Non-fashionista Reo user reporting in

[bander68]

About a week ago I posted asking a bunch of questions about my 3 year old beat up REO and somebody called me a "non-fashionista Reo user" and it stuck in my head all week as I slowly started to move into the more current times with my Grand. I've now got a pretty little RM2 sitting on top of my very scratched and very scuffed Grand. I was asked to come back with my impressions, and I've got a few. And, of course, a few more questions.

The RM2 was a piece of cake to start using. I built a kind of lopsided coil using a 1/16" drill bit from the tool box in the garage (gotta get something that doesn't hurt my fingers so much), and it came out fine except for the weird final coil that for some reason didn't want to hang out with the other coils. I turned on the meter and it was reading 1.23, which is close enough to the 1.50 my old bauway 510LRs read. I put in some cotton (CVS organic from a neighbor who is just a ridiculous cloud-chaser) and proceeded to squonk away. Everything looked like the vid I watched, so I put the cap on and took my first few hits. Impressions:

That cotton tastes NASTY! Eww.... (5 minutes later)... Am I getting a hit? This thing is awfully quiet. Oh damn, I am getting a massive hit. Where's the burbling, gurgling noise I've gotten so used to hearing?... Wow, this is starting to taste better but it sure seems hot. Maybe I should squonk a little bit more... Nope, that wasn't enough. Lemme take the cap off and see what's going on under there. Why is that cotton black? I burned it already? AAARRRRGGGGHHH!!!! OK, maybe I need to squonk a bit more. And that was in the first 20 minutes. After that, I got a little better about squonking more, but it wasn't quite right. I was dealing with some pretty harsh hits the next morning, and starting to wonder if buying that thing was a mistake. Then it finally dawned on me. This thing is a LOT bigger than my old-fashioned attys. Needs more juice. My unconscious blind-squonking technique that I've been doing for years just doesn't work. I'm now reteaching myself. No sucking on the drip tip and giving the bottle a quick squeeze until I feel juice stopping. Mouth off, and just hold that bottle down for about 3 seconds. Then vape away for 3-4 perfect hits, then repeat. I keep catching myself doing it the old way, but I've managed to make my current wick last almost 2 days without scorching it like I did the first couple. This thing kicks ....! Tastes great (after the first few cottony hits). And it's so quiet by comparison. My coil building skills need serious work, but it functions so no worries. But I sure am going thru my juice a lot faster. It used to be a 6ml bottle full in the morning would have about 1-2ml left by bedtime. Perfect. Now I'm finding I need to refill the bottle (I hate the taste of the last 2ml for some reason) after about 12 hours. A combination of enjoying the smooth hits, playing with it, and a slightly lower ohm rating burning thru more juice - that's my guess.

Now I've got a few more questions.

1. The drip tip - is it supposed to fit this loosely? It wiggles constantly. No, I haven't tried a different one yet - just the one that came with the RM2.
2. How long can I expect a coil to last?
3. Will the ohm rating drop over time?
4. I use a fairly light-colored juice. Is there any sort of rule of thumb for when it's time to change the wick if you're not scorching it to death like I did at first? My guess is just whenever it tastes funky, right?
5. What's with the wiggle where the atty connects? My thought is it's because of the o-ring. If I went o-ringless, would I have leakage issues? Will the rm2 fit snuggly down in the juice well? I suppose I could just try for myself, but I'm over-cautious.
6. What's the cleaning procedure for this thing?

I love looking at all of the gorgeous Reos on this forum. They're amazing. And I get y'all... sort of. But this thing is a tool to me, not a fashion statement. I don't clean it to make it pretty - I clean it so it works better. I don't care what color it is (it's dull silver with way more scratched up parts than smooth parts - and I have no idea what color it was called when I bought it). It just f-ing works. And now it works better. My first day with this rm2 on here, I brought a spare bauway with me expecting I'd have to switch it mid-day, but I didn't. It just works. I can't wait to see what happens when I've been using it for a month or two.

Thanks to all for convincing me to take the plunge and break away from old-school attys. Anybody still using those things is missing out. Sure I had to learn a little bit, but none of it was difficult. If I can do it, ANYBODY can do it. And it's worth it. Better flavor, more consistent vapor, and hopefully less money spent over time.

