# A tank for Duffie



## Duffie12 (28/10/16)

Hey guys and gals of ecigssa land!

So this is another recommendation request thread, yes I know there are a zillion of these but hopefully I can wittle my options down a bit based on my preferences.

Basically I'm after flavour and I vape 0mg. Not interested in clouds really, so my ideal tank would be max flavour min clouds... also I only vape casually so I don't really need something with a large capacity. Actually a small capacity or something that uses juice quickly is actually a benefit because I like to change juices. I think I prefer MtL, or maybe a restricted lung hit... but haven't toyed with DL too much. I find that sub-ohm DL hits leave make me heavy chested and phlegmy.

Currently I own an Ego One CT (still the most reliable hassle free device I've used), a Cubis (was okay but I find the coils die very very quickly, or maybe I had a bad batch, but the claptons only last me 2 days), a Target and a Melo III mini.

The Cubis is basically out of rotation because the coils don't seem to last (maybe I should try a new batch?).
The Ego One is awesome but I don't think it works well for the higher VG juices now designed for sub-ohm tanks (in other words tast is sometimes muted...).
The Target and Melo 3 mini were used with the cCell coils which was aswesome for a while, till my latest pack of coils tried to kill me... so I'm thinking maybe I should consider an RTA.

Big catch though is that I kinda suck at fiddly things. Like really suck... so ideally I would be able to use pre-rolled coils that I would then wick. Ideal RTA for me (I think) is single coil, maybe 0.5 to 1 ohm builds and easy to wick.

Based on people's reviews I'm trying to decide between an Avo, Serpent Mini or Goblin Mini V3. Avo because it seems like the wicking is easy, you just drop the tails into the lower tank and don't have to worry about leaking because the tank is on the bottom right? Serpent Mini because of how @Rob Fisher raves about the flavour, which is what I'm after, and Goblin Mini because it seems like it is better at MTL than the above?

Any thoughts or suggestions guys?

Oh, and I don't like a very warm vape.

(P.S. sorry for the wall of text)


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## Rob Fisher (28/10/16)

@Duffie12 none of those tanks really excel at MTL and neither does the cCell Melo tanks... but if you like the Target and Melo 3 tanks and the airflow of them then an RTA is a great idea... I must say I was like you and hated the thought of fiddling (despite me fiddling with my REO's for a couple of years) with RTA's... and that was until I found the Serpent Mini 25 with a Cotton Bacon Wick... the flavour is simply so good and consistent with no dud commercial coils and the ceramic coil crap that we keep getting that I couldn't ignore it any more.

I have avoided the Goblin 3 because I had such a torrid time with the original Goblin but I understand that it performs pretty well and offers a tighter draw. Maybe some of the Goblin fans can chip in here. I must say I'm tempted to get one to see how it performs.

@Duffie12 you have been around the vaping scene a while now and you have played with a few options and I urge you to look at an RTA. It doesn't take long to get used to making and wicking your own coils and there is a certain amount of satisfaction doing it... added to that you have the option of doing different builds in the same tank to suit your own style.

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## blujeenz (28/10/16)

Like Rob says none of those tanks are really MTL, in your shoes I'd try either the Kayfun V5, easy building, or the Rose V3, even easier deck to build.
I figure the SXK clones of both are worth the money and thats why I ordered 1 of each from FastTech.
If you dont fancy that route, then the single coil deck for the Serpent mini 25 with a reducer in the airflow should float your boat.

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## daniel craig (28/10/16)

A good MTL RTA is the Merlin RTA which is a single coil RTA and feautures a velocity style deck. I've used both the serpent mini 25mm and the merlin and for MTL tye merlin gets the upper hand.

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## Soutie (28/10/16)

Rob Fisher said:


> I have avoided the Goblin 3 because I had such a torrid time with the original Goblin but I understand that it performs pretty well and offers a tighter draw. Maybe some of the Goblin fans can chip in here. I must say I'm tempted to get one to see how it performs.



