This arrived today. I really, really want to like it, and I kinda do... only kinda... It's slowly growing on me... kinda like a fungus...
Ah, where to begin?
At the beginning, duh.
The box is just like every other Ijoy RDTA box: a plastic clamshell in a cardboard sleeve wrapped in cellophane. Inside the box, inside the sleeve, under the cello, there's a
tank, a packet of goodies with o-rings, cotton, coils, and spare grub screws (the amount of cotton coming with rebuildables is shrinking, no?), a screwdriver, a warranty card, and a spare glass section. No manual, though, and as this
tank is different enough from previous iterations, it would have been welcome... at least an exploded view... I spent several minutes trying to unscrew the cover off only to find that it's fit on there using notches and o-rings.
The tank itself is quite large for a 2.6 ml tank. Most of it is the dual AFC top cap. It's got the standard pseudo-velocity deck (2 posts, 4 holes, with screws in the top and sides). The screws are philips, and appear to be OK. I would have prefered slightly deeper cuts or a slightly smaller screwdriver (not like I don't have 64947748 tiny philips screwdrivers laying about). There's top and side airflow, as previously mentioned, and both are fully adjustable. You can have all side air, and no bottom, or all bottom airflow and no side, or any combination. I'm running the bottom wide open, and the top about half. There's no way to have single coil as there's no block in the kit that I could see. The fill port is in the very bottom of the deck, and there are relief holes in the deck to allow air to escape as you're filling. My wicks are usually loose enough, that this is normally not an issue, though... I suppose it might be a good thing... maybe... There are plenty of o-rings keeping the liquid from leaking when the tank is upright. No worries there. There's a shroud over the entire tank, with cutouts to see liquid levels. The center pin is plenty protruding, so this can be run on about anything...
I put a set of fused claptons in it. They're 3.1 mm ID 6 wrap spaced 3x28/34 SS316L and read in at 0.15 Ω. Here's one spot where the tank shines compared to its predecessor. The RDTA 5, because of the largish fill tube, only really allowed for 2.5-ish coils. Eliminating the pipe made sizeable coils a reality. Unfortunately, that fill port on the deck is a pain to reach. I used a dropper bottle and made a mess, used a couple different pointy tipped bottles and made even more mess, and finally grabbed a chubby gorilla which worked fine. Being limited to chubby gorillas, though... Yeah, I know they're getting far more popular, but I have many different kinds around the house, and now about 60% won't work to fill this tank. To build and wick, the tank needs to be mostly disassembled. I suppose one could trim and fluff the wick, then tuck it in while the glass was still on there, but It's quite a lot easier to just remove the glass.
I've been running it in 316L TC mode at 70 watts and 420F on an Asmodus Minikin 1.5, and I've filled it three times while writing this...
Another shiny spot is the drip tip. Gone is the wee little ring that shipped with the RDTA 5 (cool as the random resin was), and in its place is a pressure fitted Goon-style tip. Not all of the Goons I tried would fit, though, and the supplied Ultem tip was way look in many of my Goon compatible drippers and
tanks. 810 tips will work, though, and I settles on a straight black Delrin affair I think I stole from a Griffin... There is no 510 adapter.
How about some positives:
- The flavor is really good.
- Building is OK. Bigger coils can be fit in this than what would fit in the RDTA 5.
- Lots of airflow options.
- 810/Goon drip tip compatibility.
- It looks to be sturdier than most RDTAs with the steel shroud. You'll pardon me if I don't whack it around the golf course with a 9-iron to prove that, though...
- It is a bit of a looker, IMO, and is available in white, black, gunmetal, rainbow, stainless, orange, and purple. Oddly, no red or blue... huh... Mine is the rainbow version
And some cons?
- Small capacity.
- Poorly implemented fill system.
- The tank nearly need to be disassembled to build and wick (no easily changing wicks on a full tank - fortunately, it's only 2.6 ml to waste if it's full when a new wick or build is needed)
- The viewports make it hard to see the juice level... not Delta II or eGo ONE V1 hard, but not easy, either.
- This is a dual coil only atomizer.
This is just a first impression, mind you. I reserve the right to change my mind. This ain't bad. It just ain't great, either... it's strongly middle of the pack.
