Vaptio Wall Crawler Kit With Throne Tank Review by KingPin!

[KingPin!]

Hi Folks,

There’s a fair few kits sharing similar designs (at least on the outside) to the product I’ll be reviewing today. They have the battery tube cap on top, take a single battery, and are designed for portability and ease of use. Overall they enjoy a large degree of success with new and existing vapers alike. Vaptio have decided to join their ranks and sent me the WallCrawler kit (including the Throne tank) for the once over.

I don’t like to make recommendations in my reviews, rather I’ll go through all of my findings with this particular kit to help bolster your research should you be interested in the product.

As usual I’ll cover the tank first and then the mod.

Part 1 the Throne Tank

Throne Manufacturer Specs

• Width 23.5mm
• Height 54.9mm
• Capacity 2ml
• Metal: SS 304
• Airflow slots: 2
• Hot-Swap Tech coil change system
• Direct Lung and Mouth To Lung

The kit includes

• 1 x Throne Tank
• 1 x Throne D1 coil 0.25 ohm coil Ni/Cr (pre installed)
• 1 x Throne D2 Coil 1.2ohm coil Kanthal (FeCrAl)
• 1 x User Manual
• 1 x spare parts

Product Info: https://vaptio.com/catalogue/throne-tank_979/




Impressions & Build Quality

The first thing to go over is the name “Throne” and talking about vaping on the throne. I feel obligated to mention this, I don’t know what it’s like where you are but In the UK “just nipping off to sit on the Throne” is slang for something you might associate with…..well you know what I mean, all of us do it even the queen!. Not subtle enough? try the term VooPoo then. It’s been difficult to shake this image since I’ve been using this tank. I appreciate Vaptio probably had to steer clear of the name Crown because of Uwell’s tank series, more specifically the Crown 3 which also has the quick coil change system.

Naming aside the finish and machining are excellent throughout, and the threading is buttery smooth, they’ve done a cracking job. There was one downside though the tank smelled heavily of machine oil and required a very deep clean before I felt comfortable to use it.



If you buy the Wall Crawler as a kit, you get just one drip tip option and there is no replacement glass. However should you opt to buy the tank as a standalone, you are given a Mouth to Lung (MTL) narrow bore drip tip, similar to the one found on the VandyVape Berserker, a standard wide bore 510 and a spare glass section. I’m really disappointed that the kit didn’t include these “extras” as well and it will be going down as a con because everyone needs a spare glass and the whole point of the tank is to use it in either Direct Lung (DL) or MTL vaping, it’s even got a coil designed for both in the kit.



In terms of the material of the tip I don’t believe either are Delrin because when I chain vape at higher wattages they get pretty hot, however both are comfortable in the lower wattage ranges.

The top cap is a solid piece of stainless steel. Even at moderate temperatures it will get hot. This is a top fill design and there is no refill port, imagine here the Aspire Cleito (original and Exo) or the original VandyVape Kylin before they modified the design, where you just take off the top cap and plonk the juice straight into the tank. The only thing stopping you from doing this is that rubber seal, which doesn’t need to be in there…I swiftly took mine out to squeeze out an extra bit of capacity.



Removing the top cap exposes the inside of the tank. Much like their C-II tank there is juice flow control. The juice ports close automatically as you unscrew, then open when you tighten it back up. You can also adjust the juice flow by twisting the top cap which comes in handy.

The coil system is actually much like the crown 3 although instead of undoing the base you can get to it by removing the top cap. It was fine to leave the tank full with juice whilst switching coils. In fact I took my time to wipe around inside with a tissue then plonk in the new coil.

At the top of each coil there’s little “sticky out ears” which slot into place ensuring the coil is always correctly aligned with the juice ports. The ports themselves have an edge that blocks off any gap meaning it’s very difficult to experience juice lock. Wicking was something I never had an issue with, in fact quite the opposite where restricting the flow was sometimes required.



There is one thing I noticed about this whole experience; while coil swapping has been designed around speed and ease, its impacted upon the refilling experience. To me its makes logical sense to place importance on refilling because well…. you have to do it far more often. The Vaptio Frogman’s quick release system was fantastic why not merge the two systems together?

What happens on the Throne is every time you refill it you spend a while undoing it, in that process the coil lifts ever so slightly (remember it’s sealed so this doesn’t matter) what happens though is your mod keeps thinking you’ve got a new atomiser on top! Then you have to really tighten the top cap to re-engage the coil in order for the mod to pick it up again. I find this annoying and it causes my OCD to go crazy. On the WallCrawler mod it’s not such a problem because it automatically detects the coil when you've screwed it back on tight, but on others I kept receiving the new atomiser message every time.

