TF-RTA G4 deck not reading on mod

[Andy S]

Picked up two of these rebuildable tanks cheap today. Swappable twin and quad decks, both decks came pre-built. (I bought the two tanks because if I had bought one plus the extra deck the price would have been the same.)
So anyway, the G2 works fine, the G4 is not registering on any mod. First I swapped the bases and the twin deck works on both bases, the quad doesn't work on either. I can't see any shorts, I removed all the coils and re-installed them and they all look fine. So the problem would seem to be the deck itself, not the base or the coils. Not a particularly well built piece of kit, jagged threads, machine marks all over the place etc etc, but for a fiver each I wasn't expecting top notch gear.

At that price I'm not going to be too miffed if it's for the bin, but before I do that, just wondered if anyone with experience of this deck could point to something I may have have missed?

 

[Mr Ripple]

510 pin or coil deck screwing in too tight.

 

[Andy S]

510 pin or coil deck screwing in too tight.

Interesting; the one that's not working does have much rougher threads than the one that works, although they're both screwing into the bases the same amount. It won't be the 510 because the other deck works in both bases.

 

[Mr Ripple]

Interesting; the one that's not working does have much rougher threads than the one that works, although they're both screwing in to the bases the same amount.

Not owned one of those tanks but dont they have floating 510 pins.
And if theyre the same as the latest range the rba deck could be screwed down to far.
If not then ignore me.

 

[andipandi]

Remove the rba deck from the base section, turn it upside down on a flat surface, grip the threaded section of the rba and push hard, you should feel a click or some movement, reassemble, making sure the rba deck is screwed home nicely.

 

[Andy S]

Sussed it. I wondered if it wasn't screwing into the base far enough so I put a drop of solder to make it longer and it works. Not an ideal solution because it might affect the resistance reading. I might try to increase the threads so that it goes in deeper if I happen to have the right tap/die.

 

[Andy S]

OK, it's an old model so probably not on anyone's maybe list, but I'll give my first impressions anyway.

I had six identical coils, two on one deck, four on the other, reading .41 and .21 respectively.

Same juice in both tanks, the twin is vaping quite nice at 30-35W but not quite wicking up perfectly, so I made the wicks a bit looser on the quad and didn't fill the channels quite so much. It's staying juiced up nicely at 65+ but there's a hell of a lot of metal on that deck so not much room for air and the glass got really hot after just a couple of hits. Also the narrow chimney makes for a hotter vape than I personally like at high Watts. So I made another set of coils with thinner wire and got a .38 total. So similar resistances now but a big difference in surface area and the flavour is slightly richer on the quad.

The quad is a bit trickier to build because the bottom legs have to be cut to exact length before insertion. Other than that, not too difficult despite the limited space.

If it were full price I'd rate is as average compared to other RTAs I've used, but for five quid it's bloody brilliant.

 

[andipandi]

Sussed it. I wondered if it wasn't screwing into the base far enough so I put a drop of solder to make it longer and it works. Not an ideal solution because it might affect the resistance reading. I might try to increase the threads so that it goes in deeper if I happen to have the right tap/die.

Did you try what I said, I'm 99% certain that is the issue, the stem separates from the lower part of the rba, then when you screw the rba into the base the 510 pin is not extruding enough to make contact with the mod. it's happened on 2 of my G4 decks, also beware when dry burning, the insulator on the centre stem (below the posts) is not the best in the world.