Anatomy of Flavor RTAs

[UlkaHuren]

My best RTAs for flavor and performance are the Wotofo Troll, Augvape Boreas V2, and Vandy vape Kylin in stubby mode. The other thing I like about them is the short efficient design.

• Appearance: They are handsome, but not flashy or colorful. Every time I see a flashy looking rta I like and then look at how it’s built inside performance-wise I’m usually disappointed.
• Flavor: Excellent flavor and vapor. What I’ve noticed is that dual coil RTAs with a full partition between the coils, a more straight direct airflow through the coil to the chimney, and a shorter chimney wind up being the better flavor tanks. The 3 tanks have 2 or 3 of these attributes. The Kylin would only have 1 if not for for the short configuration with a short chimney. Plus how tall the thing is otherwise, which I don’t care for. Of course when short it has less than half the capacity of the others.
• Airflow: Both the Troll and Boreas have equally good airflow and the Kylin has even much higher airflow.
• Leakage: None are very prone to leaking. The Kylin’s Juice flow control means filling is no problem. The other two I fill quickly to the top of the glass and then tip over to let the air bubble contact the juice holes to let any pressure out to prevent seepage, which could happen occasionally if I don’t. The Boreas is less forgiving of seepage since the deck is flat and level with the bottom of the air ports and any juice will run right out. Also a bit of vapor residue gets onto the airflow ring so you always get it on your fingers if you adjust it. The Troll and Kylin decks have elevated air ports and so some seepage is less likely run out.
• Drip Tips: The Boreas V2 and Kylin are more comfortable at higher temperatures because the thick tip stays cooler and is interchangeable. The Troll tip conducts more heat and is part of the cap and not changeable.
• Wicking: All 3 tend to let the juice flow very easily with big juice holes and so they need plenty of wick stuffed in them. I use 2.3mm ID coils and feed enough hand rolled Cotton Bacon through where I have plenty of resistance pulling it through. I don’t do any fancy wick preening. I just fluff the ends a bit and tease it into the holes. If one is wicking too wet and crackling and sizzling I just shove some bits of extra cotton into the holes.
• Deck: The decks are not super spacious on the Troll and Boreas, but easy to build on. The Kylin has a larger postless open deck, which can accommodate coils that could be an extra wrap longer as well as wider. The Troll has Philip grub screws, which I switched to hex. Philips heads strip too easily. Oh and don’t go nuts dry firing your coils with the Troll. Some people excessively dry fire it and melt the insulator. It’s not a kiln after all! I’ve never had any issues with even scorching the insulator.
• Coils: They can accommodate some pretty thick wire; especially the Kylin. My preferred coil set for these tanks is 26g-32g plain claptons, 5 wraps spaced, 2.3mm ID, 0.22 ohm. The cool to hot range is about 40 to 70 watts. I get the best flavor with these set at a moderate to low temperature. Spacing the coils means no coil strumming or hot spots and being that I TC vape, no surprising sporadic nuclear level hits.

You can’t go wrong with these three RTAs. They have been my daily tanks for about a year or more. I don’t have the funds to collect all manner of tanks, so I go about it scientifically and by what I have had experiences with when I look for tanks. If I don’t like what I see inside it’s not going to matter how pretty the tank is.

I’m sure I’ll wind up with a mesh RTA at some point, but so far nothing in the limited selection out there strikes my fancy. The Digiflavor Themis mesh RTA tops my list so far, but I’m not crazy about the airflow configuration so much.

 

[Heartsdelight]

Very nice write-up!

 

[mimöschen]

The Troll and Boreas V2 perform really well and are still in my rotation.
I've had no luck with the Kylin, because of the leaky 510.
The Reload RTA is a more than worthy replacement though.

 

[DaveP]

I don't have the ones in the OP. My favorites are Kayfun V2 (old atty, but good, reliable, and leak proof in a pocket), Vandy Vape Beserker, Innokin Ares, and the Digiflavor Siren 2.

 

[UlkaHuren]

The Troll and Boreas V2 perform really well and are still in my rotation.
I've had no luck with the Kylin, because of the leaky 510.
The Reload RTA is a more than worthy replacement though.

Ah, you must have the first version Kylin with the leaky insulator. I have the second version which I didn’t realize they made another version. No 510 leak. I did have some leaking though early on because it wants a big wad of cotton shoved in the juice holes.

Yeah, I browse RTAs and still don’t see anything that I like better than the Boreas and Troll.

 

[mimöschen]

Better but still compareable flavor RTAs are very hard to find indeed imo.
There are some that are on par though.

 

[UlkaHuren]

I don't have the ones in the OP. My favorites are Kayfun V2 (old atty, but good, reliable, and leak proof in a pocket), Vandy Vape Beserker, Innokin Ares, and the Digiflavor Siren 2.

