Going to purchase a RTA But have no idea what is good for a beginner

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Spanky Payne

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Mar 7, 2015
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Jasper Missouri
Hello everyone, I'm wanting to get into rebuilding but I honestly hate the idea of a RDA, Although I want to take my clouds up a notch and enhance my vaping experience, I want to be about half way between a dripper and a clearo. I've never built before only watched people quite a few times, I've been thinking on getting a mini subtank and rebuilding on it because its pretty cheap (and I'm a kanger junkie), But I was talked out of it by a local B&M, they tried to get me to buy a goblin, and I became a little intrigued by a Aqua V2, although I hate the plastic tanks. I've been looking around online and have seen the Billow, Lemo, kayfun V4, Russian 91% and The Orchid, But my price range is kind of low 35-55 dollars or so, and iffy about clones and I'm not to sure what the best deck to START building on is, and I also would like to have dual coil options. If it helps at all I'll be running it on a kanger KBOX mod.

Forgot to mention that I enjoy flavor more than clouds and I like lung hits
 
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retic1959

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  • Jul 28, 2013
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    New Orleans , Louisiana
    Hello everyone, I'm wanting to get into rebuilding but I honestly hate the idea of a RDA, Although I want to take my clouds up a notch and enhance my vaping experience, I want to be about half way between a dripper and a clearo. I've never built before only watched people quite a few times, I've been thinking on getting a mini subtank and rebuilding on it because its pretty cheap (and I'm a kanger junkie), But I was talked out of it by a local B&M, they tried to get me to buy a goblin, and I became a little intrigued by a Aqua V2, although I hate the plastic tanks. I've been looking around online and have seen the Billow, Lemo, Kayfun V4, Russian 91% and The Orchid, But my price range is kind of low 35-55 dollars or so, and iffy about clones and I'm not to sure what the best deck to START building on is, and I also would like to have dual coil options. If it helps at all I'll be running it on a kanger KBOX mod.
    The Aqua V2 otm at Fasttech comes with a 316 stainless steel tank and a 316 stainless steel RDA topcap as well as the bellcap , 3 configurations out of the box , hard to beat for the money . But as a beginning builder you might find a Kayfun lite plus or 3.1es clone easier to build , dual coils have a little bit more of a learning curve . But if you're deadset on duals the Aqua V2 is the way to go .
     

    Treeburner1983

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    The Lemo is an awesome beginner tank and is still my all day vape tank. The holes in the deck for trapping the leads beats wrapping around screws, and as a single coil tank you can learn the intricacies of wicking before moving onto dual coil tanks. The Lemo has highly adjustable airflow, so if you're a mouth to lung hitter you can work your way up to bigger clouds as you open it up. Glass tank, plenty of room to build, great airflow and a leak-catching 510 adapter make this the perfect beginner tank!

    -Treeburner
     
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    Ryuukon

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    Oct 19, 2013
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    Hello everyone, I'm wanting to get into rebuilding but I honestly hate the idea of a RDA, Although I want to take my clouds up a notch and enhance my vaping experience, I want to be about half way between a dripper and a clearo. I've never built before only watched people quite a few times, I've been thinking on getting a mini subtank and rebuilding on it because its pretty cheap (and I'm a kanger junkie), But I was talked out of it by a local B&M, they tried to get me to buy a goblin, and I became a little intrigued by a Aqua V2, although I hate the plastic tanks. I've been looking around online and have seen the Billow, Lemo, Kayfun V4, Russian 91% and The Orchid, But my price range is kind of low 35-55 dollars or so, and iffy about clones and I'm not to sure what the best deck to START building on is, and I also would like to have dual coil options. If it helps at all I'll be running it on a kanger KBOX mod.

    Forgot to mention that I enjoy flavor more than clouds and I like lung hits

    Since you're new to building I would avoid dual coils for now. Most dual coils are tricky to wick properly. Either you're going to get massive dry hits or lots of flooding and leaking.

    Honestly I think the Subtank Mini would be your best option for first rebuildable. If you mess up on the rebuildable head you could just toss in a prebuilt head and vape to your hearts content.

    The Lemo is another good option, though I would probably recommend the Lemo Drop over the fullsized Lemo. The Drop has a little more airflow and better flavor because of the shorter chimney (you did say you were a flavor chaser) but it does have a lot smaller capacity.

    I wouldn't go with a Kayfun style tank as they are not really built for lung hits without significant modification. Not that you can't take lung hits off of them with the airflow wide open, but it's a very tight airflow and not a comfortable vape doing lung hits.

    If you are really dead set on dual coils though, the Orchid, the Billow, and the Goblin are rebuilt very nearly the same. The Orchid is less prone to leaking though, but it doesn't have as much airflow as the Goblin or the Billow.

    As far as clones go, well... if you want to avoid them, you're going to limit yourself with that $35 - $55 budget. In fact, you aren't going to get a Kayfun, Russian, Aqua, or Orchid at anywhere close to that price. And for some, the clones are even better than the originals, like the Orchids. The clone manufacturers have had more revisions than the original manufacturers.

    Long story short. Get a Subtank Mini. Be happy. :)
     
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    jefx

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    Jan 27, 2015
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    I've been thinking on getting a mini subtank and rebuilding on it because its pretty cheap (and I'm a kanger junkie), But I was talked out of it by a local B&M

    I don't know why they would do that. IMO, it's a good choice. You can learn to build on it with the RBA deck, plus it also uses premade heads if you decide you don't like (or don't want) to build. Plus the heads are also easy to build, giving you 2 options for building custom coils. Plus it comes with 2 heads, 2 RBA coils, cotton, extra glass tank, spare orings/screws/screwdriver... all for ~$35.

