Cthulhu RTA Discusion

Status
Not open for further replies.

JoshuaC

Unresolved Status
Apr 27, 2015
72
73
42
SirRisc's Review

Sirrisc is back with another rta review courtesy ofCthulhumod.com7!

I'm a little late to the party, but I finally managed to make time to write the review for the Cthulhu rta. (Sorry guys!)

Allow me to spoil the entire thing by saying in advance, it's ....ing awesome.

Premise

“The Thing cannot be described - there is no language for such abysms of shrieking and immemorial lunacy, such eldritch contradictions of all matter, force, and cosmic order. A mountain walked or stumbled.
If I say that my somewhat extravagant imagination yielded simultaneous pictures of an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature, I shall not be unfaithful to the spirit of the thing.
A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque and scaly body with rudimentary wings; but it was the general outline of the whole which made it most shockingly frightful.”

Cthulhu Mod7is a relatively new player on the vaping market, but their introduction hasn't gone unnoticed.

With the Cthulhu RTA they set the bar high and they deliver a high quality RTA that'll blow your socks off.

EW1vIMF.jpg
1
The impressiveness starts at the packaging, continues on with the amount of extra o-rings and grub screws, and then there's the RTA itself...

Cthulhu RTA7
s14ssql.jpg
1
Specifications:



    • Medical Grade Stainless Steel
    • Pyrex/glass tank with 4ml capacity.
    • Adjustable 3mm airflow holes
    • Bottom fill screw
    • Top fill mechanism with 4 fill holes
    • Copper 510 connection
    • Laser etched Cthulhu in the chimney
    • 2*3mm independent airflow holes in the deck
    • 3 post design, 4*1.6mm wireholes
    • Dual coil design
    • Can take high VG liquids (I tested up to 95%VG)
Unpacking

As I mentioned above, even the packaging is impressive.
The entire RTA and its accessories come in a plastic casing with the logo printed on top, and a QR code you can scan with your smartphone.
The QR code points you to their website where you can find all info on the RTA.

MVlMj6D.jpg
1
YRD4pGn.jpg
1
The casing is strong, clean and fits comfortably in my vapecase. It's now the permanent home to my hex keys, coil jig and a couple of spare driptips.

koOufch.jpg

The casing holds 3 plastic bags.

AOh6nws.jpg

One with the RTA itself, one with a couple of spare screws, and one with a bunch of spare o-rings, another set of screws, 2 prebuilt coils, a hex key and the infamous blue screwdriver. (Yay, another one for the collection!)
On the bottom of the casing is a piece of cardboard with the code to check authenticity, and a link to the website. Again, a QR code is printed for easy access.

ugD0cAn.jpg
RujVkHf.jpg

Performance

Ok, I don't know where to start on this because it compares to pretty much any dual coil RTA out there.
It does what it's supposed to do, and it does so in true Cthulhu fashion: f'ing great.

The first time you screw everything apart it may seem a little daunting, because there are a lot of parts.
It's nowhere near as bad as the KFL4 though, that one is just plain ridiculous.
Once you screw everything back together it just makes sense, the design was done like this for a reason.

hcwXMuX.jpg
4
Is it worth all the hype? Yes, it is. Just because the performance is so good, it's no wonder people are raving on about this RTA.

Could it be improved? Yes, definitely. There are a few things that irk me, but considering the guys from Cthulhumod are very active in the community they have also fixed a few of these issues in the second and third batch of the RTA.

One of the major issues for me was the airflow ring. Holy ...., that thing is tighter than an anti-vaping politicians ........
The guys at Cthulhumod state that you need to close off the airflow to fill the tank from the top, but you'll need some brute force to move the airflow ring.
A somewhat unorthodox fix is to sand down the o-ring a little bit, or more conventionally replace the o-ring with a thinner model.
It'll still be tight enough to hold the airflow ring in place, but at least it'll be able to move.
This has been reported as fixed in the second batch. Good one, Cthulhu guys!

