# Ijoy EXO RTA - (Another) Lazy Review



## Raindance (15/3/17)

Hi

Have been in possession of a new EXO RTA tank by IJOY for just over a week now and time to share my thoughts on it.

Just a bit of background. I am extremely fond of my AMMIT single coil tank with "3D airflow and was hoping Geekvape would release it as a 24mm so I could pair it with a 26650 mod. Noticing the EXO RTA had a similar single coil deck, I baught it as the only available alternative.



In the box you get a lot of goodies. The usual spare glass, O rings, Tool and spare screws PLUSS and additional extended glass and chimney section to increase the 2.2ml capacity to a whopping 6ml. Three fused Clapton coils are also included. Almost forgot, inluded there is also a airflow limmiter for the single coil deck which provides a nice restricted direct lung draw. I find this ideal for a lekker relaxing tobacco juice.





At 25mm diameter at the base widening to 26mm diameter at the juice control ring, it will only fit most larger mods although the 22m mod format seems to be making way for wider mods lately, so this may be less of an issue than it would have been a year or so ago. Fit and finish is right up there with the best of them. All threads are reasonably smooth with few exeptions and the turny twisty bits all opperate smooth and with an acceptable level of turning resistance. The juice flow control is a bit too easy in turning to my liking but it did not cause any problems during use. The airflow control ring can adjust from wide open to closed and is smooth in operation (No click settings) and just tight enough not to turn during normal handling of the mod. Wide open the air supply is almost unrestricted but I have noted that coil design can add extra restriction. The dual coil (Velocity style) deck has noticeably more airflow than the single coil one due to the massive airflow holes in the base of the deck right below the coils.

Juice flow control is achieved by twisting the tank section on the base and is effective. I have filled it with the flow control open (Single coil deck only) and no leaking was evident although excessive juice was noted on the first couple of vapes. The four holes allign with the four wicking ports on the dual deck and with two when in single coil mode.



Filling with juice is a breeze due to the massive holes provided. The fill cap is a bit finicky to seat after filling due to very shallow threads (More on that later) and when over tightened, can lead to unwhittingly dissasembling the tank when trying to remove it. Claimed 2.2ml capacity seems to be accurate and 6ml is also probably true. In extended mode it takes a s..tload of juice.





The standard drip tip is short and during results in lips touching the juice fill topcap. I do not like this, especially when vaping on such a short tank at high wattage which results in the topcap getting hotter than with taller tanks. For this reason the heatsink modification shown above. I dont think the heatsink does much sinking of heat but it at least raised the driptip from the topcap. As with the Ammit, engravings and signage is well done and adds some additional points of interest.



The build decks are conveniently large. As mentioned the single coil unit has "3D" airflow and comes supplied with an airflow restictor. Between the two decks I am sure this tank will provide for most users DLH requirements. MTL... nah, I dont think so. This is where the good news ends unfortunately. Grub Skrews... small phillips head grub screws... very small phillips heads... Whom is the sadist that thought this would be a good idea! Stripped one head just undoing it to put in the first build. These are this tanks biggest flaw. If not for these I would have rated this tank at least 25% better. Not only are they to tiny for the supplied screwdriver, due to their fragile nature, properly fastening a coil is virtually impossible. Anyone that has ever vaped on an atty with a loose coil(s) will know how frustrating that is.
Will replace these with allen grubs soon. (As soon as I can find ones that fit)



Both vaporizer chambers are the same with a sloped roof to aid airflow. Explains the excellent flavor this tank provides. Slightly better flavor noticed with the short chimney setup. In general this is on par, if not slightly better in shorty mode than the Ammit.

Wicking on both decks is easy and simmilar. (Try to) Fasten coil, Insert wick, cut and bend down to cover juice holes. Wicks and breathes like a fish. No airlocks or flooding observed to date.
As always the bottom line is how it vapes. When the coils are seated properly it vapes up a storm. Flavor is on point as mentioned before and with the dual coil deck inserted, clouds galore! However, 2.2ml on dual coils, even on a single, goes very fast. 6ml can be felt in the wallet while filling so a nice 4ml would have sufficed. (Vapers... impossible to please, are we not...)

This tank was designed to be low profile. In shorty mode (with standard drip tip) it is probably one of the shortest RTA's avaialble and I really like the short stubby look and feel. There is a price to pay for this however. And its not only the very limited juice capacity.
Normal tank threads and rings are wide and provide ample room for threads to allign when assembling them. On the EXO, these allignment areas are virtually not there and threads are short as well. I live in constant fear of cross threading when assembling. This is true for the top fill cap as well. Although my dual coil deck seats nicely, the single coil deck feels asif there is sand in the threads and does not seat as deep as the dual coil one. Neither leaks however so I guess its not a real problem.
The airflow ring is also very narrow and because I am running the tanks on a mod wider than the tank, not that easy to grip for adjusting.

In summation. I would love to love this tank but the grub screws kill it for me. I could live with the small tollerances and small capacity but those little deamons just ruin it for me. Best I can say is that I kind of like it. Out of 10 I would say I rate it 5.5 at the most. God is in the details...

Regards

Reactions: Like 3 | Winner 4


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## kev mac (15/3/17)

Raindance said:


> Hi
> 
> Have been in possession of a new EXO RTA tank by IJOY for just over a week now and time to share my thoughts on it.
> 
> ...


Tell it like it is Raindance,sounds like they would have hit a homer had they just paid attention to details.With all the competition out there you think they would. I am a bit surprised because Ijoy has been on point of late.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Stosta (15/3/17)

Great write-up @Raindance ! Not a lazy review at all, really enjoyed reading this. It reminds me a lot of the Merlin Mini?

