- Status
I just received me AGA Hydra a few hours ago and thought I would share my take on it.
First things, this is much larger in diameter than the Griffen. Probably 20% larger. It is slightly bigger in diameter than the top of my ProVari, but looks right on it. It is all stainless and is polished, not satin finished.
First thing I did was to rip that silica wick and coil out of it. Good riddance! I then disassembled and washed each piece in soapy water.
Next thing I did was to see how I could remove the post that was the negative for the original coil. (See "Ignore' in pic) It did not appear to be machined into the top plate, so I thought maybe it was screwed into a tapped hole. I took a pair of needle-nose pliers and tried to screw it out. It turned, but was not unscrewing. I kept turning and pulling as I turned and out it came! It is just press-fit into a hole in the plate. Also good riddance!
I coiled it up and gave it a try. Pretty good vape. I found that the draw was a little too tight for my liking (it appears to have a 1mm hole in the cap). I drilled it out to 1.2mm and the vapor was better and so was the flavor.
All in all, I think this is a winner. Only time will tell as I've only had it a couple hours. It's too bad that it doesn't have a clear tank, but I don't think I would want a threaded tank anyway, since most are acrylic or poly-carbonate and we all know what certain e-liquids do to them.
Share some of your thoughts on the AGA Hydra - likes or dislikes. And thanks Eric for bringing this out before the hypers did!
First things, this is much larger in diameter than the Griffen. Probably 20% larger. It is slightly bigger in diameter than the top of my ProVari, but looks right on it. It is all stainless and is polished, not satin finished.
First thing I did was to rip that silica wick and coil out of it. Good riddance! I then disassembled and washed each piece in soapy water.
Next thing I did was to see how I could remove the post that was the negative for the original coil. (See "Ignore' in pic) It did not appear to be machined into the top plate, so I thought maybe it was screwed into a tapped hole. I took a pair of needle-nose pliers and tried to screw it out. It turned, but was not unscrewing. I kept turning and pulling as I turned and out it came! It is just press-fit into a hole in the plate. Also good riddance!
I coiled it up and gave it a try. Pretty good vape. I found that the draw was a little too tight for my liking (it appears to have a 1mm hole in the cap). I drilled it out to 1.2mm and the vapor was better and so was the flavor.
All in all, I think this is a winner. Only time will tell as I've only had it a couple hours. It's too bad that it doesn't have a clear tank, but I don't think I would want a threaded tank anyway, since most are acrylic or poly-carbonate and we all know what certain e-liquids do to them.
Share some of your thoughts on the AGA Hydra - likes or dislikes. And thanks Eric for bringing this out before the hypers did!
Last edited:
I got one in the mail today and have been playing with it since about 4:00pm and I came to the same conclusion as you did with the neg. wire placement. It's up and running and it's great!! I'm getting fantastic flavor and all the vapor I can handle. I'm really liking it ...wish it had a clear tank.
Good idea to start Hydra thread. I got mine yesterday and like it a lot,also had to drill out the air hole draw is to tight for me stock.I also had to sand the bottom of the top cap to get the air hole to line up with the wick The price on this is outstanding for an all ss R.A.T.
I got lucky - the hole lined up a couple mm past the wick and was able to back it off to line up.
I agree with everyone - the flavor is really good, better than the Griffin, I think.
After I test it a bit I'm going to see if any of my larger syringes will fit as a tank. It's too bad that the center piece that holds the base and top together isn't threaded - a syringe probably won't stay on the threading whereas if that center piece were threaded, at least it would stay together and be sealed by the o-ring.
I really don't want to go to acrylic or poly-carbonate (the only stuff that will thread) becauseof the leaching of certain e-liquids.
Oh well, more modding to do...
I agree with everyone - the flavor is really good, better than the Griffin, I think. After I test it a bit I'm going to see if any of my larger syringes will fit as a tank. It's too bad that the center piece that holds the base and top together isn't threaded - a syringe probably won't stay on the threading whereas if that center piece were threaded, at least it would stay together and be sealed by the o-ring.
I really don't want to go to acrylic or poly-carbonate (the only stuff that will thread) becauseof the leaching of certain e-liquids.
Oh well, more modding to do...
