School me on new school cartos; Diver & Sophia for an Atmizoo Lab

[Dochartaigh]

I bought a Atmizoo Lab which is on it's way to me. I'm intrigued with their Bayou tank (simply because it'll match the Lab so perfect and seems pretty compact), but I know nothing about cart systems. That's what they're called, right? a "carto tank"? Some questions my research has led me too:

Cartos are the old-school method of vaping, right? I think I used these 3 or 4 years ago and they were ok. Kinda bad tasting if my memory serves. Recently tried some Boge pre-punched for my mom and couldn't get them to work (OR, they did work but just tasted wretched).

BUT, there is light on the horizon in new rebuildable 510-size systems like the Diver v2 and the Sophia. The latter I believe people use in the Billet Box - which is extremely popular? ...that leads me to believe that these cart systems really can vape well; with the correct setup at least.

I guess my biggest question after all this rambling, is if I dish out the quasi-expensive bucks on a Diver v2 or Sophia, buy the specialty R-NR wire, are these things going to give me anywhere near the flavor and vapor production my Kayfun's give me (which I have 5+ of currently and are the only thing I'll vape out of)? - for more specifics on what I like, I've tried all different cartomizers (iClear, Kanger, etc.) and didn't like them (Nautilus is OK). Tried 6+ Genesis-style tanks and didn't like any. Didn't like the Aqua. Like the Taifun GT a lot (but not quite as much as the Kayfun style).

^ that's the question I haven't been able to solve through research. I'm pretty particular about how my devices vape. For example, certain flavors only really come out if I use them on my Kayfun 3.1 vs. the Russian 91% or KFL+; or I have to raise the resistance of my coil up/down to match a particular flavor (usually 1-1.6 ohm).

Any advice is appreciated. If I like the Lab, I wanted to get the Guppy for a small mod when I'm out and about; and the Bayou carto tank seems to be the only device that will match it's diameter (i.e. I'll be stuck with using nothing but the Bayou if I get that setup; and want to make sure I like carto tanks before I drop the cash on a Guppy).

 

[Dochartaigh]

So nobody has ever owned a Diver or Sophia, along with a Kayfun to compare it to? ...just looking for a little insight on how these different systems compare to each other in the quality of the vape.

If I'm missing tons of topics on it, I would appreciate any links for me to read though (granted they're not the 1000+ page threads which are impossible to navigate through). - Thank you.

 

[215Z]

I'm pulling up a seat to watch the show

 

[kingdal]

Let me take a shot at this. I own the Diver v1 and the Sophia. Never got along with the Diver because the thing would leak. It would be fine after the build but after a while, I'd set it down, leave it and after a while there would juice running down the mod. Never could figure out how to fix it so I stopped using it. I liked the concept of a rebuildable carto though so I was really happy when I read about the Sofia.

In general, its a a few additional steps to build, what with the R-NR requirement. I had a hard time at first but eventually sprung for a zapper which really made things easy. I wrap a microcoil then zap on the nickel NR legs and done. Doesnt take me much longer than 5-10 minutes to do it now. After the coil, setting up the rest of the Sofia is easy, lots of videos on YT. Once set up properly, my experience has been that the thing works, mechanically, like its supposed to. Open up the juice control enough and I never get a dry hit. Kinda hard for me to flood it too. Absolutely no leaking. So overall, in terms of setup, its a bit fiddly because of the R-NR but otherwise building the thing is manageable, not too much of a hassle.

Here's a big BUT though. On my Sofia, I could never get flavor to my satisfaction. Somehow, I always got the top notes of a juice but without the deeper body, making any juice I tried taste 'thin', like I wasn't getting all of it. Vapor was good, TH was reasonable but it just tasted sorta like the juice was way watered down. After a while, it was like I was vaping sweetener because that was all I tasted. I thought at first it was my build (I'm no noob at rba's though) so I tried different builds. High coil, low coil, high ohms, low ohms, long tails, short tails, you name it. I just couldn't get it. Coincidentally, I just filled up my Sofia again today after putting it away for the last few months. Same thing. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong but I don't know what else to do to make it better. So tonight, I will dump the rest of the juice in the tank and put the Sofia away again until some future date when I can get it to work better. I really really want to like the Sofia. I love the convenience of a rebuildable carto plus tank and it works great on my VV mods but the weak flavor just kills it for me.

So like I said, maybe its in the way I've built it and your mileage may vary (by a lot I hope) but that's been my experience. if you hear of a similar problem and come across a solution, sure would appreciate a PM

 

[Dochartaigh]

That's disappointing to hear that the flavor is lacking on the Sophia for you. What are you comparing the flavor of the Sophia to? For example, I absolutely hate how genesis-style RTA's hit, but people swear by them for the best flavor (along with dripping). But for me, they're extremely lacking and I personally get the best flavor out of a Kayfun 3.1.

