Can someone compare to the Goblin for me? Primarily, flavor, but comparisons on build quality would be nice as well.
Cthulhu RTA Discusion
- Thread starter JoshuaC
- Start date
- th_trl_thread_readers 0
-
- Tags
- cthulhu rta
- Status
Holy crap it DOES have Cthulhu on the chimney!!!! SOLD! Saw it on another forum last week and didn't notice that. Only $30 too!
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
After getting the Cthulhu and using it for a few days, my Goblin was thrown in the trash. Got sick of cutting my fingers and having the bottom fill screw leak juice all over the place. Machining on the Cthulhu isn't bad, certainly not 'high end' but perfectly acceptable. Flavor is great, but flavor on the Goblin was good as well.
It basically comes down to this: to me, it's better than the Goblin because it eliminates the things that annoyed me, gives me top filling (a huge plus to me), comes with a drip tip, and wicks better due to the bigger channels.
While it does not include a spare Pyrex tank, it comes with a generous amount of everything else you'd need (orings, screws, etc.)
And Cthulhu himself looks at you while you vape. Can't beat that.
Last edited:
Does anyone have any idea the wattage this RTA can take? I see many that have a limit of like 50 or 100w, are there any that can go past 100w?
Will order one soon, and 2-3 months later I'll want to order the next big thing to come out. Will it ever end...I hope not. ;p
Dang, I thought my tank game was done for a while once I got my Subtank Mini and JUST got my Goblin. Looks like this fixes every problem I've found with the Goblin so far. Looks like it's time to sell it and upgrade!
Do any of you that own a Cthulhu by chance also have a Kayfun 4?? My 3 KF4 clones are my current tanks, Im just curious how the Cthulhu compares. Ive gotten used to lung hitting my Derringer, but still do mouth to lung with the KF's. I take it the Cthulhu is more for lung hitting?? Dont really care about clouds, Ive got the Derringer if I need to fog up the house but is the flavor there??
I have 3 new RTAs on the way as it is, but I'll add this one to my list of future acquisitions. I'm waiting on the following, all affordable authentics:
HCigar HC Plus, which I had to order from Health Cabin in China. Hopefully shows up this week.
UD Aga t5, which was a whole $9.40 from Trianglevape.
Focloud from Vapordna. Cigreen might be the manufacturer? I have a $10 discount code if you spend at least $35 if anyone wants it, PM me.
HCigar HC Plus, which I had to order from Health Cabin in China. Hopefully shows up this week.
UD Aga t5, which was a whole $9.40 from Trianglevape.
Focloud from Vapordna. Cigreen might be the manufacturer? I have a $10 discount code if you spend at least $35 if anyone wants it, PM me.
Looks great, and I'm sure it performs, but my Goblin see's little use already, as I am more of a single coil, convenience guy...and to me, the Cthulhu has way too many parts to lose in the sink...I'll stick to my Lemo Drop and Lemo 2 for the time being...these tanks are coming out so fast!!
Review by jalexa2010 (Cthulhu RTA Review - House Reviews - WorldVapers)
Hey, everyone! I've been rocking my Cthulhu for a little bit now and thought it would be a good time as any to do my review since I'll be in St. Louis for a portion of today and tomorrow, and will most likely be travelling this weekend as well. So, that said, let's go ahead and dive down here and take a look at what we're dealing with! Please note, that I don't have a lot of pictures on hand at this moment, but am planning to add some more to my imgur album this weekend. I will reply to this topic with a direct link to the album.
ClickHEREto be taken to the Imgur Album! Will be updated by 05/04/15.
First off, I'd like to give you all a little bit of background information on this RTA (rebuildable tank atomizer). It is a Chinese-produced device that took to Reddit for advice on what exactly to build. With corroboration from the users there, Cthulhu Mods was able to design an overall well-built RTA, that has a performance that is close to that of an RDA without the hassle of dripping. This is, to my knowledge, the first RTA with a true top fill (not like the Lemo 2, which has a side fill), however, there are some issues with the design that I'll discuss later on in this review.
What is 'Cthulhu'?
Quote
"A character in Lovecraft's tale "The Call of Cthulhu". Cthulhu is a monstrous entity who lies "dead but dreaming" in the city of R'lyeh, a place of non-Euclidean madness presently (and mercifully) sunken below the depths of the Pacific Ocean. Cthulhu appears in various monstrous and demonic forms in early myths of the human race. Racial memory preserves Him as humanity's most basic nightmare. Cthulhu is the high priest of the Great Old Ones, unnatural alien beings who ruled the Earth before humanity formed, worshipped as gods by some misguided people. It is said that They will return, causing worldwide insanity and mindless violence before finally displacing humanity forever."