So you prefer the MTL tanks. Different category from these dual coil DTL beasts. The only one I have that’s kinda MTL single coil is the original Augvape Merlin which is a pretty good flavor tank. It’s hard to beat a dual coil tank for best flavor though, but they aren’t for MTL vaping. Actually I’m looking for a small short single coil tank for a small mod I have and the Wotofo Serpent SMM is on my wish list.

 

[Letitia]

So you prefer the MTL tanks. Different category from these dual coil DTL beasts. The only one I have that’s kinda MTL single coil is the original Augvape Merlin which is a pretty good flavor tank. It’s hard to beat a dual coil tank for best flavor though, but they aren’t for MTL vaping. Actually I’m looking for a small short single coil tank for a small mod I have and the Wotofo Serpent SMM is on my wish list.

I would recommend the OBS Crius 2 over the SMM. Better flavor and af imo. Build and wick are simple and direct.

 

[DaveP]

So you prefer the MTL tanks. Different category from these dual coil DTL beasts. The only one I have that’s kinda MTL single coil is the original Augvape Merlin which is a pretty good flavor tank. It’s hard to beat a dual coil tank for best flavor though, but they aren’t for MTL vaping. Actually I’m looking for a small short single coil tank for a small mod I have and the Wotofo Serpent SMM is on my wish list.

Absolutely. My goal in vaping is just to create the feel and inhale of a cigarette like vape. 10W is my normal level, but I'll move to 13W or down to 8W as my taste dictates. MTL has been my vaping style since 2010.

I have a Wotofo Serpent Mini, but had forgotten about it. I just pulled it out of my vape cabinet and it has about 1/3 tank of juice in it that looks clear, so it's probably unflavored. It's one of many I've bought to try and went back to the Kayfun. I'll have to vape it for a while and see if it clicks. One of the things I like about it is that it's a MTL tank or a DTL tank depending on the air flow control setting. The AFC is good for tight to loose vapes. Not many tanks meet that spec completely.

I vaped dual coils for a couple of years after quitting smoking and starting to vape. I soon realized that single coil was my favorite. I"m still there after all these years. I am still looking for the perfect replacement for Kayfun (I have 10 or 12, maybe 15 in different styles).

ETA: I got my Serpent Mini out of the cabinet and it had what looks like a single Clapton coil. I pulled the cotton out of it, dry burned, and rewicked with Rayon. It's OK at low air flow settings and has good flavor, but not my preference for a MTL atty. It does do a good job of both DTL and MTL. AF opens to full unrestricted DTL and closes down to nothing. It blows good clouds and Tootle Puffs. When it's open for MTL it's not bad, but I went back to my Kayfun. Habitual, I guess!

 

[UlkaHuren]

Absolutely. My goal in vaping is just to create the feel and inhale of a cigarette like vape. 10W is my normal level, but I'll move to 13W or down to 8W as my taste dictates. MTL has been my vaping style since 2010.

I have a Wotofo Serpent Mini, but had forgotten about it. I just pulled it out of my vape cabinet and it has about 1/3 tank of juice in it that looks clear, so it's probably unflavored. It's one of many I've bought to try and went back to the Kayfun. I'll have to vape it for a while and see if it clicks. One of the things I like about it is that it's a MTL tank or a DTL tank depending on the air flow control setting. The AFC is good for tight to loose vapes. Not many tanks meet that spec completely.

I vaped dual coils for a couple of years after quitting smoking and starting to vape. I soon realized that single coil was my favorite. I"m still there after all these years. I am still looking for the perfect replacement for Kayfun (I have 10 or 12, maybe 15 in different styles).

The Merlin is good for that, but looks really odd being so tall on a Target Mini mod. lol That mod’s stock tank converts to a true MTL tank with a restricted chimney insert and small bore coil. I just remembered about that. From what I see the Serpent SMM version looks to be a nice upgrade from the original Serpent, but it’s not really designed for MTL. I vape in TC mode which is around 40 to 50 watts with a dual coil. Of course my tanks tend to deplete juice pretty readily. lol

 

[DaveP]

The Merlin is good for that, but looks really odd being so tall on a Target Mini mod. lol That mod’s stock tank converts to a true MTL tank with a restricted chimney insert and small bore coil. I just remembered about that. From what I see the Serpent SMM version looks to be a nice upgrade from the original Serpent, but it’s not really designed for MTL. I vape in TC mode which is around 40 to 50 watts with a dual coil. Of course my tanks tend to deplete juice pretty readily. lol

I get all day vapes on about 9ml juice. That's about two tanks on most of my MTL attys. Most of the time there's enough left to get through breakfast the next morning.

 

[UlkaHuren]

I get all day vapes on about 9ml juice. That's about two tanks on most of my MTL attys. Most of the time there's enough left to get through breakfast the next morning.

