Horrid flavor from Aromamizer RDTA?

[VapeRN]

I recently acquired one of these puppies, the Aromamizer RDTA, because the airflow and velocity style deck looked perfect for me. The OEM packaging contained an Allen key that was too small, so after some searching I finally got it built out properly. I put two 24g KA1 coils in it about 7 wraps or so, dual build ohms at .3 which is good for me. Wicked with KGD cotton just like my Velocity RDA that I've been glued to for weeks.

Now, I've cleaned this thing out completely before use, and it was very clean to start with. The first vapes on it were delicious, but within a few hours a horrible rubbery/chemically taste started to develop. It's not burnt wicks, they are pristine. My coils are glowing uniformly, no hot legs or hot spots. I've been vaping the same juice on my RDA for a month so it's not the juice. This taste is horrible, it just won't go away. It's getting stronger by the day too.

Help! This sucks. I spent good money on this tank that everyone is raving about and I simply can't vape it. I've torn down, cleaned and rewicked it two times and every time the nasty flavor comes back. Any ideas?!? Bad O rings? Bad insulator?


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[Neunerball]

You might have melted insulators causing the horrible flavor. I'd check those first. I don't believe it's the o-rings, due to being made of silicon (I hope), which can take quite some heat.

 

[trlrtrash13]

Are you using vertical coils? If so, make your wicks fat to where they barely pull through the coil. Cut them long so that when you stuff them into the deck it pushes up in a bell shape under the coil. Before you push them in, fluff them out really good top and bottom. I had this same issue and it was caused by juice in the top of the wick getting gunked up and giving a nasty flavor. Those steps fixed it for me.
TT

 

[VapeRN]

Nope, just horizontal coils. Wicked in a horseshoe like a regular velocity build. I'm gonna have to tinker with it.


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[Zamazam]

You might have one that has machineing oil in the crevices. You can soak it over night in vodka or rubbing alcohol followed by a quick boil in a sauce pan for a few minutes (no more). I bet you will see a sheen on top of the water after it cools from the manufacturing gunk.

 

[VapeRN]

Gonna have to try that. It looked spotless at first and has been washed with mild soap and water anyway. Still, I'll give it a booze bath to say I tried.


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[Neunerball]

Gonna have to try that. It looked spotless at first and has been washed with mild soap and water anyway. Still, I'll give it a booze bath to say I tried.


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That's why I like having an ultrasonic cleaner. It's the first thing, I do with a new topper, giving it a nice hot bath in it.

 

[Zamazam]

I have one too. They work really well, plus I can speed steep my juice in it.

 

[Neunerball]

I have one too. They work really well, plus I can speed steep my juice in it.

Yep, same here.

 

[Adam Paseman]

Any better? Something is wrong cuz this rdta is pretty awesome on flavor and clouds.


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[VapeRN]

Haven't had a chance yet, working 12 hour shifts for a couple days, decided to build coils for my RDA last night instead of cleaning the tank. Priorities!


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[Adam Paseman]

Your saying work is a priority? What's wrong with you?


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[AZ_Shooter]

?? maybe...the tank is fine...and something's up with your mod or your batteries...maybe... ??

 

[VapeRN]

Ok. Soaked in vodka for 8 hours. Boiling water rinses. Smell is gone for now. Loaded up with my ADV, 0.3ohm horizontal dual coil Kanthal build. Koh gen doh cotton wick. Tastes pretty good for now....


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[Scs1972]

I've just received my Aromamizer rdta and I am beyond disappointed! It's awesome....but it has a beyond terrible metal taste! I've washed and cleaned it every way I can try and it still smells and tastes awful! I have contacted Steam Crave and they have admitted that it is a problem! Anyone else had this problem recently? Looks like 3 to 4 weeks till I get a replacement!

 

[Neunerball]

I've just received my Aromamizer rdta and I am beyond disappointed! It's awesome....but it has a beyond terrible metal taste! I've washed and cleaned it every way I can try and it still smells and tastes awful! I have contacted Steam Crave and they have admitted that it is a problem! Anyone else had this problem recently? Looks like 3 to 4 weeks till I get a replacement!

What methods of cleaning did you try? What kind of wire are you using (Kanthal, Ni200, Ti, etc)?

 

[Scs1972]

What methods of cleaning did you try? What kind of wire are you using (Kanthal, Ni200, Ti, etc)?

Boiling, soaking in rubbing alcohol, soaking in vodka, ultrasonic cleaner with dish washing liquid with some ammonia. And after all that it still has a metallic taste and smell. Using kanthal, which I use in my Youde Bellus....perfect flavour in that.

 

[Neunerball]

Boiling, soaking in rubbing alcohol, soaking in vodka, ultrasonic cleaner with dish washing liquid with some ammonia. And after all that it still has a metallic taste and smell. Using kanthal, which I use in my Youde Bellus....perfect flavour in that.

You could try a bath in hot water and vinegar. Maybe even in the UC.

