Second chance RTA/RDA or stick with Mesh Pro?

[UncleEddy]

Hi all,

I have been vaping my Freemax Mesh Pro for a month and really enjoyed it. I then saw an RTA (Zeus X) for the first time. I really loved the design and the reviewers on YouTube say that the flavor is great. I ordered one as a newbie to building but thought if I would follow the guides on YouTube it couldn’t go wrong.


Once I received the Zeus X the flavor was really disappointing, when coming from a Mesh Pro. I’ve tried many different wicking styles and coils but I finally decided to give up. The flavor from that RTA is terrible.


I gave up on the Zeus X but not on the RTA/RDA’s in general.


I am willing to give it another try, and purchase a new tank.


I know RTA’s are easier as a ‘to go’ tank then RDA’s but I’m open for both.


Currently I am looking at the Kylin V2, Profile Unity (RTA) and the Profile RDA.


I know that only one of them is an RTA, and the other two are RDA’s. I prefer a tank that I can take with me somewhere else, but if flavor is much better on an RDA, I am willing to choose an RDA over an RTA.


The Profile tanks as both mesh tanks, since I really enjoy the Freemax Mesh Pro I thought that Mesh tanks might just also be more my type of thing.


I currently own a Vaporesso Luxe S and Vaporesso Gen mod. Both are not a squonk device but I don’t think I would mind dripping. I am just not willing to buy a squonk mod at the moment.



What do you guys advice in my situation? Will I get an advantage in terms of flavor when purchasing a good RTA/RDA or should I just stick with the Freemax Mesh Pro and keep buying coils. Since I really enjoy the flavor from it and I don’t know if it is better in terms of flavor then an RTA/RDA.


I am in for other RTA/RDA’s then I mentioned, as long as it’s ‘doable’ as a beginner and the flavor is better then my Freemax Mesh Pro.



Thank you!

 

[bombastinator]

Mesh and coils behave very differently. It’s much easier to get big wet clouds out of mesh. The advantage of coils over mesh is the wire lasts a lot longer and you can get things besides big wet clouds if you want them.

If what you are looking for is just big wet clouds though mesh is going to do it better.

 

[UncleEddy]

Mesh and coils behave very differently. It’s much easier to get big wet clouds out of mesh. The advantage of coils over mesh is the wire lasts a lot longer and you can get things besides big wet clouds if you want them.

If what you are looking for is just big wet clouds though mesh is going to do it better.

I am a flavor chaser, I don’t really care about the clouds.

 

[bombastinator]

I am a flavor chaser, I don’t really care about the clouds.

Hmm. I might almost want to point you at a mesh wick genny type atty then. If they can even still be had. Very MTL vape. Also they’re a pain to set up, but they go for a long time and the flavor is exceptionally clean.

 

[UncleEddy]

Hmm. I might almost want to point you at a mesh wick genny type atty then. If they can even still be had. Very MTL vape. Also they’re a pain to set up, but they go for a long time and the flavor is exceptionally clean.

Thank you very much for your help. I prefer DTL vaping. I own a pod system for when I am in the mood to MTL vape. Next to that, it took me a full pack of firebolt cotton to be able to wick the Zeus X properly. So I don't think it's a good idea to purchase a tank that requires some wicking skills. I've heard that wicking the Kylin V2 is really easy. But if RDA"s are much better, and also easy in wicking, I might choose a RDA over RTA.

 

[bombastinator]

Thank you very much for your help. I prefer DTL vaping. I own a pod system for when I am in the mood to MTL vape. Next to that, it took me a full pack of firebolt cotton to be able to wick the Zeus X properly. So I don't think it's a good idea to purchase a tank that requires some wicking skills. I've heard that wicking the Kylin V2 is really easy. But if RDA"s are much better, and also easy in wicking, I might choose a RDA over RTA.

There is the squonk option. It makes an RDA a lot like an RTA. The mods are large and tend to be a bit expensive though.

I currently mostly run a profile mesh RDA on a drone 250c. I use hand cut #200 mesh SS screens instead of the premade stamped plates they sell for it and muji cotton. Takes half a pad per wick almost, but muji cotton is cheap in bulk. I run 30w @440f max temp in SS TC mode.

 

[UncleEddy]

View attachment 838079
There is the squonk option. It makes an RDA a lot like an RTA. The mods are large and tend to be a bit expensive though.