Another question I would love to know the answer to is how do all these people absolutely love their Billet Boxes then? They have no other option but to use a carto, and with their choice of a high-end mechanical mod like that, you would think they would be using rebuildable carts like these...I (we?) must be missing something then.

 

[kingdal]

I dont have a billet box but my most flavorful vape has always come from dripping. So thats been my benchmark. But please dont let my experience convince you. You'll see a lot of people on here that love their Sofias. Its reasonably priced. Always worth a try

For my part, i think time for another look in the sofia threads

Good luck!

 

[edyle]

I bought a Atmizoo Lab which is on it's way to me. I'm intrigued with their Bayou tank (simply because it'll match the Lab so perfect and seems pretty compact), but I know nothing about cart systems. That's what they're called, right? a "carto tank"? Some questions my research has led me too:

Cartos are the old-school method of vaping, right? I think I used these 3 or 4 years ago and they were ok. Kinda bad tasting if my memory serves. Recently tried some Boge pre-punched for my mom and couldn't get them to work (OR, they did work but just tasted wretched).

BUT, there is light on the horizon in new rebuildable 510-size systems like the Diver v2 and the Sophia. The latter I believe people use in the Billet Box - which is extremely popular? ...that leads me to believe that these cart systems really can vape well; with the correct setup at least.

I guess my biggest question after all this rambling, is if I dish out the quasi-expensive bucks on a Diver v2 or Sophia, buy the specialty R-NR wire, are these things going to give me anywhere near the flavor and vapor production my Kayfun's give me (which I have 5+ of currently and are the only thing I'll vape out of)? - for more specifics on what I like, I've tried all different cartomizers (iClear, Kanger, etc.) and didn't like them (Nautilus is OK). Tried 6+ Genesis-style tanks and didn't like any. Didn't like the Aqua. Like the Taifun GT a lot (but not quite as much as the Kayfun style).

^ that's the question I haven't been able to solve through research. I'm pretty particular about how my devices vape. For example, certain flavors only really come out if I use them on my Kayfun 3.1 vs. the Russian 91% or KFL+; or I have to raise the resistance of my coil up/down to match a particular flavor (usually 1-1.6 ohm).

Any advice is appreciated. If I like the Lab, I wanted to get the Guppy for a small mod when I'm out and about; and the Bayou carto tank seems to be the only device that will match it's diameter (i.e. I'll be stuck with using nothing but the Bayou if I get that setup; and want to make sure I like carto tanks before I drop the cash on a Guppy).

A carto sustem uses a dispoable carto.

The Sophia is kind of like a rebuildable carto; most people seem to insist it's not a carto because it does not contain filler like a regular carto does but instead just uses wick; but anyway it can be used in a carto-tank in place of a disposable carto, and can be recoiled and rewicked unlike a disposable carto.

The Sophia can also be closeds off, closing off the holes that feed liquid from the tank to the coil area.

I don't use carto's but if I did, a sophia is definitely something I'd be interested in for rebuildability.

 

[serenity21899]

It's about even for me on the Kayfun and the Sophia, both with microcoils and cotton. I have 4 of each and use them all about equally. The advantage of the Sophia is that it can be used in a glass tank. Quartz tanks for the Kayfun are hard to find, and I don't have any.

 

[edyle]

It's about even for me on the Kayfun and the Sophia, both with microcoils and cotton. I have 4 of each and use them all about equally. The advantage of the Sophia is that it can be used in a glass tank. Quartz tanks for the Kayfun are hard to find, and I don't have any.

Yeah; it's a bummer; that's why I didn't order one; ordered a fogger instead;

 

[Dochartaigh]

I forget the original company name, but glass/quartz/pyrex tanks are out there for the Kayfun. There's clones of them for $20 now as well (just picked up the nano one...which is useless in size - like under 1ml; and ordered the full size to see how it does).

 

[Tbev]

I have my whole family running carto tanks and wanted to steep then up a notch so I wass looking deep into sophia diver etc. And I decided they sick and would be more trouble than they are worth, to do it right you want to build our buy the spot wire welder, if you don't know what I'm talking about, you should, I went with a r91 and and convinced I made the right move, then I just received a fogger v4, let me tell you, even better, lots less hassle, no ceramic cups to keep buying, no nr-r-nr wires to build, and it's a better vape from what I hear. Anyways, that's my opinion, I wanted to rebuildable carto to rock, but it's just not the case from what I've gathered.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

 

[215Z]

How well does that Russian wick 100% VG?

