I'm used to RTA's and trying out my friends RDTA I removed the tank and made it into just a dripper (smok skyhook RDTA). However, the flavor dulls after the first 2 or 3 hits and slowly diminishes. I've read of people getting 10+ hits on well built drippers. I can get more hits than 2 or 3 but there is no flavor..?
Is this normal with drippers?
Do I just need longer cotton (to hold more juice)?
Purchasing a real RDA with a small juice reservoir might help?
The reservoir in an RDA is usually known as the well, and they can vary a great deal. I've only tried RDAs with fairly deep wells, because I'm not gonna re-drip after every 2-3 hits, that's crazy. I vape at a very low power level, usually around 9.5w, so my Achilles, which holds about 2.5ml, lasts me nearly half a day -- and that frequency, I can deal with, because I can't get any flavor anymore out of any tank system. This is the real downside of RDAs -- so much flavor, you get used to that, and nothing else satisfies. If convenience is very important to you, you'd be best off with tanks of whatever kind, because RDAs with wells like the Achilles' just aren't out there -- the Magma, or Magma Reborn, both hold more than the average, around 1ml I think, but they also POUR juice if you tilt them much out of straight-up vertical.
The thing you mentioned about the flavor -- that's very true; since they don't hold much, you notice the drop-off in flavor pretty quickly, depending on the well depth and the wick length -- the longer the wick, the slower the diminishment, so you get a hint before you get that dreaded dry hit, and you learn to know that taste -- either less flavor, or a taste of metal, and you know it's time to refill.
Andria