they dont burn out like factory coils, but they dont last forever. the cotton/wick is what goes bad in factory coils, not the wire/coils themselves. depending on the material they can be dry burned at low watts to clean them and rewicked but eventually you will have to put in new new coils/wire or replace the rba. If my SS coils are thick enough to not get deformed when I rewick they can go 3 - 6 dry burns before I decide to change them because they dont come clean enough.
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OK cool I’ll take your word for it, I’ll keep the smok mod a watt is a watt but get a new tank rba 
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its that ive heard things and most end up moving on to others, save yourself some $ now.
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Vaping is a fun hobby, instead of immersing myself back into buying lighters, and saving dollars to invest in cartons of ciggs, it’s more fun and safer to find other areas in the vaping world to invest my time. I often rebuild factory coils so I can play with TC mode in my devices because the Joyetech coils i use don’t come in a TC compatible coil. It also gives me the chance of having a extremely small investment and still vape if I have no money. I like making my own e-juice for the same reasons, It’s just fun and cheap. I think is more the hands on investment than a huge expense that makes it fun and rewarding.
I have a:
- coil master jig
- cheapo ohm meter
- cotton pads
- ss 316L wire assortment
and I’m sure it all cost less than $20 and I get to play 
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I agree with everyone else that ditching SMOK is a good idea, and maybe instead of an rba for a tank get a clone rda from somewhere like fastech, with a little browsing you can find an rda at any number of websites for under 10 bucks. Also, we need some terminology consistency, the coils you buy and screw into your SMOK tank are generally referred to as factory coils, whereas pre-built coils are a coil that has already been wrapped and is ready to install into a rda but still needs cotton. The benefit to these is that you can get the full rda experience without having to learn so much at once, and when you discover that rda’s or rta’s have so much better flavor and cotton and metal are cheap then you might decide to start making your own, and if you do you will already have installing and wicking down to a science. Here is my suggestion for pre-built coil sourcing.
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After payday I hope to get a Drop or a Bonza RDA, For now I can just rebuild factory coils 
@BoDarc and you-tube taught me everything I know
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I don’t have a drop but I wouldn’t recommend a bonza. I got one and the negative post won’t stay tight. I seem to be in the minority with this issue so it may have been a bad batch (I have seen a couple other reports) but no one seems to complain about the drop. I will never buy another VV RDA with a screw in negative post.
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I don’t know what preferences you have and if you wanted to stick with dual coil, out of these both options I would pick the drop.
However and while I love my drop, the flavor is great but not extremely amazing. While it gives the option for a wide variety of builds it is designed or mainly focused on dual coil. The airflow is great and widely customizable but it does have its limits, and depending what you want, you’ll have to sacrifice clouds for flavor or vice versa.
The deck and well is huge allowing not only to drip nearly half a bottle of juice into it but also for bigger/thicker builds. If squonking is your thing you won’t be disappointed. And in general its extremely airy no matter of airflow setting, it is smooth tho.
Don’t get me wrong its great flavor but its one of the RDA’s that have been hyped to death and if you’re on a budget maybe not a cheap investment.
The o rings of the drop are tight, but in my case they are that tight that I can barely remove the top cap. My husband needs to do that for me, even after I’ve replaced them numerous times. The knurling on the top is on the sharper end, if not careful you could scrape yourself if not even slightly cut yourself with it.
I have to drip through the drip tip which by itself isn’t a hassle but changing coils and cotton or making adjustments as well as closing and opening the airflow is a task on its own. Getting the cap to snap/close at the bottom even without coils in the deck becomes a fully different adventure, I have to apply lots of force pushing that down. Maybe my deck is faulty but I’ll mention it or at least point that out. Still using it on a daily basis but the struggle is real lol.
Now in comparison is a very cheap single coil alternative that’s amazing for flavor I would recommend any day. Its unfortunately a bit more restricted and if you don’t like that it might be a deal breaker. I’m vaping DL not mtl or anything but with this Rba the slight restriction doesn’t bother me. Its the wasp nano Rda, you can get extremely cheap in China or a bit more expensive from a US vendor (11.99 vs 15.99 not much of a difference). Maybe you look into that one as well. Even that one is not perfect but damn close, then again which rebuildable does not have cons.
I do apologize for the wall of text but I wanted to give my opinion about these rdas. Again if you decided already and picked the two you mentioned above and nothing else, but don’t know yet, go with the drop. Hope it helps.
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I most definitely would shy away from the Smok rba’s…even if you diy your own juice, nothing will piss you off more than watching it drain out of your tank all over your mod, even more so if you buy juice…and you’ll want to throw your mod across the room if the leak causes it to short and die…trust me…been there…smok tfv4 single coil rba killed an iJoy limitless lux box…was so raging mad…only one I’ve had marginal luck with is the TFV12 dual rba…but that one’s still a little tricky…if you want a tank (my preference with an 80 mile round-trip commute daily), go with a solid rdta…even the smok TF-RDTA isn’t bad…albeit a little buggy at times…I grabbed a coilart azeroth for $3 at e-cig city when they had a clearance…solid and no leaks…iJoy limiltless series aren’t bad either…have a regular and a plus (and two fasttech clone pluses that are pieces of $h!t, don’t make my mistake there)…So, just my 2 cents worth…reach out if you have any questions…we are all here to help!!
