What’s up vapers!
SirRisc here with another gear review!
Today’s menu is a duo of new RTAs from Smoktech. The TF-RTA with both the G2 and G4 decks.
These TF-RTAs were sent to me for the purpose of this review by Smoktech!
Premise.
I’ve been very fond of Smok gear lately, and not just because I get to review it.
More so because Smok has continually been improving themselves and putting out gear that is both higher in quality and higher in demand.
From the 200W XCube II to the TFV4 family or the more subtle Stick One kit with the TFV4 Nano, they seem to provide something for everyone.
Whether you want big clouds and high wattages or you want a more subtle setup that is easy to carry and conceil, they have a kit for it.
But the segment of vapers that likes building coils was left out a little bit, despite the existance of the RBA heads for the TFV4 family.
Until now that is, the new TF-RTA caters to us builders with two separate decks, a dual coil deck and a quad coil deck.
Specifications.
- Stainless steel and glass
- 24.5mm diameter
- G2 deck (dual coil) and G4 deck (quad coil) with 16mm diameter
- 4.5ml capacity
- Available in stainless steel and black
- 510 threading with fixed positive pin
- Juiceflow control
- Removable and interchangeable decks
- Swivel system topfill
Packaging.
The packaging of the TF-RTA is very similar to the standard Smok packaging.
A black box with silver lettering wrapped in a white and grey cardboard with all the info on it that you need.
On the wrap you’ll find a black TF-RTA depicted on the front side, on the back side you’ll find a slew of info about the RTA.
On the side is a sticker with a scratch&check code for authenticity, the color of the RTA and the advised resistance.
The black box slides open and reveals the RTA sitting in a black foam insert with a blue ribbon on the bottom.
Just below the tank is a spare glass section.
Pulling the ribbon reveals another piece of foam insert which holds a vapeband, a spare set of o-rings and gaskets, a spare set of screws, an allen key for the G2 deck or a screwdriver for the G4 deck and of course the usermanual.
The decks, which are removable, are preinstalled and come with a set of clapton coils installed too.
Performance.
With the current generation of big deck RTAs, the TF-RTA was a logical step.
Sporting a large airflow and juiceflow control to accomodate even the warmer builds, the TF-RTA is set to compete with other RTAs on the market in a big way.
Smok wouldn’t be Smok if they didn’t go to extremes though, and that’s why there are 2 decks available.
The decks are available for sale separately and they are interchangeable, so there’s no need to get two tanks if you want to try both decks. (Though a spare is always nice, right?)
The G2 deck, which is your average dual post (Velocity styled) deck with big postholes to fit claptons and such provides a proper day-to-day vape.
And the G4 deck, made for quad coil setups and a more… extreme experience.
Both come with clapton coils preinstalled, which work fine for your first experience with the RTAs, though I would highly advise to dryburn and pinch them a bit before wicking them.
The tanks themselves are the same in shape and form for both the stainless and black versions, it’s the decks are what makes the TF-RTA interesting.
Both tanks have the patented swiveled topfill which we’ve all come to love on Smok tanks, and fill up in mere seconds.
If the gasket would happen to fail, there is a spare included in the package. Personally I’ve never had to replace it, despite owning the entire range of TFV tanks.
The driptip has changed slightly from the TFV4, in the sense that Smok has eliminated the airflow on the driptip.
But it’s still a dual layered driptip with a glass chimney in the middle and a stainless steel outer tube.
The only disadvantage I’ve found on either of the tanks is the positive pin, which is a fixed pin.
I understand the reasoning behind it though, the decks make direct contact with the pin on the base and a screw might have too little tolerance to allow the decks to be interchangeable.
Why is this a disadvantage? I’ve had the tanks on several mods with very different 510 connections and a few of them had trouble reading the resistance.
This included the XCube II which is Smok’s own flagship mod, and the Koopor Plus which is another high powered mod by the same company.
Let’s have a look at the G2 version first, since this one will probably interest most people because of the similarity with the Velocity deck.
The tank has a diameter of 24.5mm and looks just like the TFV4, but with a few distinct differences.
For one the most obvious difference will be the wider chamber that sits where the big coilheads used to sit.
There’s plenty of room for bigger coils on the 16mm diameter deck and the airflow is large enough to keep up with most builds.
The way the juiceflow control is setup is rather brilliant, if you want to unscrew the tank from the base the juiceflow will automatically close and lock into place to prevent any leaking of the contents.
Building on this deck is very easy, and shouldn’t be a challenge to anyone who has used RTAs (or even RDAs for that matter) before.
The holes for the juiceflow control are fairly big and wicking the G2 deck is similar to the likes of the Griffin; rest the wick on the juice channels and get’r wet!
I’ve been trying different builds on the deck and have found that this tank does its best work with a simple 3mm ID clapton build around 0.3ohm.
Of course this is personal preference and macro builds will work just as well, but a clapton gives you that extra bit of flavor from the RTA.
Just like the other modern RTAs with large decks, the TF-RTA is anything but frugal in juice consumption, even with the G2 deck.
With a capacity of 4.5ml it’s not going to last you the entire day, your juice will disappear quite quickly.
The G4 deck is another beast, it’s made for quad coils and has a bit of a special way of working.
