The IGO-L from Youde

If the AGA-T2 is the standard for starter Genesis RBAs, the Youde IGO-L may just be the same thing for rebuildable dripping atomizers.

The IGO-L

A favorite of co-ops for many months now, the IGO-L is a very small atomizer, designed for dripping. In case you’re not familiar with the process, dripping atomizers have no tank; they are designed to be used by dripping juice directly onto a coil or wick, and most dripping atomizers will only hold a few drops at a time. Proponents of dripping will often tell you that it gives very good flavor, and is ideal for tasting new juices, or just if frequent refilling is not a concern.  We tend to use dripping atomizers for taste testing because of their low juice capacity; without a tank to worry about, there’s not much to do when switching juices other than to dry-burn a few seconds to burn off excess juice in the wick, and then start dripping a new flavor.

We taste-test a lot of juices around here ourselves, and more often than not we do it with an IGO-L.  A typical setup is relatively simple: a short strand of silica which is doubled over, and a coil wrapped around the loop formed at the center.  The two ends of this post are then screwed into two posts on the IGO-L, and you’re ready to start dripping.

It’s not generally much more complicated than that. Unlike Genesis atomizers with their stainless steel wicks, a coil will not short against a silica wick, so there’s no need to oxidize. The coil should still be tested before using on an unprotected mod, but it’s a much simpler process than using a metal wick.

The IGO-L’s configuration helps make this easy.  The two posts, while close together, are topped with small Phillps-head screws which are easy to loosen and tighten with the screwdriver from a standard eyeglass kit. A well at the bottom acts to hold the wick, as well as contain any potential overflow from dripping into it. How much juice it will hold will depend on the length of your wick, and what it is capable of absorbing, but if you don’t go crazy, there’s little chance of any leaks.

A small hole in the side of the atomizer provides air flow, and as the cap is held on with a pair of O-rings, it is possible to position it to provide customizable throat hit.  This simple design also makes the IGO-L easy to clean and maintain.

Build Quality: 6/10

The IGO-L is constructed of 304-grade stainless steel, and we’ve found it to work quite well in nearly all cases. However, as well as the IGO-L works, it is still a mass-produced Chinese atomizer, and with that comes questionable quality control. While we’ve had very few issues with our IGO-Ls, we have had problems with O-rings not being wide enough to secure the cap, threading in the contacts posts being rough, and inconsistent finish. Most issues were easy enough to ignore, however. At the prices we’ve paid for out IGO-L’s, we weren’t expecting them to be engineering masterpieces.

Looks: 7/10

The IGO-L is a nice-looking little atomizer. It has clean lines, and the rounding of the cap gives it a nice, finished look. We’e found the grooves etched around the cap to often have an inconsistent depth to them which can give some units a sort of off-balance look, but only on close inspection.

Flexibility: 8/10

The design of the IGO-L is primarily intended for use with a silica wick, as described above. However, it is quite possible to set up customized variations, such as using other wicking materials. Several guides are available online showing how to construct a hybrid stainless steel and silica wick, for example. The simple configuration of the IGO-L lends itself to this kind of experimentation.

Performance: 7/10

The IGO-L will only perform as well as the wick and coil you give it, though you have a lot of flexibility there. Configured properly, it can work as well as much more expensive atomizers. We would recommend against using thw wick and wire that are supplied with it, however. Not only is the quality somewhat low, there may be health concerns with having a cheap silica wick that close to where you’re going to be inhaling.

Price: 9/10

We’ve found retail prices for the IGO-L ranging from around $18.00 to over $25.00.  We definitely would have no problem recommending the atomizer, particularly at the lower end of that range.  However, it should be noted that the IGO-L is a very popular co-op item, and as such can be found as low as around $8.00 if you’re willing to go that route.  Be sure to check our Co-Op Tracker if you’d like to see if there are co-op groups currently offering it.

Overall Score: 7.4

The IGO-L from Youde