I'm problably the foremost fanboi for the goblin mini v3. The little tank is so solid, two interchangeable decks and they both preform amazingly. Currently running the dual in my tank and the single in my wife's. I can't really comment on the MTL side though, it just doesn't feel natural to me anymore, but it offers a really nice restricted lung hit. It's honestly my everyday carry. I Tired the estoc tank last week and it lasted a few hours, the flavour wasn't even a fraction of what th gobo could give me.

Only downside is that it's a thirsty little beast, Especially with the dual coil deck. 

But when it comes to simplicity of use I would say the serpent 22 is best. It's a breeze to learn to to wick and coil and performs really amazingly. Haven't tried the 25 as yet but I could imagine that it would be a great tank.

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## Akash (28/10/16)

I second @daniel craig. I have a merlin and i cannot put it down. Does mtl well and excells at tight lung draw which i prefer. Look into this

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## Duffie12 (28/10/16)

Rob Fisher said:


> @Duffie12 none of those tanks really excel at MTL and neither does the cCell Melo tanks... but if you like the Target and Melo 3 tanks and the airflow of them then an RTA is a great idea...



Thanks @Rob Fisher, to be honest I liked the draw of the target and Melo 3 with the 0.9 cCells that I had so an RTA that is similar to that would be great. I don't like too tight a draw so maybe I should've been more specific.



blujeenz said:


> Like Rob says none of those tanks are really MTL, in your shoes I'd try either the Kayfun V5, easy building, or the Rose V3, even easier deck to build.
> I figure the SXK clones of both are worth the money and thats why I ordered 1 of each from FastTech.
> If you dont fancy that route, then the single coil deck for the Serpent mini 25 with a reducer in the airflow should float your boat.



Will have a look thanks for the suggestion 



daniel craig said:


> A good MTL RTA is the Merlin RTA which is a single coil RTA and feautures a velocity style deck. I've used both the serpent mini 25mm and the merlin and for MTL tye merlin gets the upper hand.



Will also add it to my consideration list 



Soutie said:


> I'm problably the foremost fanboi for the goblin mini v3. The little tank is so solid, two interchangeable decks and they both preform amazingly. Currently running the dual in my tank and the single in my wife's. I can't really comment on the MTL side though, it just doesn't feel natural to me anymore, but it offers a really nice restricted lung hit. It's honestly my everyday carry. I Tired the estoc tank last week and it lasted a few hours, the flavour wasn't even a fraction of what th gobo could give me.
> 
> Only downside is that it's a thirsty little beast, Especially with the dual coil deck.
> 
> But when it comes to simplicity of use I would say the serpent 22 is best. It's a breeze to learn to to wick and coil and performs really amazingly. Haven't tried the 25 as yet but I could imagine that it would be a great tank.



Thanks @Soutie I was tempted to try the Estoc but if the Goblin is better it certainly jumps up in my list. How easy is the Goblin to build on/wick? What builds do you have in your wife's tank vs yours? Interested in how they compare. Maybe I should go for the SM if it is easier for a first RTA. I really don't do well building. I had a Sapor RDA and never managed to use it. That's why I was hoping to buy some of them pre-rolled coils which seem to be available.



Akash said:


> I second @daniel craig. I have a merlin and i cannot put it down. Does mtl well and excells at tight lung draw which i prefer. Look into this



Thanks for that as well.


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## Soutie (28/10/16)

Duffie12 said:


> Thanks @Soutie I was tempted to try the Estoc but if the Goblin is better it certainly jumps up in my list. How easy is the Goblin to build on/wick? What builds do you have in your wife's tank vs yours? Interested in how they compare. Maybe I should go for the SM if it is easier for a first RTA. I really don't do well building. I had a Sapor RDA and never managed to use it. That's why I was hoping to buy some of them pre-rolled coils which seem to be available.



I'm running single coil 3mm 26g stainless in my wife's gobin, the wicking on the single coil is a breeze as long as you are running at least 3mm wraps, the juice holes are MASSIVE. I run stainless on hers as she likes the TC and it causes less headaches for me = no dry hits. The dual is slightly trickier but I'm running dual coil 2.4mm 26g kanthal and no problems at all, wicks easy but in fairness I did get all my wicking advice from this video and works like a charm

The goblin is a winner for me cause you have the interchangeable decks, you can start with the single and as you get adventurous you can just replace the deck with the dual instead of replacing the tank.