The 0.25 ohm coil is Ni/Cr according to Vaptio. Their N1 Pro is capable of firing Ni80 in Temp control so I gave it a go. It didn’t even pick it up? So I have no idea what the mix of chromium and nickel is, but it’s supposedly Ni80. So for now I’m going to say these are not true Ni80 coils.

Moving down to the base of the tank the Air Flow Control (AFC) ring sits just a couple of mm higher than the base. So when it’s screwed into the mod you can turn it without any problem. The AFC does have a lock point which is good for disassembly. I noticed a little bit of vertical play in the AFC but it’s only very slight.



Finally the positive pin sits slightly proud of the negative threading which I always like to see.

 

[KingPin!]

How’s it Vape?

You get 2 coils, a 1.2ohm coil and a 0.25ohm coil. This is designed to accommodate both Mouth to Lung (MTL) and Direct Lung (DL) vaping styles. The draw is restricted wherever you place the ACF, so if you like airy vapes this is not for you.

It has decent vapour production. If at any point you find the vape gets a bit too moist or you get a little bit of spitting then just restrict the juice flow down a little and it sorts it out.

I like the 0.25 coil of the two provided. The break in time is very quick just a couple of ml’s. It has a really decent usable wattage range between 35W – 55W. I ended up vaping it at roughly 38w with the airflow half way. Flavour is very good, in fact it’s in line with the Asvape Cobra which is one of my top sub ohms and is certainly the best flavoured sub ohm tank I’ve used from Vaptio so far. The downside is the coil life is underwhelming at just under a week and this means it’s going to be heavily reliant on coil availability and price.

I also need to mention that one of 0.25 coils I used had a variance of 0.06 (at 0.31 ohms) which is quite a way off the target resistance, it still vaped ok but Vaptio needs to keep an eye on QC.

I tried to get on with the 1.2 ohm, but I’ve come to realise I’m really not a MTL vaper. I did note 14W was the maximum for it, but because I didn’t vape it properly I burnt the coil out very quickly trying to take longer draws. Personally I’d rather they just stuck with two (possibly three) of the 0.25 coils in the pack, although I appreciate this is for transitional vapers, not necessarily those who have already landed on a style.

I have noticed condensation build up on the Throne. For the most part you get very slight seeping every now and then, but it can be a pain to clean up with all the machining depression points. I also spotted this condensation finds its way under the base as well.

Thankfully the 2ml doesn’t drain as quickly as the frogman. Using the 0.25ohm coil you will get a decent 20-30 mins vaping between refills at the lower wattage ranges, the 1.2 ohm coil goes on for much longer.

Pro’s

• Easy coil change… takes less time to change them than it does to say Hot-Swap Tech Coil Change System
• Well above average flavour for a sub ohm
• Restricted Direct lung hit off the bat (suits my style)
• Machining and threading is excellent
• Coils will always be aligned to Juice flow holes and air cannot get trapped
• Doesn’t drink too quickly so juice capacity isn’t such an issue
• Transitional tank since it accommodates MTL and DL styles with coil options

Cons

• Coil Resistance reset check every time I refill
• Top cap gets too hot
• Coil life is too short – availability and cost might be prohibitive as these are proprietary
• Not a fan of the drip tips, can feel the heat when chain vaping
• Lack of spares come with the kit (if buying tank separately you get these as extras)
• Condensation build up
• Heavy with machine oil or lubricant these should be pre cleaned
• Stock coil had a variance of 0.06ohm from stated value

Final Conclusion

I think the flavour from the this tank as well as its quality are excellent and to begin with I really was enjoying it, however the longer I used it the more I felt there are a fair few tweaks that need to be incorporated to remove some of the niggly areas in my review. So it depends whether or not these things bother you. I did find the coil life underwhelming, but if they become accessible and reasonably priced that aspect may not be an issue.

I’ve noticed they are also selling the WallCrawler with the Frogman tank which I’ve reviewed before and that could be an alternative option if you wanted the kit.

 

[KingPin!]

