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Looking for a new RTA

Hey, I'm looking to replace one of the setups I've been using. Namely a combination of Eleaf iStick TC60W and Aspire Triton tank. Now I'm planning to keep using the iStick 60W mod because I've been very happy with it for about 3 years now, but I want a new tank. I've had absolutely zero issues with the Triton tank using it for both the 1.8 Ohm (for MTL) and the subohm (DTL) 0.3-0.4 premade coils...but I'm simply tired of buying premade coils (or rather the whole "heads" as they call them here), they cost as much as a pack of cigs here and I want to build my own coils for a fraction of that price instead. I did try the "Triton RTA system" but it was far from an ideal setup. Now after checking some of our eshops I've noticed that since the last time I bought some gear, when we had like 5-6 brands to choose from... well now I see like 20 and while I've been doing my own research into RTAs for the last couple days I simply want more input from people who have been using their tanks for longer periods of time because a lot of the reviews on Youtube for example are "day 1 reviews" or "first impressions" which are frankly completely useless as far as I'm concerned. I'm more into long-term reviews.

So what am I looking for exactly?

1) Convenient tank - hence why RTA, not RDA. Preferably with either bigger capacity tank or the option to extend its' capacity with a bigger glass piece and chimney extension. Enough space for coils, well accessible base for easier building.

2) Flavor over clouds - I don't care much for walking around with a cloud around my head, I care more about the flavor.

3) Efficiency - Not planning to go through 20+ ml of liquid a day.

4) MTL + DTL - I'd like a tank that can do both well. I'm more of a DTL kinda guy but I do like to switch it up sometimes. Triton could do both and that's what I'm looking for here as well. Although it's not a dealbreaker for me if the tank can only do DTL well.

5) Rather single coil over dual coil, or the option to do both builds. The tank being able to take some premade coils as well could be a plus.

6) No leaking issues, obviously.

And lastly, I'd like a tank that doesn't neccessarily require higher than a 60W mod as I'd like to use it on the iStick. I was looking into the VandyVape Kylin RTA for example but from what I'm reading that one needs 80W+ to do well, although that depends more on the particular coil build I assume and you know that most reviewers just tend to use whatever build will allow them to make dank clouds on camera during the review...

Anyways, sorry for the wall of text. I'll be thankful for any suggestions!
 
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Matt_417

Member For 4 Years
My first suggestion would be the Ammit 25. It's capacity is good and it seems to fit your needs but mine leaked a bit once or twice. The other I'd recommend is the OBS Engine Nano. It has less capacity but I have never had a leaking issue. I've got the Zeus in rotation now but am undecided on it.
I admit that I'm a fan of Geekvape RTAs. Their AIO looks interesting if you'd like the option for dual coils but I have never read or watched a review on it. It might be worth a look.
 
My first suggestion would be the Ammit 25. It's capacity is good and it seems to fit your needs but mine leaked a bit once or twice. The other I'd recommend is the OBS Engine Nano. It has less capacity but I have never had a leaking issue. I've got the Zeus in rotation now but am undecided on it.
I admit that I'm a fan of Geekvape RTAs. Their AIO looks interesting if you'd like the option for dual coils but I have never read or watched a review on it. It might be worth a look.

OBS Engine Nano, GeekVape Zeus, and OBS Crius 2 are all in my daily rotation. The Nano is my favorite and the only one who's af is versatile enough for what you are looking for. IMO of course.

Thanks for the input! Looking at the OBS Engine Nano and Zeus... somehow I skipped those during my "research" but hey that's why I'm here. The Engine Nano looks like it could be just the thing I'm looking for :)
There's just too damn many to choose from, last time I bought any gear we only had handful of brands to choose from here in Czech republic.
 

