A small beginner’s guide to direct dripping and RDAs

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With the ever-growing popularity of AVPs and Vape Mods, the vaping industry has shifted greatly towards a new trend among vapers and is sometimes referred to as hardcore vaping or ‘cloud chasing’. E-cigarette models (the ones that look like analog tobacco cigarettes and come in starter kits) are good for starters and for making the switch, but they don’t always provide the power and the means for an extraordinary vaping experience. Gradually more advanced vaping enthusiasts and techies have made the switch to mechanical mods and advanced personal vaporizers, but these too are not always built to deliver an extreme experience. Thus, a new niche developed and it involves RBAs and RDAs.

What are RBA's?

RBA or rebuildable atomizers are devices intended for experienced users only. They are for users that wish to create their own custom coils. These atomizers can be assembled over and over using wick and wire. RBA's do not work right ‘out of the box’ and require assembly. The performance of a rebuildable atomizer is partially dependent on how well the user assembles the wick and wire.

RDA silver RDAs can only hold a few drops of e-liquid at a time, as opposed to their rebuildable atomizer counterparts, which have a tank that holds the liquid. They are the easiest wicks to rebuild but hardest to maintain and they work by simply dripping e-liquid directly onto to an exposed wick where it essentially transforms into massive clouds of vapor.

The Rebuild-able dripping atty

With a standard rebuildable dripping atomizer, you will have a center post for power and a post to the side for your ground. RDA’s work pretty much the same way, but since there is no tank, the wick will be smaller and used differently. You can wrap the wire around the wick or you can wrap the coil without wick, and place the wick (cotton being the material used by most vapers) below the coil and in the drip well area. This type of setup would be what people call a floating coil..

A drip tip is just a hollow tube that connects to your atomizer. They are primarily designed for slowly adding drops of e-liquid to your atomizer, quickly and easily and without having to disassemble any part of your device.

For direct dripping, you should start by putting in 2 or 3 drops at first over the wicking. Depending on many factors like the length of the draw, viscosity of the e-juice, and type of atomizer, you should get about seven to twelve draws before start losing flavor. If you put in too much e-liquid, it will probably leak out through the air holes under the atomizer (a situation primarily known as ‘flooding’), onto your hands and the battery shaft, which is particularly bad and the main reason you should always use sealed and protected batteries for this method of RDA vaping.

If your RDA is equipped with a drip shield, you should be fine provided you do not overfill past the capacity of the shield. However, if not equipped with a shield, be very wary of flooding your atty.

Posted by Dave Allan

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Former pack-a-day smoker, I discovered electronic cigarettes back in 2011. Since then vaping has slowly turned into my hobby and my full time job. I’ve tested hundreds of e-cigarettes and mods across the years and constantly used my knowledge and experience to help others make the switch. I’m passionate about technology, I enjoy reading and I love big flavorful clouds.

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