RDA First RDA experience kind of bad

[HecticEnergy]

I didn't want to spend a lot at first, so I got a Tugboat V2 clone. Washed it good and wrapped a 28ga around .117 dia screwdriver, 7 wraps for about 1.5ohms. Threw in some KGD and started off at 13 watts and went up to 19 on the provari before it cut out. I had the single airflow option enabled on the rda, aimed right at the coil.
Vapor was there, but thin. Flavor was very muted. I got over nic'ed pretty fast using 12mg of course. Anyway, I'm wondering why my rda experience didn't have the super flavor everyone talks about. My kayfun has much more flavor and a solid warm vapor that feels more wet and dense. Wondering what I did wrong. Maybe not enough power? I just didn't care for it to be honest. Thinking of sticking to the kayfuns really.
At this point i'm glad I didn't drop a lot on an RDA. Not sure its my thing.

Twisted just did a quick look at that RDA, he doesn't rebuild/rewick, but you can see his coil size and placement, maybe that will help?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0v64RGd3q4

 

[CloudKick]

Thanks guys. I personally feel that with the huge chamber, more power is needed to create a more dense vape, not to mention the airflow is higher. I'll mess with it a little more later and possibly grab an istick 50w when they are out.

My tugboat V2's vapor is thick. Like I'll crash my car when driving at night because I can't see, same with most my drippers.

 

[Ridilen]

I followed through tonight and raised the coils as high as they would go. Out of the juice and into the airflow, with juice only touching the wick. Now I know why I got a RDA. The flavour and clouds are amazing. Thanks again for this thread. I learned a lot today and am much happier.

 

[HecticEnergy]

I followed through tonight and raised the coils as high as they would go. Out of the juice and into the airflow, with juice only touching the wick. Now I know why I got a RDA. The flavour and clouds are amazing. Thanks again for this thread. I learned a lot today and am much happier.

"As high as they would go" may be over kill, and you may beable to get a better vape - if you set the mod on the table and look through the airflow you should beable to see the bottom half of the coil through the airflow and it should be somewhere half way to 3/4 of the way between the posts and the airlfow, closer to the airflow - you dont want it to touch your top cap though or it will short... bad for batteries and possibly your limbs/face (always meter the build with the top cap on before putting it on an unregulated mod - regulated should catch it).

 

[gpjoe]

Remember too that as you raise the coils up from the deck, sometimes the vape gets harsher. I try to keep my coils in line with the cap holes. But if you have found your sweet spot, let it be. Of course experimenting is fun too...

 

[Ridilen]

"As high as they would go" may be over kill, and you may beable to get a better vape - if you set the mod on the table and look through the airflow you should beable to see the bottom half of the coil through the airflow and it should be somewhere half way to 3/4 of the way between the posts and the airlfow, closer to the airflow - you dont want it to touch your top cap though or it will short... bad for batteries and possibly your limbs/face (always meter the build with the top cap on before putting it on an unregulated mod - regulated should catch it).

As far as they will go for me is the coils being half way through the air hole. I got lucky on that one.

And I have heard horror stories so I always check the resistance before firing, thanks for the word of caution.

At times it can be a little harse depending on the juice, so I adjust the upper air flow and it smooths out.

 

[SonHouse]

Air flow is critical with RDAs and you can turn a really good atomizer into junk quickly with bad placement. General rules:
Air hitting the coil directly will give you the most flavor and vapor.
Air not hitting the coil directly will give you more throat hit with less vapor.
Generally you want to locate the coil as close to the air source as possible though on some like the Igo W/W4 you're better off offsetting the coil more. The Igos have small inlets and the objective is to flow air over the entire heated surface.

From there, it's all about experimenting and finding what works for you.