Hey VC’ers. Today I’ll be checking out the new Steam Crave Pumper along with both the Hadron RDSA and the Hadron Mesh RDSA. Thanks go out to Maggie from Steam Crave for sending out this kit for the purpose of this review.
I was excited to get stuck in to testing this new piece of kit as it’s very different from anything I’ve used before and I’ve heard nothing but good things about it from other testers. This review may get a bit long due to it containing 3 items so make sure you’re sitting comfortably! Lets dive in…
The Steam Crave Pumper:
Specs:
- 30mm Diameter
- 36.4mm Height
- 12ml E-liquid capacity
- Simple side refill with big fill port
- Top and bottom 510 connections
- Innovative squonk system designed for ease of use and consistency
- Squonk pump button
- Gold plated 510 pin
- Turn any mod into a squonk mod
Contents:
- 1x Pumper unit
- 1x Spare straight glass
- 1x Bag of spare o-rings
- User manual
- Steam Crave Sticker
Packaging:
We have the usual red & black Steam Crave packaging for all of the items in this review. The pumper box comes with it’s name across the front above a wireframe image of the pumper which sits alongside the Steam Crave branding and above the tag line. One side of the box shows the colour inside which in this case is Stainless Steel. The other side shows the product number SC907 and the bottom shows a scratch-off authenticity checker alongside the barcode and safety certificates:
Inside, everything is very well protected and snugly fitted inside the usual Steam Crave red and black felt covered foam:
The contents:
The pumper unit:
The Pumper comes with ‘Steam Crave Pumper’ etched on one side and the Steam Crave branding on the other side. On the base there’s a regular gold plated 510 pin and up top there’s a gold plated squonk 510 to screw your RDA/RDSA into. Opposite the pump button is a knurled edge round stopper type screw which you remove to leave a nice large opening to fill with e-liquid. As you’d expect it has all the o-rings in all the right places to prevent any leaks. I’ve not had a single drop leak from mine in the time I’ve been using it. All the threads are buttery smooth when taking it apart for cleaning and it’s very simple to put back together. On the bottom we have ‘Designed by BJ Shi’ written above the serial number and safety certificates.
The Pumper stripped down seems like quite a simple design with few parts:
Here you can see the gold plated 510 pin which connects to the mod at one end and the tank at the other while transporting the juice up into the RDA/RDSA.
The button and it’s housing are recommended to be removed before use and the 2 o-rings on the button itself be lubricated with a bit of VG or juice. Both the button and housing are machined from a chunk of metal and very precisely made so they fit together like a glove to provide a super smooth action when pressing.
The 2 o-rings that are recommended to be lubed prior to use can be seen at the base of the button in the centre of the below image:
Here’s the hole the button screws into:
Usage:
The Pumper is basically a 30mm wide tank that holds 12ml of e-liquid, 0.22ml of which gets pumped up into the mounted RDA/RDSA with each press of the button. Pretty simple really but it seems to work very well. The pump button has a bit of resistance when pushing and it sits very snugly in place so there’s zero rattle from it. Depending on the mod you’re using this can be fired and pumped to refill with one hand without much adjusting. Throughout testing this worked flawlessly. Each pump of the button fires the same small amount (0.22ml) of juice to your RDA/RDSA, not a single drop is drawn back down into the pumper when the button is depressed so your wick stays nicely saturated with just a bunch of pushes of the button every now and then. You soon get used to the frequency and amount needed to match your vaping style as it is very accurate.
It’s looks with the button sticking out may not be to everybody’s liking but personally, it really doesn’t bother me. It’s great for lazy people like me to be able to give your RDA an extra 12ml juice capacity so there’s no dripping required at all. I’ve had no leaks at all during use. Actually I’ve not had any issues with this at all.
It is of course quite limited in which tanks people will want to use on it due to it’s 30mm size. The market isn’t exactly flooded with 30mm RDA’s but there are plenty out there if you look for them. Of course, there are 2 included in this review which were designed for this pumper so work perfectly with it.