Reactions: Thanks 1


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## daniel craig (15/3/17)

Great review @Raindance I was going to choose this instead of the Engine Nano but I'm glad I went with the Engine. After using the Merlin Mini and dealing with constant refilling, I think the Engine Nano was a good decision.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## daniel craig (15/3/17)

Stosta said:


> Great write-up @Raindance ! Not a lazy review at all, really enjoyed reading this. It reminds me a lot of the Merlin Mini?


I would say it's more comparable to the Ammit by Geekvape. The build deck is almost exactly the same.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Karel (15/3/17)

Thanx so much for the great review. I am really up to two minds... I want either the Ammit or the exo... Can't decide. What bugs me are those 2 demon little screws and the fact that you struggle so much to find replacements for them... If it is better that the ammit, you need to find screws still... Mmm, don't know which one is the better one...

Reactions: Thanks 1


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## Karel (15/3/17)

What size screws are those? Is it a metric size?


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## Raindance (15/3/17)

Karel said:


> What size screws are those? Is it a metric size?


@Karel, i really can not tell. I tried the flat top screws that came with another tank and they did fit but were too high for the atty to close.

Regards


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## Raindance (15/3/17)

kev mac said:


> Tell it like it is Raindance,sounds like they would have hit a homer had they just paid attention to details.With all the competition out there you think they would. I am a bit surprised because Ijoy has been on point of late.


I think the accountants got involved @kev mac . I do notice that IJOY has been upping their game and learning from the flaws of their previous "mistakes". The ridiculous airflow control on their first XL tank for instance has been replaced with a more practical one etc. Seems they have a Demming cycle based design methodology going on there.

We will see if future offerings improve on the silly grub screw issue.

Regards


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## Raindance (15/3/17)

Karel said:


> Thanx so much for the great review. I am really up to two minds... I want either the Ammit or the exo... Can't decide. What bugs me are those 2 demon little screws and the fact that you struggle so much to find replacements for them... If it is better that the ammit, you need to find screws still... Mmm, don't know which one is the better one...


If you are looking for single coil only, the Ammit would be my choice. One of my daily drivers and has not yet set a foot wrong. My next purchase will be the OBS Nano. Just waiting for them to land on our shores. Worth a look I think. @Rob Fisher just posted a review on one and it seems awesome.

Regards

Edit: Was wrong on the review. Find it here. It was @daniel craig whom authored it. Sorry about that.

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 1


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## incredible_hullk (15/3/17)

Raindance said:


> If you are looking for single coil only, the Ammit would be my choice. One of my daily drivers and has not yet set a foot wrong. My next purchase will be the OBS Nano. Just waiting for them to land on our shores. Worth a look I think. @Rob Fisher just posted a review on one and it seems awesome.
> 
> Regards



Available here @Raindance 

https://theecigstore.co.za/MAT408/OBS Engine Nano

Reactions: Thanks 1


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## Raindance (15/3/17)

incredible_hullk said:


> Available here @Raindance
> 
> https://theecigstore.co.za/MAT408/OBS Engine Nano


Will see next month. My wallet is currently in intensive care. Being on annual leave is an expensive experience...

Thanks and regards

Edit: Very reasonably priced i see!

Reactions: Like 1 | Can relate 1


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## kev mac (15/3/17)

Raindance said:


> I think the accountants got involved @kev mac . I do notice that IJOY has been upping their game and learning from the flaws of their previous "mistakes". The ridiculous airflow control on their first XL tank for instance has been replaced with a more practical one etc. Seems they have a Demming cycle based design methodology going on there.
> 
> We will see if future offerings improve on the silly grub screw issue.
> 
> Regards


I gotta say I really like my Tornado Nano and my experience with the Solo V2 has been up to the task.


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## Karel (16/3/17)

Raindance said:


> If you are looking for single coil only, the Ammit would be my choice. One of my daily drivers and has not yet set a foot wrong. My next purchase will be the OBS Nano. Just waiting for them to land on our shores. Worth a look I think. @Rob Fisher just posted a review on one and it seems awesome.
> 
> Regards
> 
> Edit: Was wrong on the review. Find it here. It was @daniel craig whom authored it. Sorry about that.




Thanx bud.

Will have a look at them.. The OBS is the one with that sliding cap for refilling hey?!? I don't know yet if I like the OBS with that sliding cap though...


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## Raindance (16/3/17)

Karel said:


> Thanx bud.
> 
> Will have a look at them.. The OBS is the one with that sliding cap for refilling hey?!? I don't know yet if I like the OBS with that sliding cap though...


The sliding cap spoiled me when i was using the crius tanks. So easy, just lift, fill and close. No dissasembly and loose parts floating around. One of many key reasons i will be getting a Nano.

Regards


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## Karel (16/3/17)

Raindance said:


> The sliding cap spoiled me when i was using the crius tanks. So easy, just lift, fill and close. No dissasembly and loose parts floating around. One of many key reasons i will be getting a Nano.
> 
> Regards




Doesn't the sliding parts leak or start giving issues after a while? I think it is super convenient, I am just a little bit afraid of that...


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## daniel craig (16/3/17)

Karel said:


> Doesn't the sliding parts leak or start giving issues after a while? I think it is super convenient, I am just a little bit afraid of that...


After a period of time juice collects on the filling mechanism. Due to this, when you refill the tank and close it, a little bit of juice gets pushed down the side of the tank. All you have to do is just use a tissue and wipe it and you're good to go. I've used the crius for a long time and never had leaking issues, just that same problem with juice collecting on it.

Reactions: Agree 2


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