CorallineAlgae

Silver Contributor
Member For 4 Years
This might sound like something out of left field but I've been keeping an OBS ACE tank in my daily rotation for over a year. It's basically a normal 22mm tank that uses replaceable coil heads, but it also comes with a rock solid rebuildable RBA head. I have two OBS ACE tanks and neither has ever leaked or given me an ounce of trouble. Honestly, I can't stand the normal coil heads, but that RBA base is terrific. You may not get a real MTL vape off it though. It's more of a restricted DTL vape. It's easy to build, easy to wick and has rock solid flavor though. For me it's stood the test of time and outlived a lot of single coil RTAs in my collection.

As far as dedicated single coil RTAs, at the moment I also use an Ammit 25, Zeus, and an OBS Engine Nano. They're all nice. Based on your needs, I'd recommend the OBS Nano. It's pretty easy to build and wick and doesn't go through juice as fast as the others. I wouldn't recommend the Ammit 25 as it can occasionally seep a little and it can also have spitback issues. Another thing, none of these really will do MTL at all. The Zeus has the most restrictive airflow of the three (still not MTL) but I haven't used it for very long, and as that's important to you, it might not be fair to recommend it.

You may have trouble finding the OBS ACE as it's a bit older. GearBest has the white ones in stock for about $11 and FastTech has the black ones for around $13 right now. The OBS Engine Nano, Ammit 25 & Zeus are very popular and should be a breeze to track down.
 
This might sound like something out of left field but I've been keeping an OBS ACE tank in my daily rotation for over a year. It's basically a normal 22mm tank that uses replaceable coil heads, but it also comes with a rock solid rebuildable RBA head. I have two OBS ACE tanks and neither has ever leaked or given me an ounce of trouble. Honestly, I can't stand the normal coil heads, but that RBA base is terrific. You may not get a real MTL vape off it though. It's more of a restricted DTL vape. It's easy to build, easy to wick and has rock solid flavor though. For me it's stood the test of time and outlived a lot of single coil RTAs in my collection.

As far as dedicated single coil RTAs, at the moment I also use an Ammit 25, Zeus, and an OBS Engine Nano. They're all nice. Based on your needs, I'd recommend the OBS Nano. It's pretty easy to build and wick and doesn't go through juice as fast as the others. I wouldn't recommend the Ammit 25 as it can occasionally seep a little and it can also have spitback issues. Another thing, none of these really will do MTL at all. The Zeus has the most restrictive airflow of the three (still not MTL) but I haven't used it for very long, and as that's important to you, it might not be fair to recommend it.

You may have trouble finding the OBS ACE as it's a bit older. GearBest has the white ones in stock for about $11 and FastTech has the black ones for around $13 right now. The OBS Engine Nano, Ammit 25 & Zeus are very popular and should be a breeze to track down.

Thanks for the suggestions :)
All fingers seem to be pointing at OBS Nano or Zeus. The ability to do MTL wasn't really a key factor for me, I just considered it a nice bonus for when I do wanna switch it up a bit but of course if I was after a good MTL experience I'd probably get something like the Berserker or Siren.
I actually saw the OBS Ace in couple of our stores here but I thought it only came with the replacable coil heads, one of the stores even state that this is not an RBA tank.
Are there any major differences between the Nano and Ace based on your experience?
 

CorallineAlgae

Silver Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Thanks for the suggestions :)
All fingers seem to be pointing at OBS Nano or Zeus. The ability to do MTL wasn't really a key factor for me, I just considered it a nice bonus for when I do wanna switch it up a bit but of course if I was after a good MTL experience I'd probably get something like the Berserker or Siren.
I actually saw the OBS Ace in couple of our stores here but I thought it only came with the replacable coil heads, one of the stores even state that this is not an RBA tank.
Are there any major differences between the Nano and Ace based on your experience?

They're pretty different. The ACE is a normal 22mm coil head style tank while the Nano is 25mm dedicated RTA. You can fit much larger coils in the Nano. I build 2.5mm Clapton coils in the ACE and 3.5mm coils in the Nano. It may not sound like a big difference but the ACE has a much smaller build deck. It's definitely a flavor tank (no big clouds) so it's really gentle on juice consumption. That said, the Nano is also pretty good with juice consumption. Another difference is the Nano is a pure top airflow atty. The Ace has bottom airflow with optional top airflow, but I only ever use the bottom airflow.