While that information isn't pertinent to anything, I thought everyone might enjoy where the name originates from! Now, on to the actual review!
Packaging and Shipping
First off, you cannot buy this RTA directly from the manufacturer unless you are a distributor, or can make a large group guy purchase for it. They have decided to sell directly to distributors, but they have put up a link on their home page (listed under their logo above) to show you who may be selling them in your area. I purchased mine from Smog Distribution at the price of $28.99 w/ free first-class USPS shipping, before the price was raised on the request of Cthulhu. Yes, you read that right, Cthulhu Mods requested that the product's price be raised, Smog says that this was "the lowest price we are allowed to sell this product for."
My order arrived fromSmog Distributionin a standard, small, bubble envelope that felt secure. Upon opening the envelope, I quickly checked for any noticeable signs of damage or tampering (which there was none). The Cthulhu RTA arrives in a very nice plastic box with a tiny, but easy to open/close snap-type latch, and has a sticker of the logo, and a QR code on the front (I'm guessing it leads to their website, but I haven't tried it). There are three separate baggies inside of the box, one containing the RTA itself, one containing a set of stainless steel grub screws, and the other containing everything else.
The bag that has "everything else" includes a set of black grub screws (with a few extras), numerous replacement o-rings, a very tiny hex screwdriver for the grub screws, a typical blue screwdriver we always get with everything, and surprisingly two pre-built micro coils. The coils appear to be 24 gauge Kanthal, with 6 wraps, as according to Steam-Engine, this would come out to ~0.3 ohm, where as my Xpro M80+ is reading it as 0.31 ohm. They do appear quite dark for coils, but I have been using them without issue thus far.
Product Design
This RTA is able to be broken down quite a bit. Removing all the pieces will leave you with a very bare bones looking RTA, that is essentially just a build deck with the positive post and negative posts. But, let's talk about some actual parts, because this is where some bad things start coming into play with this RTA. We'll work our way from the bottom up. I'll have these as bullets, with the negative aspects listed beneath, after this section, I'll list positives of the design.
There are a lot of things to like about this, but there are a lot of things to hate as well. So, this really comes down a performance issue. I've owned a lot of different tanks and RTAs since I started vaping. I've used cigalikes, I've used CE4/5 style devices. I've had the Atlantis, the Subtank, the VCT, the Arctic, the Delta II (briefly), and I've seen the Herakles and the Maganus. I have used a Doge, a Turbo, a Derringer, and will soon be getting a Swirlfish Clone. I've built on the Kayfun v4, Orchid v6, Lemo Drop, and I've seen my friends work on others. I have seen a lot of different tanks.
This thing is an Orchid on steroids. It is what the Goblin should have been. This is what the Lemo 2 could have been. The guys behind designing this thing did an exceptional job. They took some of the greatest features from the RTAs that were existing on the market, and mashed them all together in a Frankenstein-esque monster of an RTA.
From my personal experience, nothing that I have used has a performance quite like the Cthulhu. It absolutely crushes the other RTAs on the market (except perhaps the Goliath, which I have not used) and it essentially out-performs all of the sub ohm tanks on the market. And you know what? While my RDAs give me bigger clouds, I truly think that the flavor in this tank is just as good. I don't have to crank up my device to 70-80 watts to get a warm vape, I can rock it at 40W all day and have a longer-lasting battery, get my warm vape with a dense cloud, and taste my juice just as well as I can in my Doge v2 (my favorite RDA thus far).
Overall Score and Final Thoughts
Let's wrap this up and move on to my final scoring of the Cthulhu. I score everything on a 1-10 scale, and explain in more detail why something is scored the way it is.
Hey, everyone! I've been rocking my Cthulhu for a little bit now and thought it would be a good time as any to do my review since I'll be in St. Louis for a portion of today and tomorrow, and will most likely be travelling this weekend as well. So, that said, let's go ahead and dive down here and take a look at what we're dealing with! Please note, that I don't have a lot of pictures on hand at this moment, but am planning to add some more to my imgur album this weekend. I will reply to this topic with a direct link to the album.
ClickHEREto be taken to the Imgur Album! Will be updated by 05/04/15.
First off, I'd like to give you all a little bit of background information on this RTA (rebuildable tank atomizer). It is a Chinese-produced device that took to Reddit for advice on what exactly to build. With corroboration from the users there, Cthulhu Mods was able to design an overall well-built RTA, that has a performance that is close to that of an RDA without the hassle of dripping. This is, to my knowledge, the first RTA with a true top fill (not like the Lemo 2, which has a side fill), however, there are some issues with the design that I'll discuss later on in this review.