I could go through 10 to 20ml depending on the day. I also only use 2mg of nicotine. Back when I did more MTL vaping I used 6 to 9mg. That level in my current tanks would make my head spin.

 

[DaveP]

I could go through 10 to 20ml depending on the day. I also only use 2mg of nicotine. Back when I did more MTL vaping I used 6 to 9mg. That level in my current tanks would make my head spin.

I mix at 6mg strength right now, but I was at 3mg for a couple of years. It's funny, but I started vaping in 2010 at 24mg. I only changed to lower strength juice a few years ago and worked down from 24mg to 3mg. Going to 6mg from 3mg didn't reduce my vaping that much, but throat hit got noticeably stronger. I'm thinking of going back to 3mg.

 

[Eskie]

I could go through 10 to 20ml depending on the day. I also only use 2mg of nicotine. Back when I did more MTL vaping I used 6 to 9mg. That level in my current tanks would make my head spin.

When I vaped mtl it was at 24 mg, but about 2nl a day. Now with sorta DL, I'm at 6 mg maybe 7 ml a day. So not much of a difference in total daily nic intake (48 mg then ~42 mg now) but more volume inhaled. I know we always talk about how many ml we vape, but following total nic may be a better indicator of what you're really doing.

 

[Fidola13]

Great review of your RTAs. I don’t have the ones you mentioned and I don’t use RTAs much lately- been a dripping queen lol!

Of the several RTAs I have the Steam Crave Supreme V2 is my favorite but it’s taller than the ones mentioned. I think so anyways by just eyeballing it.

I totally agree with you that the shorter chimney must improve the flavor. tbh my main focus was always on ease of deck to build on and capacity of the tank. I may have to rethink that approach in my next RTA purchase.

Thanks for taking the time to give such detailed information!

 

[UlkaHuren]

Great review of your RTAs. I don’t have the ones you mentioned and I don’t use RTAs much lately- been a dripping queen lol!

Of the several RTAs I have the Steam Crave Supreme V2 is my favorite but it’s taller than the ones mentioned. I think so anyways by just eyeballing it.

I totally agree with you that the shorter chimney must improve the flavor. tbh my main focus was always on ease of deck to build on and capacity of the tank. I may have to rethink that approach in my next RTA purchase.

Thanks for taking the time to give such detailed information!

You’re welcome. :-3 The Troll is my most used tank and it’s easy to build on. The Boreas is too. Just push the coils in, tighten, and position them. And give it plenty of wick. I’m thinking of putting my Boreas in short mode. I think it would easily leap ahead of all tanks for flavor as well as being the shortest tank and actually look kind of cool that way.

 

[chellie]

View attachment 761363 My best RTAs for flavor and performance are the Wotofo Troll, Augvape Boreas V2, and Vandy Vape Kylin in stubby mode. The other thing I like about them is the short efficient design.

• Appearance: They are handsome, but not flashy or colorful. Every time I see a flashy looking RTA I like and then look at how it’s built inside performance-wise I’m usually disappointed.
• Flavor: Excellent flavor and vapor. What I’ve noticed is that dual coil RTAs with a full partition between the coils, a more straight direct airflow through the coil to the chimney, and a shorter chimney wind up being the better flavor tanks. The 3 tanks have 2 or 3 of these attributes. The Kylin would only have 1 if not for for the short configuration with a short chimney. Plus how tall the thing is otherwise, which I don’t care for. Of course when short it has less than half the capacity of the others.
• Airflow: Both the Troll and Boreas have equally good airflow and the Kylin has even much higher airflow.
• Leakage: None are very prone to leaking. The Kylin’s Juice flow control means filling is no problem. The other two I fill quickly to the top of the glass and then tip over to let the air bubble contact the juice holes to let any pressure out to prevent seepage, which could happen occasionally if I don’t. The Boreas is less forgiving of seepage since the deck is flat and level with the bottom of the air ports and any juice will run right out. Also a bit of vapor residue gets onto the airflow ring so you always get it on your fingers if you adjust it. The Troll and Kylin decks have elevated air ports and so some seepage is less likely run out.
• Drip Tips: The Boreas V2 and Kylin are more comfortable at higher temperatures because the thick tip stays cooler and is interchangeable. The Troll tip conducts more heat and is part of the cap and not changeable.
• Wicking: All 3 tend to let the juice flow very easily with big juice holes and so they need plenty of wick stuffed in them. I use 2.3mm ID coils and feed enough hand rolled Cotton Bacon through where I have plenty of resistance pulling it through. I don’t do any fancy wick preening. I just fluff the ends a bit and tease it into the holes. If one is wicking too wet and crackling and sizzling I just shove some bits of extra cotton into the holes.
• Deck: The decks are not super spacious on the Troll and Boreas, but easy to build on. The Kylin has a larger postless open deck, which can accommodate coils that could be an extra wrap longer as well as wider. The Troll has Philip grub screws, which I switched to hex. Philips heads strip too easily. Oh and don’t go nuts dry firing your coils with the Troll. Some people excessively dry fire it and melt the insulator. It’s not a kiln after all! I’ve never had any issues with even scorching the insulator.
• Coils: They can accommodate some pretty thick wire; especially the Kylin. My preferred coil set for these tanks is 26g-32g plain claptons, 5 wraps spaced, 2.3mm ID, 0.22 ohm. The cool to hot range is about 40 to 70 watts. I get the best flavor with these set at a moderate to low temperature. Spacing the coils means no coil strumming or hot spots and being that I TC vape, no surprising sporadic nuclear level hits.