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[Tbev]

I don't use heavy vg bud is been widely discussed, you may have adjusted accordingly but I know people do it with no problems, that may be an issue with the diver however, not sure, I usually run 70pg ish...
I didn't mean to rain on your parade but I thought I'd share my thoughts, I really did want to like the sophia, diver etc. But it turns out from what I've read the only cool outcome with those are in a Billit box but that's simply due to the fact that they are limited to using Cartomizers, as far as going that route, the diver v2 is the best from what I can tell... But i still would have to recommend against them all.
Search kfl+ max vg or something similar and see how is done, I promise you won't have any regrets running a kf style atty. I've just got the fogger v4 and I'm sure max vg is fine with it and that is currently the most bad asss atty I've ever used, and I'm all about attys, I've used almost all of them. Good luck bud. If you have any? 's feel free to shoot me a Pm anytime.

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[Coelli]

We have 3 Sophias and they are really great little devices. Neither of us have the issue with flavor that kingdal does, but everyone's different. And By Leo's customer service is beyond outstanding. Their work is superb, lots of attention to detail (we also have 3 Dripper Pros and a Slim Tank Pro).

As for rebuilding and the NR-R-NR wires, I just get them from Stormy's (Rebuildable Atomizer (RA) Accessories). A pack of 45-50 pre-made wires runs $10 or $13 depending on whether you get the ribbon or round wire. I buy the 1.2 ohm and they are always spot on. Problem solved.

 

[Dochartaigh]

So I finally received the Sophia by Leo and have been vaping on it for a couple days coupled with my Atmizoo Bayou 35mm tank. Here's my thoughts on the setup compared to a Kayfun (my go-to tank):



SOPHIA

Building: pretty darn easy. You build the coil the same way as the Kayfun (albeit with NR-R-NR wires) but then tuck the wires under the ceramic cup instead of attaching them to screws like on a Kayfun. It's pretty even between the Kayfun and the Sophia for the effort required to re-wick/re-coil the device (if you don't count filling/emptying the carto-tank - the ease of which varies by the design of the tank).

Flavor/Vape: I have the same resistance coil (1.5 ohm) in both my Kayfun Lite+, Kayfun 3.1, and Sophia, both with cotton wicks, vaping the same flavor (Juice Mafia Juice Banana Nut Bread). The Sophia beats out the KFL+ simply because the +'s air draw always stinks (along with the 91% which is near identical). The Kayfun 3.1 (still my favorite device), with it's larger air flow might have a slight advantage simply because I like the resistance the vacuum gives me on the draw (similar to a cigarette), whereas the Sophia takes less effort to inhale but seems to give me the same amount of vapor. Might be a slight (and I mean tiny) advantage to the Kayfun on flavor - I will give it that. I tried vaping on the Kayfun 3.1, then the Sophia, and back and forth, and after the first hit (which the Kayfun did taste better) I couldn't tell a taste difference between them after that.

Leaking/gurgling/etc.: I have had it leak while in use a few times, usually after it's gurgling. Right now, only a couple days in, I'm putting this down to user-error (which might be too long/too short, juice control open too much, etc.). The rare gurgling almost always clears up in a few puffs, and it's usually when I'm messing around with the juice control.



ATMIZOO BAYOU TANK, 22mm diameter, 35mm long, 5ml capacity

First carto tank I've ever had. It looks great, but leaves something to be desired. I like how the tank is plastic (food grade PMMA which pretty much every liquid is stored in) which means I don't have to trust a piece of glass only held together by o-rings on either end (like most other carto tanks are). Brass screw-on end caps are beautiful and match my Lab perfectly.

Filling: is a PITA. Even with the included needle-tipped bottle (of the correct gauge), held at all different angles, inserted into the tank a mere mm, to all the way in, still leaks while filling. Maybe this will improve once I get a technique down, but that fill hole on top is way to small (removing the o-ring helps a little bit), and there's no secondary air hole to release the pressure inside while filling (the small gap around the supplied needle and the o-ring isn't big enough to let in enough air).



SOPHIA + BAYOU

Putting these together presents some issues. In order to get them onto your devices' 510 connection you have two options. The first is to screw it into the 510 connection while the Sophia is out of the tank (easy…if the tank isn't already filled with liquid that is). The second option (MUCH more common for me) is to put it on your device when the tank+Sophia are already together. This is a pain…

…it's a pain because the direction you twist the juice-flow control on the Sophia, and the direction you have to twist the entire unit onto the 510 connection is the same direction. So when you twist the top of the Sophia to get it onto the 510, it closes off the juice flow, then you can finish screwing it all the way onto the 510, but 90% of the time this means the juice flow is then stuck completely shut/off. Then when you try to turn the juice flow back on, the entire thing then comes off your 510 connection…

In practice, I have a way of doing it which is for lack of a better word, touchy. I have the Sophia inside the tank with the juice flow control loosened maybe 360º. I then rotate the tank itself until it's tight on the 510, and if I go too far the juice control is simply turned down a little bit (but NOT all the way off so there's no way it can get stuck again).

