Bottom air vs top air rta

[Mbsun]

I would like to know if my supposition regarding the coil life in one vs the other has any logic to it.

In short bottom air coil builds last longer as the area round the coil is more spacious generally so the wicks won't caramelise up against the chimney wall as readily

I say this as I have 2 rbta, a qp juggerknot (v1 or original I think) and a 30mm steamcrave atomiser (can't think exactly which tbh, I get 2 weeks out exactly the same build on the steamcrave and less than 1 week on the juggerknot, and the steamcrave stays at its peak longer, and tbh is more flavoursome when a new build is in.

Any value in my thoughts? Or utter bollacks and it's just a case of these 2 rta behaving like this, and my preference for the steamcrave?

Asking as the steammcrave about had it and gonna replace

 

[Crispycritters]

I have a Diesel RTA and a Blaze Solo RTA which are top airflow - the coils seem to last a similar amount of time as my other bottom/side airflow RTAs - but the coils in the Steamcrave do seem to last a bit longer.

I find the Steamcrave very easy to build and the wicking seems very efficient as I've never had any kind of dry hit as long as I haven't forgotten to open the juice ports after filling. Also I've never experienced wick burn out in the centre of the coil, which I will get with my other RTAs occasionally if the wicking isn't just so, and because of that there have been occasions after I finally notice the flavour has gone downhill - when I've opened up the tank the wicks have looked like a pair of black slugs and the coils and chimney base are caked in a layer of baked on grey black crud.

I don't think the coil life is down to just the airflow - maybe the coils seem to last longer because of the wicking and the hidden reservoir of juice under the build deck. With the RDTA style wicking where the cotton tails rest in the small reservoir directly under the deck even when the actual tank looks empty there is still a couple of ml of juice in the reservoir so you are far more likely to notice the tank is empty before you start dry hitting and scorching the cotton. Combine that with the typical DL Steamcrave bucket of a juice-well keeping things cool and it (possibly) means you are giving the coils/wicks an easier life.

Maybe.

But whatever the reason is I don't seem to have to change the coils in the Aromamiser Plus very often either.

 

[Mbsun]

Makes sense, tbh I suppose that is what I mean in that the extra coil life is possibly down to factors that are created by being bottom air.
Tbh the extra coil life is by the by, its the amount of time of enjoyable non toasty vaping

My only problem really with steamcrave is I struggle with the amount of moving parts, you have to shut the juice off to fill it really, though you can get away with it a bit on a fresh wick, or at least turn the air off, but they get stiff easy and you can easily end up unscrewing the tank. Currently both of mine are siezed and I can't work out how to sort. Leaving me trying to cover the air holes with my fingers to create the pressure to hold the juice when filling

 

[MarylinC37]

I think the positioning of the coil in relation to the airflow seems to make more of a difference than where the air comes in from to get the best circulation and pressure around the coil.

Also for the last few months I've been creating gaps between the wraps on my coils which I've found has made a huge improvement. By having a bit of exposed cotton between each wrap it allows the airflow to pick up more juice which in turn has meant I need less watts to get good enough flavour so there is less burning and gunking and my builds last longer.

I find tanks take longer to rebuild than drippers because tanks need to be fully taken apart to clean the chimney so making builds last longer and not having to strip down my RTA's as often is a bonus.

 

[Mbsun]

I will give gapping the coil a try I think, as need to rebuild the qp tomorrow as already toasty after 3 days.

What sort of gap are we talking? In my mind I have around 1/2 a mm, so a 5 wrap will be around the length of a 7? Though I may drop to a 4 wrap as the coil will be longer with gaps

 

[MarylinC37]

I will give gapping the coil a try I think, as need to rebuild the qp tomorrow as already toasty after 3 days.

What sort of gap are we talking? In my mind I have around 1/2 a mm, so a 5 wrap will be around the length of a 7? Though I may drop to a 4 wrap as the coil will be longer with gaps

I would keep it to about 1mm or it might cause too much spitting and getting raw juice in your mouth if you go too wide.

 

[Crispycritters]

Makes sense, tbh I suppose that is what I mean in that the extra coil life is possibly down to factors that are created by being bottom air.
Tbh the extra coil life is by the by, its the amount of time of enjoyable non toasty vaping

My only problem really with steamcrave is I struggle with the amount of moving parts, you have to shut the juice off to fill it really, though you can get away with it a bit on a fresh wick, or at least turn the air off, but they get stiff easy and you can easily end up unscrewing the tank. Currently both of mine are seized and I can't work out how to sort. Leaving me trying to cover the air holes with my fingers to create the pressure to hold the juice when filling

Mine is starting to get a little temperamental when it comes to opening/closing the JFC. Generally closing it is relatively easy, although it is a little stiff, but opening it can can be challenging. I don't even attempt to open/close the JFC when the tank is fully screwed into the 510, instead I unscrew the tank by one turn, use a hanky, or the tail of my shirt lol, to grip the JFC - then it will open fairly easily, but I have to take care not to unscrew the base.

Ideally mine needs to be completely stripped, cleaned, and all the o-rings lubed with VG. But I can't be arsed. I'll have to do it eventually but I'm not looking forward to it - like you said, too many parts. It seems comical carrying a hanky but wiping my nose with a bit of bog roll because I don't want to risk getting snot on my tank though...

 

[Tazz]

I would like to know if my supposition regarding the coil life in one vs the other has any logic to it.

In short bottom air coil builds last longer as the area round the coil is more spacious generally so the wicks won't caramelise up against the chimney wall as readily

I say this as I have 2 rbta, a qp juggerknot (v1 or original I think) and a 30mm steamcrave atomiser (can't think exactly which tbh, I get 2 weeks out exactly the same build on the steamcrave and less than 1 week on the juggerknot, and the steamcrave stays at its peak longer, and tbh is more flavoursome when a new build is in.

Any value in my thoughts? Or utter bollacks and it's just a case of these 2 rta behaving like this, and my preference for the steamcrave?

Asking as the steammcrave about had it and gonna replace

Im a, excuse me "hi", big big fan of top air flows for the logical reason they never destroy mods from leaks.
I wish, but I think it is limited by how they work, Top air flows were as open mad air flow like the big a#$ bottom ones are. Like the crazy Smok and Vaporesso ones.
I will say goodnight now as i don't use those but im thinking it may be the same issue. If im wrong anyone please feel free to tell me to shut up.

 

[Mbsun]

I gave the coil opening a whirl, but I was thinking that perhaps my biggest issue was I was mounting the coils too low, in a backward thinking kinda way I was thinking bang over the air holes was best, where as perhaps I was so close I wasn't allowing sufficient flow

So I did both, longer legs, looser wraps (just as I like to complicate life so as not to actually know which solution rectified the problem)

Anyhow, tbh it was a slightly better vape for slightly longer, but tbh it only worked a little and isn't a patch on the steamcrave once a set of coils is past its newness, and not quite as good when new

So I need to sit down in good light with my glasses on and strip and clean and lube the steamcrave and get it going again, as my mods don't recognise its exsistance at the minute, never mind sorting the juice flow and air flow rings.

The only thing I do actually like on the qp is being top air and it's design makes it really easy to fill, and it does not leak, the steamcrave can leak like a b if you don't do things perfectly

Failing this my thought is to get a trilogy rather than a valkarie unless someone has any other thoughts regarding a replacement rta