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Vandy Vape Berserker MTL RDA Review by KingPin!

KingPin!

In my defence, I was left unsupervised ^^
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Hi Folks,

I recently reviewed the Phobia RDA from VandyVape & Alex Vapers MD and it seems he’s a busy guy because VandyVape sent me his new project piece “The Berserker MTL RDA ”. I will state for the record right up front; ordinarily I’m not a Mouth To Lung (MTL) vaper, in fact this is very much a trial run for me to see how I get on with it all. Whilst reviewing the Berserker I’m also reviewing the VapeFly Galaxies RDA in parallel and will drop its review at the same time.

I don’t like to make recommendations in my reviews, instead I’ll present you with my findings to bolster your research should you be interested in the product.

Manufacturer Specs:
  • Diameter: 18mm
  • Diameter with Beauty Ring: 22 or 24mm
  • Height: 38 mm (42mm with threads)
  • Material: SS 304
  • Airflow: Single: Side or Single Bottom interchangeable airflow “tubes”
  • Drip Tip: Ultem or Delrin
Kit Includes
  • 1 x Berserker RDA
  • 1 x 22mm Beauty Ring
  • 1 x 22mm Beauty Ring
  • 1 x Spare bits bag (O-Rings, Delrin drip tip, Grub screws, Bottom Feeding pin, screwdriver)
  • 1 x Coil Tool
  • 6 x Airflow options
Available Colours: Matte Black, Stainless Steel, Gold, Rainbow

Product Information: http://www.vandyvape.com/detail/atomizer/Berserker_MTL_RDA/

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Impressions and Build Quality

The Berserker is marketed by VandyVape as “An Affordable, High End MTL RDA”. To me it’s either one or the other, it can’t be both!…. Overlooking the marketing oxymoron focussing instead on affordability versus quality; the Berserker MTL RDA is certainly one of Vandy Vapes best efforts from the products I’ve used. I received the gold version and despite some very minor blemishes it’s very well finished overall.

Each drip tip is 10mm wide with a 3mm bore. It can be unscrewed to swap between the Delrin or Ultem version. Whilst the drip tip is comfortable the heat sink it screws into, gets hot when chain vaping Clapton Coils (even at 15W). I would like to have seen the Berserker “RTA” drip tip included (although you can use your own 510).

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Considering how small this atomiser is; it’s made up of 14 parts! (Not including the 6 O-rings dotted about). You do get plenty of spares including the additional bottom feeding pin as well as a couple of beauty rings.

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I completely stripped it down just to see how well each individual piece stood up to ultrasonic cleaning in hot (not boiling) water, even the O-rings and peek insulators went in. It completed 20 minutes in the bath and I couldn’t see any issues, one thing they do well is gold plating and again the Gold Berserker is testament to that. Whilst the RDA was pretty clean out of the box they had applied a small amount of oil to make sure the O-rings hadn’t dried up ; so it’s worth a cleaning session first.

I was hoping to report VandyVape have finally ditched their two part “adjustable” positive pin (which will snap if over tightened), and also their plastic insert approach; though sadly they continue to use both.

Looking inside the top assembly there is a step system with an ever decreasing dome, rather than a true bell shape you find on other MTL products. This design does seem to condense the vapour well though.

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The airflow system is in the form of plastic rectangle “tubes” (6 to be exact). This inter-changeable airflow system isn’t new; In fact I have the same system on my Aeronaut V2 RDA. Leaving that aside it does offer the user the ability to fine tune their vape experience using a combination of the airflow ring and bottom airflow tubes. It can all be swapped about without having to remove your coil build, although the position of the airflow tube does make the RDA susceptible to leaking/gurgling from clumsy over dripping/squonking.

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The airflow openings are situated on a single side of the Airflow Ring (I always call this the housing). The 6 airflow holes range from 0.8mm up to 2mm in mostly 0.2mm intervals.

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The plastic tubes also have a single inlet one side (I’ve turned the two circled tubes round the other way to show this). Between the tubes and airflow ring you have 36 different settings, in fact you could argue that you don’t even have to bother with the plastic tubes and go for side airflow only so that makes it 42 different airflow settings! having said that it’s fair to say the RDA wasn’t really designed for this in mind.

