MAGIC RDA for only 10 Dollars !

[DJ RyckRak]

This RDA is So Good...I had to start a thread !
For 10 bucks, the SmokTech RDA ( I think they call it the Octopus) is a MAGIC vape producing unit.

i got mine last week, and mounted it on my Natural. WOW !
Smooth Draw, Clean Taste of my juice, Clouds of Vapor Production....
easy peasy drip refill- and holds a lot of juice. Looks great on the Natural....LOVE !
This has got to be the best inexpensive RDA on the market. Cost 1/3 of my Vision ET...And works every bit as well.

It does have a couple of 'would have been nice's':
it is aluminum- maybe they will make one in Stainless someday.
(but it is solid enough, looks 'industrial', can be modded....and cost less)
Kinda wish it had screw on threads, it is a push on with two o rings for seals.
(I see why they did it that way...you turn the unit to align the air hole, couldn't do that if threaded).

Watched a couple of reviews by - think it is Bong24 on YouTube last night...
He liked his also, and added three air holes, 1/16" in the upper shoulder....
but I could not take a drill to mine yet, until I get three or four more in my hands.
It just works so well !

 

[kindred_spirits]

Yup, love the Smoktech RDA for dripping!

It was my first RBA dripper, and I was really surprised by how well it performs for the price.

The only minor issue I've noticed is that since the air hole is below the coil, over-dripping can cause juice to leak down this hole and out of the hole in the cap. Other than that they perform great and have good vapor production and flavor.

 

[beanpusher]

i agree the rda is a really nice dripper check out the mods i did to it to turn it into a beast especially if you are rocking a mechanical.

 

[DJ RyckRak]

Hey Beanpusher....
Get out the extinguisher...looks like your on FIRE !!!

I WILL do those mods as soon as I get a few more RDAs....Nice Vid, and Thanks.

 

[mrmarc]

I actually got tired of the occasional gurgling (usually from my wick touching the hole below the coil) that I sealed the air hole with a small machine screw and drilled out a new air hole in the cap. This I could line up exactly with my coil due to the use of o-rings instead of threading.

It vaped amazingly as it was, but it's so much better now. I do wish it was stainless instead of aluminum, though.

NOTE: The 2nd screw in the base is for another hole I had drilled into the base before for a dual-coil setup. Gurgling was a lot more frequent, and leaks were becoming all too common. So I capped the holes and made new ones in the cap.

An added bonus is when I take this out with me, I can use another M2 screw in the original air hole (a little bit of force is required the first time in order to "carve out" a thread, but this is easy in the soft aluminum) to lock the cap in place so that it doesn't wiggle itself apart in my pocket or bag.

@Bean, damn...you make me wanna get a mech mod so bad. How many Watts was that at?!

 

[Section1]

It is a great atty and worth the price they are going for. I like the size and gives you plenty of room to work inside of it. Kinda surprised SMOKtech had a hand in making it.

 

[grindle]

@Bean, damn...you make me wanna get a mech mod so bad. How many Watts was that at?!

Not factoring in the voltage droop of a mech mod it would be 22watts on a fresh battery (4.2v), 17watts at 3.7v.
There's an average .5v voltage droop to consider unless the mod has all brass contacts, would lower wattages to 17 when fresh and 13 at nominal voltage.

 

[Gummy Bare]

Glad to hear people are liking it... I just got one in the mail this weekend. Still need to give it a shot.

:: sent from android with tapatalk ::

 

[Jerms]

Using the RDA for the last 24 hours and loving it. It will be fun to experiment with different wick set-ups with this one. The stock coil/wick is actually working very good. Anyone know why they come with a coil that uses nr wire for the end wraps?

One thing I would like to see different in further revisions is for the hole under the coil to be raised above the base, with like a hollow post. As is, any liquid that's not absorbed in the wick funnels right to the hole in the base, causing gurgling unless held so the base hole is pointing up. I like that if I do overfill I can turn the cap so the holes don't line up. The draw is a little tighter but it stops any leaking. As is, with the holes the size that they are, when they are lined up it's about the perfect draw for me.

I cut the wicks a little shorter, and put the cap on with a twist so they point up and curve along the side of the cap. I drip near the top of the wicks and let gravity do the rest, trying not to drip more than the wick can hold. My first rebuild will probably be about the same, but with 3 or 4 3mm wicks instead of the 8 1mm. The "juice catcher" style I've seen is also another great option for this since there's a lot of space in there.

I look forward to seeing other techniques people come up with for silica wicks in this RDA.

Sent from my LGL55C using Tapatalk 2

 

[DJ RyckRak]

The original wicks are long...but they do serve the purpose of holding a lot of juice.
Will also agree that there is a huge space to work with inside- compared with the Vision ET.
I boiled like twenty feet of Butchers Twine this weekend...it is dry now and thinking that I might play with it for wicking, when the original coil bites the dust.
Now, I'm kinda liking the aluminum...easy to mod.

 

[mrmarc]

... it would be 22watts on a fresh battery (4.2v), 17watts at 3.7v...would lower wattages to 17 when fresh and 13 at nominal voltage.

Thanks for the info, grindle.

...My first rebuild will probably be about the same, but with 3 or 4 3mm wicks instead of the 8 1mm. The "juice catcher" style I've seen is also another great option for this since there's a lot of space in there.

