Are rebuildable atomizer (tanks) overrated?

[Ansah]

I am a tinkerer at heart. I love when I try a difficult build and fail; but get it right the second time. I love learning about the properties involved and discovering new techniques AND I love the feel of 36mg nic hitting me from a .6Ω genny, or a .8Ω dripper.

When I go to work, I take a carto.

I'm not a tinkerer at heart, and dislike trying a difficult build and failing... Though I had a really short phase of learning something of the properties and techniques involved, I really just want to vape without a lot of fuss. But I like RBAs for two reasons:

1) As other have said, the vape is much better once you get it right and find your sweet spot in terms of ohms and voltage.
2) It gets rid of a huge disposable factor. My Cobra and AGA-T+ will last longer than I do, and can always be repaired and rebuilt with a few universal, easy to find parts.

I like cartos and carto tanks too, but if the day comes when I can't buy cartos online, the tanks won't do me much good. Wick and wire, on the other hand, will always be available in some form at least.

 

[SteveW]

I sort of picture people who use rbas as the type of folk who used to roll their own cigs and brew their own ales. Well, that is what I used to do anyway. It is great to have input into your experience and not just pick things off the shelf that are someone else's ready made idea of what your experience should be. For tinkerers and connoisseurs of the finer subtleties of life the rebuildables are naturally attractive. At least that is what I think anyway. Just a little bit more satisfaction when your own effort is part of it.

 

[feelinggood]

I just started using rbas systems, specifically an aga-t+, the first day I got it working..not so good, the second day much better, I can tell there's a very noticeable difference in flavor , not so much in vapor although it is not bad at all. So based on my short experience yes it is worth it, best flavor ever.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[JC Okie]

I use non-tank RBAs on all my REOs (bottom-feeding mods,) and I'll NEVER go back. RBAs (to me) are the best thing that has happened to MY vaping experience since I started vaping (almost three years ago.) I have several different kinds -- Chalice, ERA, Hornet, A7, etc., and even the worst rebuildable I have beats the best pre-fab atty (HH-357 in my case) I've ever used.

Jan

 

[thebong24]

for me RBA is not for everyone... if ure a first timer and jump on rebuildables ull get upset fast ... it takes time to learn them, thats all!

 

[m4gs]

Again thanks for all your thoughts guys.... So I have a few questions because I am not giving up. I feel I have build some amazing coils. They light up even, I can hold the power button for 10+ seconds without hot spots forming, and seems like they work perfect. However I just feel like the flavor isnt where I need it to be (alil to light, sometimes off flavored), and the vapor/throat hit is good, but not really better then anything else.... On my AGA-T+ its a very airy draw so its hard to kinda "feel" that initial cloud of vapor hitting your mouth/throat.

Im all ears guys...

Can anyone recommend to me what type ohms I should be going for? I have read that 1.5 or lower is better? I guess starting out I was always trying to build 2.0 or greater ohms since thats what i always vaped most premade hardware at on my provari. What gauge kanthal do you all like to use? I have 32g and 34g....

Also with the pheonix.... do you guys like to wrap a small piece of mesh around your silica? Or do you use just straight silica? What ohms do you guys like on the drip rebuildables?

 

[feelinggood]

I have it set up right now at 1.2 ohm using kanthal 28 on my provari at 3.9v. Great experience! Just need to wait a little bit for vapor to form to get a nice throat hit and flavor.
Hope this helps.
PS: I am using ss mesh for wick.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[DEATHTOCIGS]

Interesting hearing everyones opinions. I switched to rebuildables a year or so ago and will not go back. For me, my favorite rebuildable is my Bully Smoker A2T. I take it everywhere and have never had a problem with a coil burning out although I suppose it's possible. I rebuild it about once a month (for fun, not because the coil died). I do clean it every couple of days with a dry burn and hot tap water. I use A1 Kanthal 32 guage wire and usually vape at about 4.6 volts. I cannot get the same vapor production out of cartos and clearo's, and found the quality deteriorates very quickly. I also have a DID Clone, and I agree that it is not transportable, nor does it perform like my Bully.

 

[m4gs]

I only said my DID was crap because the crap plastic tank, and the o-rings that came with it are to small and the tank completely leaks. Other then that the head is a decent build.

Oh and.... when I screw the cap on (because the DID clone screws on not slips on) the hole is nowhere near the wick that got me pretty upset... Its almost on the complete oposite side.

So if anyone wants a DID for like 15$ id be happy to ship it to someone who likes em.

 

[ricks]

The oring is on it so you can line it up. Or you can drill a new hole and plug up the old one.

