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District F5VE Layercake RDA

timwis

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Hi Vaping Underground members, In this review i take a look at the Layercake RDA from District F5VE. The Layercake RDA was supplied for the purpose of this review by Neil from District F5VE.

https://www.districtf5ve.com/collections...r-cake-rda



Introduction

The Layercake is the follow up of the much praised Cosmonaut RDA and gets it's name from both the stacked vice style deck and the outside having a beauty ring between the top and bottom sections of the sleeve. After some initial rumblings from people that due to not taking care when fixing their coils in place the Layercake's design had nothing to stop one of your coil legs being fixed while in contact with the central screw (after using the Layercake and doing a couple of builds beyond me why any of your legs would be positioned close to the screw anyway) and shorting the RDA, and to District F5VE's credit they have done a fix by having two raised lips on the insulator to stop this from being possible. As well as an easy build and super aesthetics innovation has been provided in the form of the insulator material used called "Ceramisteel" which has an higher melting point than most metals and is stronger than any other insulator currently in the marketplace. So let's give the Layercake RDA a good look.

In The Box



I was sent a second 2 piece 810 drip tip from their "ONE" range which is as understated yet classy looking as the Layercake itself, i switched to this drip tip when using the RDA before changing drip tips again for reasons you will need to continue reading to find out why.

https://www.districtf5ve.com/collections...ip-ss-base



Contents:

1x District F5VE Layercake RDA
2 piece 810 drip tip
1x Gold Beauty Ring
1x Black Beauty Ring
1x Graphite Beauty Ring
1x Gold Plated Squonk Pin
1x Gold Plated 510 Pin
1x Allen tool
5x O-Rings
1x Extra Post Screw
Coil position guide

Picture before insulator lips added to prevent coil legs contacting centre screw.

Aesthetics

The Layercake arrived in a small very understated cardboard box and when i opened it i was met by the nicest looking RDA i have seen to date which is 24mm in diameter and very short. I received the Black version which has a high quality Matte Black finish and central glossy Black beauty ring, the top and bottom sections of the sleeve when knowing the name of the RDA are the top and bottom layers of the cake with the beauty ring being the filling. The Layercake is also available Stainless Steel and Graphite colours with the Graphite coming with a glossy Graphite beauty ring to break up the Matte finish and the Stainless Silver version i believe has a Gold beauty ring, i assume it's Gold has included with the Layercake are two extra beauty rings and the other colours i received were Graphite and Gold. The drip tip is a very low profile, wide bore, 2 piece 810 which is 2 toned and just adds to the understated beauty of this RDA, the Layercake has dual airflow slots which are quite long but very narrow. Moving to the base we have branding and the famous saying "LET THEM EAT CAKE", the Layercake comes pre-installed with a protruding, Gold plated BF pin. The Build quality is quite stunning and has a very classy look about it.



Layercake Specs and Features:

24mm Diameter
Stainless Steel & Aluminium Construction
Low Profile Design For Improved Flavor
Single Screw Clamp Style Deck
Accommodates Single & Dual Coil Configurations
Proprietary Ceramisteel Insulator
Withstands Temperatures up to 1000ºC With Tensile Strength Of Steel
Large Phillips Head Screw
Dual Adjustable Side Airflow
10mm by 1.3mm Airflow Slots
Single & Dual Coil Compatibility
Signature Airflow
810 Wide Bore Drip Tip
9.5mm Inner Bore Diameter
Internal Sleeve O-Rings
Squonk Mod Compatible
Gold Plated Pin
Thread: 510
Colours: Stainless Steel, Black, Graphite



The Airflow

The outer sleeve is in two parts that meet half way up the RDA where the top section goes inside the bottom section secured by 2 o-rings. The bottom section has two sections (one either side) cut out the edge of the sleeve which matches the size of the airflow slots in the top section. The top section of the sleeve has airflow slots on 3 sides, you turn the top to line up the slots with the cutouts on the bottom section (when the two sleeve halves are together the beauty ring complete the cutouts on the bottom section making them slots to match the slots on the upper half) to open the airflow both sides. If you continue turning the middle airflow slot on the top section comes into play lining up with one of the bottom cutouts to have airflow just one side making the Layercake suitable for a single or dual build. The airflow is quite low and will give mainly side but a bit of bottom also. The chamber is very low with a domed shape and the airflow slot's while quite long to cover the full length of the coil are quite narrow, this is telling me this RDA is about flavour even if the deck will allow for cloud chasing builds if that's your thing.