About the coil heads, I have heard that some ACE tanks come with two replacement coil heads instead of one normal coil and the RBA base. There's a list with check boxes on the back of the package that says which heads are included. Both of mine came with the RBA, but it's worth checking the package to make sure it's included if you end up looking for one. Whether you decide to go with a Zeus, OBS Nano or ACE you won't be disappointed. They're all solid.

One last point, the Zeus will drink more juice, and you may need to drop your nic level a bit with it.
 

Tg522587

Member For 3 Years
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I have 2 serpent smm, 2 gemini rta, 2 sense herakles rta. The herakles will leak if you don't add an o ring to the bottom of the deck, where the thread starts. My favorite is the herakles v2,best flavor...hands down. I can wick it while being completely drunk, lol...its so easy. Just keep it upright like most rtas. I'd start out with a big deck that's easy to wick if I were you.
The ammit is also a good choice, wife has one.
Obs engine can't leak but will spit back if you don't wick correctly. Just buy a cheap tank with a bunch of cheap cotton and cheap pre made coils, then go from there when you understand how to use a decent rebuildable.
 

Don29palms

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For a first RTA, the OBS Engine Nano is a really good RTA. It doesn't leak and it's hard to not wick properly. You can use a small coil to a big coil. There are people that use it for MTL but it's not really designed for that. Good luck
 

Matt_417

Member For 4 Years
Since I got the Zeus I've had it and the Nano on their own mod sitting next each other and have found myself using the Nano a lot more. This is the start of day 2 using just the Zeus to give it a fair chance and I have to admit I'm getting used to the tighter draw (still greatly prefer Nano airflow) . It's capable of a hotter vape without running the coil dry.

These things are so subjective. I've been using the same eliquid for several months. It's pretty thick. I may try a thinner one for the Nano. Until then this is about all I can contribute.
 
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Letitia9

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I think I'll probably always reach for my Nanos first. More because I just have them dialed in to my style just right. Maybe things will equal out as I get to know the Crius2 and Zeus better.
 
Since I got the Zeus I've had it and the Nano on their own mod sitting next each other and have found myself using the Nano a lot more. This is the start of day 2 using just the Zeus to give it a fair chance and I have to admit I'm getting used to the tighter draw (still greatly prefer Nano airflow) . It's capable of a hotter vape without running the coil dry.

These things are so subjective. I've been using the same eliquid for several months. It's pretty thick. I may try a thinner one for the Nano. Until then this is about all I can contribute.
Do you feel like the Nano needs a thinner juice? I've been making my own liquids for quite some time now (and will continue to do so to somewhat bypass all the bullshit regulations they introduced) and I find 30/70 (PG/VG) to work the best for me. While I don't really care about cloud chasing, I'm not a big fan of high PG juice either :)
 

Letitia9

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Do you feel like the Nano needs a thinner juice? I've been making my own liquids for quite some time now (and will continue to do so to somewhat bypass all the bullshit regulations they introduced) and I find 30/70 (PG/VG) to work the best for me. While I don't really care about cloud chasing, I'm not a big fan of high PG juice either :)
I only use 70-80vg juices and have no problems with Nano keeping up.
 

Matt_417

Member For 4 Years
Went down to a 70% VG. Seems to wick much better. After using the Zeus exclusively for a couple days, going back to the Nano seemed strange. For 30 minutes I wanted to go back to the Zeus. I've put several different builds in both tanks using Ni200, SS and KA1. 28-22g wicked with rayon and Cotton Bacon V2, ranging from 2.5-4mm ID.
At this point I'm getting great vapes from both and can't say that one is definitely better than the other. I can absolutely run the Zeus at higher wattage and the Nano absolutely has more airflow. Beyond those factors it's almost a toss up for me and I can adapt to either one. If I could only have 1, I'd choose the Zeus. I like building on it better.