Last edited:
I hear you on the tanks,got a feeling it wont be long before china comes out with some kind of plastic tank for the Hydra.I got lucky - the hole lined up a couple mm past the wick and was able to back it off to line up.
After I test it a bit I'm going to see if any of my larger syringes will fit as a tank. It's too bad that the center piece that holds the base and top together isn't threaded - a syringe probably won't stay on the threading whereas if that center piece were threaded, at least it would stay together and be sealed by the o-ring.
I really don't want to go to acrylic or poly-propylene (the only stuff that will thread) becauseof the leaching of certain e-liquids.
Oh well, more modding to do...
Last edited:
Well, I tried a 20mm syringe and it has larger in diameter than the threads, but would not go over the o-ring. I think it might work if there was a smaller o-ring, but I'm not so sure that you would get a good seal without that center post being threaded.
It would be nice to find something slightly smaller than the threads and force thread the caps into it. I guess I'll keep looking.
It would be nice to find something slightly smaller than the threads and force thread the caps into it. I guess I'll keep looking.
As a side note...
That center positive pin is so small in diameter, I don't like how sloppy it is in the top section - it moves about very easily and when I swap the Hydra to other devices, just the movement of the pin in the battery end is enough to cause the very top coil to short.
What I did (I said DID!) to fix it was to take a battery post insulator from a carto and replace the top insulator supplied. Then I stripped the insulation off a piece of 12/2 house wiring wire about 3-4mm in length and pushed that into the center of the carto insulator. When reassembled there is no wobble at all. I put a small washer on before the first nut, too. When get back to work tomorrow, I'm going to try to find another small nut like the first one and double up.
That center positive pin is so small in diameter, I don't like how sloppy it is in the top section - it moves about very easily and when I swap the Hydra to other devices, just the movement of the pin in the battery end is enough to cause the very top coil to short.
What I did (I said DID!) to fix it was to take a battery post insulator from a carto and replace the top insulator supplied. Then I stripped the insulation off a piece of 12/2 house wiring wire about 3-4mm in length and pushed that into the center of the carto insulator. When reassembled there is no wobble at all. I put a small washer on before the first nut, too. When get back to work tomorrow, I'm going to try to find another small nut like the first one and double up.
Last edited:
! just took the center pin and bottom insulator off a spare Griffin & used 2 of the Griffin center pin nuts,then wraped a 5/4 coil and fired her up works great and no more wobble in the center pin. The center pin on the Griffin is longer and fits up into the drip tip but dosnt touch the sides. I am hoping this will fix the wobble problem, its vaping like a champ at the moment.
When I say the taste is better - it isn't like night and day. I think the flavor is a bit more truer to the juice; but that's just me.
It could also simply be the wicking set-up of this one. Or perhaps the larger area in the cap...
The Genesis style atomizers are a bit of a different animal when it comes to flavor - sometimes when comparing to my favorite clearomizer, the Kanger T2, I think they are definitely better; then other times I prefer the Kangers... It's very subjective.
The jury is still out as to whether the Genesis will be my goto device or not. Not enough testing to be conclusive.
I do think that the AGA has some pluses as compared to the Griffin, though - seems to hold a bit more, the larger size makes coiling a bit easier and is made of better materials(ss). Then on the minus side, it has a small center post (wobbly), will not take clear tanks (yet!) and is quite a bit heavier. I seriously doubt it would be something I would take out and about, or to work.
Dont know about dual wicks but i can tell you a single wick with a 5/4 wrap with 30 awg A1 kanthal and 400 ss mesh is produceing massive clouds of vapor.I got the Hydra last friday and love it.I cant wait for my next pay day, gonna get two more you have to fiddle with it a bit to get it dialed in but it is well worth it. Good luck with yours and please let us know how the dual wicks work out for you.I'm hoping to try a dual wick setup in it
Im hoping that the fill hole screw is close enough to the "other ignore post" and when I yank that puppy out I can do a dual wick
Not sure if they are close enough though. If not could maybe drill it closer if it's not to far. Would have to make another fill hole if it worked anyway
Does the tank part screw on top and bottom or is it just held by the o-rings relying on the center positive post to hold it all together.
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
- Locked
