To adjust air flow or to not

[Philip Eddy]

OK folks, as of late I have spent hundreds of dollars on new and so called improved drippers with Adjustable Air Flow. But, and this is all based on personal taste and vaping habits, my mods for dripping have 3 tugboats, and 2 patriots mounted, my attys siting in the tray zenith, plume veil, 2 tobhs, Omega, Magmas and a boat load of Igo products, all have the "airflow controls" at their largest settings.
I do not belong to the cloud crowd, I'm a flavor junkie, and I love an airy draw, Lung Hitter, so a while back I had a couple fo top caps made in hopes for the ultimate flavor, they do not have AFC, just small holes begging to be drilled, I had the inside of the cap turned to a conical shape ending at he drip tip hole, now they are mounted on my Vanillas and fit my patriot bases, so my point here is that after the last expenditure of 100 + I really only need and want for now a good looking functional dripper for flavor, let me know what you all think.

 

[Rule62]

I'm pretty much in the same boat, although I haven't gone so far as to have special top caps custom made. I have a collection of RDAs, some with AFC, some without. AFC isn't something I use much, and some of my favorite RDAs are non AFC; just fixed holes. They include the Brass Monkey, Tugboat, Enigma, Patriot, and even the UD Igo W5. I have purchased AFC drippers, largely because I'm intrigued by the design, whether or not they also have AFC; such as the Magma, Viking, Trident V2, Helios, Castle, and Omega. Even with these, I rarely change the air flow. Some I'd like, even without the AFC feature. Being a former cigar and pipe smoker, I like a nice, full, thick vape. But the cloud itself is secondary to flavor. I couldn't care less about 'cloud chasing'.

 

[State O' Flux]

I'm a flavor junkie, and I love an airy draw, Lung Hitter...
I really only need and want for now a good looking functional dripper for flavor, let me know what you all think.

"Flavor"... is such a broad and, as you've stated, subjective variable that RDA recommendations are a bit pointless - especially for the experienced dripper. What to try next? I don't know... what will be introduced as the next great RDA (or RDA accessory), tomorrow?

I (inexplicable as it might seem) get some of my best flavor from an old, early model Nimbus drilled to 1.75mm, running dual compressed, 2mm ID, 27s at 0.6Ω with cotton, hemp, rayon or ramie. Is this the magic combination? Today it is... tomorrow, who knows? ;-)
Other than great juice capacity, the Magmas and Origens don't really offer much improvement - IMO. But hey... that's me, and my subjective tastes.

There's really nothing new in RDAs. Once you have acceptable air flow through atty and DT, decent juice capacity, some variation of vapor concentrator and a coil design/resistance set-up that provides a heat/vaporization level you like... all the RDAs start looking, functionally, the same, and only quality of build, "style" and price point seem to be the main selling features.
Lately... with the Gus Estia, RDAs aren't quite the ultimate flavor machine they once were... again, IMO.

I've tried Vapin' Doughnuts, single to as many as 6 coils, resistances as low as 0.1Ω and near every wick material under the sun. Nothing stands out, beyond what you've already done, as a major game changer.

Perhaps... when we have inductive heating, where we can control temperature, rise and dwell time - juice delivery and vapor density... all from a app on our (brain substitute) "smart" phones, will we be satisfied.

I seem to be blathering incoherently now, so... I'm done.

 

[Rule62]

I do like the more recent feature of under the coil air flow, such as the Viking or the Magma. Other than that, there are just a lot of RDAs which are all basically the same.

 

[Philip Eddy]

Great additional stuff i totally forgot about, and some of which I have yet to try, coils, I like 24 ga, 5/64 bit and 7/64 bit, I generally use cotton for wicks, but you mentioned Rayon, how is that? would it wick up OK in a vertical coil setup? I have read some other comments on rayon.

 

[State O' Flux]

I do like the more recent feature of under the coil air flow, such as the Viking or the Magma.

They do seem to 'carry' flavor concentrations a bit better than side flow attys... so I suppose that would qualify as a marked and notable improvement.

