What Kind of Atomizer/Tank/Dripper Should I Use?

Hi. So even though it says "For New Vapers" in the title, that's not strictly true. But this post is more important for new vapers, because the type of atomizer and/or tank/dripper you use will drastically affect your vaping experience. That applies to almost every aspect of vaping: the amount of clouds you can get, how flavorful the hits are, the amount of nicotine per hit, the temperature (at least to some degree...ha...ha...ha), length and strength of your draw, how portable it is, how quickly e-juice is consumed, the ease of refilling, etc.

When I did my half hour or so of research before I got my first vape, I saw all these terms and acronyms I didn't know, so I just bought a complete starter kit and decided that I'd get to it later. Looking back, that was the right decision, because it got me to just go ahead and buy it without procrastinating and possibly not getting it. That's just how I am, so maybe it doesn't apply to you. But when I encountered problems (more like annoyances really because nothing stopped working), it made me regret not putting more time into researching all my options. Especially since soon after I received the vape, I flew to Taiwan to stay for a few months...

Luckily for me, vaping had traveled over the ocean from Chinese factories to this little tropical island, and I found stores that carried supplies (though I actually ordered from China while there too, which was more convenient in some ways). If I weren't so lucky, I might've just stashed the vape, and gone back to buying cigarettes--which was very tempting, at $2 a pack. It's possible I never would've quit, but I did, which is why in retrospect I can say that I made the right decision, thanks to luck.

Most of you probably won't be in that situation, and won't have to to worry about being able to get the right parts on the fly at all. So if you've already made up your mind to quit smoking and aren't like me (like you won't put it off and then never do it), or are just thinking about different atomizer and tank options, then it might be worth your time to learn about what's available out there.

So I'll cover the major categories of atomizers/tanks, describing how they work and listing their advantages and disadvantages. Recently, in the last few years, sub-ohm vaping became popular, and is basically the new standard now, so I won't really cover any hardware or builds over 1 ohm, at least in this post. I might go over it in the future, when I get into building coils. When shopping for a new tank/atomizer, the new terms and acronyms you'll usually see (or should know) are, atomizer, coil, tank, dripper and RBA/RDA/RTA/RDTA, so I'll go over those.

Coil

The part of the atomizer that is electrically heated to vaporize e-juice absorbed by the wick. In a regular or standard tank, it usually comes in the form of a small cylinder of metal and cotton. When building your own, it (or they, depending on your build) is usually looks like a small spring, with a long bunch of cotton pulled through as a wick. Pictured above is a premade coil. Pictured below is a selfmade coil (specifically a Clapton coil, which is vape wire wrapped in more wire, named so because the E-Cigarette Forum member who thought of it came up with the idea while playing guitar, as it resembles a guitar string).

Atomizer

The atomizer is the part of the tank or dripper that contains the coil, turns the e-juice into vapor, and goes into the tank or dripper.

Tank

This holds the atomizer and e-juice, and connects to your vape mod or vape pen for power. Dippers don't use tanks, so its equivalent would be the juice well (I assume). Below is a typical standard tank that uses premade coils (pictured second from the right:

##Regular or Standard Tanks
If the tank you have doesn't have RBA/RDA/RTA/RDTA in the name, then it's probably a regular or standard tank, which accepts premade coils. Because it's easier, I suspect many other new vapers probably ended up doing what I did, and bought their device in a starter kit that came everything needed to start. Most likely, that also means that it came with a regular tank, atomizer, and some premade coils. There's nothing to learn or mess up--all you do is screw the coil into the atomizer, attach that to the tank, and then connect it to the mod.

This is an easy way for new vapers to start, since there's no learning curve and many are just eager to get it working as soon as possible. Though performance will vary by brand, among the major. most well-known brands, it's probably safe to say that the experience will at least be satisfactory. Every brand will typically offer pre-made coils of differing resistance (how many ohms), which will mainly affect: amount of nicotine (and consequently sensation of the throat hit), production of clouds, draw on the battery, and flavor. I won't get too deep into it here, but typically--the lower the ohms, the more power that can be drawn, the more heat created, which will increase all the other factors.

It's not always easy to tell whether a tank is a regular or rebuildable, but typically, rebuildables will not have as thin a chimmy in the center of the tank, because more space is required for selfmade coils and wicks.

So these are easy to use, come in different resistances, and offer decent performance--what are the downsides? First off, is the cost, which really depends on your specific habits and usage. Obviously, how much you vape is a big factor, but there are also other factors, like what temperature you vape at, how long your draws are, etc., that will affect how long you'll want to go between coil changes. Still, I'm almost positive that even the most ferocious vaper wouldn't be spending more than one-fifth in coils for what a comparable smoker pays for cigarettes. For me, it wasn't just having to change the coil so soon, it was that I was forced to because the hits started getting harsh. Anyway, I'll elaborate on that somewhere else. I'll just say that my own coil and wick setup lasts much longer than the premade ones ever did, so shorter lifespan of coils will be listed here as disadvantage. Keep in mind, this is just my opinion, and there are vapers that have used regular tanks and premade coils for years with no problems or complaints.

