Introduction
Almost every MTL RTA that I’ve reviewed over the last couple of years has followed the same formula, they have all been very user friendly and all offered very similar performance – the only one that has been a little different was the Steamcrave Mini Robot with airflow hitting the coil from the top.
The Auguse Era Pro RTA is very different in almost every aspect, I didn’t find it user-friendly but it is very much worth the extra effort.
More Images are here
Specs
The most striking thing about this RTA is the technical design – firstly, it’s a gravity fed RTA, the juice sits in the tank above the deck and drips down to saturate the cotton, it has juice flow control, so you can close the juice flow and remove the entire tank without losing making any mess.
It’s a complex design with many parts, but it’s well thought out and well made.
However, out of the box for some insane reason, it comes fitted with ugly green o-rings. Fortunately, it also comes with spares in red and black, so I fitted the black o-rings – this is a one minute process.
Build
Usually accessing the deck of an RTA is the most simple procedure in the world, hold the base, twist the tank and remove the chamber. However, this is not the case with the Era Pro – firstly close the juice flow control if you have juice in the tank, pull off the airflow control ring, unscrew the next ring and then you can pull the deck downwards to start your build.
Actually putting a coil in the deck is very easy, there are four posts so it doesn’t matter which way your coil is wrapped, theoretically you could put a tiny dual-coil build in here – but that’s obviously not what it was designed for. There’s a channel to rest a coiling-rod in to get the ideal height, each post has a small lip, so capturing the leads is simple, as far as coiling is concerned this is a perfect deck.
Wicking
This is where everything became difficult, mainly because I hadn’t encountered a gravity fed RTA before and had to try a few different things.
One thing I did find impressive, was the ability to remove the tank with the juice flow closed and access the deck, on most RTAs this is done by unscrewing the tank and balancing it upside down so not to spill juice, on the Era Pro this is not a concern – if the juice flow is closed, then the juice stays in the tank.
Airflow
The bottom airflow ring which is for the under-coil airflow gives you the following options: 1.6×3.6mm, 1.8mm, 1.6mm, 1.4mm, 1.2mm, 1.0mm and 0.8mm.
The side airflow pins give you following options: 1.2mm, 1.0mm, 0.8mm and closed – you can mix and match these pins as you wish, and you can also run it with no airflow pins for a much airier draw.
There’s no real hard and fast rule for this RTA’s airflow configuration, you just play around and tweak it until you find something that’s perfect for your build.
One thing that I did notice, is that it works best with both airflow systems in play at the same time, even if one or both of them are closed 95%, it’s better than closing one completely.
Tweaking the airflow is very easy, nothing requires access to the deck and you can change everything with a build in place.
Filling
You have two options, firstly the conventional top-cap method – however you can also remove the tank (which is quicker) and refill from the bottom of the tank, if you juice bottle is the right size.
How does it perform?
What could be improved?
Not much at all, I’d have liked a wicking guide because that held me back, an alternative drip-tip would have been good, and it should have come fitted with the black o-rings, but that’s about it.
Conclusion
For someone with limited patience or someone just getting into MTL, there are better options that will cause less frustration.
For those who like tweaking their vape, discovering the perfect build and airflow configuration, this is a really satisfying, versatile RTA to work on and well worth the effort – just make sure to get the wicking correct.
Disclaimer
The Auguse Era Pro RTA was provided for the purposes of this review by Sourcemore who have provided the discount code ERAR that will reduce the price from $36.99 to $32.67.
Almost every MTL RTA that I’ve reviewed over the last couple of years has followed the same formula, they have all been very user friendly and all offered very similar performance – the only one that has been a little different was the Steamcrave Mini Robot with airflow hitting the coil from the top.
The Auguse Era Pro RTA is very different in almost every aspect, I didn’t find it user-friendly but it is very much worth the extra effort.
More Images are here
Specs
- Dimensions 22×46.2mm (without drip-tip) 59.77 (with drip-tip)
- Capacity 4ml
- Airflow side + bottom
- Filing method top + bottom
- Era Pro RTA (fitted with 1.0mm side airflow pins)
- 2×0.8mm side airflow pins
- 2×1.2mm side airflow pins
- 2×blanking side airflow pins
- PEI tank (RTA comes fitted with a glass tank)
- spares (including different colored o-rings – this proved important for me)
- 1×2.5mm 26g NI70 0.68ohm coil
- 1×2.5mm 32g*3 +42g NI80 0.86 ohm coil
The most striking thing about this RTA is the technical design – firstly, it’s a gravity fed RTA, the juice sits in the tank above the deck and drips down to saturate the cotton, it has juice flow control, so you can close the juice flow and remove the entire tank without losing making any mess.
