Hi ELR Fam and thanks for taking the time to view my review of the FreeMax Fireluke tank sent to my by Freemax for the purpose of this review.
If you want to find out really quick my overall conclusion you can scroll down to the Pros and Cons section and Conclusion to save you some time.
Features:
- 25mm Diameter
- 5mL Maximum Juice Capacity
- Optional 4mL Juice Capacity - Slimmer Profile
- Superior Stainless Steel Construction - Metal Colorways
- Colorful Resin Construction - Resin Colorways
- Bubbled Pyrex Glass Reinforcement
- FireLuke FireLock Coil System
- 0.15ohm Sextuple Coil - rated for 60-140W
- RTA Section - Two-Post, Dual Terminal Build Deck
- Dual Bottom Airflow Control
- 13mm Widebore Drip Tip
- Gold-Plated 510 Connection
In the box:
- 1 FireLuke Sub-Ohm Tank
- 1 0.15ohm Sextuple Coil
- 1 RTA Section
- 1 Replacement Glass Tube - 4mL
- 2 Prebuilt Clapton Coils
- 1 Flathead Screwdrivers
- Spare Parts & O-Rings
- Instructional Manual
First Impression out of the box
First thing I thought when I saw it is hmmmm, wonder if I can get a little ceramic fish to swim around it in. Looks like it is wearing a top hat too, very regal. The build quality was evident though, nicely machined knurling on both the top cap and AFC ring. The AFC also has indentation stops and moves with just the right amount tension and feels smooth doing so. Nice sized kidney shaped fill holes, about as big as they could make them considering the wide chimney.
Great selection of accessories including a great looking RTA section, nice looking fused claptons, a cotton square, screwdriver and more slim looking 4ml glass section. The owners manual is excellent for a subohm tank but I am a Man so of course I didn’t read it…pffft.
Coils
The only prebuilt coil included in the package is the already installed 0.15 ohm Sextuple coil…I am thinking ohhh, Sexy time. Generally I am not a fan of these multicoil 3 to 15 hole wacked out coils, give me a single wide open coil for massive airflow and when you cut down the air I tend to get better flavor. Well I was surprised at first with the Sextuple coil as I felt it was giving out great flavor right off the bat, it was an eye opener for sure. I tend to vape at higher wattages with long 4 to 5 second draws and chain vape and I began to have some problems with the torture juice I use to gauge wicking. On the 3rd or 4th vape it was easy to get a dry hit if I had it around 100 watts, mind you it is rated to 140 watts. I wound up vaping it at 75 watts most of the time, let me chain vape with my long draws and avoid dry hits.
Update 8-28-17: I picked up a Blue Resin Fireluke at a local vape show 3 days ago and the 0.15 ohm Sextuple coil is working so much better. I am able to chain vape at 140 watts with no problems. Looks like the first sextuple coil I got must have had the cotton too packed thus causing dry hits. The new coil is just fantastic!
I want to make it clear that I only received 1 sextuple coil so it could be I just got one that had a defect, friends of mine didn’t have that same problem so I chalk it up to bad luck. I have also run into this problem with some other multi hole coils from different mfg’s so it might be my vape style doesn’t match these style coils.
Well as I said earlier I am more of a fan of the wide open coils and ordered up some of the 0.15 ohm DVC Firelock coils from one of my favorite vendors. When I popped this coil in it was love at first coil, this coil was rocking hard!!! It is rated from 60 to 120 watts but I took this bad boy to 175 watts before it started to beg for mercy but it would take 150 to 160 watts with ease, a really underrated coil. The flavor from the Kanthal DVC .15 coil was spot on delicious when I closed the airflow down to halfway or less. Even with it closed down to a 1/4 open this is one airy tank which I love.
I have had the Fireluke for about 19 days as of this review and the DVC coil has been great for almost 2 weeks, the other time was spent with the RTA section which I will get to in a moment.
I really can’t recommend the DVC enough, great coil and comes in a 0.25 ohm version as well which I may buy next.
RTA or as I like to call it, El Delicioso
When I first laid eyes on the included RTA section I was like…oh hell yeah. The I unscrewed the top and saw it was using flat head screws…ehhh, nothings perfect.
What really got me excited by just looking at it is the 13.5mm opening, like a straight shot to your coils! That usually equates to awesome performance, were talking RDA size opening, a little bigger than the Reload RTA which is a flavor monster.
I used the included Fused Claptons as they looked real nice for something included. I also like to use what is included for my reviews as that is how most people will use them.
As I mentioned earlier I like an airy draw so I positioned the coils to the top of the velocity deck. I also like my coils close to the top, a little splashy splashy never hurt anybody. In reality I don’t get spitback but not as dry as some setups which is what I like.