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## daniel craig (28/10/16)

On the merlin, there's and airflow screw which you can remove should you want more airflow, or leave it in if you want a tighter draw. Building in this tank was very easy and wicking wasn't too bad. I think the goblin mini v3 has a similar deck so building and wicking will also be relatively easy.

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## daniel craig (28/10/16)

By the way, the merlin is easier to build and wick compared to the serpent mini. The serpent has a subtank mini style deck so building is very much similar.


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## Duffie12 (28/10/16)

Thanks for the suggestions.

@Soutie, what does that come to in ohms? My mod is an iStick 60W but it only does TC for Ni and Ti, but VW mode should be good.


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## Soutie (28/10/16)

daniel craig said:


> By the way, the merlin is easier to build and wick compared to the serpent mini. The serpent has a subtank mini style deck so building is very much similar.



You you are spot on, the velocity style decks are just unmatched when it comes to easy building.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Duffie12 (28/10/16)

Oh, and is an Avo style atty easier to wick, without having to worry about leaks?


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## daniel craig (28/10/16)

Duffie12 said:


> Oh, and is an Avo style atty easier to wick, without having to worry about leaks?


The Avo isn't too bad when it comes to wicking and building. When I used it I was surprised that my first build and wick didn't have any leaking. The only thing I didn't like was having to tilt it to vape. With this RDTA you'll just need to master wicking which shouldn't take you too long to get right.

It will only leak if you wick it incorrectly and maybe if you hold it upside down.


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## Tai (28/10/16)

Ill say it again.... Goblin... lol. Make sure its the v3. Its got a tighter draw in single coil modes than previous versions and the deck was designed for it ( no pluggie thingie required). Easyest wicking of the bunch and totally leak proof. Better flavour than the Serpent 22. I prefer the SM25 for single coil because the GM airflow was too restrictive for me. I do think flavour on the GM 3 is a bit sharper though

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## Soutie (28/10/16)

Duffie12 said:


> Thanks for the suggestions.
> 
> @Soutie, what does that come to in ohms? My mod is an iStick 60W but it only does TC for Ni and Ti, but VW mode should be good.



Just had a look, mine is coming in at 0.49 and the wife's at 0.56, I try to build around 0.5.

They look the business too

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## Soutie (28/10/16)

Duffie12 said:


> Oh, and is an Avo style atty easier to wick, without having to worry about leaks?



The avo 22 is a pain to fill when running dual coil, the 24 is a lot better. You willl be surprised how quickly you get used to wicking an atty. I can wick any of my attys perfectly after way too many beers and in total darkness. Two or three builds and you will be a master.

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## RichJB (28/10/16)

Another vote for the Merlin here. There is a new Mini version of it too. Very easy Velocity to build on, customisable airflow between MTL and restricted lung hit, easy to wick, and has the best drip tip I've ever used. 

I have the Avo24 as well and it's just as good. Different but excellent too.

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## Andre (28/10/16)

RichJB said:


> Another vote for the Merlin here. There is a new Mini version of it too. Very easy Velocity to build on, customisable airflow between MTL and restricted lung hit, easy to wick, and has the best drip tip I've ever used.
> 
> I have the Avo24 as well and it's just as good. Different but excellent too.


Available where please?


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## RichJB (28/10/16)

@Andre, I don't think anybody has bought the new Mini in yet. It's very new and Mike Vapes was the first to review it. At the time of his review (one week ago) it was still on pre-release. For the full-sized Merlin, Vapers Corner has them.

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## Andre (28/10/16)

RichJB said:


> @Andre, I don't think anybody has bought the new Mini in yet. It's very new and Mike Vapes was the first to review it. At the time of his review (one week ago) it was still on pre-release. For the full-sized Merlin, Vapers Corner has them.


Thanks, visited VapersCorner just before you responded. Out of stock of course. How deep are those little wells that the wick tail fit into? Might just work for me with ceramic wicking.
EDIT: Am hijacking @Duffie12's thread. Sorry mate.

