Why I am a dripper or RDA dripping junkie — 10 reasons

Waine

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I enjoy RTA (Rebuildable Tank Atomizers) tanks very much but I am leaning more towards buying RDA's (Rebuildable Dripping Atomizers) lately. This post is by no means an attempt to diss RTA or coil tank users. It's just an expression of why I like RDA's so much and why I own more RDA's than RTA's. Obviously both RDA's and RTA' have their own unique purposes for different vaping moods and occasions.

This has been discussed manny times, but to all the newcomers to this forum, I thought it may be helpful.

So here is why I love dripping:

1. RDA's don't break easily. I am a bit of a clumsy vaper, and tend to break the glass tanks on RTA's easily. It is sometimes difficult to find replacement tank glasses, especially when the tank is out of production. And they are pricey. If you take care of a good quality RDA it can last you almost lifetime.

2. RDA's have an interesting, novel appeal. There is something enjoyable about the ritual of having to place a few drops of e-liquid in the juice well and to vape. I like tinkering or playing with gadgets. Drippers look raw, compact and solid. RDA' are more "hands on". There is more of an interaction with the vaping experience. It's almost like the ritual of tobacco pipe smoking where you need to constantly tend to the pipe to get a good smoke. RDA's IMO are generally speaking, enjoyed more by eccentric or adventurous people.

3. Dripping saves juice. If you fill an RTA or any other atomizer, and you get tired of the juice, you have to dump the juice, clean, re wick and re juice. Dripping allows you to taste, clean and re wick with minimal juice consumption.

4. In order to test a new batch of DIY juice, a Dripper does the job. It's sometimes a waste to test in a tank.

5. This may sound weird, but sometimes if you are dripping e.g. a fruit e-juice, you can vape until its dry, then drip another fruit juice. Occasionally you get a nice mix of flavor which actually teaches you how different flavors blend / interact with each other. Especially if you are into DIY. Or you can just chop and change within a specific category of juice, like different puddings, cereals or cream based juice, with the same dripper provided that you vape the wick dry in between re juicing.

6. Generally speaking, the flavor and or airflow control is better in an RDA than in an RTA, RDTA or tanks with factory coils.

7. It's nice to have a few dripping RDA's while working at a desk and being able to quickly chop and change between different juices.

8. You can quickly and cleanly lift off the top cap or chuff cap of an RDA to inspect your coil and wick builds to see the condition. With a tank you have to unscrew it while filled with juice, which can be messy depending on the design of the tank. An RDA can also be cleaned quicker than a tank.

9. If you are a "Cloud Chaser", there is no doubt that due to the construction compactness, and direct hitting from a mod — from most good RDA's, you will get bigger clouds than an RTA or an factory coil atty.

10. Dripping is just cool. I immediately took to it soon after I started vaping. It's not for everyone. It's a different art to vaping which just bites some vapers, but not others. It is relaxing, it gives you something more to do, it's like driving a manual car instead of an automatic.

I own 11 RDA's. My favorite dripper is the Goon 22ml. For some reason, it just performs better than any other dripper I have and the clamps are so versatile. I love everything about the Goon and will be getting a 24mm soon.

Are there any other dripping enthusiasts out there who can add to this, and perhaps enlighten a newcomer to the wonderful world of dripping?




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Last edited:
Excellent summary @Waine !

Lots of food for thought
 
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I enjoy RTA (Rebuildable Tank Atomizers) tanks very much but I am leaning more towards buying RDA's (Rebuildable Dripping Atomizers) lately. This post is by no means an attempt to diss RTA or coil tank users. It's just an expression of why I like RDA's so much and why I own more RDA's than RTA's. Obviously both RDA's and RTA' have their own unique purposes for different vaping moods and occasions.

This has been discussed manny times, but to all the newcomers to this forum, I thought it may be helpful.

So here is why I love dripping:

1. RDA's don't break easily. I am a bit of a clumsy vaper, and tend to break the glass tanks on RTA's easily. It is sometimes difficult to find replacement tank glasses, especially when the tank is out of production. And they are pricey. If you take care of a good quality RDA it can last you almost lifetime.

2. RDA's have an interesting, novel appeal. There is something enjoyable about the ritual of having to place a few drops of e-liquid in the juice well and to vape. I like tinkering or playing with gadgets. Drippers look raw, compact and solid. RDA' are more "hands on". There is more of an interaction with the vaping experience. It's almost like the ritual of tobacco pipe smoking where you need to constantly tend to the pipe to get a good smoke. RDA's IMO are generally speaking, enjoyed more by eccentric or adventurous people.

3. Dripping saves juice. If you fill an RTA or any other atomizer, and you get tired of the juice, you have to dump the juice, clean, re wick and re juice. Dripping allows you to taste, clean and re wick with minimal juice consumption.