I'm planning to order a squonker before the end of the year and use the RTAs for backups.
 
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Come back and let us know how you like it. Love my Nanos, hope you love yours as well.
So, the package just came in. Now I'll be honest it took me 3 attempts till I was happy with the way it looked after wicking but I did it :D
5 minutes later I'm sitting here with a stupid smile on my face, barely able to see the screen through all the vapor... it's a whole another league compared to my trusty old Triton.
It's awesome! :)

I will ask though, how do you wick it? I've seen two different methods. Some people push the cotton through the intake holes so that it touches the base, some only "place" it on top with no cotton sticking all the way through. I followed this guy's method and stuck the little excess cotton slightly on top of the coil and back against the poles. I did get little bit of spitback at first but now after few hits it seems to work perfectly. I'm now using the coil that came with the tank, looks like a clapton to me (0,25Ohm) at about 35-40W.
 

Letitia9

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lol The best wicking method in the Nano is the one that works. You will find many wick theirs differently. I leave a good shoulder up top, comb/thin tails, trim so ends just tuck into wick channels. My builds are usually some form of fused clapton coil between .25Ω- .42Ω. watts are generally 23-27w, I like a cooler vape. I diy and juice averages around 80vg. I use KGD or egyptian cotton. Glad to see you are enjoying using the Nano.
 

SkoldVape

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I'm gonna suggest the Merlin Mini. It comes with a velocity dual deck and also a single coil deck.
The single coil has a 1.5mm airhole insert reducer abs a 2.0mm airhole reducer but if you have no airhole insert it is a 5.0mm wide open sub ohm atty so it does both sub ohm and MTL.
It's only 2ml buy since I got it a few days ago it's replaced every RTA I use.
I have it at 25 watts with the 2.0mm airhole insert and it's just the right draw for me. Not too tight but not too loose :)
Most versatile tank on the market!!
 

zephyr

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So, the package just came in. Now I'll be honest it took me 3 attempts till I was happy with the way it looked after wicking but I did it :D
5 minutes later I'm sitting here with a stupid smile on my face, barely able to see the screen through all the vapor... it's a whole another league compared to my trusty old Triton.
It's awesome! :)

I will ask though, how do you wick it? I've seen two different methods. Some people push the cotton through the intake holes so that it touches the base, some only "place" it on top with no cotton sticking all the way through. I followed this guy's method and stuck the little excess cotton slightly on top of the coil and back against the poles. I did get little bit of spitback at first but now after few hits it seems to work perfectly. I'm now using the coil that came with the tank, looks like a clapton to me (0,25Ohm) at about 35-40W.

It's awesome to see how someone reacts when they use a rebuildable for the first time xD
 
I'm gonna suggest the Merlin Mini. It comes with a velocity dual deck and also a single coil deck.
The single coil has a 1.5mm airhole insert reducer abs a 2.0mm airhole reducer but if you have no airhole insert it is a 5.0mm wide open sub ohm atty so it does both sub ohm and MTL.
It's only 2ml buy since I got it a few days ago it's replaced every RTA I use.
I have it at 25 watts with the 2.0mm airhole insert and it's just the right draw for me. Not too tight but not too loose :)
Most versatile tank on the market!!
I was actually looking at that one as well. I'll probably end up getting either that or some of the dedicated MTLs. I'm not big into puffing out giant clouds when I go for a beer with couple friends especially when it's indoors :D
 

SkoldVape

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I was actually looking at that one as well. I'll probably end up getting either that or some of the dedicated MTLs. I'm not big into puffing out giant clouds when I go for a beer with couple friends especially when it's indoors :D
I don't understand why people vape at 100 plus watts. You can get clouds at low wattage and just take longer pulls!
People who vape at high wattage do like 1 second pulls!
 

zephyr

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I don't understand why people vape at 100 plus watts. You can get clouds at low wattage and just take longer pulls!
People who vape at high wattage do like 1 second pulls!