Another issue I ran into was the screw that threads onto the chimney to hold the tank together.
It's easy to grab and once it's tightened it won't move, which is good. It's getting it to thread that's the hard part.
The threading at the top seems to be a little too loose making the screw tip over on the threads, effectively increasing the risk of crossthreading your chimney.
Again the guys at Cthulhumod fixed this in a later batch. These guys don't play around, they want this RTA to be a success. (and quite frankly, they're doing a stellar job)

Leaking? Yes, sometimes it'll leak a bit from the airflow holes when I just filled it from the top.
Why this happens is beyond me, I've had comments that it must be my wicking but I've not found a solution to it yet. No matter how I wick it, it'll leak sometimes.
Once I take a few toots however, it stops leaking and works perfect for the rest of the tank.

Aesthetics

The Cthulhu RTA is a beauty. It's simple, yet so pretty.
The medical grade steel used has a hazy finish and seems to be fairly scratchproof.
The glass is fairly thick (though that of the Goblin is thicker), and shows the laser etched Cthulhu on the chimney.

pGdrN7R.jpg

For those of you wondering about replacing parts: No, the KFL style bellcaps do NOT fit, and neither do the Goblin accessories.
The Cthulhu also comes with a driptip with a fairly wide bore. The bore is the same as the chimney, making it one straight opening to the chamber.
The driptip is plain steel, no logo or anything but it looks good.

fAYQqi2.jpg
Bv5NfK1.jpg

Building

I could go into detail on how to build this thing, but I'll happily point you toIronhammer5's tutorial3for this.
His wicking technique works fine, and seems to take up to 95%VG without dryhits.

For good measure, I built mine to 0.7ohm at first and it performed nicely. I now have a 0.4ohm build in there and it's even better.

This RTA was made for lower builds it seems. Given the airflow is so big and the juicechannels are humongous, it only seems logical that this will take low builds and higher wattages.

One tip I can give you is to keep your coils below 2.8mm. Anything above that will risk touching the chimney and shorting out your RTA or mod.

On that note, please use an ohmreader when building. It's a cheap but effective way of detecting shorts and it'll be cheaper than surgery.

Pros and cons

Pro



    • Big clouds
    • Comes with a driptip
    • Cthulhu!
    • 4ml tank
    • Easy to build
    • Easy to wick
    • Huuuuuuge juicechannels
    • Amazing airflow
    • Medical grade steel
    • Glass tank
    • Cthulhu!
    • Awesome packaging
    • Looks f'ing beautiful
    • Lots of spare o-rings and screws
    • Good value for money
    • Excellent performance
Con



    • Top screw is a little iffy (fixed)
    • Airflow ring is too tight (fixed)
    • Tastes of machining oil, wash it before use! (fixed)
    • Leaks from the airflow holes sometimes after filling
    • Less flavorful as the Goblin
    • No spare glass included
    • Some tanks had some steel residu (fixed)
    • A little hard to come by sometimes due to the limited production(Coïncidently they are still looking for distributors and retailers, so if you have a vapeshop or your favorite shop isn't stocking them yet you should contact them at info@cthulhumod.com!)
In conclusion

The Cthulhu is worth the hype. It really is.
The performance is great and rivals RDAs in terms of vapor production, but not entirely in terms of flavor.
It looks great, the Cthulhu etched on the chimney is definitely an eyecatcher.
There are a few quirks, but most are fixed already or are being fixed in a later batch.
The guys from Cthulhumod are very actively persueing perfection by listening to the community, something other comanies should definitely improve upon.
 

Susan2014

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Jun 7, 2014
134
83
Va
I would like a RTA that I did not have to put the screws around. My eyes are not as they once were. I love my lemo v2 but wanted to try another one so does this one need to have dual coils or can one coil be built in it/ I find that I use a lot more juice with my lemo but was told that is I will have to get use to. is ok I love my lemo.
hugs
Susan
 

roxynoodle

Unregistered Supplier
ECF Veteran
Jun 19, 2014
15,344
37,213
Ohio
I would like a RTA that I did not have to put the screws around. My eyes are not as they once were. I love my lemo v2 but wanted to try another one so does this one need to have dual coils or can one coil be built in it/ I find that I use a lot more juice with my lemo but was told that is I will have to get use to. is ok I love my lemo.
hugs
Susan

Definitely dual. I think the wick channels are too large to go single and split the wick. If you want a single coil atty with post holes, maybe look at the EHPro Mini Buddha.
 

