Wotofo Profile RDTA (with clean ropes ;-) )

This was supplied by Wotofo for review, but all the thoughts & findings are mine. Big thanks to Wotofo & Antonio for getting this to me before release.

The latest addition to the Profile family is the Profile RDTA. Another collaboration between Wotofo & Mr Justright1 continuing the mesh RDA/RTA theme. After the phenomenal success of the original Profile & the Unity RTA, the 1.5 was met with some dislike with its vague airflow but pleased others with the bigger deck & deeper juice well. The RDTA expands on the success of the original in reverting to a honeycomb airflow with larger holes, the larger deck of the 1.5 with a redesigned sprung deck to accommodate single/dual coils as well as mesh & 6.2ml juice capacity fed to the deck by 4 steel rods when in RDTA configuration. Does this build on the Profile & Unity and fix those issues with the 1.5. Read on & find out.

In the box

Anybody who has purchased a Wotofo product will know that they come with everything but the juice to get started & this is no different. Packaging is the usual box with a transparent plastic lid that can be awkward to remove (still). Inside is the top tray with the RDTA held secure in the foam cut out & below this is a treasure trove of goodies. Along with the 3 mesh strips & pair of framed staple coils there’s a posi driver, Allen key & curve tool for the mesh. Cotton strips for both mesh & coil, 2 spare steel rods & a bag of O rings, spare screws, solid 510 pin & the RDA base for use when squonking or dripping.

Bits & Pieces

I received the pre-release version which has a glass tank in the RDTA section, but the retail version will be PCTG so far less likely to break if dropped. On stripping down, because the steel ropes were already installed, they snagged a little so first tip is to tip it upside down when breaking down to clean. Not an issue but something to be aware of & one I should have remembered using similar set ups. Wotofo gear generally come exceptionally clean, no machine oil etc but I recommend a strip & clean down as the steel ropes will need to be clean & have minimal handling. Grease on your fingers can stop or interfere with the capillary action. Threading is good, no crunching but as usual O rings are tight on the deck & airflow & will need lubricating with a dab of juice before reassembly.

Onto the deck & straight away you can see the changes made. There are 3 screws on each side of the deck, the large centre ones for the mesh clamps & 4 smaller screws for mounting coils. The ceramic block now has 4 slots for fitting coil legs through as well as the centre hole for when squonking. There’s also a firmer spring to keep the block tight to the cotton. As with the 1.5 the block is grooved to help juice transfer. The deck itself is 25mm with the deep juice wells like the 1.5 and four holes for the steel ropes. The original Profile was a smaller, shallower deck area which led to dry hits or over squonking if not careful. The body also has the original honeycomb airflow but this time with larger holes & arched slightly. Airflow is adjusted by twisting the top cap giving a range from fully open to closing down each row either partially or completely. The matching drip tip has a metal trim around the base. The tank section is a metal cage affair with the glass/PCTG section fitting inside giving a clear view of juice levels. The deck & tank sections screw together to give you a 6.2ml capacity RDTA. If you want to drip or squonk just unscrew the tank section & fit the RDA base & solid pin if dripping. The squonk pin comes fitted as standard. There are 2 holes next to the clamps, one each side. The larger one for filling & the smaller one to vent air

Wick & Vape

You are spoilt for choice with your first build. If using in RDTA mode drop the steel rope wicks into the 4 holes before coiling & wicking, I found this the easiest way. Mesh or coils you are covered. This comes supplied with a new mesh called Clapton mesh so this may pique your interest first if you’re familiar with sheet mesh. This is actually fine Clapton wire, 7 lengths fixed to 3 cross bars ohming out at 0.2ohm. Be aware that this quite frail & deforms very easily, so take your time handling & wicking.

As this was my first time trying this style of mesh, I carefully bent the strip into an arch using the supplied tool & mounted in the clamps. A couple of low power pulses (10-15w) to ensure even heating & it’s time to wick. As soon as I started drawing the cotton lace through, I could see the outer wire moving so backed off, gave the cotton a twist to reduce its size & proceeded carefully. Once drawn through I had one leg almost touching its neighbour so a gentle prod with ceramic tweezers & all was good. It really is worth the little extra time spent to get this right as the resulting vape is worth it. Do a diagonal cut on the cotton, same as the OG & gently fluff the ends. Cut to length, holding the wick to the deck I cut just below the bottom O ring, and tuck into the juice wells. You want cotton to be making good contact with the tops of the ropes without being too packed to block the juice flow. Once filled with juice you should be able to hold it upside down without leaking but seeing bubbles in the tank as it wicks. If it leaks it’s too loose, no bubbles too tight. Give the cotton a good soaking, pulsing the fire button to aid wicking. Fill the tank via the fill hole. This hole is a decent size, but a gorilla sized bottle tip can be messy if not lined up exactly. Thinner tips are no problem & there was no backing up with the air vent doing its job well. Fitting the cap back on is a simple line up the airflow to the side of the mesh & push down. You can fit & twist, but this will disturb the cotton due to 2 triangular plates fitted inside the cap designed to sit over the juice & vent holes. The Clapton mesh is rated between 60-80w so being fearful of a dry hit I started at 55w, wimp I hear you say but dry hitting mesh isn’t a pleasant experience. I shouldn’t have been worried as this kicked off like a coil, not mesh. First thing I noticed was the heat was greater for the same watts compared to sheet mesh. Increasing the watts to 70w & this was as good as a pair of Clapton coils for flavour & vape. Playing around with the airflow & shutting the top row off gave a hotter vape & fully open a touch cooler but a little spit back. Pushing the power up to 80w & no spitting but too uncomfortable for me to vape long term so I settled around 70w top row closed. All the elements of the juice were there along with plenty of clouds. Vaping wise the wicking kept up very well giving it 5-6 quick pulls to see how those steel ropes kept up with juice flow. On to a mesh strip next & fitted & wicked a Turbo mesh. This I am familiar with after using in the Profile 1.5 and, due to the redesigned airflow, was a definite improvement. Pushing up the power this just kept giving long after the 1.5 would be either too hot or washed out.