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## RichJB (28/10/16)

Gah, sorry, I didn't notice that they're out of stock. The full-sized Merlin has quite a chunky well, you can stuff a fair bit of cotton into it. What's nice about it is that unlike the Griffin and some other models, there is no ring that locks down on top of the juice wells. It's open and you just gently poke the cotton into the walled well, making sure that it sits flush against the wicking channel openings.

Unfortunately I don't have a camera to take pics of mine but Daniel DJLsb's review has good close-ups of the deck and wicking at around 9.30 into the video.

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## Duffie12 (31/10/16)

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, the Merlin does seem highly recommended just not readily available. So it is between the SM 25 and the Goblin Mini V3. Have decided to get both the Avo and one of either the SM 25 or the Goblin Mini V3 though will start with one first to see if I get the hang of it.

Has anyone used either with pre-rolled coils. Any recommendations on what to get?

Oh, and I do owe an apology to the might Ego One, I said it was tasting a little muted, but it was either just me or it just needed a different juice. It is back up to speed and performing well again


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## blujeenz (31/10/16)

Duffie12 said:


> Has anyone used either with pre-rolled coils. Any recommendations on what to get?


My goto metal for new tanks is the 26*32 kanthal clapton, but bear in mind the more metal a coil has the harder its going to be on batts.


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## Soutie (31/10/16)

Duffie12 said:


> Thanks for all the suggestions guys, the Merlin does seem highly recommended just not readily available. So it is between the SM 25 and the Goblin Mini V3. Have decided to get both the Avo and one of either the SM 25 or the Goblin Mini V3 though will start with one first to see if I get the hang of it.
> 
> Has anyone used either with pre-rolled coils. Any recommendations on what to get?
> 
> Oh, and I do owe an apology to the might Ego One, I said it was tasting a little muted, but it was either just me or it just needed a different juice. It is back up to speed and performing well again



Please please please give us some feedback when you have played with them for a little while, I want to know if and how badly I might be missing out.

Or maybe not, my FOMO..... and budget might not be able to handle it

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## RichJB (31/10/16)

The first coil I used in my Avo 24 was a pre-made 1Ω Geekvape Clapton. It worked fine and suited my vaping style of lower wattages around the 30W mark. But I didn't see any reason to persist with it. I have my own Ni80 simple single coils in there now. I don't really bother myself with these details. I just gooi something in there, push the Fire button and kap 'n vape, boet. It's all good.

If you are nervous about rolling your own, I reckon one of those Lemaga boxes with 48 premade coils would last you about a zillionty years. They're probably not the best coils ever but they do what it says on the box. I'd rather roll my own, though. You have more control over coil width, inner diameter, wire type, resistance, etc. Ag no man, look - now I am concerned about the details. Anyway, just go for it. Coiling isn't difficult.

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## Duffie12 (31/10/16)

RichJB said:


> The first coil I used in my Avo 24 was a pre-made 1Ω Geekvape Clapton. It worked fine and suited my vaping style of lower wattages around the 30W mark. But I didn't see any reason to persist with it. I have my own Ni80 simple single coils in there now. I don't really bother myself with these details. I just gooi something in there, push the Fire button and kap 'n vape, boet. It's all good.
> 
> If you are nervous about rolling your own, I reckon one of those Lemaga boxes with 48 premade coils would last you about a zillionty years. They're probably not the best coils ever but they do what it says on the box. I'd rather roll my own, though. You have more control over coil width, inner diameter, wire type, resistance, etc. Ag no man, look - now I am concerned about the details. Anyway, just go for it. Coiling isn't difficult.



Well, I've already got some pre-rolled UD coils, 1.2 ohm vanillas and 0.5 ohm claptons, just never got round to using them... was always intimidated by a dripper I won... They're 2.8mm ID so should be fine. I was curious though if anyone else had pre-rolled coil recommendations.


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## Duffie12 (4/11/16)

Okay guys, looks like I've got an interesting weekend ahead. VapeMail came with my brand new Avocado 24...


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## daniel craig (4/11/16)

Duffie12 said:


> Okay guys, looks like I've got an interesting weekend ahead. VapeMail came with my brand new Avocado 24...