Part 2 The WallCrawler Mod

Manufacturer Specs

• Height: 73mm
• Width: 50mm
• Depth: 28.5mm
• Weight: (with Battery and throne tank on top): 226g or 177g out of the box
• Battery: Single 18650
• Screen: 1.3inch TFT colour display
• Wattage Range 7w- 80W
• Temperature Control Range: 200-600.F / 100 – 300.C
• Resistance Range: 0.05 – 2 ohms
• Modes: Variable Wattage / Temperature Control / Bypass / Custom Curves Wattage / Custom Curves Temperature
• On board Charging: 5v/1A
• Protections: Short Circuit / Low Voltage / Timed Cut off / over charging / over heating
• Firmware: Upgradable

Available Colours: Black & SS, Black, Black & Red, Black and Blue

Product info: https://vaptio.com/catalogue/wall-crawler-mod_991/

Impressions and Build Quality

Starting at the top, the throw on the positive pin is very short so if you have an atomiser with longer threads you are going to have problems getting it to sit exactly flush. Even if the threads are standard length the 510 plate sits proud at the centre meaning there is a 1mm gap between the base and the atomiser and top of the mod. I noticed when I apply pressure on the side of my tanks I can wobble them very slightly.



I dismantled the mod to take a look inside and the 510 assembly is a single piece which looks to be secured ok. The soldering job isn’t too bad either (it’s a little messy on the negative terminal though). I presume at this stage it’s the outer plastic casing itself giving slightly that’s causing the wobble. I have used a number of different tanks on the wall crawler and the assembly has stayed put so far.



I haven’t noticed dodgy resistance readings when in use, it’s maybe 0.02 +/- out compared to my top tier mods. Resistance readings change with a very slight delay on screen.

The mod will comfortably seat 25mm atomisers without overhang.

Moving over to the battery cap, the threading leaves a little to be desired. It does screw down ok but they could have done a much better job with this, it’s the one piece that’s going to get a lot of use, so nice chunky threads wouldn’t go amiss.



Looking inside the battery tube there are two vent ports. One next to the positive terminal and one at the top of the tube. I did remove the bottom plastic assembly to check whether those vent holes are connected to the tube somehow, but it doesn’t look like it is so perhaps there’s an escape route behind the contact itself. It’s a snug fit for the cell and there is no rattle with the cap on.



Moving back to the outside, I would have preferred it if all of the casing was metal rather than the top and bottom sections being plastic. Although it does mean heat transfer from the atomiser is kept to a minimum, at the same time reduces the weight. It’s not like the Wallcrawler is a complete wuss, while it weighs just 117g out of the box, by the time you load it up with the throne and a single battery you are into the 226g territory which is actually pretty hefty for its size.

Despite all of the Spiderman type detailing, the mod is very comfortable to use in either hand. Ergonomically they have got this spot on at least for my liking.

The screen is very bright and colours pop really well even in daylight.

The fire bar has a little bit of side to side play in it. It’s held in place by the top plastic assembly. It takes very little effort to engage it. In fact this is one of, if not, the fastest firing mod I own. I need to emphasis this, they advertise it takes just 0.005 seconds to fire and it really does fire bloody quickly, it’s like a hair trigger!



The buttons on the screen are metal and not plastic and don’t rattle about when I shake the mod.

Modes and Usage

Being the mod is so fast firing and how quickly it ramps up you have to compromise accessing the menu using it. Personally I’d like it if Vaptio introduced a third button on the screen to replace the functions built into the fire button. That way you aren’t cooking the coil trying to change settings or turning it off.

2 presses of the fire button in quick succession changes sub mode selection of preheat (soft, normal and hard) I’ve often been vaping this many a time and changed it without noticing! All of a sudden I’m on hard and it’s now boosting the initial voltage output significantly. For the most part normal is enough for me (setting it on soft has the opposite effect reduces initial voltage output).

5 presses of the fire button for on or off. There is no lock feature or auto off feature like some of their earlier kits.

3 presses enter the menu. It’s easy enough to navigate around using the +/- button and fire bar to select. I find one thing in particular slightly annoying. When I select Variable Wattage (VW) mode, in the next screen it defaults to “high”, then I have to scroll down to “normal”, I would like to see them re-order this menu in a future firmware update.

Within settings you can select “Inner Resistance”. This will give you an idea of the actual coil resistance and battery voltage left. Nice idea although it would be good if this was a quick access function rather than deep in the settings. I found the actual voltage to be slightly higher testing externally (mod was out by 0.04V) so it’s probably designed on purpose to protect from over charging and low voltage situations. I recorded low Voltage cut off a 3.42V and a full charge cut off at 4.17v which would support this theory.

Co-incidentally the charge time is approximately 2 hours from low cut off. The mod warms up a fair bit but nothing I would deem as worryingly high. Whilst I always test on board charging I’d still prefer to charge externally if I can, it saves stressing the USB port, plus I’d rather have the cells out in the open rather than in a tight tube with questionable venting should something go wrong.

