The Elder Dragon RDA (affiliate) was sent to me for review from Wotofo. The Elder Dragon RDA from Wotofo was developed in collaboration with the popular Japanese vape reviewer Ryusei Sakaue (阪上龍生).
This RDA is called the Ryujin RDA in Japan, but the names, Elder Dragon and Ryujin, are synonymous. In Japanese mythology, Ryujin is the dragon god that has the power of the ocean and the ability to transform into a human. He controls the tides and his servants are sea turtles, fish, and jellyfish. So what does this have to with the Elder Dragon RDA? Nothing! But It’s a cool story, right? Alright, let’s talk about it.
Specs:
- Single Coil
- Stainless Steel body
- 22mm diameter
- 34.5mm tall with drip tip
- Dripping and Squonk Compatible
- Colors: Stainless Steel, Rainbow, Gold, Blue, Black, and Gunmetal
- $29.99 from Wotofo.com (affiliate)
In The Box:
- Elder Dragon RDA
- Coil Trimming Tool
- Extra White Frosted 810 Drip Tip
- 510 Drip Tip Adapter
- Two Triple-Core Fused Clapton Coils
- User Manual
- Bag of accessories and spare parts
Design
The design of the Elder Dragon is definitely unique. It has this short and sort of bulbous look to it. And the layered design is supposed to resemble a Japanese pagoda, which if you don’t know, is a sacred building of worship. And then on the bottom of the base, you have this Tai Chi, or Yin Yang symbol, which represents balance.
It’s really cool how much cultural meaning has been built into the design of this RDA.
As for the size, it’s pretty short and small.
Drip Tip
The pre-installed drip tip is a beautiful 810 resin drip tip. You’ll also get a spare white 810 drip tip which works just fine. And you get a 510 drip tip adapter if you want to use a smaller drip tip, which is a really good idea since the Elder Dragon is a single coil RDA. So it’s good for lower wattage vaping too, and I think a lot of lower wattage vapers like using slimmer 510 mouthpieces.
Barrel & Airflow
The barrel has four airflow holes, two on each side and all the same diameter. To adjust the airflow, you can turn it left and right, but you can’t turn it indefinitely. There’s a stopping point on each side. I can’t think of a reason why this is better or worse than being able to spin it around freely, but I like it.
With the airflow wide open, you’ll get just a slightly restricted lung hit. If you shut it down almost all the way, you get a nice tight draw. But I don’t think this works well as a tight draw device. Even though it’s a single coil RDA and works well at lower wattages, it’s still designed for big hits.
Air Intake
The airflow intake holes are designed to pull in air at a slight angle. It forces that air down under the coil, then up and around the coil, and up the chimney.
That’s something to keep in mind when installing coils. If the coil is too low, it can impact how the airflow works because it will hit the sides of the coil instead of getting underneath it. If you look at Wotofo’s site, you’ll see how high the coil should sit. Basically, you’ll want the bottom of the coil to just barely sit in contact with the top of the airflow intake holes.
Another really unique feature of this airflow is that the intakes are detachable. To take those out, there are screws on the bottom of the base near the 510 pin. They’re big screws and easy to turn. Being able to take these intake pieces out makes it really easy for you to really get into the RDA to clean everything out. I use an ultrasonic cleaner, so I don’t need to worry about washing in those tight spaces, but I think this is a really cool feature for people who want just a little more control over their products.
The Deck
This is a postless deck with four slots to screw down your coil. You can only put a single coil in here, but by having four slots, you’re able to easily install a coil no matter which direction the coil legs are pointing, so that’s a nice feature.
To install a coil, simply unscrew the coil screws, drop a coil into the holes and tighten it down. You’ll notice that on the sides of the deck, there are two half circle cutouts. This makes it really easy to get your coil positioned in the right place. And Wotofo recommends cutting the coil legs at 6mm, so that helps to make sure you get a good height on here.
The post holes are nice and wide, so you can fit some decent sized coils in there. The coil included in the package is a 3mm inner diameter coil, and I would say that’s about the size you want to stick to, otherwise, go smaller.
And if you really like those coils and want to recreate them, these are tri-core fused Clapton’s made with three 26g N80 cores and wrapped with 38g N80 wire. They come out to 0.17 ohms, which Wotofo says run best between 40-75 watts.
The Elder Dragon also comes with an exchangeable squonk pin, so you can definitely use this on a squonk device. The squonk pin is actually pre-installed, so make sure you change it out if you’re not using it on a squonk device. One thing to watch out for when using the Elder Dragon in squonk mode is that it’s really easy to flood and leak out of the airflow holes.
The deck is pretty deep, so you’ll need to cut your wicks a little long. I’ve found that cutting the wick somewhere around the length of where it reaches the outer o-ring is just about perfect.
Final Thoughts
The flavor is really good and I think that’s probably the result of this RDA being so small and compact. The airflow is nice and comfortable, and the deck is also really easy to build. The biggest drawback for me is that it can leak out of the airflow holes somewhat easily. But all in all, this is a really nice single coil RDA that I’ve been enjoying. You can get it here (affiliate).