Pro’s:
- Add 12ml of juice capacity to your RDA’s
- Precise 0.22ml on each push of the button
- Large 30mm size (could be a con for some people)
- Well designed and very solid feeling
- Ease of use
- Simple to refill
- No-mess squonking
- Turn any mod into a squonker
Cons:
- The refilling cap could be difficult to remove/replace for people with a lack of dexterity in their hands
- The way it looks will put off some people
Steam Crave Hadron RDSA:
Specs:
- 30mm Diameter
- 24.5mm Height without drip tip
- 32.5mm height with drip tip
- Large postless build deck can accommodate up to 5mm ID coils
- Series and parallel builds possible on the same deck
- Side and below coil independent air-flow
- 810 Drip tip
- Gold plated 510 pin
- Gold Plated squonk pin
Contents:
- 1x Hadron RDSA whole unit
- 1x Bag of spare grub screws and o-rings
- 1x Allen key tool
- 2x Spaced fused clapton coils (ni80)
- 1x Gold plated 510 pin (fitted)
- 1x Gold plated squonk pin (in spares bag)
- User manual
- Steam Crave sticker
Packaging:
The packaging here is pretty much the same as with the Pumper unit. We have the product name across the top of the front above a wireframe of the RDSA. This sits next to the Steam Crave branding which in turn sits above the tag line for this product. One side shows the included colour, again we have stainless steel here. The other side shows the model number which is SC905. The back has the Steam Crave authenticity panel next to the barcode and the safety certificates.
As you would expect, everything inside is well presented and protected:
The contents:
The included coils:
The Hadron RDSA:
The Hadron RDSA features a huge open build deck which can accommodate up to 5mm ID coils. It can be accessed by just pulling off the whole top part of the RDSA when it’s mounted on a mod or ohm reader etc. It has dual independent air-flow. The bottom air-flow control ring supplies air below the coils and the top cap rotates to adjust the side air-flow to the coils. Either one can be closed completely or adjusted to your personal preference. The bottom air-flow ring draws air into the underside of the deck which then comes out through 3 slots below each coil.
Below we have the main barrel where you can see the 38 side air-flow holes (19 each side) and also the slot for the bottom air-flow:
The bottom air-flow control ring:
The top cap has large cut-outs which are used to alter the air-flow to the sides. It also has a display of lines above the air-flow holes which make it easy to see how the air-flow is configured. 1 line corresponds to 1 row of air-flow holes:
The deck has 2 tabs to line up so it seats correctly inside the main body. The main body can be turned on top of the deck until it clicks in to place:
The build:
Supplied with the Hadron RDSA are 2x Ni80 coils but me being me, I wrapped a pair of larger 4mm ID staple staggered fused claptons to use for testing. They fitted very easily in the large chamber of the RDSA with room to spare.
Hot-spots removed:
Cotton fitted and feathered then tucked in and juiced:
Usage:
I am very impressed with the Hadron RDSA. The build deck is large and very well designed with integrated air-flow tunnelling from the side to below the coils. The inside of the chamber is not domed so there is lots of space in there for huge builds. We have hex grub screws fitted and the 4 spares in teh bag are also hex. Both series and parallel builds can be done on the same deck. The wicking channels are nice and large to make wicking a breeze. The flavour this RDSA produces is very impressive as you’d expect. It comes with a regular 510 pin so can also be used as a dripper if desired. Used with the Pumper there were no issues at all, the wicks are saturated very well and it’s easy to suss out how often and how much you need to give a few pushes on the button. The air-flow options should be enough to satisfy everybody’s taste. My only gripes are that the bottom air-flow is far too restricted to use on it’s own without the side air-flow but it may well be fine for others. Also the side air-flow can whistle a bit depending on it’s configuration.
