Rebuildable Dripper Atomizers

Rebuidable Dripper Atomizers

Once you’ve gotten comfortable with your experience, you may want to branch out into using a rebuildable dripper atomizer (or RDA).  With these, you can’t just pick up a pack of replacement coils like you can with the tanks out there, so you’ll want to learn more about coils and possibly building them.

But most brick & mortar vape shops offer coil builds – some may even offer to teach you how to build your own – and a lot of websites out there offer pre-built coils you can buy and install into your RDA yourself.  So I’ll talk about the basics of coil building and Ohm’s Law in another post.

Right now, I just want to concentrate on how to choose the RDA that’s right for you.

Authentic vs Clone

One thing you may want to decide upfront is where you fall in the “Authentic vs Clone” debate.  I happen to own several RDAs – some are authentic and some are clones.  But what does this all mean in the world of vaping?

Authentic RDAs

Simply, an authentic is just that – it is the authentic product built by the company that first created that design and look.  Depending on the brand and the build of the RDA, authentics can run anywhere from $20 upwards of $100.

Some of the big names, company wise, in authentic RDAs include Congrevape, Compvape, Indulgence, WoToFo, and Council of the Vapor. 

But what does this mean for you if you’re shopping for an authentic RDA? 

One important thing.  Knowing the names of the companies can help you know if the RDA you buy is truly authentic.

Other than that, the company names are unimportant.  No one really remembers the names of these companies – they just remember the names of the RDAs made by them.  Names like Doge, Troll, Royal Hunter, Mutation, El Cabron, and Twisted Messes are the RDAs you’ll be looking at when you start shopping for authentic RDAs.

Clones

Clones are essentially just a copy of the popular RDAs.  Once an RDA gains enough of a following, some companies start producing their own versions of them in hopes of capitalizing on that popularity.  Some of the clones are nothing but cheap, cheap pieces of hardware meant for these companies to make a quick buck but others are as close to being perfect imposters as you can get (these are classified as 1:1 clones).

These clones are normally priced much cheaper than the authentic RDAs they are copying.

The Argument

The main point of contention when it comes to choosing an authentic RDA or a clone is what you’re willing to support.  Do you want to support the company that originally designed the RDA and worked to produce the hardware in the first place?  Or are you willing to sacrifice for the price?

It’s up to you.

Personally, I own both authentics and clones.  If I like an RDA and I like the price, I’m not picky about whether it’s an authentic one.  I’ll take a clone if it works and the price is right.

Design

When you go to buy your RDA, the most important aspect is the design.  The design of the RDA itself is what will influence your experience with that RDA.  Things like the number of posts inside the RDA, the airflow, the space to house your coils, the depth of the juice well in the deck, etc. are all things you will want to consider when you buy choose your hardware.

Let’s look at each piece of the design of your RDA.

Top Cap

The top cap of your RDA is not just for looks.  While size and shape definitely does determine how stylish your RDA is, the different elements that make up your top cap also controls how well your RDA will work.

The top cap itself is normally two pieces – an insert to control airflow and the top piece where your mouth goes.  This top piece can have an delrin insulator inside to help conduct heat to keep your lips from burning.

Materials

Your top cap is normally made of stainless steel or copper.  If the cap is a color other than that stainless steel color or copper colored, it’s an enamel of some sort to make the cap itself match the multitude of mods on the market.

Tip

The tip of your top cap can be made of stainless steel, pyrex (a type of safe glass), or delrin (a type of BPA-free plastic).  It can either be the standard narrow drip tip, wide bore drip tip, or a chuff.  All these different tips control the amount of vapor that flows through the top of your RDA when you’re vaping.  (In the case of the Mad Hatter RDA, the tip of the cap is a hinged chuff cap.  You can flip the cap back without having to remove it to drip your juice on your cotton.)

Height

The height of your top cap can be an important decision.  Because the top cap is made of metal, a shorter cap height will heat up faster than a taller one.  These taller top caps are normally referred to as being vaulted.

Fins

Some RDAs include a type of heat sync fin in the top cap to help the cap itself stay cooler as you vape.

Airflow

The top cap itself is the home of your airflow.  This comes via holes and slots machined into the metal to allow for good airflow in and out of the RDA.  In a lot of the RDAs, the insert your tip goes into has adjustable slots in it that you can use to block none, some, or all of the airflow holes.

The airflow control function is an important function for RDAs. The airflow holes will affect the flavor & vapor amount. Generally, higher airflow = more vapor, and lower airflow = more flavor. The lower the resistance of your coils, the more airflow you’ll need, so if you’re going to be experimenting with different coil builds, it’s great to be able to tinker with your airflow too. But what makes for better airflow?

·         Comes with different sized holes or not. Those RDAs with different sized air holes will be a better choice, as they can be used by different people, whose airflow requirements are different.

·         The position of holes. Those RDAs with surrounded air holes will be a better choice, as the air can get in the atomizer from different angle so as to keep the balance of flavor & vapor.

·         The method to adjust the airflow. Those RDAs with airflow control ring will be a better choice, as it will be more convenient for users to adjust the airflow.

Deck

The deck is the lower piece of your RDA where you’ll install your coils, place your wicking material, and apply your juice.

Depth of Deck

RDAs with a deeper deck (sometimes referred to as the juice well) can hold more wick and liquid, and have a better heat control to protect users’ hands hurting from overheat. But also, it will be inconvenient to carry if there is a lot of juice in the atomizer.  Tipping it at all in your pocket or a bag when the juice well holds a lot of juice may result in a mess you have to clean up.

Inner Posts

The posts inside your deck is where you will install your coils, so the posts themselves are quite important.  They are made of conductive metal to allow electricity to flow through the coils, allowing them to heat evenly. 

The outer posts are referred to as your negative posts and the inner post(s) are your posts are the positives for your coil leads.  Most of these posts will have holes predrilled to make installing your coils easier.  For predrilled holes, each post will have a screw on the top that tightens down to hold the coil in place.  If there are no holes drilled, you will have to wrap your coil wire around the post itself.

Depending upon the RDA, the number of posts will vary anywhere from 2 to upwards of 6 posts.  The number of posts inside, however, determines space left inside your deck to install your coils.  More posts = less space so you’ll have to watch the size of your builds.

The average for the RDAs you’ll find in most stores is 3 or 4 (some “4 post” designs actually include a single center post that is “divided” into two posts by having a wide center post with 2 positive holes drilled into it) posts inside the deck.  With a traditional 3 post setup, you’ll have to use the single positive for both coils in a dual coil build.

Warning:  do NOT let the coils touch the posts as you install your build.

Contact Pin

The contact pins are the threaded pin at the bottom outside of the deck.  This is what you’ll screw into your mod to allow electricity to flow from the mod itself into the RDA to heat your coils.

In order to have a better conductivity, contact pins made usually made from silver (or silver plate) or copper (silver and copper are 2 of the top metals for the electricity conductivity.)

Outer deck

The outer deck may come with airflow holes or slots machined into the metal itself.  If you buy an RDA with these airflow controls, you will have to watch how much juice you use and where you juice up your cotton because it may leak onto your mod if you use too much juice.

As you become more advanced in your vaping and feel ready to choose your first RDA, please do not let all this information overwhelm you.  There are people all over the internet – and in your favorite brick & mortar store – who are willing to help you with any questions or concerns you may have about these atomizers.  They were all once where you are and understand the difficulties you may have choosing the hardware that’s right for you.

Once you make the jump from a tank or clearomizer to an RDA, though, you will never look back.  The hardware takes you to a whole new level in flavor and vapor production.