Becoming interested in mtl RDAs/RTAs. What’s good?

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bombastinator

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so I bought a zenith clearo specifically for a trip I am taking in a few days and I’m finding I like it. I don’t particularly like the long term cost of the coil cartridges though as I’m getting not quite a week out of them. This means a MTL RTA or squonkable rda is probably in my future. What are people liking lately? Size isn’t a consideration as all my mods are fairly large. I’ll probably be vaping 18mg high VG juice.

Any suggestions welcome :)
 
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smoked25years

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My personal favorite of the ones that I've tried is the Kayfun Prime clone by YFTK. I love the flavor from it. And it has a very intelligent design. The Doggystyle clone from SXK has almost a cult following here. It does have some quirks. It is super simple which is both a pro and a con. It is easy to break down and clean since there aren't many parts. But the air flow control is just a ring freely riding on o-rings. The 2k16 is bottom fill. There's a new 2k18 version that is top fill. The Dvarw clone from Coppervape is also very popular. I haven't tried it yet. All 3 of those can be bought at FT and there's currently a 15% sitewide coupon. The VV Berserker is also very popular. It has top fill but most folks seem to bottom fill it to avoid leaks.

RDTA
I don't have an RDA but I do have the Vapefly Galaxies Squonk RDTA. Highly recommended.
 
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jandrew

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For squonkable MTL RDAs, I like the Galaxies MTL RDA best, but the Etna MTL RDA and the Berserker MTL RDA are quite nice too (I just prefer the Galaxies for squonking, and the others for dripping). The Ammit MTL RDA also gets many good reviews, but I never got along with mine.

The Doggystyle is a nice MTL RTA, and there is also the Galaxies RDTA (which is squonkable).
 

AngeNZ

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    Doggystyle - for flavour, easy building and low maintenance. Sxk top fill 2k18 RTA - airflow is restricted lung fully open, and can be dialed down tighter
    2k18.jpg

    @Brewdawg1181 needs to tell you about his EHPRO/Naturevape True MTL RTA
    It's another goodie
     

    vapdivrr

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    I have 3 recommendations and they have been stated already. Kayfun prime, darvw, and doggy, all really good. The prime gives you a more solid tank, easiest af control, juice control, and top fill, while the others are bottom fill and no juice control. The darvw has different af options, but you have to screw in different af inserts. The doggy just has a cheapy kind of ring, but they all vape excellent

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
     

    AXIOM_1

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    According to the vape authority Phil Busardo, the Berserker has an even better flavor than the kayfun prime... But that is subjective.... The Berserker is a bit tight if you like restrictive vapes but it is one awesome tank... It mimics cigarette smoking very closely with regards to it's air-flow.
     

    bombastinator

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    So I wound up buying the berserker rta, got it home and wired it. The deck is small and a bit primitive. The biggest coil it will seem to take is 2.5mm. I gave it 8 wraps of 28ga. SS. Vaped well at 10w, switched to TC and promptly melted the coil. So maybe no tc on my legend anyway. It really is a tight draw. It’s ok full open though. I’m a bit worried about tank size. It doesn’t hold very much.
     

    AXIOM_1

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    So I wound up buying the berserker rta, got it home and wired it. The deck is small and a bit primitive. The biggest coil it will seem to take is 2.5mm. I gave it 8 wraps of 28ga. SS. Vaped well at 10w, switched to TC and promptly melted the coil. So maybe no tc on my legend anyway. It really is a tight draw. It’s ok full open though. I’m a bit worried about tank size. It doesn’t hold very much.

    There is an extension that comes with that tank to expand it to 4.5 ML
     

    Shadav

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    I really like the Galaxies MTL rdta and it's squonkable
    it's nice also because it can do an inbetween mtl and dl....there's the airflow holes on the atty but inside are 2 screws next to the posts that you can tighten or loosen for airflow as well....I've unscrewed mine almost completely and get a good airy mtl vape off of it to where I can do a DL hit but obviously it's not a dl atty but still nice that I can get a bit of both from it....an airy mtl or restricted dl...which is kind of where my vaping needs are at the moment.
     

