Smkon Deepfire RTA

The Deepfire designed and manufactured by Smkon is a 25mm dual coil configuration RTA (Rebuildable Atomizer) that features top filling, adjustable airflow and juice flow control and holds 4.5ml of E-Liquid. In addition it features a singularly unique locking mechanism.

by VapeMaster
Feb 2, 2017

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Smkon Deepfire RTA

Smkon Deepfire features

25mm Diameter
4.5ml Capacity
304 Stainless Steel and Pyrex Glass Construction
Unique Locking Mechanism
Dual Coil Configuration Only
Velocity Style Build Deck
Top Filling
Juice Flow Control
Adjustable Airflow
Delrin Drip Tip
Available in Silver or Black

What’s in the box?

1x Smkon Deepfire RTA
1x Spare Glass Tube.
1x Bag of Spare Parts.

Smkon Deepfire RTA styling and build quality

The overall design of the Deepfire is streamlined and all of the parts are well made using 304 Stainless Steel and Pyrex glass but there are issues in some areas namely the twist top fill mechanism which is way too loose and also the fact that the glass comes away from the O-rings far too easily when breaking the tank down for cleaning. Thankfully the box does include a replacement glass tube should an accident occur. The overall diameter of the Deepfire is 25mm so it will overhang on a lot of mods. The tank does feature a single logo which is tastefully engraved on the chamber.

The Deepfire features a unique locking mechanism which allows you to turn the upper part of the tank ninety degrees and this cuts off the juice flow and closes down the airflow before then allowing you to pull the upper section of the tank off and access the deck. In theory it is certainly different and I would probably praise it if it worked as intended but in practice it doesn’t function anywhere near well as you would think. It also doesn’t actually work when the tank is not fitted on to your mod and that tends to come across as a bit of a daft design decision.

The base of the atomizer is a bit questionable because due to the need to incorporate this locking mechanism there are minor gaps and juice has a nasty habit of seeping out of there. The 510 pin is gold-plated for excellent conductivity and while it isn’t meant to be adjustable it can be removed.

The included drip tip is made from Delrin and it is a good fit. You can of course use other drip tips in your collection since it is a standard 510 fitting. The tank holds a generous 4.5ml of E-Liquid. One thing to note is this product does not contain any form of user manual but instead has diagrams and brief instructions on the reverse of the box.

Airflow

The really weird thing about the Deepfire is that the airflow is actually linked to the juice flow control and you can’t easily adjust either unless the tank is fitted onto your mod. The tank has four airflow slots so you do get a good amount of air even when they are hardly open. You have to be extremely careful when using 50/50 E-Liquid because if you open up the airflow too much you will have opened the juice flow at the same time and I am not kidding when I say that this thing can leak like a sieve.

I feel the airflow/juice flow combination is definitely not this tanks strong point! The draw itself is fairly airy and caters to a slightly restricted lung inhale style of vaping but I also found it okay for a loose mouth to lung vape.

Ease of use

A complete nightmare would be an appropriate way to describe my first experience with this atomizer. Getting access to the deck for the first time was an absolute pain since the chamber was practically welded on and for some reason Smkon decided to incorporate a locking feature which I suspect not many vapers would ever ask for! Given that once you get this haphazard mechanism to play ball the tank actually lifts directly off the deck which is not what I would call of value especially if you need to tweak your build while the tank still has juice in it. As mentioned earlier it is supposed to cut off the juice flow as you do this but in practice it doesn’t really work very well at all and since the chamber is so heavily stuck on when you first use the atomizer it just feels like an exercise in sheer frustration and yes I did still get leaks.

It is important to note is that when you do finally get the chamber off the deck make sure to lubricate those O-rings heavily and when you’ve done that lubricate them again! With a bit of luck you won’t end up shredding the O-rings when you remove the chamber but do check them properly to make sure they are completely intact. I should also point out that I would not be a good idea to attempt removing the chamber while the Deepfire is fitted to your device (seriously use an atomizer stand) since due to the sheer amount of effort required you could potentially end up pulling the mods 510 pin out!

