You may have heard about RBA, RTA and RDA systems for vaping, but what exactly are they? What’s the difference between them and which one is best suited to you? We guide you through everything you need to know.
What’s an RBA system?
RBA stands for ‘Rebuildable Atomiser’ and simply means that you build your own coil and add your own wick. An RTA (Rebuildable Tank Atomiser) and RDA (Rebuildable Dripper Atomiser) are types of RBAs. Which one you choose is down to your own preference. Basically, the pros of one are the cons of the other. Let’s take a closer look.
What’s the benefit of using an RBA vaping system?
Customisation – using an RBA (whether it is an RTA or RDA) is all about customisation. By building your own coil, you can customise your vaping experience to your exact preference with everything from coil resistance level to coil type and wicking style.
Cost – aside from customisation, it’s much cheaper to buy a spool of coil wire and some cotton than buying ready-made all-in-one atomisers. For example, a pack of 5 Aspire Cleito replaceable atomisers will cost you about £15 and last about a month. Whereas a 100m spool of coil wire can be picked up for £8 and wicking cotton for £3 and both will last you several months.
How do you use an RBA?
You use an RBA just as you would any other type of vape! The only difference with RBAs is once the coil has gone you’ll need to create a new one, install it and add a new wick.
What is an RTA?
As a type of rebuildable atomiser, an RTA still requires you to build your own coil and fit your own wick but has a refillable tank for e-liquids.
Pros of an RTA
No need to top up too often – because an RTA has a refillable tank, you won’t need to top it up until it’s empty.
Potentially a better taste – many vapers believe that e-liquid from a tank has a better flavour than directly from a wick.
Cons of an RTA
Coil fitting is a bit more fiddley – due to the addition of a tank, RTAs tend to have a few more parts compared to an RDA. As such, taking it apart, fitting the new coil and putting it all back together may be a bit more fiddley.
Is RTA better than RDA?
This depends on two things: the type of vaping experience you’re looking for and your level of experience. RTA tanks have a larger capacity to hold more e-liquid than RDA tanks, and using an RTA is much easier than RDA so it’s recommended for beginners. If you’re more experienced and you’re looking for the best flavours possible with the opportunity to change e-liquids frequently, you might want to opt for an RDA.
What is an RDA?
Still a rebuildable atomiser, an RDA (or ‘dripper’) doesn’t have a tank to fill with e-liquid. Instead, vapers need to drip the e-liquid directly onto the wick and thoroughly soak the coils. Once those few drips are exhausted, you need to re-drip. Cloud chasers tend to go for RDA set ups because of the bigger clouds they tend to produce.
Pros of an RDA
Change flavours quickly – because the e-liquid is only dripped onto the coil and cotton, changing flavours just requires you to drip the new flavour, vape it off a bit (a couple of draws) then you’re enjoying your next delicious e-juice.
Fewer parts – an RDA typically has fewer parts which means fitting a new coil and re-wicking is a doddle.
Cons of an RDA
Need to re-drip regularly – to avoid a dreaded dry hit, you will need to re-drip regularly to ensure the wick and coils are covered with e-liquid. Also, though changing flavours often may be preferable for some, carrying around multiple bottles of e-juice could be a pain.
How easy is it to build your own vaping coils?
Building your own coils is not too difficult and can be quite a pleasurable experience in itself (if you’re a hands-on type of person). You will need a few tools to begin with, which are better purchased as a coil building tool kit.
Check out our step-by-step video tutorial on building your own vape coil in 2 minutes here.
Though you might find it a little fiddley at first, especially inserting your coil back into the atomiser, after a bit of practice you’ll be building like a pro.
So, that’s RBA vaping systems explained. Whether they are for you is down to how far you would like to customise your vaping experience, whether physically building and fitting your own coils is for you, and whether you are looking to cut the costs of vaping down.
What’s your preferred tank set up? Why did you choose it? Let the community know in the comments below.
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