    Sounds like a very versatile starter to me.
     

    VaPreis

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    Oct 5, 2013
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    I disagree with your B&M, the Subtank Mini is a great first RTA for a couple of reasons:

    You can access your build and wicking without draining the tank. If you make a mistake and it isn't working properly, no big deal. Take it out and repair it with minimal liquid loss or fuss.

    ...And, if all else fails, you can switch back to the OCC coils as you practice your coil wrapping and wicking.

    The Lemo is also an awesome tank (my personal favorite) , and an easy build, but it lacks the features above that I think a beginner might find helpful.

    The Aqua V2 (My second favorite) is not a good choice for a first RTA. The dual coil build and wicking I believe would be tedious to the uninitiated.
     

    Spanky Payne

    Senior Member
    Mar 7, 2015
    74
    23
    Jasper Missouri
    I don't know why they would do that. IMO, it's a good choice. You can learn to build on it with the RBA deck, plus it also uses premade heads if you decide you don't like (or don't want) to build. Plus the heads are also easy to build, giving you 2 options for building custom coils. Plus it comes with 2 heads, 2 RBA coils, cotton, extra glass tank, spare orings/screws/screwdriver... all for ~$35.

    Sounds like a very versatile starter to me.

    See thats why I wanted one, the deck seems fine, despite the fact it looks nearly impossible to dual, but the owner told me its horrible to build on which is why that B&M doesn't carry the mini or the 25mm (which I can understand the 25mm). I don't know B&M's are a pain. The one I'm going to now isn't my usual, my old one sold me a 18650 without even telling me what brand let alone any care instructions for them, also always bashes on clearo or RBA users.
     

    Spanky Payne

    Senior Member
    Mar 7, 2015
    74
    23
    Jasper Missouri
    Since you're new to building I would avoid dual coils for now. Most dual coils are tricky to wick properly. Either you're going to get massive dry hits or lots of flooding and leaking.

    Honestly I think the Subtank Mini would be your best option for first rebuildable. If you mess up on the rebuildable head you could just toss in a prebuilt head and vape to your hearts content.

    The Lemo is another good option, though I would probably recommend the Lemo Drop over the fullsized Lemo. The Drop has a little more airflow and better flavor because of the shorter chimney (you did say you were a flavor chaser) but it does have a lot smaller capacity.

    I wouldn't go with a Kayfun style tank as they are not really built for lung hits without significant modification. Not that you can't take lung hits off of them with the airflow wide open, but it's a very tight airflow and not a comfortable vape doing lung hits.

    If you are really dead set on dual coils though, the Orchid, the Billow, and the Goblin are rebuilt very nearly the same. The Orchid is less prone to leaking though, but it doesn't have as much airflow as the Goblin or the Billow.

    As far as clones go, well... if you want to avoid them, you're going to limit yourself with that $35 - $55 budget. In fact, you aren't going to get a Kayfun, Russian, Aqua, or Orchid at anywhere close to that price. And for some, the clones are even better than the originals, like the Orchids. The clone manufacturers have had more revisions than the original manufacturers.

    Long story short. Get a Subtank Mini. Be happy. :)
    Well I didn't mean I'm against clones, I just would like recomendations for clones.
     

    jefx

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    Jan 27, 2015
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    I've built dual coils and vertical coils on my Subtank Mini RBA, as well as the usual horizontal coils. micro, macro, twisted.... it's all possible. It also has a nice feature that allows you to "trap" the leads under the screws.

    That youtube character, Riptripper, said it's the easiest RTA he's ever built on........Whatever that's worth to ya.

    Sounds like your B&M just has a bias against it. Maybe their profit margin is smaller on the SBM than the other ones they were trying to sell you.
     

    Spanky Payne

    Senior Member
    Mar 7, 2015
    74
    23
    Jasper Missouri
    just reread your last post @Spanky Payne. That B&M doesn't carry the Subtank Mini?....AND they were trying to sell you something that they DO carry?....see where I'm going here?
    Yeah I get what you're saying, I like to think some people are just straight up with people, because he does carry the nano. But either way if I owned the place I'd probably do the same.

    Thanks for the help
     

    Ou2mame

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    Jan 24, 2015
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    I would take a look at the taifun gt2. I've tried a few and that ones the easiest to setup has great flavor, can be rebuilt w/out draining, has a forgiving wick setup, simple afc, and they're 25 bucks on ebay for glass tanked models. I was looking at the subtank mini, but wanted something easier to work on, and the reviews I watched on YouTube, a lot of people said the flavor was muted a bit when compared to the Atlantis, and I've used an Atlantis and wasn't all that impressed.
     

    jaxgator

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    May 24, 2014
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    I don't know why they would do that. IMO, it's a good choice. You can learn to build on it with the RBA deck, plus it also uses premade heads if you decide you don't like (or don't want) to build. Plus the heads are also easy to build, giving you 2 options for building custom coils. Plus it comes with 2 heads, 2 RBA coils, cotton, extra glass tank, spare orings/screws/screwdriver... all for ~$35.

    Sounds like a very versatile starter to me.

    This. Since there is a learning curve to rebuildables, if you get frustrated, you can just pop a factory coil in and vape away while messing around building the RBA base. I'd say this is a perfect tank for a beginner.
     
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