As newbie e-cig users progress their vaping habit and they realise the activity’s developing into a hobby, they’re likely to start casting their eyes about to new and exciting ways to get more out of their daily vaping; to seek out new and improved ways to customise and perfect their vaping experience. And one of the ways more seasoned vapers do this is by ‘dripping’ the e-liquid into their device, often in conjunction with using a rebuildable dripping atomiser (RDA)…
Dripping – what is it?
The term ‘dripping’ – or, alternatively, ‘dry smoking’ – crops up now and again, so what does it actually refer to? Well, in the great scheme of things it’s not a great deal different from regular vaping (you still heat up e-juice in an e-cig’s tank, transforming it to vapour so you can inhale and exhale); only the difference comes in how you deposit the fluid into the tank – instead of pouring it in you ‘drip’ it in, a few drops at a time, and directly on to the device’s coil (or the bridge of its atomiser).
What’s the point of dripping?
So why would you bother dripping rather than just pouring e-liquid into your tank? Surely, it’s more time-consuming and more of an effort, isn’t it? Sure it is, but you put in that bit more time and effort because it’s worth it. First off, it means that, without having to switch tanks, you can try out those new flavours you’ve just bought from the likes of a vape shop London quickly and in small quantities – quite the win that one. Second, dripping has a handy habit of generating dense clouds of vapour along with bold, clean and strong tastes. And, third, if you’re a perfectionist looking for the ultimate, the perfect vape, you may find that, quality-wise, dripping (or to be precise, when you repeat it over and over, re-dripping) delivers exactly the sort of puffs you’re looking for.
What’s an RDA – and how do you use one?
Eventually, those who get into dripping their e-juice and want to take it to the best possible level, will likely work their way up to using a rebuildable dripping atomiser (RDA). This is because RDAs produce great results for ‘drippers’, generating huge vapour clouds, and are easy to operate. You merely drip the e-fluid directly on to the RDA’s exposed coil and wick and away you go; in a couple of seconds you’re puffing away. That said, while RDAs offer genuine ease-of-use and their wicks aren’t at all difficult to rebuild after several drippings/ vapes (i.e. why they’re specifically referred to as ‘rebuildable’), they’re not the easiest bit of vaping kit to maintain.
With their wicks made from reliable, high-quality materials like silica, cotton or even ekowool, you can customise RDAs to your heart’s content but it’ll likely require a lot of tinkering to produce exactly the results you want. And yet, as you’re capable of rebuilding an RDA’s coils to exactly the specifications you desire, you can also use such an atomiser for sub-ohming (vaping with very low electrical resistance; that is, generating much-more-than-average power from an e-cig’s battery for big hits, big clouds and strong, delicious flavours).
How do you rebuild an RDA?
Yes, the point of getting hold of an RDA is, of course, the fact that you can rebuild its coils and wicks. Before you embark on doing so, though, it’s important you’re confident you know what you’re doing; as mentioned above, dripping e-juice with an RDA opens up a whole world of vaping opportunities but isn’t particularly straightforward and can be intricate. So, here’s what you need to do:
- 1.Gather together the equipment you’ll need (an RDA; a two-inch-long gauged metal wire for the coil; a two-inch-length of wick; nail clippers; pliers; a small screwdriver)
- 2.Clean the RDA’s deck of any former coils, cotton or e-juice
- 3.Build the coil (ideally build more than one and place the extra ones in a storage space)
- 4.Add the coil to the RDA
- 5.Test the coil
- 6.Trim the excess wire once the coil’s in place (using the nail clippers)
- 7.Add the cotton, silica or ekowool wick
- 8.Saturate the wick
- 9.Affix the RDA’s top cap… and start vaping away.