Steve K's Vaping World

Yes, you read that right, dual coil atomizer.  Normally cartomizers are the hardware that gets all the dual coil love.  There are dual coils of every size imaginable on the market, from standard sizes to a huge eGo sized model and everything in between.  Finally, after months of rumor, an atomizer version of the popular e-cigarette hardware has finally made its debut.

Design
One thing is probably point out right up front.  Even the seller of these gizmos, Clouds of Vapor, notes that these are a first generation device and are most suitable for early adopters.  Despite the dire warnings, I found the atomizer actually does work.

Courtesy COV

As you might imagine, the dual coil atomizer is sort of a frankenstein kind of device.  It basically features two ceramic cup assemblies with a single 3.0Ω heating coil stacked on on the top of another and wired together.  The net result is a 1.5Ω final resistance.

Peering into the atomizer’s tube, nothing looks terribly out of order.  The only thing that may look odd to some is that the bridge (yes this one is not a bridgeless model) sits higher in the atomizer tube than usual.  There’s no hint of the wicks shown in the disassembly picture from the vendor’s site.

I haven’t had the gumption to tear apart my atomizer yet, but I suspect the bridge plays an important role in getting e-liquid from point A. to point B.  Keeping those points fed with juice naturally takes a fair amount of dripping.  My initial fill was around 8 drops and I find myself having to top off with 3 drops about every 4 or so drags.

Attached to trusty volt meter

Performance
Thankfully, even though the dual coil atomizer frequently demands more juice, it’s fairly polite about it.  Normally there’s an unpleasant burning sensation that tends to happen when very hot devices run low on juice.  This atomizer gives a less offensive, albeit unmistakable flavor when it’s ready for more liquid.

Keeping this device happy is a little challenging, I tended to either under or over compensate attempting to keep the smooth flavor party going.  This device will leak when overfed but its first inclination is to gurgle to let you know you’ve wronged it.  It’s not really surprising this device swings so wildly between full and empty, all that heat plays havoc on vaporization.

On Vapor Alley Copper Hex @6v

Did I mention the heat yet?  This thing runs hot, especially when paired with higher voltage devices (depending on what I used I swung from between 4.7 and 5.5v under load).  So hot that even my nifty new ceramic drip tip got a little uncomfortably warm.  Of course that was during a heavy-duty vaping session, if you’re a normal human being it might not be so bad.

Aside from the heat, this thing performs like a trooper.  Vapor production is significant, and as you might have figured out, is very warm.  As far as flavor goes, it’s a little bit different than the dual coil cartomizers, pretty much exactly the way it is in the single coil world.

The most interesting thing is that this atomizer belts out great vapor through a wide range of settings.  It even did really well on my ProVari running at 4v.  Vapor production increases with more power, although not proportionally in my mind.  The warmth of the vapor, however, does increase as expected along the power curve.  I also noticed throat hit isn’t quite as aggressive with these as compared to some of the cartomizers I’ve played with.

Too Long; Didn’t Read
The atomizer has finally broken into the cartomizer-exclusive dual coil club.  Despite dire warnings of this atomizer being a first gen device, it did a fair job of behaving myself.  It may be a little rough around the edges, but it works quite well.  If you are a dyed-in-the-wool atomizer fan, this device may be worth of a perch atop your e-cigarette device of choice.

Performance (aggregated across voltages)
Vapor Production: High
Vapor Warmth: High
Flavor: Good
Throat Hit: Good

Pros:

• Good performance
• Dry hits are not overly painful
• A very atomizer-like experience