 

[Mark Denison]

I just received my first reo yesterday. Bought it used. It's ugly and scratched and dented but for 100 it came with the rm2 also.
I've been rebuilding tanks and dippers and gennys for almost a year now

1. Not sure but the tips I've put in it all work and none are loose
2. A coil can last a month or more. I usually tear em out after a week or two because I like building
3. The ohms will fluctuate a bit over time but not by much once they are set
4. Whenever it tastes funky or changing flavors
5. I don't have an oring for mine and it sits prefect and still. And the air hole faces up for me
6. When I received mine it was filthy. I took out the bottom spring, the bottle and tube, unscrewed the black plastic separator thingy at the top and the button and soaked it in hot soapy water then scrubbed it and rinsed. Shook it off and let dry overnight. Perfectly functional although ugly.

I like it so much I'm buying a brandy new one!

 

[mackman]

Couple of things for your RM2 enjoyment. Move the coil to the front of the deck in front of your air hole. Some like either directly in line with it, some higher, some lower. Trim your wick ends just past the end of the coil and off the deck; that way burnt juice won't recirculate. The RM2 squonks easily enough to saturate your wick. Periodically check the RM2 posts screws, they can tend to loosen.


And here is how to clean it: videos

 

[Filthy-Beast]

Couple of things for your RM2 enjoyment. Move the coil to the front of the deck in front of your air hole. Some like either directly in line with it, some higher, some lower. Trim your wick ends just past the end of the coil and off the deck; that way burnt juice won't recirculate. The RM2 squonks easily enough to saturate your wick. Periodically check the RM2 posts screws, they can tend to loosen.
View attachment 369824

And here is how to clean it: videos

I'll add, in the graphic above the coil is to the right of center line, this great if the air hole is right of center also. If however your air hole is to the left of center then build the coil so it favors the left side instead..

 

[FACE MEAT]

Congrats on the RM2. Like anything new, there's a learning curve.

Check out SuperX's YouTube tutorials. He's our resident coil zen master.

 

[cracoucax]

Now I've got a few more questions.

1. The drip tip - is it supposed to fit this loosely? It wiggles constantly. No, I haven't tried a different one yet - just the one that came with the RM2.
2. How long can I expect a coil to last?
3. Will the ohm rating drop over time?
4. I use a fairly light-colored juice. Is there any sort of rule of thumb for when it's time to change the wick if you're not scorching it to death like I did at first? My guess is just whenever it tastes funky, right?
5. What's with the wiggle where the atty connects? My thought is it's because of the o-ring. If I went o-ringless, would I have leakage issues? Will the rm2 fit snuggly down in the juice well? I suppose I could just try for myself, but I'm over-cautious.
6. What's the cleaning procedure for this thing?

1. The included drip tip sucks. Yes it wiggles alot and is imho it's too long and not wide enough (should be fine for you if you didn't drill the hole though).
And most importantly if you lower your ohms it will go very hot.
I find that unlike what you could think a good drip tip is really important for a good vape.
It does affect flavor, hotness and as it the thing you put it your mouth having a wiggly thingy just makes you feel you're holding a fragile contraption.
I only use teflon drip tips myself. Not necessarily beautiful but very agreable contact on your lips and they won't get hot, ever whatever the temperature of the atty.

2. Depends, but i'd say at least a month, probably more.
You want to change it if it seems the flavor is not as good as it was, it looks really crummy and dry burns won't help.
As maintenance goes, you remove the wick, dry burn it ( i'd recommend brushing it a bit after with something to remove potential residues) and place a new wick.

3. It shouldn't.
You might want to check from time to time the tightness of the screws because they can loosen a bit which will will make the ohms higher.
I find that generally happens in the few hours after the initial build, then i check maybe every week while changing the wick.

4. Yes when it tastes funky.
People say cotton wicks don't last long, but i find the problem is the coil not the wick. It's just that with cotton you typically change the wick when your dry burn. After two days of heavy (15+ml a day) usage my coil has always some kind of residue on it and flavor starts to feel a bit off so i know it's time for a dry burn, and change the wick at the same time.

5. There should be no wiggle on the 510 connection. I dunno you might want to tighten it a bit more ?
The oring helps sealing, helps placing the hole where you want it and helps not crushing the gasket in the 510 when tightening, which would make the reo short.
On my newer reo and rm2 i do have a tiny bit of wiggle. I didn't check yet if it's the 510 threads or the atty but i suspect and hope it's the rm2 threading.

6.
Others have posted a video. basically you dry burn it, and if you want to change juice just flush it with hot water.

 

[bander68]

Thanks for the video links Mackman. The lining up the coil and the hole is not an issue for me...when I put the cap on it seems to line itself up in the right place every time. I hold my reo with the button up top, and my coil and air hole are right between my dip tip and button, so it's all good there. I don't have a lot of drip tips besides these cheap plastic things, so maybe I'll go to the local b&m and see what they have that's cheap enough for me. I'm going to take out the o-ring and see how everything lines up without it. My atty doesn't really wiggle as much as it rocks back and forth a bit. It does sit about 2mm above the juice well.