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I expect someone will ask why the build deck has two side openings; I thought that at first but it just serves to allow you to push the airflow tube out from either side in order to swap it easily. Just make sure to align the airflow ring on the correct side compared with the tube opening.

I’ve been trying to figure out why they landed on plastic tubes in the first place; it bothers me they have……ok it could be risky running metal post to post in case it becomes part of the circuit, but then they could just isolate the tube both sides (with an additional insulator right in the middle of the negative post). Perhaps they just didn’t want to drill the opening larger, or it was just a cost saving excercise? With the size of the RDA I know it wouldn’t work orientating the position 90 degrees as it would be very restrictive for the wicking.

Whatever the reason it’s important you don’t have the plastic tube inserted when dry burning the coil or it will start to react to the heat. I won’t list this particular aspect as a con since the instructions manual says don’t do it! But I wanted to check what happens and sure enough it did react. Even under normal vaping conditions I’ve noticed a tiny bit of reaction, however this is probably because I set my coil too low in one of my builds, to be honest who cares this is going in as a con … in my opinion they should have figured out a way to use metal tubes.

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Whilst the O-Rings offer spot on resistance throughout; I noticed the RDA sometimes unscrews from the base when I’m trying to move it down through the airflow holes. I end up having to twist the housing right round just to move it back to the start position.

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When I remove the entire housing (airflow ring) from the base and I’m using either of the 22mm or 24mm beauty rings; it will snag when pushing it back into place. In fact the beauty rings also seem to make it harder to adjust full stop.

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The Berserker RDA drinks fairly rapidly for a MTL, but it’s easy to drip if you don’t have a squonker, simply remove the top cap and refill down the sides into the usable 8mm deep juice well. Just be careful not to overdo it or it will leak.

If you do have a squonk mod; much like the Phobia RDA, the squonking pin sits under a cap which is incorporated into the deck. I really like this idea as it keeps the juice distribution even.

And finally in this section both positive pin options sits proud of the threading
 
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KingPin!

In my defence, I was left unsupervised ^^
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Member For 4 Years
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Building and Ease of Use

The inside diameter of the deck is just 14mm and there is a 5mm gap between the posts. You’ll be able to squeeze in a single 3mm ID coil but to be honest you might find it a bit tight leaving just a narrow space for air to get past. As a result I’ve opted to stick with a 2.5mm ID coil.

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I noticed a lack of available length between screw positions. There is a whopping 3mm of it!, which even by MTL standards is pretty tight. I’ve always had to bend my coil legs back to get enough wraps in. The most I can fit in here when using a spaced coil is a 5mm long.

My favoured build for the Berserker came out at 0.52 ohms:
  • 2.5mm inner diameter,
  • 26gauge SS316L metal,
  • Spaced 8 wrap (including half for each leg).
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Ideally I’d like to bump the resistance to the region of 0.7 ohms but I simply cannot fit it in unless I go for a higher gauge or kanthal; neither of which I wanted to do.

I found securing the coil ok as long as I left the coil jig inside the centre freeing up my hand to pull the leg to the side around the mounting screw. If you leave the leg straight it just slips out as you fasten. With this in mind I think they should have made the head of the screw a tad larger.

You can coil your wire in either direction as the mounts accept it, although it makes sense for the legs to be at the top, so over and round is the best way to coil it up.

Once the coil is mounted it’s time to position it down just a few mm above the airflow tube (unless you want to run side airflow in which case it needs to be pushed down a lot further. The rim of the deck will get in the way of standard tools so thankfully they provide a tool to help. The tool has a “U“bend and will accommodate both 2.5 and 3mm ID coils. I found it works ok although it can be quite tricky to pull out from the centre of the coil once in position.

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I did try a single core Clapton as I mentioned earlier but even when vaping at 15W; I found the heat sink struggled to keep up, hence why I’ve stuck with the simple coil approach.

Wicking is a breeze, straight cut and poke down is all that’s required. I found it pretty forgiving cutting down to the bottom O-ring or 0.5mm above that.