Oh and.... when I screw the cap on (because the DID clone screws on not slips on) the hole is nowhere near the wick that got me pretty upset... Its almost on the complete oposite side.

So if anyone wants a DID for like 15$ id be happy to ship it to someone who likes em.

 

[Thrasher]

i felt just like the OP almost the same starting gear, i set the dud up and went "what are those guys in the RBA forum tripping or what"
its ok but they are crazy if theu think this is all that. went back to my old gear but put the geni aside and thought man there would not be all these people digging it if it doesnt work.
sorry the internet doesnt work that way, there is something im missing, i have to be missing something, or maybe even though i watched the videos and followed the directions something isnt the same i did what I saw but maybe it's not what they are showing me.


played with about 20 different types of wicks and used close to 15 feet of different wires just playing in my spare time. I finally got a decent setup and just stuck with it for a while, then suddenly about 1/3 of that tank it went POW the flavor was incredible and the vapor started getting thicker and thicker and more intense and suddenly it clicked and i saw, the coil needs to be just perfectly this way and the wick needs to be that way. that was about 6 months ago. and if you try to take my geni away now i will beat you with my provari.

sometimes we need to just keep playing till it all falls into place, dont stress, keep using what you know works and just play a bit at a time here and there, most of the time it will eventually fall into place and the AHA moment kicks in.

 

[medicmckay]

Set up right the flavor to me is like dripping. It's amazing. On top of which I love that I'm no longer screwing with cartos. 2 bucks a pop that I could never get to really work after boiling. After stocking up on some cheap wire on ebay and a sheet of 500 mesh.....its cheap vaping and taste awesome!

 

[semper_vitis]

I used cartos and carto tanks for a good 18 months before I picked up my AGA-T2, and I have not looked back since. Yes, they are fussy like everyone has mentioned, but after you find that correct combination of wick and coil they are really tough to beat in vapor production and flavor. Plus, the return on investment is realized pretty quickly. My initial reason for switching to an RBA was to not have to buy cartos all the time. I would burn through on average 2 cartos a week, and the vaping experience was hit and miss because of their variable build quality. Now I can drop $10 on mesh and wire and be good for 6 months or more. That is $40 (for RBA & supplies) for 6 months, where I would have been spending around $100 retail for cartos in the time frame.

I probably wont ever own one of the expensive RBAs because my $30 AGA-T2 is so good. I am not concerned with appearance (even though the AGA looks pretty damn awesome on my Silver Bullet IMO) or cool factor of the newest/rarest device on the market. I even dropped a whopping $10 on a Phoenix dripping RBA for juice sampling (fitted with SS wick) that spanks all over cartos.

There is something to be said for the ease of use when it comes to cartos, and many people consider that an overriding factor in their decision to use them. Some just want the simplicity of an analog in digital form, and that is fantastic. BUT for those that have really embraced vaping as something more than just an analog replacement (or a way to kick the smoking habit altogether), RBAs are a natural progression and probably the pinnacle of current vaping technology.

 

[Thompson]

I certainly don't think they are over rated.

Tired of spending money on things I end up throwing away (cartos/clearos/heads). Not a big fan of dripping or fabric wick. Would like a large-ish sized amount of liquid.

I'm quite pleased with the durability & strength of my AGA-Ts, even with glass tanks. My setup has taken a few decent spills and its not shown any effect, marring or anything.

I enjoy setting up the coil properly and making sure its working just right.

Currently nothing else is as good a vape as my AGAs. I'm going to give carto tanks a try as they seem super popular but as it is I'm dubious I'll stick with it.

 

[PLANofMAN]

I must be practically alone in thinking that they are just a bit over-rated. The OP was asking about rebuildable attys, not Genisis setups. I don't really seem to be picky. I've gotten good vape from mini vivi nova's, vivi nova tanks, vivi nova R tank (until it broke) vision rebuildable, CE2's, Kangers MT3's, AGA T and the T Plus. Pluid doesn't get vaped in anything but a Genisis setup. That juice was designed to be vaped on that kind of a setup. Not all juices taste the best in a Genisis setup. 710 tastes bland to me with a mesh wick. Swap it for cotton or silica, and the flavors come together really nicely. It all just depends on a lot of different factors.

It's virtually impossible to better a good Genisis setup, but a normal rebuildable with silica is the exact same thing as a non-rebuildable.

 

[Hello World]

NOW THIS ALL BEING SAID... Im not a complete hater, I just want to know if anyone else is with me and thinks they are slightly or even VERY overrated.

The difference in flavor and nicotine delivery alone will keep me on the Genny bandwagon until something better comes along.