What are your thoughts on it?


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## Duffie12 (4/11/16)

daniel craig said:


> What are your thoughts on it?


Will probably only try wick and play with it tomorrow/Sunday. Will let you know then.

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## kev mac (5/11/16)

Duffie12 said:


> Thanks @Rob Fisher, to be honest I liked the draw of the target and Melo 3 with the 0.9 cCells that I had so an RTA that is similar to that would be great. I don't like too tight a draw so maybe I should've been more specific.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Though I don't own the Merlin I have heard nothing but good things about it.for a flavor and ease of building combination I love the OBS engine. I do own a Gob mini,good flavor but a small deck but I think it's worth the effort and if the screw hole fill doesn't bother you it can be found for under 20 bucks for the V1.

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## Duffie12 (5/11/16)

daniel craig said:


> What are your thoughts on it?


Okay, initial thoughts 

Please note this are merely my initial impressions and not in any way a review.

In hindsight the Avo 24 (bottom airflow) might not have been the easiest intro into an RTA, it seems a little finicky but that might be true for others. I'm not referring to building on it but rather the tank itself. It has a center post you need to take out so that you can take the tank apart. On first try I removed the little connector screw but the center post stayed in (I didn't know that) and couldn't get the tank apart. Tried again only for the one coil connector post (which is attached to the center post) to come off. Third try lucky screwed it in tight (the connector and the connector post) and got the center post out to give the tank a good rinse/clean. Didn't look or smell like it had any coolant/machine oil on it but cleaned it anyway. Putting it together was much easier. I am slightly concerned that the one connector post comes off, worried I might lose it, but yeah...

Okay second issue is that the prerolled 1 ohm coils I gad didn't fit, the connection posts are too far apart!
Luckily I also had some 0.5 ohm prerolled coils (2.8mm ID), these were claptons supplied by UD. Got it in a little easier but still had to bend the coil a bit (hope it didn't affect it (e.g. hotspots), have no way of knowing, but it looks okay. Did a single coil build. Wicked it with cotton bacon v2. Didn't do any fancy scottish roll techniques just rolled the cotton a bit and put it through the coil snipped it and tucked it into the juice holes so it just peaks into the glass (as suggested by many). It also has a juice flow control slider which appears to be useless, anything other than completely open looks like you wouldn't be able to get any cotton into the holes (maybe if you have a really small ID build?).

Now I know people complained about this but I thought it looked simple enough in videos... but boy is it tough to fill. Getting a dropper through the cotton and filling wasn't easy. Here is where the vanilla Avo 24 might be better, it has a little fill port which on the bottom airflow version is the airflow hole. Since I had a single coil build the solution is easy, remove the plug, fill through where the second coil would be, replace the plug. For those who want 2 coil builds maybe the vanilla version is better in this regard (though perhaps the bottom airflow is better for flavour?).

Okay, so how does it vape? Well this thing has a lot of airflow! The standard drip tip is a wide bore one. It comes with an adapter for regular 510 driptips but its a little finicky to get in, all plastic and no o-ring, so doesn't compress/slide in easy. That said by closing the airflow slots a bit, even with the wide bore driptip, I could get a restricted lung hit which is what I like. It does feel odd that the air is coming from one side. This could be fixed if I could get the darn thing to line up with the airhole pointing down when I tilt to vape but I have no idea how to do that. On my iStick 60W the airhole and coils point to the right, so I need to be careful to tilt it sideways to get both wicks wet. That might be my mod though, or maybe I just need to try a few more angles when screwing it in.

Flavour? Well, of course this all depends on the build and I have 0 experience and through in a pre-rolled coil. Flavour right now is a little underwhelming. It certainly is good, but it isn't better than some commercial coils I've tried (cCells or ECMLs). Of course it is only the beginning so after playing around I might get it better, I only used low watts so maybe it is that too.

That's the short of it, (even though it is a long post...). Of course I have fomo so I keep thinking whether I should have gotton a goblin or serpent, but for now it is good and at least I don't have to worry about leaks (other than when I try to fill the thing!)

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