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Rossco’s Opinion – Augvape Merlin RDTA

r055co

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Here’s my take on the Merlin RDTA by AugVape. For the record Augvape sent a Sample and then one Production one if I were to do a write up on my opinion. Why did they select me, shit I don’t know for I sure in the hell won’t skew my opinion of it for my integrity isn’t for sale ;)

What I do is I will take a device through the wringers before I post my opinions. I hate it one someone just gets a device and puts their first build in, vapes for a day or in a lot of cases less then posts a review. For the Merlin RDTA I’ve beat the shit out of it, put a few different builds, vaped on it for a few weeks and here are my thoughts of it.

The skinny, from their website
  • 304 SS
  • Diameter:24mm
  • Capacity:3.5ml
  • Height:48.5mm
  • Derlin Top Cap And Drip Tip
  • Peek Insulator
  • Borosilicate Glass Tube
  • Elegant Hollowed-out Logo
  • Easy to wick and refill
I ran the Sample through it’s paces, I really liked it but with a few reservations that I sent back to them. They have both improved and did a IMO a WTF did you do on the production release.

Their advertised spec’s

– 304 SS
Decent quality construction, no complaints here. I’ve been pleased with Augvape in the past with the machining and they haven’t let me down, it’s good.
– Diameter:24mm
Yep, fits perfect on my 24mm tubes
– Capacity:3.5ml
Would have been nice to be 4ml, but with the easy fill no real big deal. It’s enough
– Height:48.5mm
Not too tall, nice fit
– Derlin Top Cap And Drip Tip
Works very well, wasn’t sure if I’d like it for it is a bit odd. In my opinion though it looks nice on it and it is very comfortable to Vape on. I have a few Lawless Drip Tips that IMO are the best you can get and the ones on the Merlin RDTA come in second. It provides a very nice and comfortable Vape
– Peek Insulator
Zero issues here and I’ve been running a hot build the last week or so.
– Borosilicate Glass Tube
Nice, works well. I absolutely loath and despise plastic Tanks, especially on some obscenely priced gear from other Company’s. No issues with cracking or chipping. I’ve dropped my mod a few times and she’s held up well.
– Elegant Hollowed-out Logo
Nice, very tasteful and really, really love how they put the logo in the tank itself, looks sexy and classy
– Easy to wick and refill
Yep, very easy, very easy for sure. I love how you just drip down the center. I have found that with some Unicorn bottle’s I get a bit of back wash while filling if I get impatient and squeeze to hard. With some other’s no issue and also no issue what so ever with glass dripper’s. It’s very easy to fill and I really love it.

Other points
  • The o-rings are good, no issues with leaking and the tolerance around the deck is excellent once o-rings are lubed.
  • It’s a two post deck with two HUGE post holes. You can fit some massive builds in here, I mean some real fat coils. The screws are 4mm flat screws and this is where IMO they screwed the pooch. On the Sample they had hex screws, perfect. No stripping, get a good solid bite on those fatty coils you can pop in. Then the released version they went with Phillips …… WTF? They haven’t stripped yet and you can’t get a good solid bite on the wire like you can with some good Hex grub screws. Is this a deal killer? Nope, I didn’t have hex grubs that size in my stash so I just went on eBay and ordered some Brass (they’ll look nice on the gold plated deck) hex screws, 50 count M4x5 for under $5. Also I would have preferred a Velocity deck or better yet a postless instead of just a 2 hole deck. I can build on them but not a huge fan. Not a deal killer, but just not thrilled with them.
  • 510 pin is IMO too short, good on most mod’s but way to short for a Hybrid.
  • Wick Holes are large and excellent. For fatty coils you’ll need a healthy amount of cotton and the holes are excellent. Large and very easy to wick, damn easy. I’ve put a 0.45 build in on my series mod, that’s around 145+W and she handled it fine, no dry hits at all. Also no issues with leaking, none.
  • The airflow, they opened up quite a bit from the Sample, this is a major plus. The deck is geared towards nice fat coils and the airflow opened up is perfect for it. This is a cloud chucker and the airflow is adjustable, another major plus. Then with bottom airflow this has a lot of flavor.
Wrap up Summary

This is a damn good well built RDTA with excellent flavor, room for and designed for fatty coils. While I HATE Phillips heads even more than I do Slot screws it’s very easy and cheap to correct. It’s very easy to use with the fill method and a great performer so it’s a great daily driver. I do believe that they should have named it something else rather than the Merlin. The Merlin line has been for a more reserved and even MTL Vapor, those Vaper’s will be very disappointed. But if you’re a lung hitter that likes a good flavorful Vape this will be perfect for you.

