RTA Tanks

[englishmick]

I’ve been using ProTanks exclusively since I graduated from Evod's. Right now I’m thinking about making my own coils. I like tinkering, it’s cheaper, etc. And Kanger coils are fussy to deal with. Spend so much time cleaning them, never know for sure when it’s time to replace them. Etc.

I’ve spent a bunch of time reading here trying to figure out a good starter rta. Looking at a Kaifun GT or a Lemo based on people’s comments about ease of use and so forth.

I have a question though. There seems to be some kind of qualitative difference between regular tanks and RTA tanks, which I don’t entirely get. RTA’s have filler holes. Different construction, with an outer juice container feeding juice into the center part where the coil is, leaking through air holes if you don’t get the coil and wick just right. I'm starting to get a vague understanding of how they work, but not why.

Is there a reason why there isn’t an RTA tank with the same design as a ProTank? Maybe there is or maybe I’m missing something.

I’m also planning to try rebuilding my Kanger coils. With my old shaky eyes I’m going to need a big magnifying glass though.

 

[State O' Flux]

Is there a reason why there isn’t an RTA tank with the same design as a ProTank? Maybe there is or maybe I’m missing something.

Any 'tank' atomizer which uses "pressure differential" to both retain and deliver liquid to the coil(s) are similar... this includes both the Kanger Protank, which you are intimately familiar with, as well as the Svoemesto Kayfun, or Smokerstore Taifun GT, and their numerous variations and clones... which, at this time, you are only mildly familiar with.

The primary functional difference (disregarding secondary features like fill ports) between your Protank and a rebuildable tank is that your coil head assembly functions as a replaceable "build deck" unit, while a true build deck on an RTA is a fixed element... requiring the builder to provide both coil(s) of the desired resistance, and a suitable wicking material of the appropriate size and density.

At some point - and for many, that point may already be here with the Kanger Aerotank and Aspire Atlantis - replaceable coil head tank atomizers may match or even exceed the vapor flavor quality of many RTAs.
However... even with that likely scenario, there will always be a substantial contingent of vapists who prefer creating a wick and coil system of their own design, much as there's a contingent who prefer mechanical mods and the Ohm's law calculations required to use them with confident safety.

As to recommendations... it gets harder and harder to recommend RTAs, because there are now so many. A year ago, the hot attys were the Svoemesto Kayfun and KF Lite, the Kebo/UCT Russian and R91% and the Taifun GT... hell! - they were the only premium RTAs.

Now that the market has, over the last year or so, exploded with original designs as well as clones and variations of clones... making fair and objective recommendations is difficult, at best. There are only so many ways to design a functional atomizer... and just moving an air hole or method of fill is more evolution than original innovation.

In many cases, the "original" attys you look at are based on the KFL/R91%/Taifun GT designs... with methods of fill, AFC adjustments, number of coils that can be fit, capacity, subjective styling and quality of fit/finish being the bones of contention. ;-)

 

[englishmick]

Thanks, I appreciate the overview. That's what I was missing in the forest of details.

I think maybe I get it now. Please tell me if I'm mistaken. So the narrow shiny tube up the middle of my Kanger tank is the functional equivalent of the innermost cylinder in the pictures I've seen of Kaifuns. And the size difference is just due to the fact that it has to fit around a larger deck containing the coil rather than just fitting around the tiny igniter unit of the Kanger coil. They both have the same function of holding negative pressure when you suck on the top end. And the different methods of assembling and filling them is due to the size constraints again. It might be as though I had to remove the glass tank and top cap from the Kanger in order to fill it.

For some reason I assumed there was a different process going on.

I think I'll try one anyway, even if the vape quality isn't as big a factor any more. I spend so much time cleaning Kanger coils that I might as well spend it making my own coils. Have some fun and save money at the same time.

 

[Paradicio]

With my old shaky eyes I’m going to need a big magnifying glass though.

Please allow me, then, to recommend the Lemo for your first RTA. It has a larger deck than a Kayfun (so it's easier to build on) and is a bit more beginner friendly with the wicking. Kayfuns have to be done right, the Lemo will give you more room for error than a Kayfun would. They wick the same way, it's just the Lemo's larger channels are more forgiving. Plus it is fairly inexpensive.

Hopefully it'll save you some unnecessary frustration.

 

[roosterado]

The other Choice,less popular now are Genesis Rebuildable Tanks. I am fond of my Kraken Clone and wish I could afford an Authentic. Learning curve may be longer for a Genny but there a numerous Build Tutorials on YouTube. I switch between my Karken and my Authentic Russian, I have also had good performance with a Aqua Clone. I received a Big Dripper 2 months ago and it is still in the Box. Waiting for a day I am snowed in here in Minnesota to give it a try

 

[State O' Flux]

Thanks, I appreciate the overview. That's what I was missing in the forest of details.

I think maybe I get it now. Please tell me if I'm mistaken. So the narrow shiny tube up the middle of my Kanger tank is the functional equivalent of the innermost cylinder in the pictures I've seen of Kaifuns.
Let's separate the two tanks... so we're on the same page. There is the Svoemesto Kayfun design... then the Smokerstore Taifun GT. Similar in appearance, but different in the way they deliver liquid. The former relies on juice channels and boundary layer, the latter on exposed to juice wick and controlled wick restriction.
And yes, you are effectively correct. The large chamber and chimney top cap in the RTA is the rough equivalent of a coil head assembly and the air tube above it in a Kanger glassomizer.

And the size difference is just due to the fact that it has to fit around a larger deck containing the coil rather than just fitting around the tiny igniter unit of the Kanger coil.
Absolutely correct... the amount of available build deck work space on an RTA makes it far easier to build the coil and wick, than the available space inside a Kanger coil head.

They both have the same function of holding negative pressure when you suck on the top end. And the different methods of assembling and filling them is due to the size constraints again. It might be as though I had to remove the glass tank and top cap from the Kanger in order to fill it.

For some reason I assumed there was a different process going on.

I think I'll try one anyway, even if the vape quality isn't as big a factor any more. I spend so much time cleaning Kanger coils that I might as well spend it making my own coils. Have some fun and save money at the same time.

When you build an atomizer that is designed to be rebuilt... you'll dance with joy at all the room you have to work with. ;-)

 

[englishmick]

Minor correction to what I said above. I was looking at either a Lemo or a Taifun GT. But in my original post I wrote Kaifun instead of Taifun.

They all seem to be a bit hit or miss in terms of buying them. They go in and out of stock with great frequency. I've never ordered anything from a foreign address. Makes me nervous, though I guess it's the way the world works these days. And I assume it's safe since lots of people do it.

 

[Paradicio]

Minor correction to what I said above. I was looking at either a Lemo or a Taifun GT. But in my original post I wrote Kaifun instead of Taifun.

They all seem to be a bit hit or miss in terms of buying them. They go in and out of stock with great frequency. I've never ordered anything from a foreign address. Makes me nervous, though I guess it's the way the world works these days. And I assume it's safe since lots of people do it.

I ordered my Lemos directly from eLeaf. No issues at all, they shipped in a timely fashion and arrived not long after. I try to go direct to the manufacturer as often as possible.