RDA First build ever - Magma

[jhhollier]

I love my Infinite clone Magma. Good flavor and vapor. I tend to use a 2.4mm inside diameter and cut the cotton just past the end on the short and long side and tuck. So far the only harsh/dry hits I get are when I'm really into it and forget to re-drip.

That 2.4mm has also worked well in my Foggerv5 (that I almost retired permanently in frustration) and the Billow. Both tanks have been considered "leaky".

Once I got it wicked right, I loved it as well. Lots of flavor and that's really what I'm after. It's hard to go back to the nautilus Minis now I experienced some leaking last night but it's my own fault cause I'm sure I was overdripping. I'm not overly concerned with it because it's just something else I'll learn to control with experience. I probably won't use it at work or on the road anyway.

@twall - Do you mean just bend the leg back in sort of an elongated U shape and clip it on the same side with the coil? I'll probably give that a try later tonight and see how it performs. I did find some extra screws which look about the same size as the ones in the Plume Veil and I'm gonna also try putting those in. Another thing I considered was trapping the legs on top of the posts under the screws but I'm not sure if that would work well. Seems like the coil would be poorly positioned.

 

[jhhollier]

Well. Rebuilt the coil on my Magma (not much difference, it's 1.45 ohm now) and wicked it again. It's already getting easier to wrap, install and wick. Also was able to finally get a coil in the Plume Veil. I used the wire that came with the clone and I was able to trap it easily through the post. I'm guessing it's 26 awg wire because I used 9/8 wraps and came out at about .7 ohm. Based on Steam Engine that would put the wire at 26 awg. At any rate, much more vapor from this one with comparable flavor though the Magma still beats it out. Sorry to keep going on and on but it's pretty satisfying to go from almost total failure last night to two successes tonight.

 

[darckeen]

I can't get anywhere the same amount of flavor on my Plume Veil clone as I can with the Magma. How did you build it and what air flow did you use?

 

[atroph]

I can't get anywhere the same amount of flavor on my Plume Veil clone as I can with the Magma. How did you build it and what air flow did you use?

Give up trying for max flavor on the PV. Magma will kick its tail every time. It is the chamber and airflow design that makes the magma shine.

There is talk of the n22 which appears to have more airflow and is similar to the magma being superior to the magma. I don't have one yet but it is on my want list.

Sorry to burst your bubble on the PV. IMO it is an over hyped cloud chaser RDA. I tried about 25-30 builds on that thing before I traded it for a kayfun. It just sucks with its leaking and lack of flavor. The only way I got the PV to perform well was to drop in unflavored 0mg VG and it chucked the clouds to high heaven. That is only fun for a pull or two before I get bored and need a nic fix.

 

[jhhollier]

I haven't had any leaking problems with the PV. That's not to say I'll never have problems with it but I haven't as yet. The flavor to me isnt that far off from the Magma but I do prefer the Magma. It was also much easier to build on. Maybe I just haven't built my Magma well yet, its very possible I'm still learning. Airflow-wise on the PV I'm using it in single coil mode, .7 ohm 26awg at @ 33w. Good flavor and a lot of vapor for me.

 

[darckeen]

Give up trying for max flavor on the PV. Magma will kick its tail every time. It is the chamber and airflow design that makes the magma shine.

There is talk of the n22 which appears to have more airflow and is similar to the magma being superior to the magma. I don't have one yet but it is on my want list.

Sorry to burst your bubble on the PV. IMO it is an over hyped cloud chaser RDA. I tried about 25-30 builds on that thing before I traded it for a kayfun. It just sucks with its leaking and lack of flavor. The only way I got the PV to perform well was to drop in unflavored 0mg VG and it chucked the clouds to high heaven. That is only fun for a pull or two before I get bored and need a nic fix.

That's kinda what I suspected... My guess is that a lot of people that say it has good flavor are saying it has good flavor for a cloud chaser.

 

[atroph]

Exactly. I too was suckered in with the hype. "Warm dense vapor" and "killer flavor" lol I have leared to watch that particular person for pure entertainment only.

 

[darckeen]

Pretty nice coil, there. And yes, you are right, the more surface area, the more liquid gets vaporized, thus more vapor. It's a balancing act between that and slow heating times, though that I, personally haven't totally mastered yet.

Happy Vaping!

I just tried a parallel coil with my magma for the first time. OH MAN does this chuck the flavor. My best magma build by far. Actually switched to a chuff style drip tip to tone it down a bit lol.

Single coil made of 2 strands of 28 gauge kanthal at 2mm ~10 wraps I think. Comes in at 0.9 ohm, wicked with KGD in a U just touching the bottom of the well.

This build has tons of surface area and very quick ramp up time vaping at 35 watts.

 

[Mikey6]

Exactly. I too was suckered in with the hype. "Warm dense vapor" and "killer flavor" lol I have leared to watch that particular person for pure entertainment only.

If you're talking about the flavor junkie that loves single coils and a warm to hot dense vape, I'm the same way. Watched him earlier in my vaping journey to learn some coil wrapping techniques but now it's just to have a little chuckle.

