HorizonTech Arco "review"

[mpkeith]

Okay, so I am more of a lurker than a participant. I've never reviewed anything because there are YouTube video folks that review pretty much everything that comes to the market. I very rarely buy the "latest and greatest" anything, and for a good reason: usually they're not so great over time. I've had mods that just about melted down in my hand or needed a proprietary charger, rda's that had enough space for one specific build, or too much space for anything less than the company's ideal. So with those (thankfully few) unfortunate experiences... I'd like to offer my (entirely unprofessional) review of the HorizonTech Arcos 5ml tank...
TL;DR I am no professional ...but it's just another tank folks.
I ordered the tank based solely on RiP Tripper's review which not what I'd normally do. Why? You ask (thanks if you got far enough to ask). There are just so many options showing up almost daily, but this one at least offered something different: flax paper (whatever that is). He (RiP) claimed much better flavor and better longevity with coils, good size and juice capacity, vacuum imprinted pyrex. What's not to like?

• Disassembly is similar to most other tanks of this style...base, coil, glass, top. The Vacuum imprinted pyrex glass looks awesome! There is one major problem: on the 'rainbow' finish that I ordered (which also looks great) - and presumably on the blue and black finishes as well, it was nearly impossible to determine how full the tank was. The logo on the opposing sides of the pyrex tube are too dark and small to see through, I switched to the clear pyrex after a day of use.
• Filling was simple with the two top fill openings with a standard glass dropper and unicorn bottle.
• the 510 fitting was flush on all 4 mods that I fit it on
• Airflow control operates smoothly and stays in place
• plenty of replacement seals and rings included

I have to say my taste buds suck. Years of smoking and a nose surgery have left me with a subpar sense of taste. I tried 3 different juices: one is my own DIY which I am very familiar with, another is a spot on clone from reddit, and the last one was a brand new flavor I ordered with the tank.

• With the installed A6 coil at the recommended 80-90w range I did notice a bit more depth to my DIY and DIY clone stuff. The new juice was just ok, not spectacular (similar results with my Avocado with dual claptons and Clieto 120).
• Vapor production was better than my Clieto 120 (less than Avocado)

For me, this is going to be another tank with slightly better flavor and/or clouds than the last. If the replacement coil heads are easy to get and not expensive then I'll keep in rotation, otherwise it will go in with my other retired gear without a thought.

Maybe flax paper will become the new standard as Japanese 'organic' cotton has over the years; who knows. Ceramic/porous stone wicking has come and gone numerous times as well as many other wicking materials. So, if you have something that you like and don't feel the need for the latest thing to hit the market, then don't believe the hype and wait to see if the develops in the near future. I really didn't notice a huge difference.

I hope this 'review' helps....thanks for making it to the end

 

[MelFranks]

Thanks for the write-up.
I've been thinking about giving these coils a try, they are TFV8 compatible and I have a Sense Blazer 200 which also fits them.
Flavor is supposed to be quite good, I'll post a reply if I decide to pick some up.

 

[Pheric]

Okay, so I am more of a lurker than a participant. I've never reviewed anything because there are YouTube video folks that review pretty much everything that comes to the market. I very rarely buy the "latest and greatest" anything, and for a good reason: usually they're not so great over time. I've had mods that just about melted down in my hand or needed a proprietary charger, RDA's that had enough space for one specific build, or too much space for anything less than the company's ideal. So with those (thankfully few) unfortunate experiences... I'd like to offer my (entirely unprofessional) review of the HorizonTech Arcos 5ml tank...
TL;DR I am no professional ...but it's just another tank folks.
I ordered the tank based solely on RiP Tripper's review which not what I'd normally do. Why? You ask (thanks if you got far enough to ask). There are just so many options showing up almost daily, but this one at least offered something different: flax paper (whatever that is). He (RiP) claimed much better flavor and better longevity with coils, good size and juice capacity, vacuum imprinted pyrex. What's not to like?

• Disassembly is similar to most other tanks of this style...base, coil, glass, top. The Vacuum imprinted pyrex glass looks awesome! There is one major problem: on the 'rainbow' finish that I ordered (which also looks great) - and presumably on the blue and black finishes as well, it was nearly impossible to determine how full the tank was. The logo on the opposing sides of the pyrex tube are too dark and small to see through, I switched to the clear pyrex after a day of use.
• Filling was simple with the two top fill openings with a standard glass dropper and unicorn bottle.
• the 510 fitting was flush on all 4 mods that I fit it on
• Airflow control operates smoothly and stays in place
• plenty of replacement seals and rings included

I have to say my taste buds suck. Years of smoking and a nose surgery have left me with a subpar sense of taste. I tried 3 different juices: one is my own DIY which I am very familiar with, another is a spot on clone from reddit, and the last one was a brand new flavor I ordered with the tank.