It’s a complex design with many parts, but it’s well thought out and well made.
However, out of the box for some insane reason, it comes fitted with ugly green o-rings. Fortunately, it also comes with spares in red and black, so I fitted the black o-rings – this is a one minute process.
Build
Usually accessing the deck of an RTA is the most simple procedure in the world, hold the base, twist the tank and remove the chamber. However, this is not the case with the Era Pro – firstly close the juice flow control if you have juice in the tank, pull off the airflow control ring, unscrew the next ring and then you can pull the deck downwards to start your build.
Actually putting a coil in the deck is very easy, there are four posts so it doesn’t matter which way your coil is wrapped, theoretically you could put a tiny dual-coil build in here – but that’s obviously not what it was designed for. There’s a channel to rest a coiling-rod in to get the ideal height, each post has a small lip, so capturing the leads is simple, as far as coiling is concerned this is a perfect deck.
Wicking
This is where everything became difficult, mainly because I hadn’t encountered a gravity fed RTA before and had to try a few different things.
- First attempt I cut my wick to the outside of the deck (not the outside of the base), fluffed it and thinned it, this worked really well for about 30 seconds, then my deck flooded, the RTA leaked all over my mod and I drank juice.
- Second attempt Exactly the same as the first attempt, but more cotton, no thinning and less fluffing. Same results, at this point I was annoyed, because I had drunk too much juice and I had to clean my mod for the second time in ten minutes.
- Third attempt I decided to think out of the box and tried to be clever. I cut the wicks way outside the base, primed them and folded them inwards, giving a double layer wick. This was partially successful as the deck didn’t flood, however it didn’t wick very well.
- Final attempt I cut the wicks to the outside of the base, fluffed them a lot and tucked some of the wick into the gap between the base and the deck. This worked perfectly, I’ve put various PG/VG ratio juices in this build and it wicks well, no deck floods and no leaks.
One thing I did find impressive, was the ability to remove the tank with the juice flow closed and access the deck, on most RTAs this is done by unscrewing the tank and balancing it upside down so not to spill juice, on the Era Pro this is not a concern – if the juice flow is closed, then the juice stays in the tank.
Airflow
The bottom airflow ring which is for the under-coil airflow gives you the following options: 1.6×3.6mm, 1.8mm, 1.6mm, 1.4mm, 1.2mm, 1.0mm and 0.8mm.
The side airflow pins give you following options: 1.2mm, 1.0mm, 0.8mm and closed – you can mix and match these pins as you wish, and you can also run it with no airflow pins for a much airier draw.
There’s no real hard and fast rule for this RTA’s airflow configuration, you just play around and tweak it until you find something that’s perfect for your build.
One thing that I did notice, is that it works best with both airflow systems in play at the same time, even if one or both of them are closed 95%, it’s better than closing one completely.
Tweaking the airflow is very easy, nothing requires access to the deck and you can change everything with a build in place.
Filling
You have two options, firstly the conventional top-cap method – however you can also remove the tank (which is quicker) and refill from the bottom of the tank, if you juice bottle is the right size.
How does it perform?
- Build one 28g superfine MTL clapton 0.7ohms. I initially tried this build with the 1.0mm airflow pins and then changed to the 1.2mm pins and airflow ring fully open. This build was good loose MTL, but better when treated as very restricted DL at around 25-28w. The flavor is nice, the airflow is very smooth, this is a nice vape.
- Build two the supplied 26g NI70 round wire build at 0.65ohms, for this build I put the 0.8mm pins and took the airflow ring down to the 1.2mm setting and used it between 16.5 and 20w. I’d consider this to be MTL, not supertight MTL, but definitely not restricted DL. Again, the flavor was really good and the airflow is very smooth. At this point, all annoyances with the wicking had been forgotten, this RTA is awesome.
What could be improved?
Not much at all, I’d have liked a wicking guide because that held me back, an alternative drip-tip would have been good, and it should have come fitted with the black o-rings, but that’s about it.
Conclusion
For someone with limited patience or someone just getting into MTL, there are better options that will cause less frustration.
For those who like tweaking their vape, discovering the perfect build and airflow configuration, this is a really satisfying, versatile RTA to work on and well worth the effort – just make sure to get the wicking correct.
Disclaimer
The Auguse Era Pro RTA was provided for the purposes of this review by Sourcemore who have provided the discount code ERAR that will reduce the price from $36.99 to $32.67.