The Velocity deck is very easy to work with and has decent screws which hold the wire securely although the wicking ring is a very wobbly fit and tends to get in the way when putting your cotton tails into the channels. The juice channels are also quite narrow so they may struggle with high VG juice.

I made two identical coils using 26 gauge Kanthal, eight wraps apiece wrapped around a 3mm diameter Coilmaster tool and it was a breeze to fit them with more than enough space for the coil diameter. The final Resistance was 0.58ohm.

One serious mistake this tank makes is the linking of the airflow to the juice control which seems rather daft. Let’s say like some folks that I decide I would like just that little bit more airflow so I turn the main section of the tank and behold the juice flow fully opens up which when using 50/50 juice leads to a deluge of sticky E-Liquid running straight down my mod and all over my hands then dripping on to my jeans before finally forming a sweet Manabush smelling puddle on the carpet!

Thankfully I bought my Asmodus Minikin V2 as a workhorse mod for reviews and due to its heavy rubberised finish it is almost impervious to the very leaky RTA’s that I seem to receive on occasion.

To fill the tank you simply rotate the top cap and this reveals two fill holes. Now in an ideal world this would be really useful since there is more than enough room for your juice bottle nozzles or droppers but becomes of far less value when realise it opens way too freely and is actually easy to knock. This inevitably leads to the scenario where you tilt the tank to your mouth for a quick vape and you once more find yourself covered in a torrent of sticky Manabush or its equivalent (I came close but thankfully I noticed before it was too late). So all things considered and Velocity deck aside the Deepfire doesn’t really have ease of use in mind.

How does it vape?

Despite the leaking issues I persevered with this tank and providing I used enough cotton and kept the juice flow and airflow hardly open it behaved itself long enough for me to review.

The flavour you get off this tank is lovely, no question about it and this is chiefly due to the compact chamber and the short chimney. I was using Manabush Omusa and I could definitely pick out all of the individual notes and the rum in particular had a little more bite to it than usual. Vapour production was pretty good and shouldn’t disappoint since it is reasonably generous and if you aim for a 0.5-0.6ohm build like I did you don’t really need more than 28 Watts to get the best from the tank in terms of heat and flavour.

Given how decent the Deepfire was in the vape department I did feel a little annoyed by how everything else seemed like such a huge misstep. This could have been an excellent product if a little bit more thought and time was put into it.

Conclusion

In theory the Smkon Deepfire should have been an impressive and fairly compact dual coil tank since it delivers very good flavour and offers a decent amount of cloud production but it does have its issues and these are compounded by some questionable design decisions.

Chief amongst those is the locking mechanism which kind of seems like a feature that is trying to be innovative but sadly just makes things a chore. The top filling mechanism should work well but it ideally needs more resistance when opening because it has a bad habit of moving on its own accord way too freely. The juice flow control and airflow adjustment need to work independently of each other. The O-rings don’t hold the glass on very securely so it tends to come away easily when breaking the tank down for cleaning. The juice channels are another area that could use improvement and they should be widened to cope with very high VG E-Liquids. Finally the chamber O-rings should be lubricated heavily before they are shipped out because it is an absolute nightmare accessing the deck for the first time.

It is very unfortunate that in its current state the Smkon Deepfire is let down by numerous problems that should really have never got past quality control. If Smkon take the time to make some changes and improve the product it could become a very good atomizer and a worthwhile contender.

Innovation in the vaping world is a lovely thing but only when it does something new that is valuable to the user. Simply tacking on useless features in the name of innovation that nobody really wants achieves nothing! At present I certainly wouldn’t advise you to go out of your way to purchase one of these tanks but if you do end up with one then rest assured it does at least vape well providing you are willing to put up with its many faults.

VapeMaster

Reviewer at POTV

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