• With the installed A6 coil at the recommended 80-90w range I did notice a bit more depth to my DIY and DIY clone stuff. The new juice was just ok, not spectacular (similar results with my Avocado with dual claptons and Clieto 120).
• Vapor production was better than my Clieto 120 (less than Avocado)

For me, this is going to be another tank with slightly better flavor and/or clouds than the last. If the replacement coil heads are easy to get and not expensive then I'll keep in rotation, otherwise it will go in with my other retired gear without a thought.

Maybe flax paper will become the new standard as Japanese 'organic' cotton has over the years; who knows. Ceramic/porous stone wicking has come and gone numerous times as well as many other wicking materials. So, if you have something that you like and don't feel the need for the latest thing to hit the market, then don't believe the hype and wait to see if the develops in the near future. I really didn't notice a huge difference.

I hope this 'review' helps....thanks for making it to the end

does its coil head last that long as they say??

 

[mpkeith]

Thanks for the write-up.
I've been thinking about giving these coils a try, they are TFV8 compatible and I have a Sense Blazer 200 which also fits them.
Flavor is supposed to be quite good, I'll post a reply if I decide to pick some up.

Please follow up if you do pick it up... I'd like to see what other folks think

 

[mpkeith]

does its coil head last that long as they say??

Edit: 07/24 I had to change coils this morning. I refilled my tank with my most flavorful/potent DIY creations and there was nothing... No flavor at all. Thinking I messed up somewhere I filled my Smok Baby Beast and it was fine. Sort of strange that there was no flavor at all.

Well... it has been about 13 or so days that I've been using the same coil and it seems fine. So as far as one YouTube reviewer saying he got 10 days and still going strong; yes they last at least that long. However I've had 3 Clieto 120 coils in however many weeks. 2 lasted me 2 weeks with little flavor loss that I noticed (like I said, my sense of taste isn't all that great). One lasted a week only because I dry burned it accidentally. Of course YMMV... If I have a juice that I know will gunk up a coil I'll only use it on an rebuild setup. I'll switch flavors in my tank without trying to clean up the coil with PGA or something, which I think greatly reduces the life of a coil. It seems to me that most major brands give a watt/volt range and some give a 'best range' too... if you stay within those ranges you should get decent life out of any coil.

It isn't a bad tank by any means... I don't think it is a major advance in flavor as has been suggested.
If you get one and think otherwise please let me know!!! Sometimes I feel like I am missing out...

 

[Jesse M. James]

Thanks for the write-up.
I've been thinking about giving these coils a try, they are TFV8 compatible and I have a Sense Blazer 200 which also fits them.
Flavor is supposed to be quite good, I'll post a reply if I decide to pick some up.

Have two Blazer 200's and I swear by them. Ceramic .65 is best coil on lifespan (3 weeks average) but I'm so in love with the ingenious thought by Sense to have it compatible with Smok TFV8 coils as so many on the market do the same and make them interchangeable. So I was obviously amped to get the "new & revolutionary " coils from Horizontech Arco. Have the A4 and they are priming in my tank right now. I will see how the lifespan holds up to my Blazer 200 .65 ceramics. Also have tried the Smok Q-2 coils and they only get me tops 2 weeks before flavor plumits over the cliff but have cleaned them to get an extra week or so. Just as reference points. Happy vaping.

 

[mpkeith]

Have two Blazer 200's and I swear by them. Ceramic .65 is best coil on lifespan (3 weeks average) but I'm so in love with the ingenious thought by Sense to have it compatible with Smok TFV8 coils as so many on the market do the same and make them interchangeable. So I was obviously amped to get the "new & revolutionary " coils from Horizontech Arco. Have the A4 and they are priming in my tank right now. I will see how the lifespan holds up to my Blazer 200 .65 ceramics. Also have tried the Smok Q-2 coils and they only get me tops 2 weeks before flavor plumits over the cliff but have cleaned them to get an extra week or so. Just as reference points. Happy vaping.

My A6 coil just quit a couple of days after my initial post. It fired fine but there was no flavor at all... Nothing! Really odd. I've never had anything do that before.

So does the ceramic blazer coil should fit this tank?? I had one ceramic tank awhile back, I don't remember which one it was. I had issues with it and I don't even know what I did with it. If they'll fit that would be great!

Please post your results with other coils fitting in this tank if you happen to try others. Some flexibility would be awesome.

 

[mpkeith]

So here's a follow up... This is the only tank that I've cracked both glass tubes; one was due to a 3+ foot drop on to asphalt. That's entirely understandable. The other dropped inside a vehicle; so maybe a foot? Maybe brittle tubes or (most likely) bad luck.

In comparison to 2 other tanks I use regularly (clieto aspire 120 and Smok Baby Beast with the 4 coil replacement)... The Arco is in the middle. I have gone trhough 3 coils in each tank. The Arco lasts much longer than the Smok coils (one week and they taste burnt), Aspire 4th week so far (still great all around).

The main thing I have noticed is the sudden flavor drop with the Arco. 10-15 days with good flavor then nothing. I haven't tried cleaning any of them yet... If anybody has had succes with cleaning I'd love to know what the results are.