The chances are when you think of vaping manufacturers, Advken won’t be the first name to trip off your tongue.
However, the Shenzhen based company have released some cracking bits of kit over the last few years including the highly rated and much loved Manta RTA, Mad Hatter RDA and a variety of mods such as the AYANA 60W and the Honeycomb mech mod.
What is the Single Coil Advken CP TF RTA All About?
Advken’s CP TF, a top fill (TF) rebuildable tank atomiser is the latest bit of hardware to be released and I’ve been lucky enough to get my hands on one. Now I must admit I’m not much of a RTA user so I was keen to give the CP TF a shot to see if it could challenge my misconceptions about tanks in general.
So without further hesitation let’s dive into the box and see what’s what with the CP TF. The CP TF was sent to me for review, however, this will not alter or shape my opinions of the product.
In The Box
- Advken CP TF RTA with 4ml tinted bubble glass pre-installed
- Spare 3ml clear straight glass
- Doctor Coil accessory bag including spare post screws (flat-heads) and O rings
- Cleaning cloth
- Screwdriver
- Doctor coil cotton (“Shoelace” style)
- 1xNi80 0.3ohm coil
Specifications
- 304 Stainless Steel construction
- Gold plated 510 pin
- Size 24x50mm (28mm with bubble glass installed)
- Postless single coil build deck
- 810 drip tip
- Slide top fill slot
- Top airflow (3 positions)
- Available in Stainless Steel and black at present although other colours should be available soon
Design and Build Quality
The CP TF is fairly conventionally designed. I have been sent the black version and like most tanks it’s a little on the large side but isn’t unattractive and looks fairly tasty and well-proportioned on my Lost Vape Therion.
Starting at the top we have a frosted grey 810 PC drip tip (“anti-burning” according to the poorly translated Advken website). The top cap features a triangular knurled design which blends into the drip tip very nicely.
A small triangular symbol indicates where to slide the top fill cap for filling the tank revealing a generously sized fill port. The sliding action is very smooth and takes very little effort to open.
Below this is the top airflow which features a lightly knurled design for ease of grip. The airflow is interesting in that it can only be adjusted to three “clickable” positions- fully open (9.2mm), half open (6.6mm) and restricted (3mm). The top airflow should help reduce the leaks that can be common on RTAs.
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airflow settings
The CP logo is tastefully engraved on the side of the chamber, silver on black. The base of the RTA is lightly knurled to ease fitting to your mod. Finally the 510 pin is gold plated and is protruding thus making the tank hybrid safe if you wish to use it on a mech mod.
The RTA I received had no machine oil or burrs and the threading is smooth and silky. All in all the machining and quality is pretty spot on.
How Does the Advken CP TF Perform?
Building
The CP TF is designed as a single coil device with a reduced chamber to optimise flavour. Building on the CP TF is pretty straightforward. The postless design deck looks to be gold-plated but I can find no confirmation of that online.
Two flat-headed screws, one per terminal, secure the coil in place. I know some people dislike flat-heads but I had no issues with them and they operated very smoothly.
As this is a reduced chamber, there isn’t really much space for larger more complex coils. I fitted a 3mm triple core Ni80 0.17ohm coil without any problems but would be very hesitant to go any larger than that.
Wicking
When it comes to wicking, the CP TF can be a little tricky to get right, particularly for someone such as myself who doesn’t use RTAs much. The wicking ports are fairly small and the juice inlet ports are hidden by the lower walls of the deck.
Therefore I couldn’t do my usual trick of simply laying the wick across the deck and cutting to length by eye. Instead I had to estimate the length by trial and error.
I must admit it took me a few goes to wick it just right. At first I either got dry hits from hell or zero flavour. Eventually after a bit of perseverance I hit the sweet spot.
I found that the best results were achieved by cutting the wicks much shorter than you’d think you need too and just tucking them very slightly into the wicking ports allowing for the fact that the cotton will expand when soaked in juice. Leave the wicks too long and they will block up the juice ports and you’ll get nothing but dry hits.
Vaping the CP TF
The Advken CP TF is a single coiled RTA so you are never going to get humongous clouds of vapour but I found the results perfectly satisfying. When it comes to flavour the CF TP doesn’t disappoint. I used a juice I am very familiar dripping with, Just Jam Strawberry.
The RTA picked out the tanginess of the strawberry on the inhale and left a rich sweetness on the palate on the exhale. It really doesn’t fall far short of what I get from my favoured single coil reduced chamber RDAs I habitually use such as the Entheon or Skyfall.
The airflow was reasonably quiet and smooth considering it is a top flow although I found it a little turbulent in the fully opened position. I used the CF TP every day for a week and not once did I get a single leakage so the top airflow certainly does its job.
I did find it somewhat thirsty and was surprised as to how often I was refilling the RTA.
However, the sliding top cap makes this a simple action. I mostly used the RTA on my Lost Vape Therion although I did try it on my Dreamer mech and the results were just as good and the wicking kept up with a freshly charged VTC5A and a bit of chain vaping with no dry hits whatsoever.
Pros
- Excellent flavour
- Easy to build deck
- Easy to fill with sliding top cap
- No leaks
- Standard 810 drip tip
- Good quality construction
- Hybrid safe
Cons
- Tricky to get the wicking just right
- Limited airflow options with just three positions available
- A little on the thirsty side
Final Review Verdict
Well did the CP TF do enough to convert me to a RTA user?
Not quite but that’s nothing against the device and more down to my style of vaping. I enjoy the flavour from a single coil build and in this respect the CF TP didn’t disappoint. I really can’t fault it for flavour. Some people may find the amount of vapour a little disappointing but for me it was perfectly satisfying and bear in mind I usually vape on a mech mod with a fairly rowdy build which throws clouds like a 1950s London smog!
I was very impressed with the lack of leakage in day to day use and the mod and RTA was in and out my pocket all day. Not once did I lose a single drop of juice. Filling the tank is an absolute doddle with the easy sliding top cap.
For me though the amount of faffing about getting the wicking just right outweighs the benefits and convenience of a tank over dripping or squonking. This isn’t a RTA I’d recommend to a first time user.
I really like the looks of the CF TP and was very impressed with the overall build quality. The limited airflow options didn’t bother me and I ran it mostly in the central position which gave me a relatively quiet slightly restricted lung hit. However, the airflow’s limited options will not appeal to many users.
All in all if you’re in the market for a single coil RTA and have some experience wicking RTAs I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the Advken CF TP RTA.