Recommended?

Yep if you’re a lung hitter, MTL or a tight DTL Vaper like the base Merlin fan’s not so much. But for me I do both (mostly DTL) and I've liked it enough to get two other’s, one for the FDA Apocalypse Stash and another in another color. She’s been my daily driver for a few weeks since she’s a great performer and sexy one at that!

Pictures being posted below
 

r055co

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Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Here are a few
f6767a4a8e3d382c65e208bce121b928.jpg
87746bdb4ae262dbc4aa6e37da0f9abd.jpg
868e5fe9285faec87761a26f69da543d.jpg
6cb6f8785b7b7e59086348c55a61a461.jpg
ca3282b34d9b53dc48cf77083e0b5b4a.jpg
67df4f8152e9d54f52e296cf5e98c846.jpg
dc011a243815a487b4f99f5f7907f134.jpg


Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
VU Donator
Diamond Contributor
Member For 3 Years
Reviewer
Here’s my take on the Merlin RDTA by AugVape. For the record Augvape sent a Sample and then one Production one if I were to do a write up on my opinion. Why did they select me, shit I don’t know for I sure in the hell won’t skew my opinion of it for my integrity isn’t for sale ;)

What I do is I will take a device through the wringers before I post my opinions. I hate it one someone just gets a device and puts their first build in, vapes for a day or in a lot of cases less then posts a review. For the Merlin RDTA I’ve beat the shit out of it, put a few different builds, vaped on it for a few weeks and here are my thoughts of it.

The skinny, from their website
  • 304 SS
  • Diameter:24mm
  • Capacity:3.5ml
  • Height:48.5mm
  • Derlin Top Cap And Drip Tip
  • Peek Insulator
  • Borosilicate Glass Tube
  • Elegant Hollowed-out Logo
  • Easy to wick and refill
I ran the Sample through it’s paces, I really liked it but with a few reservations that I sent back to them. They have both improved and did a IMO a WTF did you do on the production release.

Their advertised spec’s

– 304 SS
Decent quality construction, no complaints here. I’ve been pleased with Augvape in the past with the machining and they haven’t let me down, it’s good.
– Diameter:24mm
Yep, fits perfect on my 24mm tubes
– Capacity:3.5ml
Would have been nice to be 4ml, but with the easy fill no real big deal. It’s enough
– Height:48.5mm
Not too tall, nice fit
– Derlin Top Cap And Drip Tip
Works very well, wasn’t sure if I’d like it for it is a bit odd. In my opinion though it looks nice on it and it is very comfortable to Vape on. I have a few Lawless Drip Tips that IMO are the best you can get and the ones on the Merlin RDTA come in second. It provides a very nice and comfortable Vape
– Peek Insulator
Zero issues here and I’ve been running a hot build the last week or so.
– Borosilicate Glass Tube
Nice, works well. I absolutely loath and despise plastic Tanks, especially on some obscenely priced gear from other Company’s. No issues with cracking or chipping. I’ve dropped my mod a few times and she’s held up well.
– Elegant Hollowed-out Logo
Nice, very tasteful and really, really love how they put the logo in the tank itself, looks sexy and classy
– Easy to wick and refill
Yep, very easy, very easy for sure. I love how you just drip down the center. I have found that with some Unicorn bottle’s I get a bit of back wash while filling if I get impatient and squeeze to hard. With some other’s no issue and also no issue what so ever with glass dripper’s. It’s very easy to fill and I really love it.

