The Official AQUA RBA Guide

[Vaponators]

As a follow up to a few of my previous comments about the AQUA RBA and as a result of seeing the same questions I had being asked by others, I thought this would be a good place to try and gather up all of the helpful information available on the AQUA. I've been using it for a few weeks now. I did have some issues with leaking at first but once I got the build and cotton done properly, it quickly became my favorite tank system. The vapor production is very good but the flavor production is excellent. Even better than my kayfun and my kayfun is awesome!



Please feel free to add your comments, tips or tricks. A big thanks to vapdivrr, folkphys, suspectK and Rodeorat for their contributions and helping me fine tune my setup.

Build
Yes, the build area and deck are kind of tight so getting your coils on there can be a bit of a pain. A little patience needed here.

Coils
Coils should be between 1.8 mm to 2.0 mm Inner Diameter although I have gone up to 3.0 mm and it still worked well. The AQUA needs a healthy amount of cotton to work properly so don't skimp on the wicks and make sure your coils are large enough to accommodate for that. 28 gauge or 30 gauge Kanthal seems to work best for me. Resistance is up to you but I've been quite happy at 1.1 ohms.

Wicks
Wicks should pull through coils firmly without distorting coils. Use a generous amount of cotton for the channels but be careful not to over-stuff or choke the channels. Too much wick will block the channels and give you dry, burnt hits. Not enough wick will lead to flooding, gurgling or leaks. The pic below shows good coils but insufficient cotton in the tails of the wicks which can lead to leaks.

Juice Control
Tightening the Juice Control by turning the top of the chimney clockwise reduces the flow of juice to the wicks. Loosening it by turning the chimney counter-clockwise increases the flow of juice to the wicks. I suppose it will depend on your particular juice but I find that leaving my Juice Control fully closed gives me the perfect amount of juice even when chain vaping. No dry hits. I have noticed that my chimney wobbles a bit when I begin to loosen the Juice Control. It hasn't been an issue for me but that wobble might affect your performance. Also, if you're not careful, you may inadvertently loosen the chimney when unscrewing the top cap because of the tight fit between the top cap and the o-ring on the top of the chimney.

Filling
You basically have two filling options: Top fill or bottom fill. Both are effective when done properly although most of us have noticed that you can get an extra half ml or so by bottom filling. Be aware when using the top fill method to make sure you hold the top of the chimney in place as you unscrew the top cap.

Top Fill

Originally Posted by folkphys

To fill/refill the Aqua, I simply remove the top cap, pour in the juice until it covers the top of the chimney bell, screw top cap back on but only until the threads catch, invert, finish threading on the top cap. Wait. Flip upright. I do not close the air flow control, or adjust the chimney (juice control) it's always fully tightened down.

Sometimes it will gurgle a bit, but that is it.

My guess is that your flooding is a wick problem or less likely: a bad seal somewhere. I snug my wick ends down inside the vertical channels only, and not to tightly -- I usually have to trim and taper the cotton/rayon so as not to plug them up completely.

Bottom Fill

Originally Posted by vapdivrr
I also have never had an issue with to much wick tails in channels. Like previously mentioned, the aquas channels are pretty dam wide so they can handle a decent amount of wick. 3 mm diameter coil is to big, also like mentioned above the ideal size is 1.8 to 2.0mm. When putting the cotton down the channels the wick material should just about fill the channel and should come out just about even with the threads, maybe a little less. In your pic, it looks like your wick tails are only filling half of the channels and fall way short of being kind of close to the threads. You definitely don't want them too puffy as to get caught when you screw on the chimney but you can get them fairly close. As for filling, the top method does work good, but I have found the bottom method works better. If you did want to give it another go, try this. The only thing you need to do before filling from the bottom is to make sure the juice control is not jammed closed. As long as it is slightly open that's all that matters. For me, I just leave it in the same position as when I vape. So as long as the juice control is not closed, just turn device upside down and unscrew base from tank. Set base aside and fill tank to edge of chimney, once done just screw back base. As your screwing back base stop at your desired air flow height, no need to screw all the way tight then back out to where you need it. Once your at your spot, just turn back right side up. The trickiest part of this method is catching the threads as you screw back the base but if you look at the red oring as you do it this will keep you square.

Both of these fill methods work very well for me and I have absolutely no leaks this way. Sometimes a bit of gurgling at first but that clears out very quickly.

Video Tutorials
There are several YouTube videos with step by step build instructions. Here's one of them:
Aqua Atomizer Step by Step Build - YouTube

One other issue I have noticed is that the top of the chimney pools up with a few drops of juice so I need to dab it dry and clear the drip tip a few times a day. I believe folkphys referred to his as a "spitting dragon". lol

Hope this helps those new AQUA owners with some of the basic questions. If I've missed anything or anyone has anything else to add, please feel free to chime in.

 

[bm2112]

This is a great guide. I've tried my best to like the Aqua but still hate it dearly. Maybe this will help

 

[Vaponators]

This is a great guide. I've tried my best to like the Aqua but still hate it dearly. Maybe this will help

Thanks. I hope it helps. Give it another try. Plenty of help on here if you have questions. You do need a bit of patience but IMHO the end result is worth it.

Good Luck & Happy Vaping.

 

[muzichead]

Here's a link to any and all info on the Aqua... http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...-aqua-has-been-cloned.html?highlight=the+aqua

 

[Gaspar74]

I've found that closing airholes completely as well as tightening down the chimney then top fill works. Isy get couple drops at first but that goes away quickly. Open up chimney or juice flow about 1 full turn after opening airflow and it vapes great.

 

[vapdivrr]

Thanks for the shout vaponator and it all seems to be there, nice! One thing I like to do whether it makes a difference or not is to make the wick like a square "n". When my tails leave the coil they are straight out, then straight down. I like the first straight horizontal part fluffy and broad, then go straight down. I have seen many pics where they come from coil and slumply, go sort of angled down to channels. I think by having straight fluffy tops, it holds more juice up there as like a reservoir. Another cool feature of the post nuts is that they can be switched around for many configurations. For my horizontal coils I have a small nut low on one post and a high nut on the other, this makes the coils attachment more natural because of the way a lead comes off of the coil. As you know one lead is over and the other side is under with this coil, so it's nice to have the coils straight when attaching. Also I have attached the dual coils to 4 different areas of the post where every lead has its own spot. Also with vertical coils you don't need to bend up a lead because of the low and hi nut posts. I love the aqua and get excited talking about her.