Ok. I'll start with some of the not so good points. Firstly, there were metal shavings in 3 of the 4
juice-flow holes. I noticed I could see no light through them. Easy enough to push them out with a 1.4mm drill bit; hence why I ran it through the UC. That and the smell of machine oil.
After cleaning.
Ok...here is the BIG QC MESSUP. They failed to drill cyclops holes on the inner sleeve of the dripper top. It still can be used as a dripper this way because of the bottom under-coil airholes, but if I wanted to use the side airholes alone, or in combination with the bottom airholes, I would be OUT OF LUCK.
I got a FB PM into Andy Han. I just want a new inner sleeve. I don't want to send the whole thing back.
The rest of the build quality is good to very good, especially where it counts like the threading, fit of orings, and terminal posts and screws.
Here are some close-ups of the build-deck.
The chimney is in two parts. The smaller top piece pressure-fits into the top of the tank bell (stainless or poly) via oring and houses the 510 drip-tip hole.The larger bottom portion which screws onto the build deck also screws upward onto the top portion of the chimney.
My next criticism is that the Aqua v2 has done away with one of the best features of the Aqua v1. Independent juice control and air control.
I'm really not sure if there is juice control anymore quite frankly.
It appears that by turning the tank (as we did on the v1) to adjust air control, the bottom portion of the chimney, which covers the build deck, will raise proportionately, thusly exposing more of the wick channels.
I don't care for this in theory. If I want a tighter draw with more juice flow I can't achieve it under this design.
Ok. So I built a dual coil as follows:
30 gauge Ni200
2.75 mm ID
11 wraps
Somewhere between 0.11 Ω and 0.14 Ω.
It was .14 on the China meter, .11 on the VF before wicking and .12 after wicking and wetting.
I must say installing coils on the v2 is much easier than the v1. They got rid of the thumb screws and added wire holes (though I was leary and careful using the hole installation with soft and thin nickel wire lest they break off).
Moreover, the offset hight differential between the two posts is very intuitive since coil legs always have two different orientations.
I'll be fit to be tied if I ever get a perfectly shaped coil with 30g Ni. I did turn off temp control and set watts to 15 to test fire. After only a little fidgeting they glowed evenly from the center outward.
Wicked with Rayon.
Trimmed flush with the bottom of the juice channel.
A technique I use often, and has worked very well with the v1 as well as the Orchid, Estia and Erlkonigin is I wet the wicks, then squeeze them flat with tweezers then cut them on the bias from the end corner toward the coil.This creates a taper and fatter wick shoulders.
My theory is that liquid travels the path of least resistence; hence it should move more quickly upward to the coil from the tapered end to the fatter shoulder nearest the coil.
Also, the tapered end fits better in the juice channels without clogging them, and the fat shoulders that puff out right at the top of the juice channels should prevent excess juice from escaping which would cause flooding.
Filling is, apparently, via a syringe through one of any of the four juice-flow holes. It indeed holds exactly 4 ml as advertised.
I had two drip tips nearby. The first one, a Trippy Tip v2 didn't fit well. Its base was too long. The inside of the Aqua's 510 DT hole meets a concave bell after a few millimeters. The Svoemesto DT fit perfectly despite both DTs being of the double oring variety. It seems most DTs should fit fine.
So how does it vape?
Well, after building it for a DNA 40 with TC, I think I should have built it with Kanthal, only to properly compare it to the v1 which I've been using and enjoying for almost a year.
The v1 is one of only 3 tank atties that I have experienced that can truly handle very low ohms and high watts. (The other two are the Gus Estia and the FlashEVapor ).
One of the reasons the v1 (and the Estia) can handle high watts is the independent juice controls and AFCs.
The Aqua v2 is performing perfectly on the VF with TC. VTF are all excellent. I'm chain vaping with no issues.
Airflow is excellent and highly adjustable from very tight to quite airy. I used one of my test juices that has been an ADV for several years (Highbrow English Malted Toffee, 50/50 pg/vg, 6 mg) and I know its nuances well. The flavor is spot on. I like to try a lighter fruit flavor, like pear, and a NET, before I can really evaluate an atty's flavor performance.
Overall, I'm pleased with the Aqua v2. I think it is a sharp looking RTA that is well built, has some nice innovative features, has improvements from the v1, and delivers excellent vapor and flavor.
Now, if I can get the unconscionable mess up squared away with the dripper top, I'll be thoroughly pleased.
I hope this was helpful and informative and I invite any question or additional picture requests. I plan to add further experiences as time goes by while I try different builds and juices.
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming. [emoji1]