RAWRferal

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Apr 4, 2015
211
202
London
When you guys use rayon, what diameter coil are you using, how much are you thinning the tails, and how far down are you placing them in the channels? I use max VG (on of the reasons I got this tank) and wasn't thrilled with rayon in .4 dual 26 gauge 2.5 mm build. Got some dry hits and a dryer vape. I've a Japanese cotton wick in now and its a bit better but still feel there is room to improve.
If you're using max VG try shortening the length of your wick tails so the ends reach about half way down the channels.
 

billherbst

Vaping Master
Supporting Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Oct 21, 2010
4,239
9,486
Columbia, Missouri
www.billherbst.com
My clone/knock-off/factory-2nd Cthulhu (whichever it is) from fasttech arrived yesterday. Took only two weeks from ordering to delivery. This morning, after disassembly of the RTA and a thorough washing of all parts, I put a build on it: nothing fancy, just a pair of 2mm horizontal coils (26ga Kanthal) that came in at 0.36 ohms, wicked with rayon. Compared to other dual-coil RTAs, the build was relatively easy---grub screws all worked fine, rayon shoulder wicks on the deck with thinned tails about halfway down the massive juice channels. Top fill worked nicely with only slight and momentary leaking through the air intake holes, but that stopped as soon as I began vaping and the tank pressure stabilized.

What can I write that hasn't been stated already? It's great. Worthy competition for my SilverPlays, maybe better. The Cthulhu is a handsome, clean-looking tank with brilliant performance. Even at low wattage (19-25W), vapor production is massive and flavor is lovely. Not quite dripper-level flavor, but darn good. Close enough for horseshoes for sure. I tried 45 watts, and the Cthulhu handled it with ease---the coils crackled a bit more, but the vapor didn't even heat up appreciably. I don't need that much power, though, so I backed it down to 25W. I'll keep my bellcap Taifun GT V2s for mouth-to-lung, but for direct lung inhaling, the Cthulhu gets a blue ribbon from me and a hearty first-impression endorsement.

After 20 minutes of vaping, I ordered a second Cthulhu from fasttech. For $14.55 shipped, I'll probably end up with three or four of these eventually, assuming that this first one continues to perform so well.
 

JoshuaC

Unresolved Status
Apr 27, 2015
72
73
42
My clone/knock-off/factory-2nd Cthulhu (whichever it is) from fasttech arrived yesterday.
why not buy an genuine? the genuine RTA only cost $26-31(not $199. for saving $10-15 to get a lower grade ss and fake rta... ). If you like the design,you sould pay a little more to support the design team.:)
 
Last edited:

Monotremata

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Jul 15, 2014
1,662
1,744
Fontana, CA
monotremata.bandcamp.com
I hate to say it but Cthulhu has jumped the shark. Not referring specifically to the RTA but Lovecraft's creation. Seems like he's everywhere these days. Almost mainstream.

Perhaps its almost time for he who lies dead but dreaming to awaken and its just his almighty influence from sunken R'lyeh affecting the masses on a greater scale than ever before? Never thought of that one did ya? Hes got everyone eating out of his hands and they dont even realize it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: spawn

Cacique

Super Member
ECF Veteran
May 4, 2014
783
490
Orlando, FL
Woohoo! My replacement deck is here. Seemed to have a small metal burr in one of the airholes, other than that it was perfect. I took my 1.5mm rod and just poked into the air holes in both directions and it's all clear. Soaking it now in some soapy warm water for about 30 mins before building it.
 

JoshuaC

Unresolved Status
Apr 27, 2015
72
73
42
Woohoo! My replacement deck is here. Seemed to have a small metal burr in one of the airholes, other than that it was perfect. I took my 1.5mm rod and just poked into the air holes in both directions and it's all clear. Soaking it now in some soapy warm water for about 30 mins before building it.
any leaks?
 

Uncletattoowhat

Ultra Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Apr 21, 2014
1,116
1,294
Poquoson, VA
Woohoo! My replacement deck is here. Seemed to have a small metal burr in one of the airholes, other than that it was perfect. I took my 1.5mm rod and just poked into the air holes in both directions and it's all clear. Soaking it now in some soapy warm water for about 30 mins before building it.
Got mine today too. Apprehensive to even build on it since today i got my IPv4 and Smok TCT tank lol. Maybe once I get tired of temp control.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users who are viewing this thread