4. In order to test a new batch of DIY juice, a Dripper does the job. It's sometimes a waste to test in a tank.

5. This may sound weird, but sometimes if you are dripping e.g. a fruit e-juice, you can vape until its dry, then drip another fruit juice. Occasionally you get a nice mix of flavor which actually teaches you how different flavors blend / interact with each other. Especially if you are into DIY. Or you can just chop and change within a specific category of juice, like different puddings, cereals or cream based juice, with the same dripper provided that you vape the wick dry in between re juicing.

6. Generally speaking, the flavor and or airflow control is better in an RDA than in an RTA, RDTA or tanks with factory coils.

7. It's nice to have a few dripping RDA's while working at a desk and being able to quickly chop and change between different juices.

8. You can quickly and cleanly lift off the top cap or chuff cap of an RDA to inspect your coil and wick builds to see the condition. With a tank you have to unscrew it while filled with juice, which can be messy depending on the design of the tank. An RDA can also be cleaned quicker than a tank.

9. If you are a "Cloud Chaser", there is no doubt that due to the construction compactness, and direct hitting from a mod — from most good RDA's, you will get bigger clouds than an RTA or an factory coil atty.

10. Dripping is just cool. I immediately took to it soon after I started vaping. It's not for everyone. It's a different art to vaping which just bites some vapers, but not others. It is relaxing, it gives you something more to do, it's like driving a manual car instead of an automatic.

I own 11 RDA's. My favorite dripper is the Goon 22ml. For some reason, it just performs better than any other dripper I have and the clamps are so versatile. I love everything about the Goon and will be getting a 24mm soon.

Are there any other dripping enthusiasts out there who can add to this, and perhaps enlighten a newcomer to the wonderful world of dripping?



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Nice one bud and i agree on every point.
Throughout the day i use my RTA only because im so busy and always running up and down the workshop to sometimes find time to stop and drip can be a mission.

But when i get home my RDA's come out and play and thats all i will use the entire night.
 
I totally agree with sell 10 points.
My favourite pass time nowadays is to pack out all my juices on the coffee table and methodically drip and vape each one after the next, getting that "mixup" of two flavours you mention.
Ahh bliss


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You can add that wicking a dripper is foolproof, many tanks have very finicky wicking.

I mainly drip now. I have cheap drippers - a Velocity, a Recoil, a Virus (all clones) and then a Druid which is an original. They all work flawlessly.
 
When i started out vaping i purchased the tornado, griffin and gemini RTA's because i was told it is the best. I wasted 7 weeks of vaping on them. I then bought a evic setup with a Sapor 22mm RDA. Since that day i have never looked back.
@Waine ...... all your points are spot-on especially if you are into direct lung hits.
RDA's have only one disadvantage in comparison to RTA's and RDTA's and that is a lack of a reservoir but that does not bother me in the least.
I love everything about them.
Flavour and clouds are just super, building a pleasure, durability commendable, and so on.

Thank goodness not everyone are drippers else i would probably never be able to find a goon that was in stock. :)
 
Another point I failed to mention is that with some RDA's you have a juice well that takes as much juice as some of the mini or smaller RTA's. For example, the Pharaoh and the Sapor 25mm. If you wick these properly and with minimal cotton, you can get about 20 "hits" or "drags" out of the RDA.

@KZOR What is your opinion on the Sapor 22mm? Would love to hear, as I have been eying this one for a long time now.


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@Waine
It is a very straight forward atty with great flavour . ...... it's simplicity is it's charm and reason for it's positive attributes.
Horizontal build decks with sufficient airflow.
I still have two of them and that after 5 months. You will not be disappointed for the price point.
 
Also have to agree, love all the aspects of vaping and own multiple devices: RTA, RDTA, RDA & BF RDA's. RTA's/ RDTA for at work and on the road for juice capacity and convenience, BF RDA for my highher nic Tobacco juices and constricted lung hits/ MTL. When I want to relax, test DIY juices my RDA's come in play, easy to coil, dry burn, re- wick and flavour is outstanding current favourite RDA's: Recoil, Goon & TM v1.

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fully agreed. Been loving my goon 24.. Stuff it with so much cotton that i can drip 2ml of juice on it. I really wish someone could point me in the direction of the RDA with biggest juice well?
 
I agree completely but this TFV8 has really surprised me to the point where I actually prefer the TFV8 over my dripper.
 
fully agreed. Been loving my goon 24.. Stuff it with so much cotton that i can drip 2ml of juice on it. I really wish someone could point me in the direction of the RDA with biggest juice well?
That would be the Troll V2 for a 22mm RDA. It is ridiculous
 
I agree completely but this TFV8 has really surprised me to the point where I actually prefer the TFV8 over my dripper.
Yo against which dripper? No offence but if stock TFV8 coils give you better flavor your build skills need a bit of sharpening Sir. It is a good tank. No jokes it kicks. But doesnt touch sides with RDA built well. Even my Phenotype L I get better flavor and thats my cloud chasing atty. Not even a flavor atty at all.
 
