Please suggest TWO RBA systems for me!

[Mitey F]

Yes, I'm new to vaping. NO, wire and wick doesn't scare me. I'm a fabricator by trade, and moonlight as a motorcycle/car restorer/mechanic, so tinkering is right up my alley. Hence the RBA.

I'm looking for 2 (read; TWO) RBA systems.

The first - Dripping atty. Something nice and small, simple is good. This will really just be for tasting flavors, so anything over a few drop capacity is overkill. I DON'T want "pop-on", "press-fit" anything, I want THREADED connections. The igo-L looked perfect as for size and simplicity, but I don't like press fit o-ring seals. If the drip tip was threaded, that would be great too!

Second - an RBA with a "tank" of sorts... somewhere UP TO (not more than! I like to change flavors pretty frequently) 3ml capacity. This will be the all-day-sit-around-walk-around-driving-etc piece. I want something heavy duty (stainless would be great), and I would prefer a CLEAR tank. Again, THREADED connections! For reference, I've been looking at the AGA-T... http://www.gotvapes.com/index.php?main_page=products_new For this one, the tip MUST be threaded, as it will go in a pocket frequently, and I've accidentally knocked tips loose in my pocket. Not cool.

Any opinions, reviews and especially *LINKS* to retailers sites would be very much appreciated.

 

[Thrasher]

the fatty or dream for dripping.

and a good cheap aga for trying out a genesis.

a real MMV DID or a bliSS both have screw on caps.
just an FYI most tank system RBA's ar not pocket friendly to begin with. so something like a spheriod, steam machine or odessyus would be in order but not cheap.
or the new budget friendly terminator

kinda need to know your price range.

and with orings it depends how the device was made, if the topcap or driptip fell off my cobra, it must have been abused enough to break the glass tank first

 

[unloaded]

Clouds of Vapor has a Pheonix clone for dripping $8 and the COV Gen 1 (DiD clone) for $12. Both are solid attys and you can find tons of info and videos on different ways to set them up. For the price I think that's about as good a deal as you'll find for an RBA starter set. A good way to find what you like and dislike before making more buys. Even though they are cheap they both can throw out tons of good vapor and are some of the easier ones to get going. If you buy from there grab some of the 3.5mm silica wick. It's good stuff.

 

[Mitey F]

The fatty certainly looks nice, but if I'm not mistaken (looking at the pictures) it seems the bottom portion is a press fit type. $60 seems a bit steep for a dripper too, at least having never tried one and KNOWING that it's the one for me.

The dream looks like a good one. Nice price point, stainless, and simple. Consider this one "on the list"!

Both the DID and bliss (I was aware of the DID, had never heard of the bliss) look great. They appear high quality, but boy oh boy, $120 seems steep. Right now I'm vaping on ego batteries (thus far, I plan to buy/build a mod in the future, but don't *quite* understand the advantages) and paying that much seems a bit silly.

Either way, I appreciate the advice!

 

[unloaded]

You're gonna need something besides the eGo for RBAs. Once you get the hang of them you can build them to work on an eGo but until then you'll probably kill quite a few of them.

 

[Mitey F]

Unloaded, both of those look nice. In my experience with tools, car/bike parts etc, many "cheap" (read; inexpensive) knockoffs are just as high of quality as the originals, but don't, or can't, charge an arm and a leg because they don't have the copyrighted name.

Very helpful!

 

[Mitey F]

You're gonna need something besides the eGo for RBAs. Once you get the hang of them you can build them to work on an eGo but until then you'll probably kill quite a few of them.

Why is that? Granted my understanding of electricity is not all that advanced, but it seems to me that so long as you're supplying the desired voltage, to a proper resistance atty, why would an ego be so inferior to a $200 mod?

Not questioning your statement, just trying to learn!

 

[finnman1]

I think that's what he meant. Rebuilding coils at unknown Ohms. I think he forgot that you don't need a fancy mod with a Ohm reader; that you can use just a Multimeter from your garage.