To the OP, the plume veil is a decent atty, but it definitely has its flaws. I fell for the same "flavor chucker" line and was intrigues by the airflow. But after I stripped out th top delrin, bought another one, and went through all my spare screws (all stripped out fairly quickly as they couldn't even tighten down on my 24g) they are both sitting on my stand, basically out of rotation. I've heard good things about the freakshow RDA from a few people but it's very magma-esque with the added difficulty of Center post builds being required. Pretty happy with my tugboat v2 for flavor and cloudage though. I vape it about 50+/- watts with a steam stack top cap and it gets down. Congrats on the solid magma build. Welcome to the world of rebuildables, the world of tinkering and frustration and hopefully vaping bliss.

 

[jhhollier]

Thanks I'm really enjoying using my RDAs. Rebuilding isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be though it can still be frustrating like you said.

I enjoy my Magma more than the PV but the PV is still pretty decent for me. I'm intrigued by both the Tugboat V2 (though the Leakboat nickname worries me) and the Freakshow. I heard the Freakshow was easy to build on but that doesn't seem to be your opinion, any reason why? I'm also interested in the Veritas, Marquis, Odin, Vertex V2, Cigreen Dragon, Hobo and Mr. Owl. The Marquis' building tools make it seem really attractive for a new builder like me and its supposed to have great flavor as well. I switched to gaping to save a bit of cash but man I've been on a buying spree and there's so much more I want LOL. I guess its better to spend early and then I can just sit back and enjoy. Oh I also got a Holmes v2 in the mail today but I have to wait til Monday to try a build on it.

 

[Mikey6]

On the freakshow to really take advantage of the airflow on the 3 post design, you need to get your coils built and push them to the middle of the deck to get them right over the air channel. Suck my mod did a decent review of it and dominated that out to me.

The tuggy doesn't leak too bad as long as you get a decent o ring on there and don't over drip like crazy. I am a little picky with my gear so I looked at 3 of the clones at the shop before I bought one. My friend on the other hand just walked in and said hey I want a tugboat and walked out and his leaks a little bit.

 

[Pensilac]

I heard the Freakshow was easy to build on but that doesn't seem to be your opinion, any reason why?

I got a Freakshow earlier this week and it's pretty nice though it's got to be the most leaky rda of any I own at the moment. If you over drip it's going to pour out the air holes just like the Magma, which is avoidable, but on mine anyway it somehow manages to leak past all 3 o rings around the whole base and there's always juice collected underneath it when I take it off my mod. Besides the leaking though, the flavor is good though not as much so as the Magma but it produces quite a bit more vapor and has much larger air flow.

Building it is a little different though as you really should do a center post build on it though they're not that difficult once you try them once or twice. You can just push the coils over to the middle, as has been mentioned, or you can pre-bend the wires so the coils are centered over the air holes. You should watch a video or two on center post builds to see if it's something you think you can handle if you're thinking about buying the Freakshow.

 

[darckeen]

Exactly. I too was suckered in with the hype. "Warm dense vapor" and "killer flavor" lol I have leared to watch that particular person for pure entertainment only.

Yup yup, he inspired me to buy the PV and a 454 Between two I prefer the 454, very elegant design and good at what its meant for but I'm not really a fan of vertical coils so far. PV I find to be OK but kind of gimmicky. Neither holds a candle to the magma imo.

Frankly I've kinda given up on finding the magma killer for now. Realizing how it performs compared to other touted RDAs it hard for me to believe that there is anything around that performs dramatically better, key word being dramatically. Figure I'm better off mastering the magma and putting my vape budget towards finding good juices.

In Rip's defense he did get it right on the Lemo, that thing rocks!

 

[Razlan]

I just tried a parallel coil with my magma for the first time. OH MAN does this chuck the flavor. My best magma build by far. Actually switched to a chuff style drip tip to tone it down a bit lol.

Single coil made of 2 strands of 28 gauge kanthal at 2mm ~10 wraps I think. Comes in at 0.9 ohm, wicked with KGD in a U just touching the bottom of the well.

This build has tons of surface area and very quick ramp up time vaping at 35 watts.

Hi!
I'm running the exact same build in my magma. But mine's turned out at 0.8 (I suppose I got less wraps than you).
I don't know what build number this is, as I too don't seem to be getting the performance I was expecting from this much-talked-about RDA. But after this parallel build (I think that's what it's called?), I am finally getting much more satisfying flavour from the magma. I hope I did it right tho. Have a look at the pix. At the moment I'm trying it out on a stingray mechanical. Haven't tried it on the rDNA 40 yet, as I've still having fun with the aspire atlantis on that.

I would also like to add: All builds are subjective as it'll depend on what your own palates prefer. It'll be endless! You got to consider the PG/VG combo of your juice, the type of wicking material you're using, the quality of the wire, the mod you're using, the variances that each .1 wattage will change the flavour, for mechanicals- the condition of your batteries, contact point conductivity, blah blah blah, etc. etc. etccccc.
*whew!*

 

[darckeen]

Yeah that looks similar to what I did. Just an amazing build, flavor for dayz. Only draw back is it requires frequent rewicking and dry burns, but thats not a big deal.

Gonna keep experimenting along this vein. Maybe try 29 gauge or twisted coils next. But seriously impressed with this build is a game changer for me.

Other thing I learned was that if you use KGD pull off the compressed layers and remove any visible seeds, makes the flavor on point from pull #1.

Happy Vaping!