Sometimes I'm in a hurry... ;) Lol jk, I normally vape at 50 watts, but 30 when I want super flavor. 88.8 when I want to time travel.
 

Don29palms

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I don't understand why people vape at 100 plus watts. You can get clouds at low wattage and just take longer pulls!
People who vape at high wattage do like 1 second pulls!
That's not completely true. Right now I am using a Lucid RDA with .12ohm coils at 105 watts. I don't understand the whole single coil thing. I personally don't like single coils at all. To each his own.
 

SkoldVape

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That's not completely true. Right now I am using a Lucid RDA with .12ohm coils at 105 watts. I don't understand the whole single coil thing. I personally don't like single coils at all. To each his own.
You don't get bigger clouds just cos your vaping higher wattage
 

Don29palms

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I can use a 0.3 fused clapton in a single coil RTA at 30 watts. Just cos you don't like low wattage doesn't mean everyone "doesn't get anything out of it"

Like I said earlier, to each his own. I have single coils attys that are collecting dust because I don't like them at all. If that's what trips your trigger then that is good. I personally don't get a satisfying vape from any single coil setup and fortunately there are many many dual coil attys I do like. You can't tell me you are getting the same vapor production with your setup as I am with mine.
 

SkoldVape

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Member For 4 Years
Like I said earlier, to each his own. I have single coils attys that are collecting dust because I don't like them at all. If that's what trips your trigger then that is good. I personally don't get a satisfying vape from any single coil setup and fortunately there are many many dual coil attys I do like. You can't tell me you are getting the same vapor production with your setup as I am with mine.
I can cos I do ;)
 

CorallineAlgae

Silver Contributor
Member For 4 Years
So, the package just came in. Now I'll be honest it took me 3 attempts till I was happy with the way it looked after wicking but I did it :D
5 minutes later I'm sitting here with a stupid smile on my face, barely able to see the screen through all the vapor... it's a whole another league compared to my trusty old Triton.
It's awesome! :)

I will ask though, how do you wick it? I've seen two different methods. Some people push the cotton through the intake holes so that it touches the base, some only "place" it on top with no cotton sticking all the way through. I followed this guy's method and stuck the little excess cotton slightly on top of the coil and back against the poles. I did get little bit of spitback at first but now after few hits it seems to work perfectly. I'm now using the coil that came with the tank, looks like a clapton to me (0,25Ohm) at about 35-40W.

So glad you like it. Personally, I put the wicks (dry, not wet) through the bottom wick holes. I cut the wicks so only a short amount goes down, not enough to hit the bottom. If some of the wick touches the bottom it's fine. If my coil is fairly large I'll usually thin the cotton by cutting some at an angle or using pointy tweezers to comb it out. There are lots of ways to do it. Whatever way that works for you is the right way.
 
This might sound like something out of left field but I've been keeping an OBS ACE tank in my daily rotation for over a year. It's basically a normal 22mm tank that uses replaceable coil heads, but it also comes with a rock solid rebuildable RBA head. I have two OBS ACE tanks and neither has ever leaked or given me an ounce of trouble. Honestly, I can't stand the normal coil heads, but that RBA base is terrific. You may not get a real MTL vape off it though. It's more of a restricted DTL vape. It's easy to build, easy to wick and has rock solid flavor though. For me it's stood the test of time and outlived a lot of single coil RTAs in my collection.

As far as dedicated single coil RTAs, at the moment I also use an Ammit 25, Zeus, and an OBS Engine Nano. They're all nice. Based on your needs, I'd recommend the OBS Nano. It's pretty easy to build and wick and doesn't go through juice as fast as the others. I wouldn't recommend the Ammit 25 as it can occasionally seep a little and it can also have spitback issues. Another thing, none of these really will do MTL at all. The Zeus has the most restrictive airflow of the three (still not MTL) but I haven't used it for very long, and as that's important to you, it might not be fair to recommend it.

