Today we are looking at the Desire Mad Dog RDTA Mech Kit! A relatively new company to the vaping world and are based in Shenzhen, China. 
They have been operating since 2015 and they have other products such as the Mad Dog, Rabies and Yuri RDA.
Desire Mad Dog RDTA Mech Kit
The Mad Dog RDTA Mech Kit is currently available in a red, black and purple finishes, but I am hoping that there will be more coming out in the future. Quite possibly the same finishes to match the original Mad Dog RDA.
As always my opinions are honest and my own.
*Mechanical Mod Safety Warning*
In this review I am using a Mechanical Mod or “mech” – This device is unregulated and doesn’t have the safety features that your usual regulated vaping device has. To keep it short, this device is not for new or inexperienced vapers.
Please ensure that you have a firm understanding of Ohms Law and battery safety before using a mech mod before purchasing.
Thank you.
What’s In The Box
- Desire Mad Dog Mech Mod
- Desire Mad Dog RDTA
- 510 Adapter
- 2 x Spare Glass
- User Manual
- Spare Parts Set
Features
- Diameter: 24mm
- Height: 132mm
- Weight: 290g
- E-Liquid Capacity: 7ml
- Large Build Deck
Build Quality & Design
The Desire Mad Dog RTDA
The Drip Tip:
So let’s start from the top! At the top, we have a wide bore, Ultem drip tip with ‘Desire’ embossed onto it.
I think that this is a great size for this RDTA and doesn’t feel awkward in the mouth. It is held into the outer airflow barrel with an o-ring that is located in the barrel section.
The Airflow Barrel:
The airflow barrel is beautifully engraved with “Mad Dog” on the side. It really complements the mod quite well, rather than a weird logo or just being left blank. There are two rather large airflow holes cut in either side.
The airflow barrel is held onto the deck with a rather large silicone ring which prevents the need for any o-rings on the deck. I have found this ring to function extremely well and haven’t had any problems with leakage.
The Deck:
The Mad Dog RDTA deck looks to be gold plated and has two extremely large/wide post holes. In each post there are two grub screws to clamp down the coil legs. The post holes are widened at either end and join in the middle on each post.
I have found this deck really awkward to build on which has prevented me from building on it more than once, it just doesn’t seem to clamp down the coil legs properly and they end up pinging out the side.
There is also a single coil bung included, which blocks off the airflow and wicking holes rather nicely!
The deck also has ‘Mad Dog’ etched onto the side, as well as on the negative post. Just to remind you what you’re vaping on, as well as providing advertisement for the company if you’re a fan of putting up build shots on social media.
Inside the base of the deck, there are four holes to put your wick through to allow the RDTA to wick from the tank below. The 510 pin runs through the centre of the tank and connects to the mech via a hybrid connection.
The base of the RDTA is actually the 510 connector of the mech mod, but you can also use the RDTA on other devices as it comes with a 510 base. Strange, huh?
Filling:
Filling the RDTA with E-Liquid is extremely easy. Just pull up/off the top cap and insert the nozzle of your bottle into the hole.
The Desire Mad Dog Mech
The Hybrid Top Cap:
At the top, we have a hybrid top cap which looks to be gold plated, this doesn’t have a 510 pin, so please ensure that any RDA’s used with this top cap have a protruding 510 positive pin.
The Tube:
The tube of the mech looks to be made of aluminium, it is extremely lightweight and has “Desire Mad Dog” engraved into the side which is a nice little touch, it also has grooves on the tube that allow the hand to sit rather nicely on it.
There is a rather coarse thread in the base of the mech which allows the fire button assembly to be screwed on.
The Fire Button:
Again, the fire button looks to be gold plated and has magnets inside rather than a spring.
The action of the button is a bit crunchy and sometimes fails to make a good connection with the base of the battery.
Especially when using batteries with a wrap that extends slightly further over the negative of the battery. I believe this is down to the design of the firing pin, which is rectangular in shape.
The button can be locked/unlocked by screwing it in and out of the button assembly. It’s pretty hard to get the right amount of throw on this button, and after a few weeks of use on and off, I still cannot find the right setting…
Surrounding the firing pin is a delrin ring which is spring loaded. This takes up any battery slack within the tube.
How Does the Desire Mad Dog RDTA Mech Kit Perform?
On this mech, I am using a 0.3Ω dual kanthal coil build with a fully charged Samsung 25R 18650 battery.
Ease Of Build On The Mad Dog RDTA
Ugh, where do I start?
If you are using small coils like what I am, you will have to choose the two central post holes to get the coil located over the airflow correctly.
For larger/wider coils you will have to use a combination of the 4 screws. BUT when using the outer two, you have to be careful not to hit the outer airflow barrel.
Using larger coils is recommended, but please keep an eye on your resistance. Larger coils would probably mean using a single build as pictured below. In this picture I am using a single Alien Clapton coil coming out at 0.2Ω.
I just find the split post hole setup on this RDTA very awkward. It would have been much easier to have two single holes on each post rather than one elongated one.
Unfortunately, I would say that the deck on this is extremely awkward to build on. As said above, the awkwardness of building on this deck has prevented me from building on it again after the first few attempts.
Wicking isn’t too hard to do either. Just put a length of cotton through your coil, poke through the wicking holes in the base and cut off level with the top of the glass. This not only looks better, but it also functions a lot better than using too much cotton and getting dry hits.
Flavour & Cloud Production
So… Once you finally get a decent build on the deck, the flavour isn’t too bad! The airflow is slightly noisy, but nothing that you wouldn’t expect from an RDTA with airflow holes of this size.
I was vaping 12 Monkeys Harambe e juice and the flavour isn’t something I would write home about, but it was acceptable.
The cloud production obviously depends on the build, but even with the simple kanthal coils in, it was producing some nice, dense clouds.
- See a list of our Best E Liquid Brands
What I Like
It looks absolutely stunning! The gold and the red go perfectly together.
What I Dislike
To be honest, this mech just doesn’t do it for me. From the post design, the messy process of swapping the atomiser over, the button. UGH! The button is my biggest gripe on this mech.
Final Review Verdict
Pros:
- Great looks
- Single coil option
Cons:
- Terrible fire button
- Awkward to build on
- Awkward to swap decks
Have you used, or would you buy the Desire Mad Dog RDTA Kit? Let us know in the comments below!