Airflow and juiceflow are similar in their workings, with the exception that there will be a lot more wick going to the juicechannels.
After all if you have 4 coils you’ll need room to put all that cotton…
The deck is built in two main parts, the bottom part is the base that holds the negative ends of the leads hidden in the juiceflow channels.
While this worried me at first that it might hinder the juiceflow, I’ve found that it wicks max VG just fine and the screws actually sit deep enough not to get in the way.
It can be a bit challenging to get the wire in there though, but once the coils are installed it’ll be worth the hassle.
The top part where the positive ends of the leads will be held is set up in a + shape.
The wire is trapped behind the screw and Smok has machined a small edge into the post so your wire doesn’t have a chance to escape.
Building on this deck is slightly more challenging than it is on the dual coil deck, because you’ll need to position your coils just right.
Having the coils sit slightly slanted is the way to go, and can actually save you some playroom to get them wicked.
In essence it shouldn’t be a hard one to build, it’s the wicking that will get you.
Getting the wicks in the coils is a tedious process because of the limited room you’ll have, having a pair of thin pliers around to pull the wicks through is no luxury.
With a slanted build you can cut one end of the wicks short enough against the coils so that you only need one end of the wick to go to the juiceflow channels.
With a regular build, you’ll need to get two ends of wick into one juicechannel, times four. That’s a lot of cotton.
In terms of power it’ll take a lot more than the G2 deck does, heating up 4 claptons is quite a task in a tank.
So far I’ve had 6 builds installed with different resistances and materials, and I’ve pushed the tank up to 150W without problems with a quad parallel 26/32 clapton (which coïncidently was hard to install).
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that this will destroy any and all juice in the tank in mere minutes, if you’re after a frugal vape this really isn’t it.
Having a more or less normal build (eg a macro build) in the G4 deck doesn’t exactly make it much better in that regard, but at least you’ll get more than 5 drags from it before having to fill the tank up again.
Oddly enough the juiceflow holes keep up with an extreme build like that without much issue, but the tank does heat up quite a bit.
As with the G2 deck, the wick should rest just on top of the channels without clogging them completely.
Essentially the channels should be closed off with a puff of cotton just enough not to make it leak.
The slanted build… 
Aesthetics.
The black version of the TF-RTA is definitely a looker in my opinion, though the stainless will also turn heads.
Despite it’s rather simplistic look it’s a full featured RTA that has everything you’ll need for a proper vaping experience.
Whether it’s the large airflow that draws you in, or the big deck that suits bigger builds, or the easy of the juiceflow control, that TF-RTA also looks nice.
The rather wide driptip is something I’m not too keen on myself, but it does fit the tank beautifully.
The downside of the dual layered driptip is that liquid might start to pool up between the layers after a few drags, at which point you’ll have to take it off of the tank and clean it.
This isn’t juice by the way, but rather condensation that gets stuck in there. I’ve been using a regular delrin driptip on the TF-RTA and it does improve the flavor a little bit.
The topfill is the same one we’ve already seen on all of the TFV4 tanks, the top swivels to the side and hides a silicone gasket which can fit dripper bottles just fine.
It works great, it’s easy, and it fills up the tank quickly.
The barrel of the tank has two logos imprinted on it, on one side it’s the TF-RTA logo and on the other side it’s the logo of the G2 or G4 deck.
The G2 logo is a dual clapton coil with G2 written in the middle, the G4 is a quad clapton with G4 written in the middle.
Just underneath the deck is the base, which in the back version does retain two thin silver rings.
The stainless version is all stainless, all the way.
Personally I prefer the black versions because the logos are better visible and they simply look better on a black mod.
Pros and Cons.
Pro.
- G2 deck is very easy to build
- 4.5ml capacity
- Juiceflow control locks in place and prevents leaks
- Removing and changing decks is easy
- Swiveled topfill is awesome
- Available in black and in stainless
- Perfect juiceflow allows for even the thickest max VG
- Big decks allow for big builds
- Interchangeable decks can be bought separately!
Con.
- Condensation gathers in the dual layered driptip
- G2 deck can be hard to screw into the base sometimes
- Need to line up the decks with the juiceflow holes
- Fixed pin can be troublesome on some mods
- G4 deck will dump all the juice on your mod if wicked wrong
- G4 deck is challenging to build on
In conclusion.
The TF-RTA is definitely a builders tank and sports at least two decks that each have their own merit.
The fixed positive pin is the only thing that has given me any issues but the performance makes up for this in very big ways.
I’ve enjoyed building and using both the G2 and G4 deck but my personal preference definitely goes towards the G2 deck, as it isa bit more viable for an all-day-vape.
If you’re looking for a tank that will last the entire day without filling, you’re better looking at something else because both decks devour juice like there’s no tomorrow.
Overall I’m impressed with the TF-RTA, the flavor is very pronounced and the vapor is thick. It’s all I want from an RTA, and it gives me a few more options than regular subohm tanks do.
Would I buy another if these broke? Probably, unless something better comes along.
In closing I would like to thank Smoktech for sending me the TF-RTAs for review!
Thanks for reading, join me next time as I take a look at the P4U IPV5 in all its glory!
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#staycloudy !
SirRisc disappears in a cloud of citrus cereal scented vapor