The Deck and Build

The build couldn't be any easier, the deck has a central section made up of base plate, on top of that a thick insulator plate and then a top plate which are held in a stacked position by a single central screw. Unscrew the screw to loosen the plates and allow for vertical separation then just place one coil in the required position and trim your legs, then do the same with your other coil if you are doing a dual build. Now that your coil legs are the correct size place both coils in position making sure that one leg from each coil is between the bottom plate and the insulator plate and the other is between the insulator and the top plate, then simply tighten the screw. I found the coils where positioned pretty much perfectly but if needed you can manipulate them into a better position with a coiling rod or fit for purpose utensil. I wicked as i would any other RDA but made sure i allowed for a flow of liquid around the wicks, don't suffocate the deck. The Layercake comes pre-installed with a BF pin which i find a strange choice because it has a very shallow juice well and low airflow so although i found out if your not over zealous it works ok on a squonk device it's not the most squonk friendly RDA.



Setting The Airflow

When you screw the RDA onto your device you need to check the airflow slots are lined up with your coils as the bottom section of the sleeve tends to turn out of position. Turn the bottom and line the airflow up correctly then it's fine unless you take the RDA off the device. When adjusting the airflow by turning the top section of the sleeve make sure you hold the bottom section else again the bottom section can turn slightly and need realigning.



Review Continued Below:
 

timwis

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Review Continued:

My Experience Using The Layercake

I have used this quite a bit over the last week with two builds and both with the standard pin and BF pin. The Layercake is aluminium which heats up incredibly quickly so the sleeve will get hot, this will be worse with low ohm builds and although the Layercake allows for builds to chuck some clouds i really don't understand why if that's your thing you would go with this RDA, the airflow and very low chamber say's flavour RDA to me not high wattage cloud chasing. After saying that i went for flavour and it still got very warm and with a few vapes in a row uncomfortably so. It's easily fixed the problem is the supplied drip tip is very low profile so you can't avoid your lips being in contact with the top of the RDA, i changed to a higher profile delrin drip tip and although the sleeve would still be getting very warm i no longer noticed it and really could start enjoying the fantastic flavour the Layercake gives. It squonked ok but how low the airflow is makes it a candidate for liquid to escape through the slots, i didn't experience leaking but to be honest i changed to the standard pin after only using the Layercake with the BF pin for a short time. It worked as a standard dripper really well but again with the low airflow there is always the chance of escaping liquid from time to time. I actually had no leaking issues but what i did get was condensation underneath the beauty ring which appeared above and below it from time to time, after the taste test a couple of times it definitely is condensation and not e-liquid and in my opinion no big issue, the occasional dab with a tissue sorted it but some people will find it annoying.

Very hot on the lips with low profile drip tip like the one supplied
Problem solved no heat on the lips, just a vape full of flavour

My Overall Thoughts

My lips coming in contact with the sleeve with the supplied drip tip was uncomfortable after a while, for those more into clouds and going for lower builds the heat would be unbearable and although easily solved by using a better suited drip tip the question has to be asked why supply a low profile drip tip with an RDA made from aluminium? Also i found pre-installing the BF pin a strange decision as although with a bit of care it squonks fine it's much better suited as a standard dripper, the only other issue didn't bother me much even more so when i was satisfied it was condensation rather than e-liquid is the build up of condensation underneath the beauty ring. So the Layercake isn't perfect but with a suitable drip tip of your own to make it a comfortable vape the Layercake gives excellent flavour, i would need to use it more but it's knocking on the door of best flavour RDA out of all the ones i have used. The other big pros for the Layercake is how easy the build is (it took me less than 5 minutes to do the build, wick and be ready to vape), finally the looks of the Layercake, in my opinion it's the most aesthetically pleasing RDA i own.



Likes

Very good build quality
Aesthetically outstanding (in my opinion)
My Black version had high quality Matte Black finish
2 piece 810 drip tip aesthetically pleasing (unfortunately not practical see cons)
Right up there with the best RDA's for flavour
Very easy build
Comes with 3 different beauty rings
Dual or single build
No Turbulence with airflow
Comes with both BF and standard 510
Previous shorting issue fixed

Cons

Sleeve gets hot so supplied low profile drip tip not suitable
Bottom section of sleeve needs realigning with coils after screwing on device
Shallow juice well, other RDA's better suited for squonking
Low airflow does make escaping liquid possible (i had no issues)
Condensation gathers under Beauty ring
Comes pre-installed with BF pin when in my opinion more suited as a standard dripper



I would once again like to thank Neil from District F5VE for supplying the Layercake RDA for the purpose of this review.

https://www.districtf5ve.com/collections...r-cake-rda
 

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