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Definitely get onto the RTA / RDA’s. For me it has been cheaper, the flavor improvement is huge and my builds last longer than the factory coils that I was using. It is also really easy and I enjoy messing around making slightly fancy coils. It can take a little practice to get the wicking right but it’s a skill that develops quickly. I can’t see myself buying factory coils again. My fave atty is my sxk Kayfun 5 clone with an SS coil.
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As someone who quickly moved from the Smok TFV8 RBA into RDA’s with the Dead Rabbit, I can attest that RDA’s are definitely worth it. No matter how many wicking styles I tried on the TFV8, the bottom airflow would sometimes let me down with a leak. Also found it much more difficult to get a solid flavour out of it.
I’ve found RDA’s so much easier to build on, great flavour, and no leak issues unless you flood the thing. I shied away from RDA’s for ages thinking the dripping would be a chore, but it’s really not a problem, and squonking’s an option (e.g. I picked up the Geekvape GBOX, which is 200W, dual 18650’s, and comes with an unspectacular but solid RDA in the pack to start you off all for like £/$50).
The decks are so easy to build on, I can whip out some premade coils (coilology do some OK ones for cheap) and have it rebuilt and wicked in five minutes. The coils last me at least a couple of weeks of heavy use if not more, and I re-wick once a week generally.
Will save an absolute fortune in the long run. Was going through a pack of SMOK coils a month, and one of the pack would always be a dud. In comparison, bought three packs of cotton bacon a few months back for the same price, and two of them are still sealed!
As has been said above, I’d recommend Youtube for how to get rid of hot spots and avoid shorts etc. Very important but easy to do. I made that mistake to start with and wondered why it tasted gross.
My outlay so far from memory (assumed $/£ cost roughly the same: -
Kit with a jig/ceramic tweezers/clippers- £10
Ohm Meter - £13
Cotton Bacon x 3 - £10
42 pack of mixed coils (SS Claptons) - £8
So for about £40 I have 6-9 months of supplies if not more, including my gear which could last years. I make that about three packs of SMOK coils! So within 7 months I’ve paid for my mod and RDA as well After that, it’s funding my flavour stash
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I don’t know about the Bonza but I have the Drop and it’s a fantastic RDA! You won’t be sorry if you choose that one.
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Learning to build your own basic coils…
Cheap and fun
Building advanced coils: Aliens, Stapled Helix, Staggered Fused Claptons, etc requiring a metric-fuck-ton of wire to practice with…
More expensive
The proud feeling that you can finally do it better than pre-made…
Priceless
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Within a week of starting vaping, using an e-pen and commercial juice, I knew I wanted to be as self-sufficient as possible. It took a few months, of course, to get up to speed, but it’s well worth the effort and time. I’ve never had to ask anyone for juice or a coil, as some have asked me. That being said, I still have to order all this stuff, so I’m not totally independent, but it’s a much better place to be.
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Any feedback on the gnome tank… I’ve had some info it’s a decent tank and it also has the rba add on too? Looks like a decent build etc… Defantly getting sway from smok 
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I heard the Bonza reviews are just hype.
I have a YFTK Short Cranked Styled RDA Rebuildable Dripping Atomizer 316 stainless steel / 22mm diameter / w/ BF pin coming for a work of Art I made. I’ll have to wait and see what it is like.
Wismec is a good brand, that is going to be a small deck to build, so it may be another one you can just rebuild the factory coils.
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Well I’ve now got the tank, it is small but never the less been firing with a factory coil and I must say, so smooth, holds the taste and just feels so much better than smok I think I will go from here about that rba now I have a good branded tank under my belt
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well don’t throw away your old coils and check out videos like this…
there are better examples but its almost as fun as having an RDA
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Sweet that is like gold that info thanks alot… my evening is going to you tube self learning :)
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I would have to say it’s definitely worth it, I cannot think of any reason why I would go back. It took me a month into my vaping journey to get into an RDA and there’s no looking back now. Flavour and clouds are in incomparable once you get the building part down pat.
In the last month I have collected: Goon 1.5, Bonza, Buddha Mini, Dead Rabbit,and the Drop. I research everything to nth degree and did not buy these at a whim. 
I have tried making my own clapton wire but this is not the level I want to go to just yet, even though I bought nearly every gauge from 24-40. The clapton wire I have been getting is great and I don’t need to pull out the drill and wire building jig. 
Like everything involving this hobby it just depends on the level you want to take it. But, I have found the building part takes a little practice and patience but perseverance is starting to pay off. The last build I got it down to 0.09 ohm. (I have figured out my sweet spot). 
There is ample information available and many a person on ELR willing to share their experience. But this is a very individual experience and what works for one may not for another. 
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