How’s it Vape

HUGE CLOUDS BRO! …no seriously, it’s a tootle puffer. Whilst undertaking this review I’ve had to try to learn how to properly MTL again, surprisingly since giving up the stinkies and picking up vaping it’s lost on me. I do know setting it on the 1st or 2nd hole feels like I’m taking a proper drag of ciggy.

Do I enjoy this though? …no not really, not anymore but that’s not the fault of the Berserker because it’s a proper MTL vape and I’m primarily a Direct Lung Vaper. The flavour is good it has a range of airflow options. As I said earlier in my intro I’ve been vaping this up against the Galaxies RDA and I’ve ended up in a halfway house contest between the two where I’m aiming for a loose MTL/DL draw; a place where I can take longer slower inhales. I’ve found hole 3 or 4 using the 3 hole plastic insert seems to fit the bill nicely.

I did take some notes using all 6 of the inserts (when I talk about holes below I mean the ones on the airflow ring, with 1 being the smallest and 6 being the largest) ...so moving across the below picture;

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1. The “Slit” is suitable for airflow holes 1-3, it’s pointless past hole 3 as you can’t get enough air through it. You’ll get a very tight draw on this one similar to the 1.2mm.

2. The 3 hole is my all-round favourite suitable for holes 1-4. Past hole 4 it makes little difference as you can’t get any more air through it on the draw. Position 3 or 4 works really well.

3. The 1.6mm suitable for holes 1- 3 only because it get bloody noisy past that point, quite a turbulent vape on this one.

4. The 1.4mm suitable for holes 1-4. It’s right up there for me with the three hole for flavour

5. The 1.2mm is suitable for holes 1-3 as you can’t get enough air through it after that. This or the slit are going to give you the most restricted draw and throat hit especially on setting 1 – you’ll be popping eyeballs in no time with this one.

6. The 2mm – even for me who is really looking for a restricted DL hit found this option lacking, it’s way too turbulent, suitable for holes 1-3 only without being too noisy on the draw.

7. Finally no plastic insert with the coil positioned lower for side airflow. I found it lacks flavour compared with the bottom airflow options above although this method is compatible with holes 1-6

So there you go 6 airflow options and 6 inserts but actually when I went through it roughly half of the 42 options are viable.

Pro’s
  • Nice flavour and you can get a really good throat hit from this
  • Decent quality throughout – gold plating is excellent
  • Plenty of spares/ extras included
  • Solid quick change airflow system (until you lose the bits)
  • Deep juice well for an 18mm RDA
  • Can use your own 510 drip tip
  • Can make it look bigger with a Beauty ring
  • Easy to mount coils and wick
  • When squonking juice is evenly distributed
  • Very easy to drip
Con’s
  • Restricted as to your coil size
  • The airflow tubes are plastic and its sit very close the coil ….those two aren’t going to be friends
  • Gets hot using single Clapton’s
  • Can be difficult to remove the provided coil tool from the coil once positioned
  • Replacing the housing (Airflow ring) when using a beauty ring snags slightly
  • Will sometimes unscrew from the mod if I need to change airflow down a level
  • Mounting screw heads could have been very slightly wider

Final Conclusion


The Berserker RDA MTL performs well. Despite some limitations in the design as well as those tubes being plastic there’s not a lot to really dislike about it, having said that I imagine these two key areas will likely be a deal breaker for some.

A lot of my findings are nit picking, at the end of the day once you’re all set up there’s little reason to keep removing or change things about.

It certainly does what it was designed for. Between this and the Galaxies RDA; I found it to be the better “restricted” MTL option. There’s plenty to play about with fine tuning your vape experience, although unlike the galaxies RDA I felt I was limited to simple 2.5mm coils only.

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Thanks for taking the time to read my review, I hope the information serves you well…. until next time KingPin!
 
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KingPin!

In my defence, I was left unsupervised ^^
VU Donator
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Member For 4 Years
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thanks for the review man, this was on my radar already, but it really helps to see all the closeup pics and read some first hand observations on it :cheers:

No problem mate hope it helped :cheers: by the way if you already have the berserker RTA I switched out drip tips and plonked in the Vapefly Galaxies one (looks similar but probably has a wider bore) it was actually more comfortable to use and was cooler when chain vaping!