RBA (Re"B"uildable Atomizer)

This category of atomizer has a deck that allows you to install your own coil and wick, and actually includes the other terms, RDA, RTA, and RDTA. Besides saving a lot of money on atomizers, making your own builds allows you to customize and fine tune almost every aspect of vaping for an extremely personalized experience. In the picture below, the part on the right is the build deck, where you "build" your wick and coil. Most build decks will look similar, more or less, regardless of whether it goes into an RDA, RTA or RTDA.

Also, I feel like the term RBA isn't really necessary anymore, but it's still seen online. At least you know what it refers to now. Also, be aware that there are risks when building your own coils, so please know what you're doing before you attempt to. On an unrelated note, the acronym is annoying because it's not consistent with the others. Moving on...

RDA (Rebuildable Dripping Atomizer)

These are a lot of fun. You directly drip your e-juice right through the mouthpiece, into the juice well and directly onto your wick (which is a relief, because you're lazy and dread having to perform the long, arduous task of unscrewing the tank, filling it, and then screwing the top back on). Then you take a hit, notice how flavorful the e-juice has become, exhale a huge, thick, opaque cloud, and smile. That's not an uncommon first-time experience for vapers that have only used regular tanks. The coil and wick are much closer to the mouthpiece than in other designs, resulting in higher vapor density (meaning more clouds and more flavor). These will typically consume more e-juice and battery life, but is worth it if you want to chase clouds and flavor.

After using an RDA, you might even start to wonder why people even bother with tanks. So you put it in your pocket, get to your car and start driving to your friends' to show it off. Then you reach into your pocket for a hit (which is so nice now, because you don't have to roll your windows down, and it still won't stink up your car), but, what's this? Your pocket and vape (and now your hands too) are a sticky mess, it looks like you pissed your pants, and even worse, there's no more e-juice in the vape! So you try to refill it, but you can't unscrew your bottle of fruit loop flavored e-juice because your hand's all slippery now. Sighing, you wipe your hand on your shirt, then unscrew the bottle, draw some juice up into the glass stem and BAM!!!!! You just drove off the road, off a cliff, into a tree, which fell into the ocean, and now you're dead. That's the downside.

Alright, so that was a long and unnecessary way of listing lack of portability as a disadvantage, but I already wrote it and I'm not letting it go to waste now. Plus, this was the biggest reason I stopped using an RDA regularly, though it still gets some use for extended, sedentary vaping sessions. But as an ex-smoker, I've gotten too used to the carefree portability of my nicotine delivery system, because I was smoking everywhere, all the time. If you don't have this habit, it's definitely possible to use an RDA exclusively, by just making sure it stays upright so that it doesn't spill.

RTA (Rebuildable Tank Atomizer)

I admit, I'm completely biased towards RTAs, so keep that in mind. So while I was blown away the first time I tried an RDA, I bought an RTA soon after, expecting a drop in performance. But it never happened. I think RTAs have advanced so much recently, that RDAs don't have that much over RTAs, cloud-wise or flavor-wise. Granted, I haven't tried any competition-level RDAs, but I guess I'm not really concerned with that end of the spectrum. For the average vaper, or a new vaper especially, the difference in cloud production or flavor probably won't be an issue.

Anyway, the major difference between RTAs and RDAs is the fact that RTAs seal the e-juice in the tank. In a well-designed tank with good build quality, there shouldn't really be any leaking (though there's usually a little juice that gets pushed out as you close the tank, especially if very full). And while it is easier to refill RDAs, they usually have smaller capacities than RTAs, so would require refilling (or dripping) more often. Since I'm on the move most of the time, my RTA stays on my vape mod over 90% of the time. That's also partially due to my laziness and reluctance to constantly switch back and forth.

So I started with a regular tank and premade coils, and thought it was amazing, for a while. For the first two weeks, everything was perfect, but then I noticed a slight change in the flavor of the vape. Well, my flavor didn't change, so something in my vape was changing. That invading flavor was getting stronger and tasting worse, until finally, the hits started getting harsh. I didn't know at the time, but I was supposed to change my coil. I went through a few more, and noted that my average premade coil longevity was about 2 weeks. Right now, on my own coil in my "Oumier White Bone Mini RTA", I've been using the same coil for well over a month--possibly two? it's literally been so long that I've forgotten--with no change in taste, clouds or hits in sight. Though actually I probably should change it soon.

RTDA (Rebuildable Dripping Tank Atomimzer)

It's just how it sounds, RDTAs combine the functions of RDAs and RTAs. Usually, like RDAs, the coils are closer to the top, and like RTAs, there is a tank to hold e-juice. Because they're relatively new, the method of achieving this dual functoinality varies widely by design, so I can't really generalize. Below is an example of an RDTA.

There's no right or wrong choice, only the one that fits your vaping style and needs. If you're ready to get more out of your vape, or just want to customize it even more, then looking into RTAs and RDAs is a good option. Either way, hopefully this post has helped. I'll either cover vape mods or builds/coils/wicks next time. Thanks for reading!