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A dripping technique I use which I find very effective is what I want to share.

This only works on flat base RDA's i.e. Drippers with no air flow holes coming from the bottom. There must be an open channel from the one side of the base to the other side. The RDA's in these pics allow for this flow of juice.

BTW, I have gone back to using single coils on RDA's. I get a sufficiently satisfying vape as I would on a duel coil.

I coil on one side only with a single coil using an ID as thick as the RDA will take. Then I wick in such a way that the wick only barely sits on the open side. There must just be enough wick to allow for a capillary flow to the coiled side. This way you get maximum juice in the juice well giving you more hits per fill. All you have to do is lift the cap and fill the empty side.

On the coiled side, I always keep a gap open underneath the coil.

How do you wick a single coil in your RDA?


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Yo against which dripper? No offence but if stock TFV8 coils give you better flavor your build skills need a bit of sharpening Sir. It is a good tank. No jokes it kicks. But doesnt touch sides with RDA built well. Even my Phenotype L I get better flavor and thats my cloud chasing atty. Not even a flavor atty at all.
I have nothing against drippers, I really like them and generally prefer them over tanks.

Pitty you're all the way in Cape Town, would loved to have tried your dripper out sometime with one of your builds to see what it's like.
 
All you have to do is lift the cap and fill the empty side.

Too much hassle for me. If I can't drip directly through the drip tip, I don't drip. Needless to say, spit-back guards are a no-no for me.

It also raises the intriguing question of whether the Pharaoh is a dripper or a tank. Daniel DJLsb rates it as a tank. He doesn't like dripping through the drip tip on it because you have to tilt the atty or else the liquid drips straight into the airflow hole and leaks. So he takes the top off and fills the reservoir. That makes it a 2ml tank iho and I'm inclined to agree. The only difference between it and the bottom airflow Avo24 is that the Avo has a glass reservoir, the Pharaoh has a metal one. But their functioning is almost identical: take off the top cap, slide a lever to open the refill port, fill the juice reservoir, close the lever, replace top cap.
 
Interesting thread this... I have tried dripping many times and just have never gotten to fall in love with it... I understand dripping because of my squonkers but at least with the squonkers (well the ones with real atties) you saturate the wick and then the excess liquid drains away and the wicks are left with the perfect amount of juice on them... and that's why I think Squonking is as popular as it is...

I must say the Hadaly has been a great dripper and I have spent more time with it than any other dripper ever.
 
Still have my old Tugboat V1 , maybe should dust it off and try a build again ....

Only issue I have is why are the authentics so damn expensive , I mean it's not very complicated like an RTA with lot's of moving parts etc ?
 
Re-Wicking is for amateurs.

Learn to eat what you put on the table, BEFORE you move on to something else.

Bad habits waste juice, not the devices themselves.
 
I have nothing against drippers, I really like them and generally prefer them over tanks.

Pitty you're all the way in Cape Town, would loved to have tried your dripper out sometime with one of your builds to see what it's like.
I wont lie I had some really well experienced builders set the standard in my atties for me, so I had a benchmark to work from. Took a good while but all the time was well worth it. Only thing I can say is it was other people's skills that opened my eyes to RDA.
 
Interesting thread this... I have tried dripping many times and just have never gotten to fall in love with it... I understand dripping because of my squonkers but at least with the squonkers (well the ones with real atties) you saturate the wick and then the excess liquid drains away and the wicks are left with the perfect amount of juice on them... and that's why I think Squonking is as popular as it is...

I must say the Hadaly has been a great dripper and I have spent more time with it than any other dripper ever.
Funny thing is I understand squonkers now from getting my drip technique right. Let them wick from the bottom, dont paint coils or they go spitty, dont over drip or they get messy when hot and also spitback etc etc.

I am having a 24mm Goon modded for squonking and getting a DNA squonkbox. I like the atties but I truly feel bottom feed is best. I drip down my posts so it can then feed up from the bottom. Each setset of wicks takes a different size drip. It is a pain.
 
Still have my old Tugboat V1 , maybe should dust it off and try a build again ....

Only issue I have is why are the authentics so damn expensive , I mean it's not very complicated like an RTA with lot's of moving parts etc ?

@Daniel I have no qualms about buying clones, as much as I would love the authentic ones. As long as the clones are reasonably ok. My two Goon 22mm clones perform fantastic.


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