I think three 3mm wicks is the limit without squishing them too much trying to squeeze four of them in the coil. I managed to do it with four pieces of 3mm wick (about 5" long doubled over twice). With 32ga Kanthal, I got a 2.0ohm coil (wishing I had some 28 right about now) with 4 wraps. It's vaping nicely, though I think I might want a bigger (2mm) air hole now.

I do dislike how the ground post is so close to the wall. I'm having a hard time with my ss/silica hybrid wicks keeping the silica inside the ss. Tempted to get an Igo-L now...

 

[mikepointfive]

I've seen some huge clouds come out of these things so i know for a fact that you can get a good SLR build going in these things but in my opinion they look like little garbage cans. that was my first impression lol

 

[beanpusher]

I actually got tired of the occasional gurgling (usually from my wick touching the hole below the coil) that I sealed the air hole with a small machine screw and drilled out a new air hole in the cap. This I could line up exactly with my coil due to the use of o-rings instead of threading.

It vaped amazingly as it was, but it's so much better now. I do wish it was stainless instead of aluminum, though.

NOTE: The 2nd screw in the base is for another hole I had drilled into the base before for a dual-coil setup. Gurgling was a lot more frequent, and leaks were becoming all too common. So I capped the holes and made new ones in the cap.

An added bonus is when I take this out with me, I can use another M2 screw in the original air hole (a little bit of force is required the first time in order to "carve out" a thread, but this is easy in the soft aluminum) to lock the cap in place so that it doesn't wiggle itself apart in my pocket or bag.

@Bean, damn...you make me wanna get a mech mod so bad. How many Watts was that at?!

22 watts....check my dual coil at .45 ohms rocking it at 41 watts

 

[beanpusher]

hey everyone,

i also have an igo-l and actually prefer the rda over it. the igo-l doesn't have any holes for the wire in the post. you have to wrap them around the screws. atleast with the rda i can swap out wick and coil from single, add a 2nd coil, take it back off if i didn't like it, put it in a bag for later use,place a 3rd and 4th coil around the screws before i tighten down the post. it has few different possibilities. yeah the room to work with is kinda tight. in my dual set up im using 3mm dbl looped. i still only had one airhole on top and the stock one, i don't really run duals cuz i don't have the luxury of feeding my juice ...... i can put atleast 15 drops in there and not get the gurgle. the cotton doesn't let the juice drip off it like silica does it just absorbs, and when i do get close to being dry i can get a few more pulls before you have to redrip.

 

[Gummy Bare]

Tried it out last night, man did it have a smell and taste of plastic to it with the stock wicks.

Soaked the whole thing in alcohol and let it dry over night. Gonna try it again today and if it still tastes bad I'm gonna coil my own.

:: sent from android with tapatalk ::

 

[beanpusher]

The original wicks are long...but they do serve the purpose of holding a lot of juice.
Will also agree that there is a huge space to work with inside- compared with the Vision ET.
I boiled like twenty feet of Butchers Twine this weekend...it is dry now and thinking that I might play with it for wicking, when the original coil bites the dust.
Now, I'm kinda liking the aluminum...easy to mod.

I use pure cotton yarn from walmart 3mm. Just boil, dry, wrap a coil and vape. Gotta keep em wet though cuz the coil will burn em. Dry hits are no where near as harsh as silica. You'll get warmer than usual vapes when its time to drip.

 

[beanpusher]

Tried it out last night, man did it have a smell and taste of plastic to it with the stock wicks.

Soaked the whole thing in alcohol and let it dry over night. Gonna try it again today and if it still tastes bad I'm gonna coil my own.

:: sent from android with tapatalk ::[/QUOTE

Gotta always wash ur new stuff before initial use. Enjoy the Rda! I gotta get atleast 3 more to play with. The aluminum build is great especially not retaining so much heat vs stainless

 

[Jerms]

Tried it out last night, man did it have a smell and taste of plastic to it with the stock wicks.

Soaked the whole thing in alcohol and let it dry over night. Gonna try it again today and if it still tastes bad I'm gonna coil my own.

:: sent from android with tapatalk ::

I torched the stock wick before use and it tasted fine. Hope your soak works. If not, easy fix to just make a new one!

Sent from my LGL55C using Tapatalk 2

 

[Gummy Bare]

Tried it out last night, man did it have a smell and taste of plastic to it with the stock wicks.

Soaked the whole thing in alcohol and let it dry over night. Gonna try it again today and if it still tastes bad I'm gonna coil my own.

:: sent from android with tapatalk ::[/QUOTE

Gotta always wash ur new stuff before initial use. Enjoy the Rda! I gotta get atleast 3 more to play with. The aluminum build is great especially not retaining so much heat vs stainless

I torched the stock wick before use and it tasted fine. Hope your soak works. If not, easy fix to just make a new one!

Sent from my LGL55C using Tapatalk 2

Yea, I don't know what I was thinking using a RBA without washing it first... rookie move.

I've made really good ones without torching them first, but I also own some thicker silica that always needs torching before it will taste good.

:: sent from android with tapatalk ::

 

[Jerms]

I've made really good ones without torching them first, but I also own some thicker silica that always needs torching before it will taste good.

:: sent from android with tapatalk ::

I didn't realize some silica may need torching and some don't. I've only used some 3mm I'd bought that was pretty funky without torching, but just got 10ft of better quality braided silica. I torched the first one I did, but should try doing one without torching to see if this one actually needs it. If not, that 10ft will be a lot of butane saved lol.

Sent from my LGL55C using Tapatalk 2