Last Updated on July 6, 2016 by Team Spinfuel

Sigelei Moonshot RTA Review

What is it that would make an RTA great?  In my opinion it would mimic the taste and vapor of a dripper, but would have the convenience of not needing to constantly drip. Having lived in Maine my entire life, in the woods, ‘practical’ is what makes sense to me, flashy is nice and all, but I will be quick to debunk something that is driving sales strictly off the appeal of its product and not the actual functionality of it. There have been countless efforts from every company and their mother to create an RTA that produces a great vape experience.

The issue with most RTA’s always lies somewhere in the design or some neglected variables in the engineering. Sigelei claims this tank is built to compete, supposedly being able to handle up to 200 watts. In my experience with RTAs, I would say they always produce well in one category, but not so well in the other. Great vapor with lack of flavor, or leaky with great flavor etc…  In this review I will touch on the all of the positives and negatives I found while using the Moonshot as my all day tank, for the last 6 days.

Introduction of Moonshot RTA

Sigelei has produced some tanks in the past, most of which seemed to be clones, and really did not bring anything different to the table, similar to your everyday sub ohm tanks already in abundance throughout the market.  Mods were definitely more brag worthy from Sigelei, though the touch screen 150 left me wanting a bit more from the overall experience, but that’s for another day.

Hearing about Sigelei teaming up with Suprimo Vape to bring not only American style and edge to the tanks design, but something that could compete with other high wattage RDAs, definitely caught my attention. Suprimo Vape, is a company based out of San Jose California, having not heard much about them I took to the internet to see what one of their more notable products were, and found it is their Spade (70w Mod), Information can be found online.  But enough on this, let’s get down to the nitty gritty.

First thoughts and Unveiling the Beast!

The case artwork on the Moonshot RTA is amazing,  A thin gauge metal that is easy to scratch and dent, but the overall design is something to be proud of.  Suprimo, in my opinion, knocked it out of the park with this collaboration.  At first glance the receiver of this package is already impressed before ever seeing the contents inside.  Explaining the art would not do justice you would have to view the images.

Opening the box, you see ”Flavor Chase or Cloud Chase WITHOUT DRIPPING_ ENJOY THE Moonshot & Its;

• ACTIVE COOLING – Keeps Your Tank Cool Even Under Heavy Usage
• FLOW PRECISION – Achieves Optimal Liquid Flow & Air Velocity Ratio
  COTTON CONTROL SPIN DECK – Enables Easy Wicking
• SMALL CHAMBERED RDA DECK – Brings Out Maximum Flavor’

The box that is labeled ”True RDTA RDA with a TANK 30-200 Watt”

This is all displayed on the back side of the lid, followed by a small pamphlet regarding their security codes etc.  The overall choice of font and design I truly am a fan of, they really put Suprimo on the map for me with this collaboration.  Continuing on;

Broken into 3 slots, you have a bag, 2 Allen wrenches / 2 spare Allen bolts, spare glass, (Bag of spare O rings 1x each O ring) inside the spare glass.  So, far aside from the artwork, it seems like the normal unveiling of a tank and all of its glory.   The tank itself came without pre-installed coils, which I personally would have liked to see, but so far that’s my only complaint.

Originally priced at $59.95USD down to the usual $29.95-$39.95USD depending on where you look, (not having used it yet) I at least wouldn’t feel as if I wasted my money up to this point.  I have purchased tanks in the past, to which I was amazed at how little thought the company had put into the presentation / packaging of said product.  Sigelei and Suprimo however, I cannot say the same thus far.

Moonshot RTA – The Tank Itself

The Moonshot RTA design reminds me of a Cleito tank mixed with a Griffin, it screams clouds. The quad 3mm wick holes, catch the eye immediately.  Using a 13mm by 1mm air hole Sigelei claims will provide perfect air control, but I thought honestly looked a bit tight. (to my liking the air control was not able to freely spin, it will stop at full bore and again at closed).

They used a 2ml fill glass tank and a sleek 6mm in height, Delrin wide bore drip tip that is 510-compatible, putting your lips a bit closer to the deck than most are normally used to. (I could see how some may not be a fan; I typically didn’t mind it).  The dual 6mm post Build Deck immediately separates itself from what you may be used to seeing, with two massive elevated air flow holes that your coils will sit nicely over. (Creates a bit more of a challenge when building)

A fairly wide build deck where you potentially could fit dual 10 wrap 3mm coils nicely, with room to spare.  A Peek Insulator and Direct contact 24K 510 pin running through the build deck is designed to pop in and out of the bottom airflow housing, (the piece that screws into your mod and houses the airflow adjustment) O rings providing a seal to the 510 pin to prevent any leaking into your device.  The pin is secured into the airflow housing with the 3mm wick hole section of the chamber.  This screws over the top of your deck and secures it to the bottom airflow housing, and is a piece in its own.

Your 2ml fill capacity tank and top chamber of the chimney, screw over this, and then finally your Delrin drip tip onto the tank.  Definitely not a beginner tank, the working parts to this require some finesse when building as well, but I will touch on that in a moment.

Overall it is a sturdy tank, it feels well-built and well designed.  All the O rings are good quality and threading is done nicely (Delrin drip tip almost too fine of threads making it hard to screw on at times).  Sitting at 32mm in height, 22mm in diameter, and 7oz in weight this tank looks good and feels good on top of my IPV5.  So far, I am happy.  Let’s touch on building and how it works!

Building On The Moonshot RTA

Let’s start with the negatives; new builders may not like this deck.  There is a high chance of leaking if not wicked properly due to the massive wicking holes. Not much room to hold the deck, and if you’re not used to adjusting your coils to clear certain spots on your build then this could prove to be ‘out of your comfort zone‘ when building.