    AXIOM_1

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    Well that explains what the weird funnel thing is

    yeah the funnel along with the longer glass section will expand the tank size.... The thing that is awesome about that tank is the flavor. Plus, it is a TRUE MTL tank.... Yes, it is a bit restrictive but most folks vape it with the air-flow wide open... Some folks like an even tighter draw and so they vape with it not being in the wide open setting.... Also, the tank is well built and the threading is excellent.... The diameter of the coils matters very little in that tank because of the way it's designed.... A smaller diameter coil will give excellent results so don't worry about making larger coils that won't fit onto the build deck. Smaller coil builds are fine in that tank.
     

    bombastinator

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    yeah the funnel along with the longer glass section will expand the tank size.... The thing that is awesome about that tank is the flavor. Plus, it is a TRUE MTL tank.... Yes, it is a bit restrictive but most folks vape it with the air-flow wide open... Some folks like an even tighter draw and so they vape with it not being in the wide open setting.... Also, the tank is well built and the threading is excellent.... The diameter of the coils matters very little in that tank because of the way it's designed.... A smaller diameter coil will give excellent results so don't worry about making larger coils that won't fit onto the build deck. Smaller coil builds are fine in that tank.
    Seems to vape well enough. It’s even more restrictive than the zenith but the upside of that is the 25mg salts aren’t making me cough and the vapor is nearly non existent, which is what I need.
     

    Brewdawg1181

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    My $ 0.02, in order recommended above. I don't squonk or use rda's so no comment on those.
    1. Dvarw- very nice vape, but odd engineering on the 2 PC chimney, with a removable cap that sometimes sticks in the top, sometimes on the lower portion of the chimney. I really do like the vape on this one, but all the parts remind me of a Kayfun. Also reminiscent of a Kayfun in that the wick has to be near perfect over the holes in the lower sleeve. For me, it has a great vape, but doesn't offer anything over a doggy. But it's a good tank, compact, nice looking - it was just a step backward, design wise, from the doggy, in my opinion.

    2. Kayfun Prime- I love Kayfun (especially KM3), and was very disappointed in this one. Very well designed, except that the vape quality was more "diluted" and not as condensed as the KM3 that preceded it. Never could get a decent throat hit out of it. I wanted to love it, but gave up after many tries at every conceivable build, and gave it away.

    3. Doggystyle - sets the standard. Started with the SXK, and it couldn't be more flawless. Easy to build, no jfc to worry about, very few parts, delivers a consistently great vape, with my requisite TH. Never a leak, never a gurgle, never a dry hit, never an issue ever. Tried the SJMY version, and found it has everything above, but greater airflow without sacrificing density or throat hit. It became my favorite. Used doggies for almost a year, and really thought nothing could improve on it.

    4. Berserker. Tried it, but didn't own it. Very tight draw, pretty good. Way too many leaking, gurgling issues seen on this forum for me to consider buying. Many say top fill causes real issues, and resort to using bottom fill, or a multi-step fill process. And I liked the vape on doggy better.

    5. Siren- again, tried but didn't own. Pretty good, but not better than doggy, and had enough reported issues that prevented me from buying. And I didn't like the vape better than doggy or I'd have bought it.

    6. True MTL - recently won it from Heavens Gifts, and didn't think much of it, until I tried it. It is seriously the best vape I've ever had. Better than the Doggy. Similar size, but lower capacity. But it does have top flow, an upgrade over the doggy's bottom fill. Even though it doggy's bottom fill never bothered me, I really do like the easy top flow of the True - and it lets you fill to total capacity easily. I always vaped the doggy completely open, but many didn't like the airflow ring on it. Doggy doesn't have a stop, and really is hard to dial it down if you like tighter af. The True is really easy to do, has stops, and multiple af options. And closing it down to almost nothing really works, without making it vape like it doesn't want to do that. And it's tight - if you close it, there's no air escaping thru there. It leaked on my first try, but I found I just didn't tighten enough, since the doggy doesn't require that, and it was what I was used to. Since then, no issues. Just rebuilt easily (super easy build with wire trapping, which the doggy doesn't have), and haven't had any other issues - no seepage, no gurgling, dry hits, nothing to criticize at all. Dry as a bone underneath. Like the doggy, but unlike Berserker and others, there's no juice control to worry about. I have no desire to deal with that after Kayfuns. Couldn't count the times I'd singe a wick after refilling, and forgetting to re-open it. Or get gurgling if I forgot to close it when filling. If a tank wicks right, there's no need for jfc. And I vape all vg. I'm loving this tank, and have found a replacement/upgrade over the doggy. It isn't expensive at all, so anyone that MTL's should really give this one a try. Standard is 2ml, but comes with a bubble tank to take it to 3ml. I build it 28g SS, 2mm ID, 7 wraps, 0.58ohm (same as I do doggy), and it's fantastic. My beloved doggies just haven't been getting much use since I got it. I haven't tried any of the prebuilt coils that come with it. Aesthetics - who cares, it's compact, solid and vapes great.

    7. EXpromizer V3fire - never heard of it.
     
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