Please help me work out what RTA I want

[Dunkhan]

Background:
I have been vaping for a few years, I have used Protank II up until now. I decided I should grab another one in case my current one breaks, only to find out they are discontinued and most sites don't stock them anymore. Although I did find sites that still have them, I feel like I am holding onto an old design for no real reason. So I did some research to find out what newer RTA might suit me. The trouble is there are too many. I have no experience with any of them and I think what people are looking for is so different from me it is hard to take anyone's suggestions.
I smoke MTL with relatively high ohms (2-3). My ecig is a nicotine delivery device to keep me off cigarettes, nothing more. I smoke a lot, like all day every day if I can. This is why it is so important that I stay off burning plant matter.

Don't want:
I do not care about big clouds, I do not care about flavour.
Actually I do care, I smoke with no flavourings, just VG and nicotine. Ideally I want an atomizer that delivers the minimum flavour so I cant taste any sweetness from the VG. This is not a big priority though.

Do want:
What I do care about is price. I want to be able to build my own coils and I want them to cost next to nothing. I also want the build process to be as simple and quick as possible. The ability to have multiple coil housings so I can build several it a time is also nice, as opposed to building directly into the atomizer. It would also be nice to have a design that maximizes the life of the coils so I don't have to rebuild as often. I don't know what factors contribute to this.

A question about wire:
In my research everyone seems to be using fancy clapton wire. At first that seemed like a real obstacle until I realised that I could easily replace a clapton coil with bare wire in any mod that usually has them. On the other hand I don't mind getting clapton wire if the price difference is low. As far as I can tell the main purpose is to enhance flavour though so I don't see the point for me. Is my understanding correct about this?

 

[bombastinator]

So to condense the RTA you want a low cost robust single coil MTL RTA and flavor transfer is not important to you. Is this correct? Is there a minimum or maximum diameter? How about tank volume?

wire:
as a MTL user who is not interested in clouds I suggest you ignore Claptons and other exotic coils completely. Their only purpose is to increase cloud at the cost of longer ramp up times and size which you seem uninterested in. They also increase vape warmth which can alter flavor. Again, not something it sounds like you care about or even want. In your position I might want to avoid exotic wire unless it was a good bit cheaper than straight wire. It sounds like it will actually do a worse job for your particular requirements.

 

[Jwaterski]

I still use a subtank, so sort of in the same boat as you, simple, easy to build, effective. Not much help, other than I have tried Clapton coils, maybe a bit more flavor, but simple single wire works well enough for me. Think most anything you get will work just as well with plain round wire. I will be interested in what you do decide on, never used the protank II, but did use a protank for a long time before getting the subtank.

 

[Lalli]

Integra RTA could be very good for you. Easy to build and wick, wick stays good for very very long time. Good clones under 20$ available on many vendors.

 

[Jwaterski]

Notice you mentioned multiple coil housings, not sure you will find much out there like that, the protank coils are fairly easy to build, but that's not really what they were designed to do. I don't know of any others aside from some of the old GS air tanks that are that easy to rebuild. On the positive side, most RTA's are even easier and faster that the protank coils. And since most times you'll only need to rewick, that can be done in just a couple minutes with most.

 

[Dunkhan]

So to condense the RTA you want a low cost robust single coil MTL RTA and flavor transfer is not important to you. Is this correct? Is there a minimum or maximum diameter? How about tank volume?

No maximum diameter (within reason), protank is about 18mm. I wouldn't want to go too much bigger than that. A larger tank is nice but this is not too important either, unless refilling is a major hassle. It doesn't have to be single coil if there is an advantage to be had with two. The extra rolling time shouldn't be that bad.

Notice you mentioned multiple coil housings...

This is not critical. I like the idea, but in practice I very rarely build more than one coil at a time.

 

[bombastinator]

No maximum diameter (within reason), protank is about 18mm. I wouldn't want to go too much bigger than that. A larger tank is nice but this is not too important either, unless refilling is a major hassle. It doesn't have to be single coil if there is an advantage to be had with two. The extra rolling time shouldn't be that bad.

there are very few 18mm tanks. The majority are 25mm, with a number of them still being 22mm. Fewer still are above 25mm. Increased size generally makes an RTA easier to work with rather than harder because there is more interior space to do things with. It’s one reason I really like my aromamizer pluses. They’re 30mm which is well into “dang that thing is huge!” Territory. Smaller attys are more discrete and fit well on smaller mods though. I’ve got ageis legends and 100s to put them on though so there is little issue for me.

the generally considered most important limiting factor is the mod it is placed on. A smaller mod with a larger atty can make for an overhang lip. I’ve put an aromamizer plus on a cigalike battery. The thing looked like a baby rattle.

so I guess the next question is what mod will you be using? From make and model we can figure dimensions and how big an atty it can comfortably hold.

dual coils produce more vapor than single coils at the cost of having to balance coils. Much like exotic coils it sounds like a technology you want nothing to do with. Some attys are also dual coil ONLY, which might present a problem.