You need to screw the pieces back together to see if your coils are firing the same, then proceed to take it apart again to wick it, only to repeat this process when you’re finally ready for your tank and E-Juice.  There is not much room to clear the elevated airflow holes, if not used to massive elevated air hole intakes.  You can’t just plug a pre-built coil in and go, with these decks you will have to put a slight bend on both wires coming out of the coil to help it clear the air flow holes and fit in the terminal holes, while not crushing or deforming your coils structure.  This proved to be a bit difficult, but there is a great tutorial video by Approved Vapers YouTube Channel. There is also more information on the Sigelei website,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-NN4Eaj9hk

Wanting to give it a shot for myself before watching any tutorial videos proved to be a bit messy, I had a few pre built coils (26g Kanthal 7 wrap 2mm), that I wanted to try first, due to having them already built, but they didn’t give me enough wick for the wicking holes, and seemed a bit small sitting over the air holes.  Having another two pre built coils (22g Kanthal 5 wrap 3mm) handy, I figured this was definitely the better option providing more wicking material and filling the space above the air holes for better flavor / vapor production.

Cutting the cotton is pretty self-explanatory, you will want to cut it just shy of touching the deck.  You will see why leaving it long will be an issue when you go to slide the wick hole section of the chimney back over the deck (there will be cotton poking out below the actual deck.)  However, I soon learned, after watching the tutorial video, that Suprimo and Sigelei actually recommend doing this, and then trimming the excess cotton that pokes out below the deck.  After doing this step you then poke it back inside with something sharp, before screwing the deck into the airflow housing, and putting the tank on.  Either method should work fine.

A lot of the problem I was having building with this deck, at first, was revolving around not being able to hold onto anything that gave me good control, and the ability to apply pressure to the deck when moving the coils around etc.

Once finding out about the Allen key trick, the tides soon turned in my favor.  I took some time to make sure my coil wire was clearing all of the deck as to not create a short, screwed the wick hole section of the chamber on, and made sure the coils were firing equally.  Overall, building on this deck, though challenging at first, is just a learning curve issue.  Once you have a few builds under your belt with this setup, it becomes very easy.  It’s just the fact that it is different than what you may be used to, that may prove to be frustrating, at first.

How Does It Work?

Now for the part you’ve all been waiting for, how the tank performs.  Once built and wicked properly this thing chucks clouds!  Filling the tank is very simple, the drip tip though sleek and hard to get your fingers on actually unscrews quite easy, the holes to squirt your juice through are quite massive as well.

Though you may get a tiny bit of spitback every now and again due to the wide-bore competition drip tip (nothing to complain about), that can be easily corrected with adjusting the wattage and airflow to find your happy spot.  The tank did tend to get a bit warm, but again it was nothing to complain about.  My dual coil (26g Kanthal 5 wrap 2mm) setup is rating currently at .18 Ohms (right around where I like it) and I am firing at around 55 watts using my IPV5.

As for cloud production, I am getting the type of thick clouds that would stop you from seeing your phone two feet in front of your face.  The type of clouds you wouldn’t want to blow while driving in fear of losing sight of the road, the type of clouds that I love!

The airflow has a smooth feel to it when adjusting; not stiff, yet not too loose either. The flavor is comparable to a dripper, though it is not 100% the same experience one may get off of an RDA, it is the closest I have come yet.  Chain vaping is highly plausible using this tank, it was quite difficult to force a dry hit.

I personally would not recommend firing this at 200w like advertised though, you’re asking for a flaming piece of e juice to ruin your tongue.  I am sure with the right build it is possible, it’s just not practical.  (You would literally be dripping at that point with a 2ml fill.)  One single pull at 150w caused a near instant burnt cotton taste, flaming e juice to hit my tongue, and had the tank very hot, as I imagined it would have done.

I found around 50-65 watts to be the perfect vapor / flavor ratio.  Though I’m sure you could find your sweet spot a little higher than this (depending on build specifics), that was not the case for myself.

Conclusion

 The Sigelei Moonshot RDA has actually impressed me, all in all. Flavor was nearly ideal, I could chuck some serious clouds, and it was easy to use, once the build was complete.  Having a small 2ml tank and a slight learning curve for beginner builders, I’d give the Sigelei – Suprimo Moonshot an “A”.

If they had incorporated a bit more fill capacity in the Moonshot, and an actual tool for holding the deck, (other than the Allen key) when building, I would have given the tank an A+.  It’s no wonder Sigelei and Suprimo are so proud of their Moonshot RTA.  It held up great to my test, and is easily one of the best RTAs I have ever used, if not the best.

-Nicholas Currie

GRADE: A

 Product Features

22mm Diameter

32mm height (Mod-drip tip)

2ml Juice Capacity

Dual slot threaded top fill system

Dual, Adjustable Airflow

Dual Post Build Deck

24k Direct-Contact Gold plated 510 Pin

PEEK insulator

Quad wick holes (3mm)

510 compatible Delrin wide bore competition drip tip (9mm Wide)

304 Stainless Steel

Food grade temp. resistant plastic

 

In The Box

1x Sigelei / Suprimo Moonshot RTA

1x Replacement Glass

1x Bag of Replacement O-Rings

1x Bag of Allen wrenches & Replacement Allen bolts (2 wrenches 2 bolts)

1x The Instruction of Sigelei Security Code

And the badass metal box that makes a great addition to the vape collection!

 

Nick Currie – Social Media Director – Staff Writer/Reviewer – Follow Nick at @Spinfuel_NickC