RBA Reviews

HCigar Fodi

The HCigar Fodi is a Genesis style atomizer which features a two post deck design that can be set up in single or dual coil configurations. It is also a fiddly beggar to build. HCigar must try harder!

by VapeMaster
Feb 16, 2016

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HCigar Fodi

The HCigar Fodi is a Genesis style atomizer which features a two post deck design that can be set up in single or dual coil configurations. In addition the Fodi has fully adjustable airflow which caters to both lung hitters and mouth to lung users and the tank has a 2.5ml capacity.

HCigar Fodi features

Two post deck
Dripping tank atomizer
Genesis-style wick saturation method
Pyrex tank section
Allows complex coils
2.5 ml capacity
22mm diameter
58mm height
316 Stainless Steel construction
Ceramic insulator for positive post
Anti-spit-back technology
AFC splits deck and tank – keeps flavour maximal

What’s in the box?

HCigar Fodi RDTA
Spare Glass Tank Section
Spare Insulators
Blue and Silicone Bands
Spare O-Rings and Screws

When I first came to opening the box I suspected some screws were loose because something was rattling around. In actual fact it was broken glass since the spare tank section was completely smashed. While accidents do happen when products are in transit I feel the problem is really one of HCigar’s making. The box itself has no foam inlay underneath the main tray which could have secured the glass and prevented this.

I advise that if you purchase this tank and you hear something rattling around inside the box that you take a great deal of care when opening it in case you run into a similar scenario.

HCigar Fodi styling and build quality

The Fodi has an interesting design and I certainly think that it looks rather unique. Like all Genesis tanks the juice is held in the glass section beneath the deck and your wicks hang down and soak up the juice.

According to HCigar, the Fodi is made from 316 Stainless Steel but it feels very lightweight. In many ways it feels as light as my Titanium atomizers which is kind of strange, nevertheless the machining is actually decent and it seems durable enough. For the most part the individual parts fit together well but the top cap itself is something of a stiff fit. Over time I expect it will loosen and that is something of a concern since the double O-rings that secure it look very thin and feel kind of flimsy.

The included drip tip is made from Delrin and Stainless Steel and has a rather cool red and black design. All of the other drip tips I tried from my collection fitted the Fodi without issues.

The Fodi sat flush on all of the various devices I tried with no noticeable gaps. I would recommended that you don’t adjust the 510 pin since it holds the entire atomizer together. Of course when it comes to cleaning you will have to completely disassemble it which does make things a little inconvenient. Take care when retightening the 510 pin because the Fodi uses a ceramic insulator which can be easily cracked. I don’t personally feel that was a very good idea by HCigar to a use ceramic insulator but at least there are spare ones in the box.

Airflow

The airflow is a Cyclops style design and has dual slots on one side and a single slot on the other. Through use of the included rubber deck plug you can set up the Fodi for single coil vaping. The draw is quite open and it is ideally suited to people who prefer to lung inhale. However if you set it up with only a single slot open and heavily close that slot down you can vape mouth to lung.

Ease of build

Genesis atomizers tend to fall into one of two camps either they are relatively straightforward to set up (with a slight learning curve) or they are an exercise in torment. I am sorry to say that the Fodi falls into the latter category.

It has been a considerable amount of time since I came across an atomizer like this that was such an absolute pain to work with. Firstly the screws are dreadful and they cut the wire frequently even when using thicker wire types. They also don’t seem to tighten very well and I found I had to really screw them down really hard to hold the wire securely but that always carried the risk of once more cutting the wire. The Fodi is immensely frustrating to work with and I really do suggest that if you somehow end up owning it you should immediately replace the included screws.

Wicking is also another problem that might irritate you if you don't have some experience with these type of atomizers. The wicking holes aren’t exactly huge and when poking the tails of the cotton down they tend to catch on something underneath the deck so it quickly becomes a right faff to even get that right. The fill hole plug is probably one of the smallest I have ever seen on a Genesis atomizer and it is so lightweight and malleable that you often can’t get it to push into the deck without applying a lot of pressure and the knock on effect of that is that many a time it will just fly off to land on the floor and you’ll be playing “hunt the fill plug” for the next thirty minutes.

Suffice to say that there was a great deal of swearing when building the Fodi and I felt very much like a friend of mine who often claims building Genesis tanks inevitably leads to him throwing them out of the window. To be fair I do own a couple of Geneis tanks but I don't have any problems with them unlike the Fodi. Frustration factor aside this atomizer can be set up properly eventually, the only real question is how long it will take you to accomplish it.

In the end I went for a single coil using 26AWG (0.4mm) Kanthal which had a final resistance of 1.1ohm. I wicked the coil with Japanese cotton and it is important to remember to make sure your wick tails are of sufficient length to reach at least halfway down the tank.

How does it vape?

I primed the wick and filled up the tank with some Unicorn Milk. I allowed at least fifteen minutes so as to be certain that the wick was fully saturated. I took my first vape at 16W and it was reasonable enough but then when I took another draw I got a dry hit. I was of course tilting the tank properly as you do with Genesis atomizers but to be honest I didn’t feel that the Fodi was wicking very well at all. I went back to the drawing board and replaced the cotton this time making it much thinner. It did seem that for best results you need to use smaller amounts of cotton because it has a tendency to clog in the fill holes and cause dry hits.

After swapping out the cotton the tank wicked much better but to be honest for a Gennie the flavour seemed like nothing special and I thought it was quite average at best. The draw was actually rather nice and I did like the airflow. Cloud production was also decent but since the main purpose of a Genesis tank is to provide superb flavour I felt that the Fodi really fell short of the mark. It may actually be acceptable to you since we all have varied tastes but I personally didn't enjoy it. I did consider trying a dual coil build which I suspect would help to improve the flavour but considering what an absolute pain the single coil build was I decided to call it a day. Of course the possibility does exist that it you could get much better flavour out of it if you are willing to experiment and have a great deal of patience.

One plus point is that the tank does have anti spit-back protection and not once did I end up with any juice in my mouth. Do keep in mind that this is a Genesis atomizer so it will leak heavily if you place it on its side or turn it upside down.

Conclusion

In all fairness if you want a very low cost Genesis atomizer then this might be a reasonable choice. I do of course have my doubts about that though since I found it very annoying to work with and I would suggest you look at other options. If you are someone who wants to try this as your first Genesis atomizer then I would advise you to stay clear.

If by some chance you have your heart set on the Fodi and if you are willing to preserve with it then you can definitely get a reasonable vape out of it. Perhaps with a lot of experimentation it might be a lot better than I give it credit for but as it stands I think this product will only really appeal to a niche market of masochists but that could just be down to the fact that I really didn't like it.