The Money Shot !!!!!
I initially filled with the typical needle tipped bottle, but also was able to slowly fill using my bigger cosmo twist top bottles. BIG PLUS !!!!!! No need to worry about a "gravity dump" when filling !!!!!!
Fully sauced .....
Ready for testing riding on top of the Lost Vapes Hyperion running at 100 watts ....
Testing/Usage:
TBH, I went into this review with a lot of hesitations. Firstly, NOT designed by
BJ SHI ?? !!!!! Who was HAJOY ?? Top Coiler, dangling coils or dry hits ?? And finally how about the flavor, and/or leaking ??
Well, I have never been MORE surprised. I still don't know where BJ SHI is, or who HAJOY is, but this, the 4th version of the SteamCrave Aromamizer RDTA WAS a winner !!!! The fit, finish, and precision looks are exactly what we've grown accustomed to from SteamCrave. Very well designed, machined, and with all of the well thought out o-rings to keep it tight, and dry. I struggled when I first received the v.4 on how in depth to go. I decided to JUST test it in RDTA mode, using the supplied coils, and with normal cotton tail lengths to mimic what MOST users would encounter. I may at some point dive back into it in RDA mode, and/or hook up my SteamCrave Pumper, but for now, let's just get into the tanked, RDTA mode testing.
The flavor on this v.4 was very good, very saturated, and accurate, which was a surprise as very often, top coilers (top air flow) can often sacrifice some flavor. I didn't do a ful inversion leak test, BUT, I did lay it completely on it's side with the airflow wide open, and guess what. NO LEAKS !!!! I couldn't do that with any of my other SteamCraves. Building on the postless deck was very easy, and the provide coils, actually worked very well. Wicking it was very easy, and I was VERY surprised with without using long, dangling tails in the tank I didn't experience any dry hits at all during all of my tests. The knurling, which is very often overlooked was perfectly implemented, and exactly where you needed it. VERY smooth airflow across all of the combinations I tried, with no whistling or port noise. And, as if it needed to be mentioned, I LOVED not having to shut of the juice flow (there isn't any), before filling !!!!!
Pros:
* Great looks and design
* Top juice filling worked flawlessly with needle tipped, and cosmo twist tops
* Outstandingly rich, dense, saturated flavor, with little to no perceivable flavor reduction
* Perfectly implemented o-rings, and knurling
* Spacious juice/wicking ports
* Postless and Mesh decks included (with cotton !!!!)
* RDA 2ml, RDTA 11ml, and 13ml options
* Spare tank glass included
* Numerous airflow options available
* Passed Leak Test
Cons:
* Filling with larger (specifically Cosmo Twist Tops) required slower filling
* Included multi tool flat head driver could be wider to better meet tip slotting
* It isn't free
Conclusion:
I was very glad to see all of my hesitations were unfounded after really getting into this one. I had very real concerns about dry hits without using extended wick tails, but during ALL of my testing, with normal tipping even when almost empty was enough to keep the party rolling. The whole "Where's BJ SHI" thing is still weighing on me, but I'll research that more. Great looks, saturated flavor, no leaking on it's side, easy to build on and fill, it's very hard to fault this one. If you want to RDA, RDTA, or even sqounk with a plethora of airflow options, you may want to pick this one up. I can honestly tell you this, at about the half way point of my testing, I already ordered another as a spare, if that helps you decide.
Colors:
Check out u/2whiskymike's write up, and VERY interesting alternate mesh wicking here.
As always, out to my faithful readers, if you HAVE indeed made it all the way down here, I thank you, and salute you for giving up some of YOUR free time to read this review. There is/was/is very little information out on this Plus v.4, so I hope this helps you out in that regard. Bonus shots for the worthy ...