I currently mostly run a profile mesh RDA on a drone 250c. I use hand cut #200 mesh SS screens instead of the premade stamped plates they sell for it and muji cotton. Takes half a pad per wick almost, but muji cotton is cheap in bulk. I run 30w @440f max temp in SS TC mode.

I've recently spent over €200 for 2 mods and a lot of e-liquid, that's why I don't really like to purchase a complete new squoink mod at the moment. Maybe in the future, so that's an advantage for a RDA.

 

[bombastinator]

I've recently spent over €200 for 2 mods and a lot of e-liquid, that's why I don't really like to purchase a complete new squoink mod at the moment. Maybe in the future, so that's an advantage for a RDA.

True. The difference between a squonk RDA and an RDA is a hollow center pin that can often be swapped with a screw driver. Old RDAs can often be turned into squonkers with a pin replacement. I’ve got a bigblock 454 RDA which was unusually difficult to deal with as the center pin was press fit. I just drilled a hole up through the center of the pin and boom, squonker. A really good one actually. Best RDL atty I’ve got.

 

[UncleEddy]

True. The difference between a squonk RDA and an RDA is a hollow center pin that can often be swapped with a screw driver. Old RDAs can often be turned into squonkers with a pin replacement. I’ve got a bigblock 454 RDA which was unusually difficult to deal with as the center pin was press fit. I just drilled a hole up through the center of the pin and boom, squonker. A really good one actually. Best RDL atty I’ve got.

I am just worried that the Profile RTA and RDA are very difficult to build.

 

[bombastinator]

I am just worried that the Profile RTA and RDA are very difficult to build.

Never done the RTA. The RDA is very different from other RDAs but isn’t difficult.

A few pointers:

1: you need a ton of cotton. Easily twice what one would put in another RDA. I use half a stretched muji pad. The profile RDA has a spring loaded plunger at its base which presses the wick into the screen. There must be enough cotton to compress this spring so it can do its job. LOTS of cotton

2: the screen has to be the right length and width. There is very little room for slop. I bought a packet of perforated plates primarily to get the size right when I cut my pieces of #200 SS screen to use as wicks. They need to be fairly carefully bent. You cannot fold them or create kinks. This will make hot spots which will burn right through.

Put in your screen so it forms an arc over the top of the atty then pulse your mod a few times to color the metal and make sure it’s heating evenly. Hot spots on mesh are even worse than they are in regular coils.

put in your cotton. It’s a really thick wick so it needs to be cut at an angle so all the ends of the fibers touch down at the bottom of the juice well when they’re bent over and tucked in

Juice the living snot out of it. These things only work when they’re really really wet. Damp won’t cut it. You need the wick to look like jelly.

 

[UncleEddy]

Never done the RTA. The RDA is very different from other RDAs but isn’t difficult.

A few pointers:

1: you need a ton of cotton. Easily twice what one would put in another RDA. I use half a stretched muji pad. The profile RDA has a spring loaded plunger at its base which presses the wick into the screen. There must be enough cotton to compress this spring so it can do its job. LOTS of cotton

2: the screen has to be the right length and width. There is very little room for slop. I bought a packet of perforated plates primarily to get the size right when I cut my pieces of #200 SS screen to use as wicks. They need to be fairly carefully bent. You cannot fold them or create kinks. This will make hot spots which will burn right through.

Put in your screen so it forms an arc over the top of the atty then pulse your mod a few times to color the metal and make sure it’s heating evenly. Hot spots on mesh are even worse than they are in regular coils.

put in your cotton. It’s a really thick wick so it needs to be cut at an angle so all the ends of the fibers touch down at the bottom of the juice well when they’re bent over and tucked in

Juice the living snot out of it. These things only work when they’re really really wet. Damp won’t cut it. You need the wick to look like jelly.

Will it taste better then my Freemax Mesh Pro or is that something I can forget?

 

[bombastinator]

Will it taste better then my Freemax Mesh Pro or is that something I can forget?

Dunno. I’ve never vaped a freemax mesh pro. I suspect they would be pretty similar. Cheaper to run and choice/security of materials is the main gain with rebuildables these days. It will TC with SS mesh. I dunno if there is a feemax SS mesh coil.
I can run my coil at higher wattage with TC than without it.