I went from 24mg of nicotine in clearos to 8mg in Gennys. That cuts my DIY nic-base budget down further than the price of all three AGA-T2s & accessories I own.

My flavoring is now down to under 1% with plenty of richer taste than before.

Different thickness of coil wiring allows me to not only customize the volume and quality of my vape, but create a vaping experience that isn't otherwise possible.

The savings in not having to buy hundreds of $$$ in cartos/clearos annually is yet another bonus.

 

[Thompson]

Oh gotcha I totally misunderstood the topic.

Yeah, I do actually personally dislike the replaceable heads. They are much better when rebuilt but IMO I shouldn't have to tear it apart brand new to get the performance I thought was stock. I've had some annoying issues with the CE5 style. The VVN never really messed me about, but it wasn't giving performance that was worth writing home about.

 

[EddieAdams]

I personally think they're overrated. Everyone will say well," you're not doing it right". You need mesh,400, no 500,4 wraps of 30,5 wraps of 28, ribbon wire, ceramic wick,a mod box and.00001 ohms...

They're totally inconvenient. Unless you bought a$200 titanium model they weigh a ton, need to be tipped to wick, need screw removed to wick, then you can't place in your pocket because they'll leak, not travel friendly at all. Just not worth it IMO.

BCCs are where its going. Starting with the EVOD then the protank. Even if the protank has the issues of the t3 and mt3, the EVOD is a great experience. I've built my AGA-T2 every way possible with just about every material possible and have had it purring with each combo. I've had the big clouds. Just no HUGE improvement or life changing experience that others describe. You're restricted to the size of the wick hole and what that wick can hold. That's the amount of liquid you have to vape. No extra wick surrounding the coil on the outside. Missing out on all that extra heating area. The EVOD has wicking inside and outside the coil, weighs nothing, is rebuildable,no tipping, no leaking, and is just consistent. Plus I'm not rolling the dice anymore on mixing liquid with and heating oxidized metal over and over when no one knows the long term effects.
You can trash me. I've tried a lot of different delivery systems in my short time and nothing offers the convenience and ease of use, consistency of vapor and flavor production of the EVOD. There's a reason a lot of places are out of stock. That little piece of plastic kicks .....

 

[EddieAdams]

1. It depends on when you started vaping, honestly. We used to deal with carts (not cartos, cartridges) with separate attys and crappy dripping attys. That was about all that existed. Pyramid tea-bag mods, blue foam, etc. You're at a time now when in all fairness, many things will give you a very nice vape without being an RBA.

2. Flavor depends on juice. Not knowing what you have, it's very hard to know what you're experiencing.

3. Vapor depends on a lot of things: wattage, coil temperature, airflow, juice composition, etc. And again, you're vaping at time when there are non-rebuildable attys that vape quite well.

4. Not everything leaks, but most Genesis-style tanks will without the fill-hole plug (and even with it, in some cases). And you'll get to the point if you use them long enough where you can trust a coil to vape while out and about. If not, do as Adeline says and carry a spare carto for emergencies. They're tiny. But something like an IGO-L, while not a tank, can certainly be trusted to vape if you've built a good coil, which even for a beginner is not at all difficult.

I don't consider them over-rated. After two full years of vaping, I don't touch a carto or ViviNova unless I'm desperate, which honestly doesn't happen. And I have all that stuff sitting here. It goes unused.

That might be the case with me. I feel like veterans like yourself dealt with much worse than what is the" norm" now making gennys these amazing things that were unmatched. There's some good things out there now...

 

[CountSmackula]

...

They're totally inconvenient. Unless you bought a$200 titanium model they weigh a ton, need to be tipped to wick, need screw removed to wick, then you can't place in your pocket because they'll leak, not travel friendly at all, all for an okay to above average vapor experience that just isn't consistent from puff to puff.

...

I'll have to disagree on a number of points you made. My Chids & Chobras don't weigh a ton. Yeah, my AGAs (-Ts & -T2s) are heavier than my Cobra, but not uncomfortably so. When the wick is properly prepared, you don't need to tip (except at the very bottom of the tank). All my gennys wick fine with the fill screws in place. I use 2 Chobras & an MVP as my daily work setup. (One flavor to go with my morning espresso and another for after lunch.) I can drop it in my pocket with nary a leak. I can vape while driving, in the library, or doing playground duty. The vape is the same from start of day until I get home & move over to other mods... all of which are topped with similar arrangements.

p.s. 2 of my Chids have the same wick & coil working properly since last September. Name any other delivery system that just works for 6 months without F-ing with it. Okay... I do flush the tanks out with hot water every 3rd fill or so, or if I change flavors.