 

[domct203]

I've just received my Aromamizer rdta and I am beyond disappointed! It's awesome....but it has a beyond terrible metal taste! I've washed and cleaned it every way I can try and it still smells and tastes awful! I have contacted Steam Crave and they have admitted that it is a problem! Anyone else had this problem recently? Looks like 3 to 4 weeks till I get a replacement!

Sorry to hear this.

Did Steam Crave give an explaination?

I have an Aromamizer on the way to me right now, this would be a major disappointment.

Did they say why it would be 3-4 weeks?

Dom

 

[Scs1972]

You could try a bath in hot water and vinegar. Maybe even in the UC.

Haven't tried that one....might have to give it a try!

 

[Scs1972]

Sorry to hear this.

Did Steam Crave give an explaination?

I have an Aromamizer on the way to me right now, this would be a major disappointment.

Did they say why it would be 3-4 weeks?

Dom

I have to see if the vendor in Australia that I purchased it from will exchange. They aren't back till the 4th of Jan.
Steam Crave said they knew of the issue, didn't say what caused it. They said if it can't be replaced from where I bought it they will send me one from China and it would be about 3 weeks.
Hopefully you get a good one, it is an awesome tank, nice to build on with the velocity deck. I've wanted it for awhile now. Hopefully it gets sorted so I can enjoy it properly!

 

[Scs1972]

Ok. Soaked in vodka for 8 hours. Boiling water rinses. Smell is gone for now. Loaded up with my ADV, 0.3ohm horizontal dual coil Kanthal build. Koh gen doh cotton wick. Tastes pretty good for now....


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Hey, did the taste come back? Or was it ok? Just curious as I've had nothing but trouble with mine.
Scott

 

[VapeRN]

So I was about to give up on this thing... I washed it a few more times in soapy water, changed out the basic macro coil build for a Clapton build and I'm vaping it right now. The taste has gone away. I'm thinking there was some oil or maybe one of the non-metallic pieces needed to settle a little. It seems fine right now and it was really really bad.


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[Zamazam]

good news!

 

[dre]

Simple fix is disassemble it completely down to the insulator's. Machine oil likes to hide in-between the insulator's.

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[domct203]

Simple fix is disassemble it completely down to the insulator's. Machine oil likes to hide in-between the insulator's.

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Great tip, thanks!

Dom

 

[shan7]

I had to take mine completely apart, soak in vinegar, and hit some boiling water and it has been great sense

 

[Scs1972]

Had a bit of a blonde moment when cleaning the tank and deck....forgot to take the grub screws out of the velocity deck! That's where the machine oil was hiding! Working a bit better now, but I can still smell it in the metal. A lot better than it was! Really bad on Steam Crave's behalf!

 

[PSiKoTiC]

This is my first RTA (been using a Herakules tank, now with the 0.5 ohm claptons for the triton) thought I'd give RTA's a try and as I'm a flavor chaser (really picky on taste, more the better) .. well geezuz.. I don't know what the issue is; as I'm a complete newbie. did a dual coil 7 wrap twisted vertical build on it at .24 ohmz with kanthal. It tastes horrible. It goes from really really bad flavor. I don't know how to explain it.. metallic for sure. to.. pretty much no taste. Which I figured was a wicking issue. I've rebuilt the coils 4 times now, re wicked it 9 times. using japanese organic cotton, scottish roll method, tried tightly packing the cotton thru each coil; loosely (lost about 3 tanks of ejuice so far as when not vertical even with the holes on the velocity deck filled with the fanned out cotton. It leaks .. everywhere.. good about 70% of the time with the last wicking job, the other 30% of the time if i'm not watching it there will be about 20ml of eliquid covering where ever it was laid horizontal.

Taste; terrible. Best way I can explain the vape now is if I was vaping in a sauna. But not dry; a really humid vape. going from metallic.. to no taste at all. I read posts about machine oil etc. I unscrewed everything I could find.. took boiling water, dish soap.. left it over night.. agitated it a couple times.. but it back together and rebuilt it.. still tastes appalling. Wondering is all RTA's are this much of an issue. Spent about 48 hours straight with this tank so far (continuous) I'm about ready to throw in the towel and just go back to the premade coils on the Herk

 

[Superjeep]

You need to make sure you do not have a hot spot. Metallic taste and lack of flavor can be caused by that and it is where you have one small part of the coil super heating faster and much hotter than the rest. Sometimes this also happens because you have to little cotton so essentially you have a spot or two where the inside of the coil has to little contact so its instantly heating up in that spot. Also make sure the wire is clean. Sometimes depending where you buy your wire it can have gunk and dirt on it. I had a couple Ti rolls that was really bad and had to wipe each piece down with a cotton pad and alcohol.

As far as wicking you want to make sort of a birds nest in the bottom. One place you wanna make sure is covered is under the positive post. If you look it is not touching and has a gap under it and if you do not put cotton under there it is a perfect place for it to just poor out. I do vertical coils and then fluff the cotton really good and lightly fold it with a needle or whatever tool you use up under the coil and make sure it touching all sides and is not mashed down onto the juice holes. I usually take the needle and poke it up through the juice holes to make sure its not compacted to much so when you juice it and it expands it does not choke off the holes.