There are 'those' days where my overall physical and mental state seems to prohibit anything from tasting good... so qualified judgment calls are, along with decent flavor, in the toilet. ;-)

 

[State O' Flux]

Great additional stuff i totally forgot about, and some of which I have yet to try, coils, I like 24 ga, 5/64 bit and 7/64 bit, I generally use cotton for wicks, but you mentioned Rayon, how is that? would it wick up OK in a vertical coil setup? I have read some other comments on rayon.

There's a gigantic thread on Rayon... positives and potential negatives - heated arguments abounding. Great fun!

Although I like Rayon for it's flavor "transparency" and juice transfer efficiency... and have no fear of it killing me any time soon, as a proponent of individual responsibility... I believe that it's entirely your call to determine it's safety.

Did you run with scissors as a child? I did. ;-)

 

[Rule62]

Great additional stuff i totally forgot about, and some of which I have yet to try, coils, I like 24 ga, 5/64 bit and 7/64 bit, I generally use cotton for wicks, but you mentioned Rayon, how is that? would it wick up OK in a vertical coil setup? I have read some other comments on rayon.

Vaping goes through a lot of 'this is the latest and greatest thing' periods. Right now, there is a huge thread going on about rayon. Last week, it was Japanese cotton. Before that, it was Organic cotton balls, and whether you should boil them or not. I think there's a lot of 'placebo effect' in play. Whatever works for each vapor, they will defend as being the best. Personally, I've used all kinds of cotton, boiled, un boiled, Japanese pads, and rayon. I like both the Koh Gen Do cotton pads and rayon. I don't find any earth shattering difference between the two, as far as flavor quality. I lean toward the KGD cotton, simply for ease of use.

 

[Philip Eddy]

Good point, I think my next little project may be to take one of those caps drill it low and drill through the base as well, get some air under the coil and let it swirl in the conical cap, sounds pretty impressive huh?
on another note: I was not one to run with scissors, I was one to run and use scissors at the same time, and still have the scars

 

[State O' Flux]

I think there's a lot of 'placebo effect' in play.

Nominated for today's "winner of the internets".

 

[vapero]

I own 18 drippers and I've learned that what really makes the difference is your build. so now I settled (for now) on the origen as it holds a ton of juice (yesterday I just dripped 4 times in the whole day!, and I tend to chain vape)

for me the next game changer won't be in quality of vape as I think I have it sorted out but in convenience; that's not a really exiting thing but essential for my needs, I just need to get the veritas as it seems to be leak proof.

edit. wow it has been cloned!

 

[sawtoothscream]

AFC isnt needed if you know what you want. If you dont they are nice or if you change your vaping style down the road. WIth my trident I use the largest and second to smallest on the same build depending on if I want to take lung hits or mouth to lungs. I lik ethe option

My brother and his friends are just into big clouds so for them its usless seeing how they just bore out the holes and only take lung hits.

What im finding though is on lung hits I lik ethe flavor given off of the more airy set ups. Plan on boring out my trident 3mm hole to teh same size as the one I put in my igo L. airy, but just tight enough to feel a little resistance.

 

[Rule62]

Nominated for today's "winner of the internets".

Yeah, in reality, my $25 Igo W5 tastes as good as my $115 Magma.

 

[State O' Flux]

Yeah, in reality, my $25 Igo W5 tastes as good as my $115 Magma.

Shhhh... someone might hear you.

Un-reality is what dreams, and ECF, are made of.

 

[Philip Eddy]

IGO w with crest cap is pretty good setup, I picked one of those up but still run he air wide open, also dremeled out the holes on my TOBHs so they are a bit larger and continuous, I'm thinking that for flavor adjustable is not necessary, but rather a good build, large enough air holes, good wicking, and some sort of a reduced or conical chamber for the vapor to mix, don't know for sure but my next go at it will be the rayon wick, with a tamer build, maybe a slower heating coil so as to let the vapor collect a bit before the draw, I guess I'll try that tonight with the new caps,