Wicking was pretty straight forward, just gently get your cotton in there but you should not see it if you are looking directly at the wicking channel, only if you look at an angle to either side to see you wicking.
Looksy, no wick:
Whaaaaaaaaaat, wick to the left and wick to the right:
Now I know what your thinking, he called it El Delicioso so he must hate it since whenever he eats too much hot sauce it is a four alarm fire in the bathroom the next day but you would be wrong my friend.
The RTA performs just as good as it looks and the included Claptons are real good, I got great flavors and chuck some clouds with this bad boy for sure. This is definitely not an afterthought but a well designed RTA section, one of the best that comes included with a sub ohm tank IMO.
E-juice Capacity
Normally I don’t make a section to this but when I found this out I thought it was important to mention. Since the Sextuple and RTA sections are big they take up a lot of room so that is why it is listed as 5ml capacity with the large bubble glass installed and 4ml with the included less bubbly glass if that makes sense?
Well that is not the case if you use the much slimmer and sexier DVC my friends. I measured 6ml capacity with the 4ml glass installed and a little over 7ml with the 5ml bubble gum machine glass.
Check out the size difference of the coils, DVC in the middle:
Here is the difference between the 5ml bubble glass:
And the 4ml slim shady version:
Comparison to the TFV8
Early on while using the Fireluke with the DVC coil I thought hmmmmm, let me throw a fresh Q4 coil into one of my TFV8’s for a comparison as I was feeling this was better. Both coils are .15 ohm so I ran them side by side with identical mods and the same juice. Right off the bat I felt the Fireluke had the edge with flavor, I was just able to make out the different flavors in the juice better, almost like my juice was in 4K HD. The TFV8 is no slouch though and it probably needed more break in so I went through about 10 thankfuls each in the span of a week, at the watts I was vaping at it wasn’t a problem. Near the end with the TFV8 coil nicely broken in I have to say that I wondered if I was vaping the same juice, I of course was using the same bottle but the TFV8 had a weird secondary flavor that I know was not in the DIY juice I mixed myself for this comparison. The Fireluke from beginning to end had the same great flavor the entire time and it is still going strong.
Wide open they both have about the same airflow, maybe a slight edge to the Fireluke but really it is too close to call. When the airflow was shut down halfway which is were I normally like it for a flavor boost the Fireluke’s airflow was smoother and not as noisy as the TFV8.
I didn’t compare the RTA sections of both tanks, I just thought the TFV8’s RTA was OK but not great, prefer the Q4 prebuilt overall. That is not the case with the Fireluke RTA though, that might be better than the DVC, it is that good.
Overall I like the Fireluke better and I have 3 TFV8’s which I have always enjoyed. I do feel the Fireluke is an upgrade over the TFV8, it is not night and day but I enjoy using it better and it has a better RTA section for sure.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Excellent juice capacity if using the DVC, can hold 6ml with the 4ml glass and 7ml+ with 5ml glass
- Excellent flavor and clouds from both coils
- Solid build quality
- Excellent RTA section with very good claptons included
- Comfortable top cap with delrin even at the top to guard against crispy crunchy bacon lips
- Comes in either metal or epoxy version to get all matchey matchey
Cons
- I guess the looks but with the 4ml slimmer glass it looks good to me
- You can use your 510 drip tips if you take off the top cap but then you have the oring showing, people might laugh at you and say…ohhhhh I see your oring all exposed to the world…oh the shame.
- Wasn’t able to chain vape the Sextuple coil for long without dry hits at higher watts. Update 8-28-16: I got a new Fireluke and the Sextuple coil is not giving me the same problems. The first coil was defective, cotton must have been too tightly packed thus causing dry hits.
- Would be nice if it was 810 drip tip compatible but have to admit, the top cap has grown on me and I like it
Conclusion
When I first got it I was unsure and made fun of the old time gumball machine look. As I began to use it though I really began to appreciate how good this tank is with the DVC and the included RTA. I am a flavor junky and the Fireluke delivers. The DVC is still going strong as well after 2 weeks of heavy use, that is great life for a high powered tank, I averaged about 110 watts the whole time.
Would I recommend this tank to a friend, hell yeah I would and already have. Would I buy another if I lost this one, I am going to buy another anyway just in case that day ever comes, need a purple resin to match my Funky 160 mod.
I would like to thank Freemax for sending me this tank to review, it was a real eye opener and I am going to buy another for sure.
Pics on various mods
5ml mode on iJoy Zenith, great combo
4ml mode from here on out