 

[Thrasher]

The fatty certainly looks nice, but if I'm not mistaken (looking at the pictures) it seems the bottom portion is a press fit type. $60 seems a bit steep for a dripper too, at least having never tried one and KNOWING that it's the one for me.

The dream looks like a good one. Nice price point, stainless, and simple. Consider this one "on the list"!

Both the DID and bliss (I was aware of the DID, had never heard of the bliss) look great. They appear high quality, but boy oh boy, $120 seems steep. Right now I'm vaping on ego batteries (thus far, I plan to buy/build a mod in the future, but don't *quite* understand the advantages) and paying that much seems a bit silly.

Either way, I appreciate the advice!

this is why i mention it helps to know the price point.

my 2 cents about the ego's. a low ohm coil will wear out the battery fast same as like a LR carto. so when your doing it make coils in the 2 ohm range for good results.

 

[unloaded]

In the beginning, specially with Genisis style attys, it's easy to get a dead short or partial short with low enough resistance to let the magic smoke out of an eGo battery.

The knockoffs aren't as high of quality as the originals, as far as machining quality, materials and design. But you can get just as good a vape out of them if you set them up right.

 

[Thrasher]

magic smoke, i havent heard that one in a while lol but yea that too a short will kill an ego fst.

 

[sawlight]

The biggest problem with the EGO is it doesn't like low resistance attys, it is known to short out if it senses a resistance below 1.5 ohms. It's just not the best choice in this case. No, you don't need a $200 mod, you can buy a $20 Bolt or a $16 Gripper and be fine, but the EGO's are finicky about what they want to run.
Look here, Rebuildable Atomizers/Tanks, the Terminator is highly regarded and the new version has a clear tank. I'm not a fan because you have to use resistance and non-resistance wire to rebuild it, but that's just me.
The Rainbow, on the same page, I have one like it called the Trivveca, it can be found for a lot less money, and I really like it for dripping. It unscrews into three main pieces for ease of rebuilding, cleaning and refilling. It's also about the size of a normal carto, so it's nice and small, but delivers great flavor.

 

[Mitey F]

Thank you guys for the responses, in the last hour I've learned way more than I could have searching for hours on end.

Is there a "RBA's for dummies" thread somewhere? With all the basics like wire types, wick types, RBA styles etc I can read through as well?

The AGA's seem (to an inexperienced person such as myself) to be a good compromise between quality and price. The terminator also looks good, as does the rainbow.

So, this has raised a few more questions for me...

First, from the "bolts" that I've seen, it seems to be a non VV battery tube basically. Exactly how wrong am I? And why is it harder to kill with a short than an ego? I've experienced plenty of magic blue smoke in my day (never with a vape of course) and it always gives that instant "aaawwww, fuuuuck" feeling. If only it were as easy to fill up electrical devices with blue smoke as it is to fill a vape with nicotine goo!

Second. The rainbow says it can be used with SS mesh. I've read (again, no real KNOWLEDGE) that SS will give the best flavor. What determines whether or not a RBA can/cannot be used with mesh?

 

[Thrasher]

First, from the "bolts" that I've seen, it seems to be a non VV battery tube basically. Exactly how wrong am I? And why is it harder to kill with a short than an ego?

because the ego VV is a circuit board driven battery and a short could damage the electronics inside, a "bolt" or purely mechanical mod has nothing but the battery and a button there is nothing to kill inside other then the battery or the wires to the switch (if any)

Second. The rainbow says it can be used with SS mesh. I've read (again, no real KNOWLEDGE) that SS will give the best flavor. What determines whether or not a RBA can/cannot be used with mesh?

just the way the body is built most silica/softwick rbas have the set screws the same height so the wick lays horizontal for ends to sit in the tank better, a mesh style usually has a raised positive post as we build the coils vertically because the metal wick isnt flexible and stands on end.