You may have trouble finding the OBS ACE as it's a bit older. GearBest has the white ones in stock for about $11 and FastTech has the black ones for around $13 right now. The OBS Engine Nano, Ammit 25 & Zeus are very popular and should be a breeze to track down.
K I have a gx350 and I have a obs engine nano tank and just wondering when I go to the coil setting thing what coil would I put it as? ( sorry for the bad grammar just got into vaping not long ago)
 

Letitia9

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K I have a gx350 and I have a obs engine nano tank and just wondering when I go to the coil setting thing what coil would I put it as? ( sorry for the bad grammar just got into vaping not long ago)
What wire is your coil? I use tri core fc ss 316l in my Nanos and use them in power mode, but could use them in t if I wanted to.
 

Papachaz

Silver Contributor
Member For 2 Years
You might check out the pharaoh mini. It’s got a 2 ml and a 4.5 ml capacity extension. Comes with a single coil build deck but the deck is interchangeable and there are 5 or 6 different decks you can get for it. I use mine daily. Very good flavor from it and it really doesn’t use a lot of juice even it the 2ml configuration.


In the immortal words of Socrates, “ I drank what?!”
 

Letitia9

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I think my coil is steel but idk like I don't even know if that makes dense
You need to to know what wire your coil is. Stainless steel, Ni80, nickel, titanium, or kanthal. Or if multi wire what wires were used.
 

Brad Mitchell

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I don't understand why people vape at 100 plus watts. You can get clouds at low wattage and just take longer pulls!
People who vape at high wattage do like 1 second pulls!
I know this was 2 months ago but well here we go. I vape at higher wattage because of the coil I use I suppose. At 99-125 I get a warm flavorful vape and it has a nice throat hit and it (lack of better words) stings my tongue just right. But if I turn the wattage down the taste is different and it is much cooler.

I have a similar problem using high VG. I loose taste and the sting. Which is why I like 50/50
 

SkoldVape

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Member For 4 Years
I know this was 2 months ago but well here we go. I vape at higher wattage because of the coil I use I suppose. At 99-125 I get a warm flavorful vape and it has a nice throat hit and it (lack of better words) stings my tongue just right. But if I turn the wattage down the taste is different and it is much cooler.

I have a similar problem using high VG. I loose taste and the sting. Which is why I like 50/50
My wattage varies from 45-70 but any higher an I cough my guts up haha
 

SkoldVape

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Member For 4 Years
In that scenario what coils are you vaping on? And what atty are you using at what setting is airflow?
I use fused claptons on Kylin at 80 watts with airflow wide open.
Same coils in Manta at 50 watts with one airhole open.
Few RDA'S with aliens and that's when I push it too 100.
My all day vape is a Reload clone with some fused claptons at 45 watts though and I like that RTA as it's more restricted than my other attys
 

Brad Mitchell

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I use fused claptons on Kylin at 80 watts with airflow wide open.
Same coils in Manta at 50 watts with one airhole open.
Few RDA'S with aliens and that's when I push it too 100.
My all day vape is a Reload clone with some fused claptons at 45 watts though and I like that RTA as it's more restricted than my other attys
So there are a few things when it goes to wattage.
A)coil mass and I sure you know this but the more mass requires more wattage.
B)airflow will also determine wattage more airflow requires more wattage to sustain the same temp or vape which is why the reload is down at 45.

My aromamizer was pretty good wide open at 125 but when I close down the airflow I'm down to 95. Same coil nothing changed except the airflow.
 

SkoldVape

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Member For 4 Years
So there are a few things when it goes to wattage.
A)coil mass and I sure you know this but the more mass requires more wattage.
B)airflow will also determine wattage more airflow requires more wattage to sustain the same temp or vape which is why the reload is down at 45.

My aromamizer was pretty good wide open at 125 but when I close down the airflow I'm down to 95. Same coil nothing changed except the airflow.
Yeah I always use more airflow with higher wattage, in some cases I've not had enough airflow and had dry hits.
 

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