Other points
  • The o-rings are good, no issues with leaking and the tolerance around the deck is excellent once o-rings are lubed.
  • It’s a two post deck with two HUGE post holes. You can fit some massive builds in here, I mean some real fat coils. The screws are 4mm flat screws and this is where IMO they screwed the pooch. On the Sample they had hex screws, perfect. No stripping, get a good solid bite on those fatty coils you can pop in. Then the released version they went with Phillips …… WTF? They haven’t stripped yet and you can’t get a good solid bite on the wire like you can with some good Hex grub screws. Is this a deal killer? Nope, I didn’t have hex grubs that size in my stash so I just went on eBay and ordered some Brass (they’ll look nice on the gold plated deck) hex screws, 50 count M4x5 for under $5. Also I would have preferred a Velocity deck or better yet a postless instead of just a 2 hole deck. I can build on them but not a huge fan. Not a deal killer, but just not thrilled with them.
  • 510 pin is IMO too short, good on most mod’s but way to short for a Hybrid.
  • Wick Holes are large and excellent. For fatty coils you’ll need a healthy amount of cotton and the holes are excellent. Large and very easy to wick, damn easy. I’ve put a 0.45 build in on my series mod, that’s around 145+W and she handled it fine, no dry hits at all. Also no issues with leaking, none.
  • The airflow, they opened up quite a bit from the Sample, this is a major plus. The deck is geared towards nice fat coils and the airflow opened up is perfect for it. This is a cloud chucker and the airflow is adjustable, another major plus. Then with bottom airflow this has a lot of flavor.
Wrap up Summary

This is a damn good well built RDTA with excellent flavor, room for and designed for fatty coils. While I HATE Phillips heads even more than I do Slot screws it’s very easy and cheap to correct. It’s very easy to use with the fill method and a great performer so it’s a great daily driver. I do believe that they should have named it something else rather than the Merlin. The Merlin line has been for a more reserved and even MTL Vapor, those Vaper’s will be very disappointed. But if you’re a lung hitter that likes a good flavorful Vape this will be perfect for you.

Recommended?

Yep if you’re a lung hitter, MTL or a tight DTL Vaper like the base Merlin fan’s not so much. But for me I do both (mostly DTL) and I've liked it enough to get two other’s, one for the FDA Apocalypse Stash and another in another color. She’s been my daily driver for a few weeks since she’s a great performer and sexy one at that!

Pictures being posted below
Nice write up!

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 

inspects

Squonkamaniac
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Good review, Rosco....I wouldn't buy another Augvape product due to my experience with the Boreas shitty crunchy threads. But I'm sure they have rectified that issue by now.
 

r055co

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Member For 4 Years
Good review, Rosco....I wouldn't buy another Augvape product due to my experience with the Boreas shitty crunchy threads. But I'm sure they have rectified that issue by now.
Scratchy threads with the Boreas? Damn Son I've got 5 and have given a couple out as gifts. Good machining on all, only issue I had with it was the first one had shit o-rings which Roxy sent me a bunch of replacements.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 

inspects

Squonkamaniac
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Scratchy threads with the Boreas? Damn Son I've got 5 and have given a couple out as gifts. Good machining on all, only issue I had with it was the first one had shit o-rings which Roxy sent me a bunch of replacements.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Oh yeah, I forgot about the shitty o-rings too......:giggle:
 

JuicyLucy

My name is Lucy and I am a squonkaholic
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Got to get a build on the one I've had laying around for a few weeks
 
Last edited:

r055co

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Got to get a build on the one I've had laying around for a few weeks
IMO she needs fatty coils, I wasn't all that impressed with it until I got her on a Series Mod, that's where she really shines. With the large wick holes, wide deck with huge post holes, yep she's designed for big coils.

I believe she's going to be a permanent fixture on the Piglet, it really is a perfect combination. For you regulated people, crank it up ;)
 

Johnnytraveler

Gold Contributor
Member For 3 Years
Member For 2 Years
Thanks for the review. I didn't pay too much attention to what you wrote as I just stared at the pic of the black Merlin. It's a thing of beauty. Prettiest rdta ever, in my opinion.
 

KingPin!

In my defence, I was left unsupervised ^^
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Similar to my findings as well Rossco thanks for the review :) wish they had an adapter for the drip tip where that plug still screws into it only thing I really dislike about this RDTA
 

JuicyLucy

My name is Lucy and I am a squonkaholic
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Similar to my findings as well Rossco thanks for the review :) wish they had an adapter for the drip tip where that plug still screws into it only thing I really dislike about this RDTA

That really concerns me, your issue with the drip tip

I almost always like to use my own vs whatever it comes with

Kinda weird, because the drip tip that came with the original Merlin and on the Merlin Mini are real knockouts
 

KingPin!