 

[sawlight]

I'd edit that post a bit ASAP, that might not fly well here, just sayin!

Yes, the Bolt is just a battery mod, you can add an extension and put a "Kick" module in it to make it VW if you like. Why will it work, the battery used to run them have a protection circuit built into them that will cut out and reset if it senses overload where the EGO's just lose the magic black smoke and are done!
Go to the RBA section and start reading, there really isn't a "how to guide" we all seem to like different things. I like 32ga, other like 28ga. Some like SS wicks and other like Silica and others yet like cotton. Much like everything else in vaping, it's what you like and what works for you.
I have an AGA-T, I can't say it's a good place to start, they are very fidgity, the top coil tends to run hot, sometimes the caps need sanded to get the air hole to line up with the wick, some need the air hole drilled out, some need it plugged, most need washers on the POS post etc. I haven't found them yet, but I think there are better choices out there to start out with.

 

[j4mmin42]

Thank you guys for the responses, in the last hour I've learned way more than I could have searching for hours on end.

Is there a "RBA's for dummies" thread somewhere? With all the basics like wire types, wick types, RBA styles etc I can read through as well?

The AGA's seem (to an inexperienced person such as myself) to be a good compromise between quality and price. The terminator also looks good, as does the rainbow.

So, this has raised a few more questions for me...

First, from the "bolts" that I've seen, it seems to be a non VV battery tube basically. Exactly how wrong am I? And why is it harder to kill with a short than an ego? I've experienced plenty of magic blue smoke in my day (never with a vape of course) and it always gives that instant "aaawwww, fuuuuck" feeling. If only it were as easy to fill up electrical devices with blue smoke as it is to fill a vape with nicotine goo!

Second. The rainbow says it can be used with SS mesh. I've read (again, no real KNOWLEDGE) that SS will give the best flavor. What determines whether or not a RBA can/cannot be used with mesh?

What you're looking for is a non-VV/VW battery tube. It doesn't matter how much you spend on it, but testing your new setups on an unregulated mod is the way to go as a beginner. Make sure you have a multimeter as well. Digital devices are prone to damage from shorts, and if they're "protected", then they are touchy and hard to use with RBA's when you're first starting out. You can worry about VV/VW later when you are a coil-building pro.

As for your second question, there isn't a single rebuildable on the market (that I know of) that can't take an SS wick. Conversely, every single RBA can also use silica. There are clear differences in the silica-based designs vs. the mesh-intended designs, but no RBA has a single build set in stone. Even complex silica-intended systems like the spheroid and odysseus can take SS mesh.

 

[Mitey F]

Naturally I have a fairly nice multimeter, so long as I check the resistance before firing up an atty, there should be very little chance of a short, and thus ruined battery... right?

 

[sawlight]

NO!! I can attest to this! Until you get things down to a gnat's .... perfect, the resistance can, and will vary with use! While working with my AGA-T, and I'm no expert at this mind you, I've had it jump from 2.8 to .8 in a five min span! These RBA's are an art form and take some dedication to get right!

 

[j4mmin42]

It always helps to check with the multi first. Unfortunately, it is much harder to test for partial shorts, which are much more common- depending on their location, they sometimes will lower the resistance reading, but other times, the reading you get will be close enough to a normal reading that you won't notice. Then, there's also the risk of shorts (hard or partial) that show up after the coil is fired. These may have started as undetected partial shorts, or they might be due to the coil expanding during heating, or other reasons. They do happen fairly often, though- especially in the beginning .

Edit: What I forgot to mention, is this means that any eGos that are NOT the twist variety...you basically should just kiss them goodbye if you plan on using them to test new coil builds. You will eventually fry the tiny, fragile circuitry and wiring inside of them, because they were just not built for the specific brand of abuse that genesis RBA's dish out on batts...(un)protected, replaceable IMR batts are the cheaper and easier route.