I really wish they had put that RTA drip tip as a spare in here too :cry:
 

mach1ne

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
No problem mate hope it helped :cheers: by the way if you already have the berserker RTA I switched out drip tips and plonked in the Vapefly Galaxies one (looks similar but probably has a wider bore) it was actually more comfortable to use and was cooler when chain vaping!

I really wish they had put that RTA drip tip as a spare in here too :cry:
i dont actually have the berserker either. i was really thinking about it when i grabbed a kayfun prime, but the prime (as well as that rocket genny setup) have me covered for mtl tanks for now, so i am looking harder at rdas/squonking mtl atomizers.
 

St.Roostifer

Gold Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Glad I read this! I've watched numerous reviews on YouTube by the usual suspects and I cannot recall any of them pointing out how close the plastic insert is to the coil and not even so much as a warning to not place the coil too low.

I did have the interest In this rda until I read this review but if I go MTL I'll go with one of the berserker rtas. Thanks for the insights KP. :vino:

I will say that is a nifty little luggage handle it comes with. They should have skipped that tool and went with metal airflow inserts. Just my humble opinion. :)
 

KingPin!

In my defence, I was left unsupervised ^^
VU Donator
Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
VU Challenge Team
Reviewer
Glad I read this! I've watched numerous reviews on YouTube by the usual suspects and I cannot recall any of them pointing out how close the plastic insert is to the coil and not even so much as a warning to not place the coil too low.

I did have the interest In this rda until I read this review but if I go MTL I'll go with one of the berserker rtas. Thanks for the insights KP. :vino:

I will say that is a nifty little luggage handle it comes with. They should have skipped that tool and went with metal airflow inserts. Just my humble opinion. :)

Thanks mate glad it helped ...I wholeheartedly agree with the metal tubing aspect, I dunno maybe I’m just a spanner and set the coil too low, even so theres bound to be others setting it this way as well
 

St.Roostifer

Gold Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Thanks mate glad it helped ...I wholeheartedly agree with the metal tubing aspect, I dunno maybe I’m just a spanner and set the coil too low, even so theres bound to be others setting it this way as well
Watching YouTube videos is a good way to actually see the product but for real in depth reviews this board is the best place. :cheers:

Even if we take possibly setting the coil too low out of the equation... I would still be concerned about the longevity of the plastic tubes seeing as how the tubes sit right below the coil and the airflow is restricted for the MTL experience. Does the chamber feel like it gets hotter than usual?
 

KingPin!

In my defence, I was left unsupervised ^^
VU Donator
Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
VU Challenge Team
Reviewer
Watching YouTube videos is a good way to actually see the product but for real in depth reviews this board is the best place. :cheers:

Even if we take possibly setting the coil too low out of the equation... I would still be concerned about the longevity of the plastic tubes seeing as how the tubes sit right below the coil and the airflow is restricted for the MTL experience. Does the chamber feel like it gets hotter than usual?

If using Clapton’s yeah and especially those fused ones they send with it ....the top heat sink gets hot chain vaping with those coils ....with a simple wire build I liked it, and it wasnt too bad found it copes with it much better

see I like a warm vape anyway ...it’s worth taking that into account, cool vapes aren’t my thing...18-20w region I’ve vaped on the berserker rda depending on the coil of course
 

St.Roostifer

Gold Contributor
Member For 5 Years
If using Clapton’s yeah and especially those fused ones they send with it ....the top heat sink gets hot chain vaping with those coils ....with a simple wire build I liked it, and it wasnt too bad found it copes with it much better

see I like a warm vape anyway ...it’s worth taking that into account, cool vapes aren’t my thing...18-20w region I’ve vaped on the berserker rda depending on the coil of course
This is really good to know and again something I've not seen addressed in YouTube reviews. For experienced vapers this probably wouldn't be much of a problem but for people like myself with limited experience or those entirely new to vaping, I could see this potentially being a problem.
 

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