the visible O-rings.
Now we begin to see some difference from the standard three piece RDA. The atty bottom, with the engraving, is made on the barrel, not the deck/base part. There's a hole in the bottom plate to permit protrusion of the 510 connector, which is attached to the deck as per usual. The deck also is friction fit in the barrel on the O-rings. The posts are set too closely together to permit a single coil build between them. You either build it dual, on either side of the post assembly, or you build it single on one side only using the dam mentioned above to close the other well. I do not believe the positive post can be rotated given the shape and position of the insulator. The negative post probably can be (unless there's a square mill in the deck holding it in place I can not see) as it is not deck milled, being rather attached by a screw through the build deck. You wouldn't gain much space if you did. The screw is out at one end of the post and it would not swing 90 degrees before hitting the barrel; more like 70 degrees or so. There are 4 wire holes, which I caliper at 2mm, to admit some fair sized wire, and the tension screws are hex. The advertising material says the insulator is PEEK, but I haven't any way to test this, either.
Looking at the closeup photo of the deck, the liquid feed hole (green arrow) is located between the posts, some distance above the bottom of the juice wells (red arrow). That means the suction of the squonk bottle upon release will not empty the bottom of the atomizer leaving only wet wick as in some atty designs. The juice wells will remain full, so it will leak a drop or two in that condition if knocked over on it's side. Using my caliper, some guesswork, and my handy-dandy TI36 engineering calculator, I estimate the capacity of the juice wells (combined) to be about 2ml less whatever volume the tails will occupy.
The really odd thing about the design is the bottom plate machined on the barrel. I suspect Wotofo has done this to make it drier than other BF atomizers. I am not yet certain if this will turn out to be the case. Unlike normal three piece RDA's, you can't grab the barrel and lift it off the deck to get to the wick and wire. The base will only come out in the upward direction. Properly installed in the barrel, the upper part of the deck and the bottom rim of the top cap are in contact with each other, leaving pretty much only the air slits open between them. Look at the photo closely and you will see a slight difference in diameter: the base is smaller than the top cap. There is further a ledge machined in the bottom 5mm or so of the barrel. The base fits tightly in the barrel below this ledge, but does not contact the sides above it. If you grasp the barrel and push up on the 510 connector, the deck will force the top cap out of the barrel, and then be far enough up to fall out on its own. As of this writing I have not yet put a single build in the machine; it will be interesting to see how much juice is going to collect along the barrel sides and between the O-rings in practice as, when you disassemble it to rewick or whatever, the only place such juice can go is on your hands. It is possible to remove the top cap by grabbing the knurls and twisting. For a younger and less arthritic person, it might be easy.
On to part 2 (two days later). The Woodvil just got here, so it's time for a build.
The Woodvil being a single battery mechanical, I settled on a .7Ω build for the first try. I will probably rebuild in the .4-.5Ω range shortly.
The coils are 28ga SS316, 10/9 wrap, 3mm mandrel dualies. The wick is rayon.
Wicking the machine is simple. The lower right tail is full bush, the other three are trimmed to the outside of the base and thinned by 2/3rds. Just push the ends down into the juice wells and wet with juice.
And we're getting good vapor production from both coils on the 521 Tab. Output is better on the mod as the 521 is current limited in fire mode.
My initial impression of the atty is very positive. The deck is easy to build, if a bit limited in possibilities for arrangement, given the wide post setup. For tiny wire like the 28ga I am using, the post holes and tension screws are overkill and one must be careful not to over tighten. As soon as I put the build in the machine, the slight whistling noise is gone. I am now sure it was an artifact of the hollow, empty barrel.
It is perhaps a bit too early to judge the flavor. The build is not yet 20 minutes old and I have just barely vaped it past the rayon break-in taste. Nonetheless, I am favorably impressed so far. The flavor is on par with the Wotofo Sapor, maybe just a slight tick under, and the Sapor is the best flavor atty I have yet found that breathes well enough for deep lung hits in the mid-power range.
The configuration I am vaping is using the chuff cap, and with the air half closed; resulting in a better cloud than I was expecting from a coil set in this ohm range. It's not a contest winner by any stretch, or at least not in this build. I think it would get pretty cloudy with a lower build and more air on a regulated mod or a bigger mechanical.