Next to try was the 3mm Framed staple coils. Suggested leg length is 7-7.5mm. 7mm keeps it clear of the ceramic block but if you like a bit of under coil airflow go up a little. Wicking is pretty much the same, keeping contact with the rods without over packing. The coils came in around 0.16ohm & I topped out around 75w, a bit warmer than my preferred vape but very enjoyable around 65w with again top row closed off. A single 3mm coil gets a bit lost on this deck & I will be trying out a 3.5 or 4mm in the future. All the above were tried in both RDTA & squonk mode.

Summing up

The original profile was a game changer with regards using mesh without the feared dry hit, introducing the spring assisted deck & was a big favourite of mine when released. The Unity used the same sprung deck & put it into an RTA, which again was a winner as long as you could wick it right. The Profile 1.5 promised a lot with the larger deck & bigger chamber but was let down by the vague airflow. The RDTA has taken the airflow from the original & improved it. From the Unity it took the constant juice flow for a consistent vape from start to finish of a tank. Keeping the 1.5 larger deck and chamber, adding the coil options & putting it all in one package has made this a serious contender. Bearing in mind that for $40 (£35) or less you are getting a dripper, squonker or RDTA using mesh, single or dual coil. Three separate atties this good would set you back £90+ so this is a seriously good package. One plus for me was desserts/custards tasted much better compared to the Profile & Unity. Fruits on the early versions were always good & this is maintained with the RDTA.

Couple of minor niggles but bear in mind this is a review item & not the finished article. Purely cosmetic but the metal trim on the drip tip can work loose but Wotofo say they are aware & have already started to rectify before release. The steel ropes could be a tad longer, maybe ½ a mm as a couple of early users had reported them falling into the tank if shaking it. I tried to replicate & while when almost empty they moved a bit, they didn’t fall into the tank. Personally, I feel if you have enough cotton in contact it will help to hold them in place.

Some may find it’s a tall set up at 52.7mm but I compared it to my daily vape, the Steamcrave Supreme V2 & it’s the same height. It’s a good 10mm shorter than the Brunhilde although that holds 2ml more

One concern I see a lot of is the steel rope keeping up with wicking. I can state with confidence that it does with a couple of caveats. The rope has to be as clean as possible when installing so try to avoid handling too much. Too much cotton in the wells will strangle the flow & if you vape with the tank permanently vertical it will dry hit. The only time I had an issue was once the tank was less than quarter full. Not surprising given the distance the juice has to travel through capillary action. Normal vaping action of tipping when vaping was enough to keep it going & when it gets low just keep it tipped for a few seconds or refill.

9 Likes

Great review @nwhornet , that ones already on my wish list to add to my Profile family! :+1:

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Love all the Profiles, 1.5 not so much :joy:. This IMO is the best of the lot for versatility & vape.

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Well I’m getting along with the 1.5, (well just OK ) on the topside, maybe with only 1 or 2 top holes open, still need to drill out those bottom holes , just haven’t got around to it yet :joy:
But yeah really looking fwd to picking up the RTDA, as soon as the boss lady :eyes: let’s me buy some more stuff :wink:

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Baaaahahahaaaa :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

love the title man :wink:

And a great review, thanks for sharing it Craig :wink: :+1:t2:

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Can’t be letting you have all the fun. :rofl: Get the viewers intrigued & they’ll come back for more :+1:t2:
And thanks for the kind words, means a lot coming from yourself.

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Great review, and …

Is/was always my concerns with rope wicking. I’ve actually got one, with that style, and haven’t set it up yet.

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I’ve had no issues, just tip a little longer when low in the tank. I find it at least on a par with the Brunhilde with coils & keeps up fine with mesh. I’ve actually had more issues with the Kylin M AIO with the wicking on that.

2 Likes

THAT’S the one.

1 Like