 

[VapeRN]

If you're sure the tank is spotless, then I would try horizontal claptons of some type. The claptons help hold more juice at the coil. I run dual fused claptons 2x28N80/36K1 on my Aromamizer and I think it tastes and wicks great. I find wicking it really easy, just like a small RDA with the wicks just barely touching the juice holes. Horizontal coils wick better and taste better. I run my air holes directly at the coils and the posts. Perfectly square. It's a good tank but I've since put it in the shelf since getting a Griffin.


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[smacksy]

If you're sure the tank is spotless, then I would try horizontal claptons of some type. The claptons help hold more juice at the coil. I run dual fused claptons 2x28N80/36K1 on my Aromamizer and I think it tastes and wicks great. I find wicking it really easy, just like a small RDA with the wicks just barely touching the juice holes. Horizontal coils wick better and taste better. I run my air holes directly at the coils and the posts. Perfectly square. It's a good tank but I've since put it in the shelf since getting a Griffin.


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+1 on the Griffin!!

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[domct203]

When I received mine it was completely disassembled and got a bath in the UC and rinsed well with distilled water.

I've been using my Aromamizer exclusively for the last few weeks and it has been flawless. I tried a few different coils (Clapton, twisted, vertical, horizontal), and it took a bit of fiddling to get my wicking right but flavor has been great all along. I find that for me, plain ol' horizontal 3mm 26awg kanthal a1 coils are perfect. Plenty of room on the deck and a breeze to wick, with a 6ml capacity to boot.

Is there any possibility that these "horrible" tasting Aromamizers could be clones/fakes?

Dom

 

[rickycal78]

When I received mine it was completely disassembled and got a bath in the UC and rinsed well with distilled water.

I've been using my Aromamizer exclusively for the last few weeks and it has been flawless. I tried a few different coils (Clapton, twisted, vertical, horizontal), and it took a bit of fiddling to get my wicking right but flavor has been great all along. I find that for me, plain ol' horizontal 3mm 26awg kanthal a1 coils are perfect. Plenty of room on the deck and a breeze to wick, with a 6ml capacity to boot.

Is there any possibility that these "horrible" tasting Aromamizers could be clones/fakes?

Dom

Eh, I doubt it. Mine still has a bit of a metallic taste on occasion, and I know mine is authentic due to the scratch off authentication code on the box. After reading through the thread I about smacked myself when I realized I never took the grub screws out when I cleaned mine. I'll have to do that sometime in the near future and see if it goes away.

 

[VapeRN]

That's what finally did it for me, complete disassembly including grub screws. It was nearly getting tossed out before it did that, now it's solid.


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[rich204]

I'm from Canada and I finally got mine from fasttech after Chinese new year and I've encountered the same problem with the permanent metal taste! I've clean it with CLR cleaner and also boiled it with soapy water and soaked with alcohol, and no luck! It actually tarnished and turned a bit black. I though it was made from 304 SS?

Fasttech said that I should use sand paper to resolve the issue but then I replied with a nasty complaint and the best they could do is for me to spend money and send the item back to Hong Kong with my own money.
I'll try contacting Steam Crave........

 

[raymo2u]

I'm from Canada and I finally got mine from fasttech after Chinese new year and I've encountered the same problem with the permanent metal taste! I've clean it with CLR cleaner and also boiled it with soapy water and soaked with alcohol, and no luck! It actually tarnished and turned a bit black. I though it was made from 304 SS?

Fasttech said that I should use sand paper to resolve the issue but then I replied with a nasty complaint and the best they could do is for me to spend money and send the item back to Hong Kong with my own money.
I'll try contacting Steam Crave........

You need to take it completely down ,every peice-Orings-Insulators-All of it.
Place it in a s mall container Vinegar then wash with Dawn/Water, then let it sit in Isopropyl Alcohol then Rinse and dry it off. If its still there at all then it's the juice!
You only would need to do this if its doesnt come out with just washing it...

 

[rich204]

#raymo2u
I'll try your method and keep ya'll posted! btw steamcrave didnt get back to me yet regarding a new one.

 

[Kevin2112]

I got mine last week at a local brick & mortar. The grub screws came with the kit but not installed and everything seemed very clean. I only washed it with hot water and put in my build. No foul taste. Steam Crave may have stepped up their washing process before shipping. I wasn't getting much flavor with a dual horizontal build so I switched to a single coil vertical build spaced and positioned between the posts. I fanned out the bottom of the wick covering the juice flow holes on each side. I get complete wick saturation with much better flavor and with the coil placement in the middle the air is delivered to all sides evenly. Absolutely no leaking from this tank or dry hit moments which every other tank I bought before gave me. 6 mil juice capacity, velocity build deck and no leaking either from the tank or annoying condensation builup make this a winner for me. Every now and then I have to pinch the top of the wick with a paper towel to remove old juice .It wicks so well that the old juice on top never makes its way towards the lower parts of the wick.