Pro’s:
- Huge build deck with plenty of room for large builds
- Independently controlled dual air-flow to both the side and below the coils
- 810 drip tip
- Excellent flavour
- Leak free
- High build quality and machining
- Series and parallel build on the same deck
- Postless, open build deck
- Large wicking channels
Cons:
- The side air-flow can whistle a bit if set certain ways
- The bottom air-flow is too restrictive to use on it’s own (for me at least, it might be fine for you)
Steam Crave Hadron Mesh RDSA:
Specs:
- 30mm Diameter
- 22.6mm Height without drip tip
- 30.6mm Height with drip tip
- Large dual mesh build deck
- Side air-flow
- 810 drip tip
- Gold plated 510 pin
- Gold plated squonk pin
Contents:
- 1x Hadron Mesh RDSA whole unit
- 1x Bag of spare grub screws and o-rings
- 1x Allen key tool
- 1x Gold plated 510 pin (fitted)
- 1x Gold plated squonk pin (in spares bag)
- 2x Shoe lace cotton strips
- 2x SS316L mesh strips 16*6.8 0.15ohm
- 2x Kanthal A1 mesh strips 16*6.8 0.15ohm
- 1x Mesh tool
- User manual
- Steam Crave sticker
The Packaging:
Of course we have the usual Steam crave packaging similar to the Hadron RDSA. There’s the model name across the top, a wireframe image of the included RDSA alongside the Steam Crave branding. Below that is the slogan which reads: Dual Mesh Flavour Machine. On one side we have the model number which is SC906 in this case. The other side shows the colour chosen and underneath we have the authenticity sticker next to the barcode and safety certificates:
The contents:
The included mesh:
The RDSA:
Up top we have the 810 push-fit drip tip sat in the top cap which is rotated to adjust the air-flow. The main body has ‘Hadron Mesh RDA’ etched onto one side and ‘Steam Crave’ on the other. Down the bottom we have the gold plated 510 pin. Like the none-coil version, the regular 510 pin is fitted by default and the squonk pin is in the spares bag. Above the 510 we have ‘Designed by BJ Shi’ above the safety certificates and the serial number at the bottom.
The build deck is accessed by pulling off the top section of the RDSA while it’s mounted into a mod or atty holder etc. It is a dual mesh setup with Phillips head screws holding the mesh clamps in place and nice large wicking channels either side:
The top cap fits an 810 drip tip and has multiple air-flow options similar to the none-mesh version. Of course, with mesh there’s no bottom air-flow so we have side air-flow only here which is directed to the mesh via an air channel integrated into each side of the main barrel. Both are machined very well and fit snugly together and have just the right amount of resistance when adjusting the air-flow.
Top cap:
Main body:
The Build:
Mesh fitted, wicked, feathered, tucked in and juiced:
Usage:
I was equally impressed with the Hadron Mesh RDSA as I was with the coil version. It’s very well built with everything slotting together perfectly. Building on it is very easy due to its large size and wicking equally easy. This thing produces immense flavour and clouds and is a very smooth and quiet vape. Again, like the none-coil version, this works flawlessly with the Pumper which easily keeps the mesh saturated enough. There were zero leaks throughout testing or any other issues at all. I usually vape with coils only but after trying this it has found a way into my rotation just because of the epic flavour it produces.
Pro’s:
- Excellent flavour
- Good air-flow options
- Large wicking channels
- Large, easy to build on deck
- Leak free
- Easy access build deck
Cons:
Honestly, I couldn’t find fault with this at all. It’s just very good at what it’s supposed to be good at.
Random piccage:
A pic of the Pumper wishing it was shinier while working flawlessly with a non-Steam Crave RDA, the Vaperz Cloud Valhalla v2 Mini:
Conclusion:
All in all I was very happy with the performance of this new kit. The idea of giving any tank with a squonk pin an additional 12ml e-liquid capacity and turn any mod into a squonk mod are both great concepts in my opinion and can be much more practical due to the none-existence of any mess from leaky bottles and whatnot. I’ve heard that many squonk mods will suck most of the juice back out of the chamber when the bottle is released, this is a non-issue here. This is a 1-way pump so every drop you pump into your RDSA/RDA will stay there until vaped. The tactile feedback of the button is just right and feels very solid when used. The fill port is also very easy to access for most people and is large enough to easily accommodate most bottles. The two RDSA’s are both very good and very well designed, giving great flavour with zero issues or leaks. The precision of always getting the exact same 0.22ml of juice pumped into the RDSA/RDA every time, makes it a breeze to quickly work out how often you need to give a few pushes on the button to keep your wick saturated. I would highly recommend this to anybody based on my experience with it. Epic flavour. Super easy to use. Zero mess.
Well done Steam Crave!
Thanks go out again to Maggie from Steam Crave for supplying me with this kit for review.
Well done if you made it this far, this was one hell of a review to get through but we finally made it to the end! Thanks so much for reading.
Bonus pic!