You can’t go wrong with these three RTAs. They have been my daily tanks for about a year or more. I don’t have the funds to collect all manner of tanks, so I go about it scientifically and by what I have had experiences with when I look for tanks. If I don’t like what I see inside it’s not going to matter how pretty the tank is.

I’m sure I’ll wind up with a mesh RTA at some point, but so far nothing in the limited selection out there strikes my fancy. The Digiflavor Themis mesh RTA tops my list so far, but I’m not crazy about the airflow configuration so much.

Thanks - that is super helpful to me. Great writeup. I really like RTA's and have been having issues finding larger capacity ones. The Vandy Vape is attractive and looks good with a 6ml capacity so I am going to check that out. The wire info is helpful, too. I vape in the 25 watt range .5 to .6 coils.

 

[Brewdawg1181]

Absolutely. My goal in vaping is just to create the feel and inhale of a cigarette like vape. 10W is my normal level, but I'll move to 13W or down to 8W as my taste dictates. MTL has been my vaping style since 2010.

I have a Wotofo Serpent Mini, but had forgotten about it. I just pulled it out of my vape cabinet and it has about 1/3 tank of juice in it that looks clear, so it's probably unflavored. It's one of many I've bought to try and went back to the Kayfun. I'll have to vape it for a while and see if it clicks. One of the things I like about it is that it's a MTL tank or a DTL tank depending on the air flow control setting. The AFC is good for tight to loose vapes. Not many tanks meet that spec completely.

I vaped dual coils for a couple of years after quitting smoking and starting to vape. I soon realized that single coil was my favorite. I"m still there after all these years. I am still looking for the perfect replacement for Kayfun (I have 10 or 12, maybe 15 in different styles).

ETA: I got my Serpent Mini out of the cabinet and it had what looks like a single Clapton coil. I pulled the cotton out of it, dry burned, and rewicked with Rayon. It's OK at low air flow settings and has good flavor, but not my preference for a MTL atty. It does do a good job of both DTL and MTL. AF opens to full unrestricted DTL and closes down to nothing. It blows good clouds and Tootle Puffs. When it's open for MTL it's not bad, but I went back to my Kayfun. Habitual, I guess!

@DaveP , if you haven't you should try the SXK Doggystyle. Nothing came close for me to the Kayfuns- the KM3 mostly, but also the Lite+ V2. Only $10, I'd highly recommend throwing one on your next FT order, or wherever you order from. After a week of using it, I ordered more and haven't looked back. I still have a Lite+ loaded, but only hit it very occasionally, with a flavor I don't use often.

 

[DaveP]

@DaveP , if you haven't you should try the SXK Doggystyle. Nothing came close for me to the Kayfuns- the KM3 mostly, but also the Lite+ V2. Only $10, I'd highly recommend throwing one on your next FT order, or wherever you order from. After a week of using it, I ordered more and haven't looked back. I still have a Lite+ loaded, but only hit it very occasionally, with a flavor I don't use often.

I just ordered one from FT, $11.99 including United States Express ePacket 8-10 days shipping.

 

[UlkaHuren]

Thanks - that is super helpful to me. Great writeup. I really like RTA's and have been having issues finding larger capacity ones. The Vandy Vape is attractive and looks good with a 6ml capacity so I am going to check that out. The wire info is helpful, too. I vape in the 25 watt range .5 to .6 coils.

For that power level I’d stick with a smaller 1 coil tank. These dual coil tanks work best at 50 to 70 watts and like a lot of airflow. 25 watts with these is far too weak to work well at all. My suggestion would be to look at the Wotofo Serpent SMM. You want a tank that can concentrate that low power vapor instead of diluting it. I wouldn’t go any bigger than that tank. An Augvape Merlin is a very good tank for 25 watts. I have one and it’s easy to coil and wick. As far as juice capacity, a low powered tank is going to generally be smaller and hold less juice, but it’ll made the best use of the low power to be enjoyable. Now if you could find an old Kanger SubTank. That works at a low power and holds 7.5ml! I have one of those, but they're so huge and awkward and would look ridiculous on my mod, plus I like something that can handle over 50 watts.