 

[Spydro]

Organic cotton (OC) tastes nasty to some folks at first because they bleach it with hydrogen peroxide. Those folks boil their OC in distilled water, rinse in same, boil again, rinse again then let it dry before use. I've used HP all my life orally so it doesn't bother me at all... I didn't boil the OC when I used it. Other cotton choices used by many vapers include Koh Gen Doh (KGD), Cellucotton (CC), and SnC/PnC white cotton yarns. I use all of them for specific atty's excpet the OC now days because it is the slowest to wick. But I prefer the KDG/CC becasue they are so simple and fast to rewick with, the CC the fastest at wicking joose. Note: Some folks don't like the CC as it irritates their throat. After over 50 years lung hitting cigs, pipes and sometimes c-gars I could probably wick with just about anything.

1. The drip tip - is it supposed to fit this loosely? It wiggles constantly. No, I haven't tried a different one yet - just the one that came with the RM2.

It it has o-rings, they can wear out and need to be changed. DT's and o-rings are not always created equal. DT's can be out of spec from a CNC that missed the mark and QC didn't catch it... some empolyee installed the wrong size/material oring(s), etc. My DT stash is not all that large yet I have some DT's that will not work on some toppers, a couple that will not work on any topper.

2. How long can I expect a coil to last?

Depends of many various things, material, how made, how used, how clean its kept, etc... but I have coils still just fine in atty's I installed around the end of last year. They are not my daily atty's anymore, but they were for most of that time.

3. Will the ohm rating drop over time?

Coils need to burn in, doesn't take long and should remain pretty constant. As said above, if anything the ohms will go up from a loose connection, being dirty, etc.

4. I use a fairly light-colored juice. Is there any sort of rule of thumb for when it's time to change the wick if you're not scorching it to death like I did at first? My guess is just whenever it tastes funky, right?

The ingrediants in the juice more than color, how you vape and what the wick material being used is what takes wicks out. Some jooses taint them just because of their the ingredients including a very dominate flavor, sweeteners that char and leave residue on wicks, etc. Chain vaping and dry hits speed up the process, and some wick materials just don't stand up well for long. IE, CC can melt if you get slap happy with sub ohm coils and chain vaping it. I rotate a lot of jooses every day/night, why I have 6-8 or more mods going at a time. But my rotation methods stack jooses in an order that a joose that follows another one it's tainted by the one it follows much. Even so, it's so fast to rewick I do it whenever it feels like I need to.

5. What's with the wiggle where the atty connects? My thought is it's because of the o-ring. If I went o-ringless, would I have leakage issues? Will the rm2 fit snuggly down in the juice well? I suppose I could just try for myself, but I'm over-cautious.

Wiggle could be worn 510 threads, on the RM2 or Reo or both. An o-ring would help that, not make it worse. I'm new to Reo's and RM2's, but can offer this... I have two RM2's, both bought used, one was heavily used. The 1mm X 10mm o-ring's worked fine at first, but eventually compress and leak... the 1.5mm X 10mm have not yet.

6. What's the cleaning procedure for this thing?

 

[Papa_Lazarou]

bander, I'm the one who dubbed you a non-fashionista and was curious about what your impressions would be, so props to you for this thread .

You represent something we don't hear from a lot in here - an old school reo user who's been in (relative) isolation while we opine daily about these little beauties and obsess about the latest thing. We are fan boys and girls, you were a time capsule

I think it's great that the RM2 has sold itself to you and hopefully your vape has received an enduring upgrade. I laughed (with you) at your description of the first 20 minutes, fairly confident it would have a happy conclusion.

As for the fashion aspect, what you describe as a beat up tool would be considered art by many in here. Check out the many threads asking for photos of pics of older, used reos - they say they want to know if they hold up over time, but it's clear that they're most interested in the more beat up ones. Sooooo... how 'bout a pic?

 

[bander68]

These are the two worst spots. One is sanded corners after having dropped it on concrete. The side shot is where my thumb sits when I vape. Last time I sanded the corners I sanded there too and made a mess.

 

[supertrunker]

i put a jwrap on mine when it got all scratched and beaten up, so now it'll not win any ugly contests (but i might!).


T

 

[Rickajho]

6.) I do better with stills myself. => http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...2-full-atomizer-itself-rebuild-pic-heavy.html

 

[Raynman]

So you've finally took the red pill. Now we show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.