Durability/Travel-Ease: These type of tanks will never be as sturdy as something like a Kayfun. The Sophia is held onto the tank by two small orings. This makes the unit always wobble/flex a little bit (which is also exacerbated the more the Sophias' juice flow is open since there's less threads holding the 2-pieces of the Sophia together firmly). You can also accidentally grab the tank itself and it can slip right off of the carto then you'll have juice everywhere.



CONCLUSION

Basically, unless you really like the look of a certain carto tank, they still don't beat a Kayfun/Russian 91%/Taifun GT/etc. type tank simply because of ease of use. The size is smaller than a Kayfun though, with more capacity.

For vape quality, if you like a looser air draw, it seems to vape better than the KFL, KFL+, and Russian 91%, but NOT the Kayfun 3.1 which can draw more air than even the Sophia does.

Right now I prefer the Sophia+Bayou (now that I have some of those little tricks down) to my KFL, KFL+, and Russian 91%. Once the Fat Daddy Vapes center pins with more airflow control for the Kayfun's get into stock it might be a different story (granted they let in as much air as the 3.1). For out-and-about travel I would still go with a Kayfun (of any type) since it's sturdier, and rarely leaks no matter what I do to it.

The Kayfun 3.1 is still king overall, but in terms of pure vaping experience (not counting ease-of-use), they're pretty darn close (granted you're the type, like me, who likes a more airy draw).

As far as looks, that's in the eye of the beholder.

 

[Coelli]

The Kayfun 3.1 (still my favorite device), with it's larger air flow might have a slight advantage simply because I like the resistance the vacuum gives me on the draw (similar to a cigarette), whereas the Sophia takes less effort to inhale but seems to give me the same amount of vapor.

Have you tried adjusting the airflow on the Sophia?

 

[Dochartaigh]

Have you tried adjusting the airflow on the Sophia?

As in aligning the two little holes on the side of the 510 connection so they're open or closed? I can't tell a difference between open and closed so I left it closed (less area to possibly get leaks out of). …I tried it at several different adjustment points as well which is a real pain since you have to remove the ceramic cup and wick setup before you touch that airflow screw - still didn't see any difference.

A couple video reviews mentioned the same thing. I think those holes might be for units that only pull air out of the side of the 510 and not the bottom (or something like that - just guessing here).

 

[PinkPanter]

I can go along with Tbev, atomizers of KF or TF and devices like that don't fail, there performances are great, anyway this topic is about the Rebuildable carto's for tanks and I took a Diver V2 for my just ordered Phini and arrives hopefully soon but I wanted the best Atomizer for my Phini because I think Phini deserves it.

Just trying the Diver V2 for 2 days now and can't say I'am positive about it, the leaking problems of the center pin Atmistique fixed with the 2 O-rings, a poor solution but it works, but now its leaking from the little hole into the center pin and a lot.

I have been informed by advanced that the Diver is very sensitive when it comes to pressure build-up and pressure differences, in short the Diver often if not all the time gives problems with, I think you can imagine that I wasn't happy to hear this at all *sad face*

The problem of leaking all your liquid out of tank when installing the Diver into it, this can be solved by hold the Diver between 2 fingers by the top of the Diver and to the center pin following by pressing really hard at both sides and you ready to bring your cap closer to the tank and place it.

I will not give it up that quickly, so i will make a new setup for this device and hopefully i will find a solution for the leaking problem center pin. I think it's pity wasn't working well for now bc the taste of e-liquid i really was surprised about this little device brought me, it is amazing good.

 

[PinkPanter]

A new setup Ive tried and again the same problems and it's not possible to fix, bc when the liquid in the tank already cause these pressure differences, then the Diver V2 for what it suppose to be created, namely to be a atomizer in a tank, for sure fails no matter what.

I hate to say it, but the Diver V2 of Atmistique is useless. unusable



Adding:
It's all fixt now, see my later posts!

 

[Tinkiegrrl]

I was thinking of getting a Sophia or a diver for my cartotanks, but the R noR wire on the Sophia definitely stopped me from getting that one, and I haven't heard much on the Diver. I think I may just sell or trade my cartotanks. I'm loving RTA's right now.