What is 'Cthulhu'?
Quote
"A character in Lovecraft's tale "The Call of Cthulhu". Cthulhu is a monstrous entity who lies "dead but dreaming" in the city of R'lyeh, a place of non-Euclidean madness presently (and mercifully) sunken below the depths of the Pacific Ocean. Cthulhu appears in various monstrous and demonic forms in early myths of the human race. Racial memory preserves Him as humanity's most basic nightmare. Cthulhu is the high priest of the Great Old Ones, unnatural alien beings who ruled the Earth before humanity formed, worshipped as gods by some misguided people. It is said that They will return, causing worldwide insanity and mindless violence before finally displacing humanity forever."
While that information isn't pertinent to anything, I thought everyone might enjoy where the name originates from! Now, on to the actual review!
Packaging and Shipping
First off, you cannot buy this RTA directly from the manufacturer unless you are a distributor, or can make a large group guy purchase for it. They have decided to sell directly to distributors, but they have put up a link on their home page (listed under their logo above) to show you who may be selling them in your area. I purchased mine from Smog Distribution at the price of $28.99 w/ free first-class USPS shipping, before the price was raised on the request of Cthulhu. Yes, you read that right, Cthulhu Mods requested that the product's price be raised, Smog says that this was "the lowest price we are allowed to sell this product for."
My order arrived fromSmog Distributionin a standard, small, bubble envelope that felt secure. Upon opening the envelope, I quickly checked for any noticeable signs of damage or tampering (which there was none). The Cthulhu RTA arrives in a very nice plastic box with a tiny, but easy to open/close snap-type latch, and has a sticker of the logo, and a QR code on the front (I'm guessing it leads to their website, but I haven't tried it). There are three separate baggies inside of the box, one containing the RTA itself, one containing a set of stainless steel grub screws, and the other containing everything else.
The bag that has "everything else" includes a set of black grub screws (with a few extras), numerous replacement o-rings, a very tiny hex screwdriver for the grub screws, a typical blue screwdriver we always get with everything, and surprisingly two pre-built micro coils. The coils appear to be 24 gauge Kanthal, with 6 wraps, as according to Steam-Engine, this would come out to ~0.3 ohm, where as my Xpro M80+ is reading it as 0.31 ohm. They do appear quite dark for coils, but I have been using them without issue thus far.
Product Design
This RTA is able to be broken down quite a bit. Removing all the pieces will leave you with a very bare bones looking RTA, that is essentially just a build deck with the positive post and negative posts. But, let's talk about some actual parts, because this is where some bad things start coming into play with this RTA. We'll work our way from the bottom up. I'll have these as bullets, with the negative aspects listed beneath, after this section, I'll list positives of the design.
- 510 Adjustable Copper Pin
- Although being described as fully adjustable (to the point you can remove it completely), if you attempt to adjust this further than ~1/4 of a turn, due to the design of the positive post, it will begin to spin.
- Airflow Ring
- This can be tough to turn. I have not had any issues with mine, it's actually pretty smooth, and according to Cthulhu Mods, they are updating it to make future models smooth. Maybe I got a demo?
- Build Deck
- The spacing between the positive and negative posts is razor thin, literally. You can take a razor blade and just barely fit it between the two, this could lead to shorts if your positive block spins on you, of if you have a lead touching a post.
- Chimney (logo section)
- Oh. My. God... The threading... They do not want to catch at all, and it took me a solid 5 minutes being patient and careful to get it to go on. Once they start to catch though, it's fairly smooth.
- Top cap (entire section)
- God help you when you need to take apart this RTA. There is a tiny screw that is attached to the chimney piece that sticks out from top cap B which is used to secure the two pieces. You cannot assemble the top cap to the rest of the RTA without completely disassembling the top cap and putting the top cap B onto the glass, and then manually screwing this little tiny screw onto the chimney.
- The aforementioned screw
- I honestly was about to give up right here. I spent 15 minutes (not even kidding) trying to get this to catch on the chimney threads. I'm not sure why it wasn't wanting to go on, but I finally figured out that if you're lightly pushing down on the screw, you'll feel the threads almost 'click' into place, and that's when you can start screwing it down. I've checked my threading, and everything appears to be OK, even with this method.
- Drip Tip
- The drip tip is actually pretty nice, it's not super-secure, but it's not wobbly either. I've only had it get hot once, and that was from accidentally taking a hit at 80W when I forgot to change my watts back down from a separate test I was doing.
- Top Cap
- Praise be to the Gods! True top fill! All I have to do is pop off my drip tip and unscrew the first part of the top cap to reveal 4 refilling holes that lead right into the tank section. Very convenient! As always, it's recommended that you close off your air holes first, but, I did refill once without doing so and it did not leak.