 

[KingPin!]

The power modes - Wattage, CCW and Bypass

Unless I’ve been using dodgy mods up until now (I know I haven’t) this thing is hitting harder in the mid wattage ranges than what I would expect using 0.25 - 0.5 ohm coils. Combine this with the extremely fast firing and it’s quite the aggressive vape experience. Put it this way I typically vape on the Asvape Cobra’s 0.5 coil at about 38W-40W but on this thing I’m having to vape it at a tiny 28W! It’s like the regulator is boosting overtime. It’s consistent in as much as I’m not noticing my resistance flutter about and it’s firing at the same rate every time but it’s just harder than I’d expect.

Up into the higher wattage ranges 70-80 using a chunkier 0.2 ohm coil (where it needs more oomph to get it going) it felt like it slacked a tiny bit, perhaps I’m being unfair, it is after all a single battery device. The longer I press of the fire button the more voltage sag became an issue for the regulator to compensate for. I’m not going to record this as a con because it’s kind of expected. I certainly wouldn’t buy an 80w mod to use it at 80w all of the time, I’d get a dual battery for that!

Using the custom curve wattage (CCW) mode I can set the desired wattage in 1 second intervals. I’ve been using this mode a lot it’s fantastic. The mod is following the curves ok albeit again harder than I’d typically expect, but I really don’t have any grumbles with this mode, it’s where I’ve spent most of my time.

Bypass mode just hits with whatever voltage you have left in the battery (coil resistance dependant) bypassing the regulator to simulate a mechanical mod. I don’t really ever bother using this mode on fully regulated mod because none of them really compare to the real deal but yeah it worked.

Battery life is excellent I use Samsung 30Q and it’s lasting for over half my vaping day without having to swap over that single cell. Bear in mind here I’m not using some big old coil that requires the full 80w because that’ll spank the battery in no time. I’m using tanks that require ranges of up to 50w. I’m not even noticing it really drop in performance right to the low cut off point.

Temp Control and CCT modes

Unfortunately somethings up with Temp control on my mod it’s intermittent. I’ve tried RTA’s and RDA’s at different resistances to rule that out as the problem. I’ve also tried both .C and .F in both TC modes and results are the same.

There is no ability to set a wattage for pre-heat and it just ends up hitting at the full 80w with no attempt to stop at set temp, although it does seem to sometimes detect when cotton is dry and reduce wattage at that point. Even at 200.F or 100.C it’s hitting at crazy power, so this is going to have to be a fail. It’s a real shame because they did a great job of TC on the N1 Pro. At this stage I don’t know if the regulator is playing up or there’s a wiring problem or firmware problem but I have raised the issue with Vaptio directly see if it’s something they can resolve.

Additionally when you go into the TCR settings you cannot reduce it lower than 1.0000 which is odd. Every metal on the list requires less than this to register correctly and SS requires accuracy to 5 decimal places so I don’t know what’s up here perhaps it was missed entirely or they meant to use parts per mille, even so this setting screen does not seem functional to me at present.

Pro’s

• Fantastic Power modes hits hard in the mid wattage ranges
• Battery life seems significant for single battery
• Very fast firing and very easy to engage the fire bar
• Can accommodate large atomisers for its size
• Very comfortable to hold
• Menu system is intuitive
• Display is bright
• Decent charge time and cut of points
• Stays cool when in use

Cons

• Would prefer it if the 510 was flat and needs a deeper throw
  
• Scratchy threads on the battery cap
• Would have preferred metal assembly all round
• Little bit of sideward play in the firing bar and should you have serious atomiser leak is not sealed underneath
• Temp Control didn’t work
• Couldn’t see obvious route for venting of the battery externally

Final Conclusion

Leaving aside the obvious elephant in the room (temp control) which might just be a flaw with mine. I’ve enjoyed using the WallCrawler. It’s got all the hallmarks of little man syndrome and comes out swinging with the best of them. In the medium wattage ranges, where I’d be looking to use this, it hits very well. Battery life is excellent and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed using it in the power modes, which is all some may care about.



But as I’m reviewing it I have to look at the package as a whole and since they included TC it falls a little short as a complete package, in all honesty it would have been better if it wasn’t even included. If I see something that can fix this TC mode through firmware then I’ll change my opinion on this. For now I shall be keeping a close eye on info out there to see if other users are reporting a similar issue to me. It’s a shame because they did a good job with TC on the N1 Pro and does prove Vaptio can get TC right.

Thanks very much for taking the time to read my review, until next time KingPin!