eLeaf Lyche Atomizer Review

I so wanted to love this tank. It is a gorgeous atomizer on the outside, in either Stainless Steel or Black, although the Black model is super sleek looking. But, after more than 8 weeks with several Lyche Atomizer tanks, all I muster up is a “meh”.

On paper the tank sounds wonderful; leak proof cup design, side fill, the famed NotchCoil, and the 4mL capacity is a short 22mm environment. It “should” be an awesome tank, but it’s just not. eLeaf and Joyetech, and now even Kanger, have wasted so much energy and money trying to perfect a top down coil head and so far these coil heads are spitback monsters.

Immediately after receiving the package of the Lyche Atomizer, Julia received word from eLeaf that we should hold off our review until new coil heads arrived. The coil heads in the box were late prototypes, which is understandable since the tanks we received were samples, and at the time the Lyche Atomizer was weeks away from reaching the market. So, we waited, kind of.

The Lyche Atomizer had me mesmerized for days waiting for the new coil heads. So, throwing caution to the wind, I used ALL the coil heads that came in the Lyche Atomizer boxes and started vaping with them. Each of the coil heads spit back horribly, and I realized then that I should have waited, it would have saved some blistered tongue action. After that, I waited.

A couple weeks later the new coil heads arrived. The SS316 and the NotchCoil replacements came, and we went about installing them in the tanks we had. They WERE better behaved, but they still, to this day, spit back big time.

This spitback is not limited to the Lyche Atomizer though, it affects the Cuboid Mini, the Cubis tank, (a tank that Julia and John’s wife love) and the new eGrip 2. It also plagues the Kanger CL tank. In many ways the Lyche Atomizer is one awesome tank, except we are all afraid to use them for fear of hot liquid blasting our tongues and throat.

So, in order to find some way of reviewing them I volunteered to work with them for a couple of weeks, trying everything I could think to prevent spitback without altering the performance. The closest I came to vaping with good performance and a minimum of spitback was something I worked on and finalized two days ago.

This method is why I am grading the Lyche Atomizer the grade of “C”.

Two Drops – Two Hours – Two Deep Inhales – Two strong Blowouts

1 – Apply just two drops of liquid into the NotchCoil or SS316
2 – Fill tank, let sit for two hours
3 – Take two deep drags from the drip tip to draw in the liquid
4 – Blow through the Drip Tip twice, as hard as possible.

In every case, by the time I reached #4, blowing out through the Drip Tip, there was much gurgling going on, but only minor spitback for a while. If by chance I lay the mod/tank on its side for any length of time, when I set it back up and vape, spitback returns until I blow as hard as I can through the Drip Tip. It never disappears, but it can calm down enough…carefully.

Here is a video I made just this morning. Inside the Lyche Atomizer is a 2-day old NotchCoil received from Joyetech in the “upgraded coil head” package that came a couple weeks ago. Listen to the gurgling and watch for vapor, that vapor is spitback reaching to the sky. This performance is after 18 hours of moderate use.

If any reviewer tells you the Lyche Atomizer does not spit back, they are either withholding information, or they have discovered something I have not learned in nearly 5 years of vaping and coil building. Are they lying to stay in the good graces of eLeaf or Joyetech? I don’t know, I hope not.

Official eLeaf Description of the Lyche Atomizer

The LYCHE atomizer newly introduces the most popular stainless steel NotchCoil™ which can work under high wattage and will bring you a great vaping experience. This new atomizer is remarkably efficient and convenient to use with the bottom leak-proof cup design and the side e-liquid filling solution. The stainless steel construction with hidden top airflow control makes the LYCHE simple yet fashionable in appearance.

Official Lyche Atomizer Specs:

Length: 59mm
Diameter: 22mm
Capacity: 4ml
Thread type: 510 thread
Material: stainless steel
Color: silver, black

In the Box:

1×LYCHE Atomizer
1×NC 0.25ohm Head
1×Dual 0.25ohm Head

2×Seal Ring
1×User Manual

Conclusion

As you can clearly see in the video above this is a great looking tank, with a side fill system and a heat resistant drip tip. By using my “Best Practices” outlined above the Lyche Atomizer can be of good use. That said, be very careful. The moment you begin to experience spitback, and you will, stop vaping, allow the atomizer to cool off, then repeat steps #3 and #4.

On the off-chance that you get a NotchCoil or a SS316 coil that does not spitback at all, cherish it, because it is a rare coil head.

Recommendation: With a couple of hundred sub-ohm atomizers/tanks on the market now, you would be better off choosing a tank that does not use the Top Down coil setup. However, the Lyche Atomizer is roughly $20, and with many more sub-ohm tanks that sell for much more, sometimes you have to put up issues you would rather not. If all you can spend on a new tank is $20, then take your chance with the Lyche Atomizer. Who knows, perhaps one day, sooner rather than later, the top down coil issues will be resolved.

I truly enjoy most products from the powerhouse Joyetech/eLeaf/WISMEC company, but this new coil head system is something I will avoid.

Tom McBride