 

[UncleEddy]

Dunno. I’ve never vaped a freemax mesh pro. I suspect they would be pretty similar. Cheaper to run and choice/security of materials is the main gain with rebuildables these days. It will TC with SS mesh. I dunno if there is a feemax SS meh coil.

Do you think it will be easy enough to wick?

 

[Punk In Drublic]

I dunno if there is a feemax SS mesh coil.

There is.

@UncleEddy - Taste is a matter of opinion and highly subjective. What taste good to me, may not taste good to someone else. Owning the FM Mesh Pro, Profile and Profile Unity I will not say one tastes better than another, but different. Those differences must have value to an end user.

The Profile RDA and the Unity RTA are not difficult to set up. Like all rebuildables, there is a learning curve but setting them up properly is quite basic.

 

[bombastinator]

Do you think it will be easy enough to wick?

Define “easy enough”. It’s no more difficult to wick that most other RDAs. Different, but no more difficult.

 

[UncleEddy]

There is.

@UncleEddy - Taste is a matter of opinion and highly subjective. What taste good to me, may not taste good to someone else. Owning the FM Mesh Pro, Profile and Profile Unity I will not say one tastes better than another, but different. Those differences must have value to an end user.

The Profile RDA and the Unity RTA are not difficult to set up. Like all rebuildables, there is a learning curve but setting them up properly is quite basic.

This is a great answer. I will try out the Unity RTA first, and the RDA when I purchase a squoink device. Thank you all for the help!

 

[Punk In Drublic]

I am sure you will enjoy it. Given it is an RTA that relies on Capillary Action to saturate the wicks, it is a little more complex than the Profile RDA – but it is not difficult to wick, and with a little exposure, wicking will become second nature.

Just ensure there is enough cotton under the mesh screen – any voids here will lead to hot spots, which leads to dry burns. It will take approx. 2 to 3 times the amount of cotton that a typical 3mm coil uses. Any more, and you may choke the Capillary Action, less and the deck will flood. The Unity does come with wicking instructions which works well if followed. Plus there are dozens of tutorials to be found on YouTube.

There is a running Profile Unity thread with some interesting pointers – any questions, feel free to drop a comment there.

Wotofo Profile Unity RTA

 

[MrStik]

I have two Profile Unity RTA's, and they are not fun to wick if you are a beginner. IT takes a lot of cotton and you have to make sure it is just right or you will get flooding and leaking. My first wick was good and I got flooding when I filled the tank. But found out from others here that if you close the air flow and fill then place the top cap back on and turn it upside down before twisting it in place, no flooding.

My second one, I was a bit hasty on the wicking and it flooded like a MF. I trimmed too much off and it flooded on every pull. So I had to rewick it and now it works great. Just make sure you take your time wicking.

One wick lasted me about 3 weeks on some sweet juice. It never burned, but it gunked up pretty well and I had to burn it off and rewick. But 3 weeks is not bad for a wick.

 

[Punk In Drublic]

Perhaps I am not the best to evaluate the difficulty of wicking the Unity vs other RTA’s given my limited exposure, but I do not find it difficult to properly wick at all. 3/4 of a Muji pad, with the harder layers removed, lightly rolled and cut in line with the edge of the build deck – fluffed to remove any compression from the cut but not to thin out the cotton. Insert enough cotton into the juice well to fill it up, but not tightly packed in. You want some room for the cotton to expand. Trim the rest of the cotton if needed so that it takes on a profile as depicted in the picture below. A wick, depending on how sugary the juice is can last a couple weeks to well over a month.

The amount of wick is due to design, and all mesh RBA’s will require a similar amount– you want enough under the mesh to remove any voids between the strip and the wick. But the amount is to be gauged like all RTA’s – too little can result in flooding which depending on design (bottom air as example) may leak….too much and you could choke off the flow. Every RTA has it’s learning curve, the Unity is no exception.

Flooding upon refill is due to a pressure build up within the tank. This can be mitigated by placing the cap tightly on the top of the tank and flipping before screwing it down. No need to close off the air ports, in fact it’s better to keep them open so that high pressure can be released.

 

[MrStik]

From my filling experience so far, keeping the air flow closed helps, especially if I am using juice that still use glass bottles and a dropper instead of the unicorn bottles. They take a bit longer to fill and I find that juice will flow into the deck due to gravity as well. So I close it up to be safe and I open the airflow after I turn the tank upside down to close the top cap before I turn it right side up.

Everyone will have their own process with this RTA and whatever works best will work.