This is not critical. I like the idea, but in practice I very rarely build more than one coil at a time.

 

[cadman]

Might take a look at the Wasp Nano RTA by Oumier. 23mm, single coil and simple to build.

 

[LoveVanilla]

Get a Kayfun v5 clone ($20 from Eciggity.com with code "TENOFF"). This is perineal, top-quality, 22mm, RTA favorite with few to no issues.

While you can just go with above, might ask if you using temperate controlled and replaceable batteries? Highly recommend both for reasons of health and insurance against changing times. Recommend the following:

Aegis Solo (small & nearly indestructible) $25-35
Battery (18650) $7 (samsung, sony, or panasonic)
Titanium wire, 26ga (annealed) (use only with temp control) ~$10
Rayon (for wick)

Also suggest a Coil Master $12 which makes rolling coils easy. Above equipment is pretty much bulletproof, inexpensive, and well up to the task. GL

 

[DeloresRose]

Might take a look at the Wasp Nano RTA by Oumier. 23mm, single coil and simple to build.

I have and like these, but they aren’t mtl like the OP asked for.

Berserker might work for you.

You probably want single coil, as you like higher ohms. With two coils, you get half the resistance. In order to be at 2 ohms, you’d have to build both coils at 4 ohms. Much easier to achieve with one.

 

[Janusz]

I smoke MTL with relatively high ohms (2-3).

2-3 ohms??? Why???

 

[AngeNZ]

2-3 ohms??? Why???

The Kangertech protank 2 tank that the OP uses ranges in coils from 1.5ohm to 2.5ohm

 

[AngeNZ]

Do want:
What I do care about is price. I want to be able to build my own coils and I want them to cost next to nothing. I also want the build process to be as simple and quick as possible. The ability to have multiple coil housings so I can build several it a time is also nice, as opposed to building directly into the atomizer. It would also be nice to have a design that maximizes the life of the coils so I don't have to rebuild as often. I don't know what factors contribute to this.

Maybe a Kangertech protank 4? Or something similar that has an rba coil available.

 

[cadman]

I have and like these, but they aren’t mtl like the OP asked for.

Berserker might work for you.

You probably want single coil, as you like higher ohms. With two coils, you get half the resistance. In order to be at 2 ohms, you’d have to build both coils at 4 ohms. Much easier to achieve with one.

They make a dedicated MTL version, just came out recently. Old ecf page, price still valid wth code WNM .. you can see what it looks like.

$10.82 - Oumier Wasp Nano MTL RTA

 

[bombastinator]

Get a Kayfun v5 clone ($20 from Eciggity.com with code "TENOFF"). This is perineal, top-quality, 22mm, RTA favorite with few to no issues.

While you can just go with above, might ask if you using temperate controlled and replaceable batteries? Highly recommend both for reasons of health and insurance against changing times. Recommend the following:

Aegis Solo (small & nearly indestructible) $25-35
Battery (18650) $7 (samsung, sony, or panasonic)
Titanium wire, 26ga (annealed) (use only with temp control) ~$10
Rayon (for wick)

Also suggest a Coil Master $12 which makes rolling coils easy. Above equipment is pretty much bulletproof, inexpensive, and well up to the task. GL

There is a point here. The kayfun clones are sort of famous for being absolute tanks but are also known for inconsistent flavor quality which you don’t care about to begin with. The only thing that might be an issue is their decks can be kinda small.

 

[DeloresRose]

They make a dedicated MTL version, just came out recently. Old ecf page, price still valid wth code WNM .. you can see what it looks like.

$10.82 - Oumier Wasp Nano MTL RTA

Oh, okay. Thanks!

 

[Horselady154]

Berserker 1.5 Mini
EhPro True Tank

They are both excellent mouth-to-lung RTAs but, the Berserker is easier to get the wicking right, in my opinion.

 

[Dunkhan]

so I guess the next question is what mod will you be using? From make and model we can figure dimensions and how big an atty it can comfortably hold.

I currently have a cheap 18650 mod called 'Vapor storm'. It is single battery, adjustable, and fits snugly into my hand. It is 22mm wide I think. I am reasonably happy with it except that it has no passthrough functionality. If the mod is important I should probably buy another one of those too, in which case having a passthrough with a really robust charging jack would be nice. I like to just smoke on a cable and not worry about batteries at all. Changing to a replaceable 18650 mod and a proper charger made this much less important though.

I said I smoke at 2-3 ohms (I roll 2 ohm coils and the resistance gradually increases during use) but I am not attached to this number. It is just the one I find works with my current setup. If I get a new one I will change to whatever resistance works best for that.