- Build Deck
- Not only are the post holes massive enough for even the craziest of coils, but there are insanely huge juice channels as well. 4x 2.5 mm juice channels to allow the RTA to soak up even the thickest juices. I was chain hitting 90% VG juice at 45 watts, and never got a dry hit.
- It is also easy to wick. A consistent problem with RTAs is that if they're not wicked properly, you're going to have issues. I threw in some cotton very lazily (one side had more than the other, weren't trimmed equal, etc), and only have had one problem with leaking from the side with less cotton.
- Airflow Ring
- 2 x 3mm air holes! Lots of airflow, which leads directly to underneath where the coils sit, keeping them from burning up your cotton, and giving great lung hits!
- I should note that on mine, I have not had issues with the airflow ring being too tough to move. There have been reports people have had to remove the air flow ring to adjust.
- Bottom-fill
- For all of you out there that do prefer bottom fill, that is still an option with the Cthulhu. I haven't used it yet, but I can say that I haven't had any leaks out of it either.
There are a lot of things to like about this, but there are a lot of things to hate as well. So, this really comes down a performance issue. I've owned a lot of different tanks and RTAs since I started vaping. I've used cigalikes, I've used CE4/5 style devices. I've had the Atlantis, the Subtank, the VCT, the Arctic, the Delta II (briefly), and I've seen the Herakles and the Maganus. I have used a Doge, a Turbo, a Derringer, and will soon be getting a Swirlfish Clone. I've built on the Kayfun v4, Orchid v6, Lemo Drop, and I've seen my friends work on others. I have seen a lot of different tanks.
This thing is an Orchid on steroids. It is what the Goblin should have been. This is what the Lemo 2 could have been. The guys behind designing this thing did an exceptional job. They took some of the greatest features from the RTAs that were existing on the market, and mashed them all together in a Frankenstein-esque monster of an RTA.
From my personal experience, nothing that I have used has a performance quite like the Cthulhu. It absolutely crushes the other RTAs on the market (except perhaps the Goliath, which I have not used) and it essentially out-performs all of the sub ohm tanks on the market. And you know what? While my RDAs give me bigger clouds, I truly think that the flavor in this tank is just as good. I don't have to crank up my device to 70-80 watts to get a warm vape, I can rock it at 40W all day and have a longer-lasting battery, get my warm vape with a dense cloud, and taste my juice just as well as I can in my Doge v2 (my favorite RDA thus far).
Overall Score and Final Thoughts
Let's wrap this up and move on to my final scoring of the Cthulhu. I score everything on a 1-10 scale, and explain in more detail why something is scored the way it is.
- Price - 8/10
- This little guy cost me less than $30, and for the most part, should be retailing around $35-40. It's not the lowest price ever, but for something that performs as exceptionally as it does, it's worth every penny. There are a good number of extras included with it, as well as a handy little plastic box that justify a price a bigger company may charge for a new product.
- Packaging - 8/10
- I liked the little box it came in, but I feel that it was less secure, and almost a cheaper way to package it vs. a traditional box package. However, I have been using the plastic box to store some rebuilding material while on-the-go, so I decided to bump up the score a tad bit for originality.
- Design - 6/10
- It's a good-looking RTA, but the fact is that the threading doesn't like to catch, which makes rebuilding it a pain. However, I decided to add a couple of points for some of the positive things, such as the true top fill as well as having the largest juice channels in an RTA.
- Performance - 10/10
- Honestly, once you get your build thrown in and get the atty closed up, it is a solid performer. I have been chain vaping high VG juice at 45-50 watts and I have not had a dry hit yet. It produces a warm, dense vapor that is full of flavor, much like an RDA without the hassle of dripping every 5 hits. While I have a lot of issues with the machining and the design flaws, I don't have any issues with how it's been holding up while in use.
- Overall - 32/40
- I'd rate the Cthulhu, as it is in its first generation, at about a B-. At the end of the day, the designers did accomplish what they set out to do, design an RTA that offers the performance of an RDA, but they made some mistakes along the way. Luckily, they are addressing these mistakes and will be releasing a new version of the Cthulhu in the near-future. It is unknown to me at this time if it will be called anything other than the Cthulhu.
- Do I have the time to sit down and fiddle with the individual parts and get it assembled?
- Do I already have a tank, RTA, or even RDA that offers exceptional performance that I'm happy with?
- Do I want a tank that does not have pre-built coil heads at my disposal?
- Do I have a device capable of running this effectively?
Does anyone have any idea if it's out for purchase anywhere or only for pre-order?
- Status