In my defence, I was left unsupervised ^^
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That really concerns me, your issue with the drip tip

I almost always like to use my own vs whatever it comes with

Kinda weird, because the drip tip that came with the original Merlin and on the Merlin Mini are real knockouts

When you set it up Lucy you'll see what I mean with the draw in my review ...one of those things you do get used to it ....makes it more tolerable once you close up the air vent by over half ...you do get used to it fairly quickly but it isn't a comfy drip tip for me anyway .....im the same with drip tips
 

MannyScoot

Diamond Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Is it as good as this one.... I've grown to love this one and could use a new one.....
2f7978e723c1a0743f4f394562fdf084.jpg
5d107cc1f42c45395d9dc844e9dca8e8.jpg


Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk
 

DP2Raja

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Member For 3 Years
Member For 2 Years
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Flavor is crazy, noleaks and easy to fill.... Amazing Flavor clouds...... Wish it was like the Boreas 7 or 8ml... 25mm
Manny, you are so right about the Limitless (+). What a great tank! I know it's "yesterday's news" but they are really a great tank all around. 6.8 ml, great deck, easy fill, fantastic flavor, no leaks (unless you lay it down for a few hours - maybe), Did I mention flavor???

Lucy, get it coiled up...you will be surprised how good it is.

I will probably get the Merlin RDTA, but it will need to really shine to beat the Limitless + or the Gaia RDTA. I am trusting Rossco's review (cause he always has some great observations on these things) and do like the looks of this one as well.
 

r055co

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Manny, you are so right about the Limitless (+). What a great tank! I know it's "yesterday's news" but they are really a great tank all around. 6.8 ml, great deck, easy fill, fantastic flavor, no leaks (unless you lay it down for a few hours - maybe), Did I mention flavor???

Lucy, get it coiled up...you will be surprised how good it is.

I will probably get the Merlin RDTA, but it will need to really shine to beat the Limitless + or the Gaia RDTA. I am trusting Rossco's review (cause he always has some great observations on these things) and do like the looks of this one as well.
I wasn't impressed with the Limitless Plus, flavor wasn't there and ended up giving it away. The Merlin wipes the floor with it.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
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I wasn't impressed with the Limitless Plus, flavor wasn't there and ended up giving it away. The Merlin wipes the floor with it.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
you could get decent flavor from it with a huge build only. i gave mine away too. i sure wouldn't call it great for flavor either. I think it was more popular for it's looks then performance personally. they are nice looking RDTAs but at best average in performance
 

DP2Raja

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Member For 2 Years
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you could get decent flavor from it with a huge build only. i gave mine away too. i sure wouldn't call it great for flavor either. I think it was more popular for it's looks then performance personally. they are nice looking RDTAs but at best average in performance
I actually do not like the looks of the Limitless, but mine performs outstanding...what can I say? It is good to hear the Merlin "wipes the floor with it" though. I still use my Boreas and have a soft spot for Augvape (thank you Roxy!) even though they have faltered with a couple of designs IMO.
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
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I actually do not like the looks of the Limitless, but mine performs outstanding...what can I say? It is good to hear the Merlin "wipes the floor with it" though. I still use my Boreas and have a soft spot for Augvape (thank you Roxy!) even though they have faltered with a couple of designs IMO.
Boreas is amazing. still one of my favortie RTAs to this day.
 

r055co

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you could get decent flavor from it with a huge build only. i gave mine away too. i sure wouldn't call it great for flavor either. I think it was more popular for it's looks then performance personally. they are nice looking RDTAs but at best average in performance
Yep, not all that impressed with the build quality either. Not bad but the flavor and just the feel of it wasn't IMR even close to all the hype surrounding it.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 

SirRichardRear

AKA Anthony Vapes on Youtube
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Diamond Contributor
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Reviewer
Yep, not all that impressed with the build quality either. Not bad but the flavor and just the feel of it wasn't IMR even close to all the hype surrounding it.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
yeah I still don't understand how some products get this huge hype train for pretty much no reason behind it
 

MannyScoot

Diamond Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Manny, you are so right about the Limitless (+). What a great tank! I know it's "yesterday's news" but they are really a great tank all around. 6.8 ml, great deck, easy fill, fantastic flavor, no leaks (unless you lay it down for a few hours - maybe), Did I mention flavor???

Lucy, get it coiled up...you will be surprised how good it is.

I will probably get the Merlin RDTA, but it will need to really shine to beat the Limitless + or the Gaia RDTA. I am trusting Rossco's review (cause he always has some great observations on these things) and do like the looks of this one as well.
I do like the taste and capacity.... Flavor clouds

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk
 

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