The OXVA Arbiter RTA (Re-buildable Tank Atomizer) was released back in late 2020 and since that date they’ve released the Arbiter Solo RTA and the Arbiter 2 RTA, all 3 of which are truly great RTA’s in their own right.
OXVA are a fairly new company but are fast becoming renowned for producing some really great vaping products. While we have not reviewed the later releases of the Arbiter, I picked this one up from Ecigone.co.uk back in the Black Friday sales and oh wow, this really is a top class RTA.
The Arbiter RTA is a dual cyclops slot top airflow with a quarter turn top opening fill port and supports single and dual coil builds on a raised 4 post-less U shaped deck. The airflow is a true top to bottom airflow providing maximum flavor and a 100% leak-proof design.
A low profile removable wide bore 810 drip tip and an included 510 drip tip adaptor caters for both Mouth-To-Lung (MTL) and Direct-To-Lung (DTL) vaping styles.
E-liquid capacity is 6ml when using the fitted bubble glass and 4ml with the included straight glass. The choice is yours and it’s great that OXVA included both glasses in the package.
This Arbiter RTA is not for the faint hearted…..it’s a beast measuring 54mm in length and 31mm in diameter although does taper down to 26.5mm at the base of the tank. The build quality and design, the machining and aesthetics really are VERY good.
The Arbiter RTA is available in 6 colors: Gunmetal, Red/Black, Stainless Steel, Rainbow, Blue and Black.
Read on and find out just what we thought. As a little spoiler…Get one! It’s GREAT.
OXVA Arbiter RTA Review
Contents
- Features and Specifications
- What’s in the Box?
- OXVA Arbiter RTA Design and Appearance
- – Build Deck
- – Airflow
- – Coil
- – Wicking
- OXVA Arbiter RTA Performance
- Filling the OXVA Arbiter RTA
- OXVA Arbiter RTA Price
- OXVA Arbiter RTA Verdict
- OXVA Arbiter RTA Summary
Features and Specifications
- Dimensions: 54mm (L) x 31mm (D) (28mm Straight Glass) (26.5mm at Base)
- Weight: 91.33 grams including dual coils
- E-Liquid Capacity: 4ml Straight Glass and 6ml Bubble Glass
- Filling Method: Quarter Turn Top-Fill
- Drip Tip: 810 Low Profile & 510 Drip Tip Adaptor
- Thread: 510
- Airflow: Top Dual Slot Variable
- Build Deck: Four Postless Terminals
- Coil Configuration: Single or Dual Coil
- Coil Fix: Raised U-Shaped Build Deck
What’s in the box?
- Arbiter RTA with 6ml Bubble Glass
- 810 Wide-Bore Low Profile Drip Tip
- 510 Drip Tip Adaptor
- Spare Straight Glass (4ml)
- Hex Wrench (Allen Key)
- Removal Tool
- Pre-Built Fused Clapton 0.4 ohm x 2
- Shoelace Cotton Wicks x 2
- Spare Parts including O-Rings and Deck Screws
- Manual
OXVA have excelled with the amount of spares they’ve included with this RTA. I’m definitely pleased and found it a really nice touch.
OXVA Arbiter RTA / Design and Appearance
The one I purchased was the rainbow color (loved it) but also comes in 5 other colors; stainless steel, black, red/black, blue and gunmetal with black visible O-ring seals around the glass.
It comes supplied with a low profile wide bore 810 drip tip and a 510 drip tip adaptor, together with a 4ml straight glass and 6ml bubble glass included in the spares pack.
As I’ve highlighted, the Arbiter RTA is NOT small; measuring 54mm in length with a diameter of 31mm when the bubble glass is being used, or 28mm with the straight glass. It’s pretty chunky, weighing in at 91.33 grams but with the e-liquid capacity of 4ml/6ml it’s worth the increased size.
The 510 threaded base tapers down to approx. 26mm so be warned, it won’t fit on some mods and will overhang on smaller mods.
It’s designed as a true top to bottom airflow RTA with fully adjustable dual cyclops top airflow slots creating what really should be a 100% leak-proof design. Being a top airflow RTA, some tanks can suffer from loss of flavor and a turbulent vape BUT the Arbiter RTA certainly doesn’t show any signs of this.
The top fill design I really like, it’s not threaded but uses a quarter turn operation. The top cap locates into a channel and locks into place once it’s turned. Two large fully adjustable airflow slots are positioned on the top of the RTA, with stops for closed and fully open with infinite adjustment in between.
Once the top cap is removed, there are two fairly decent sized filling slots allowing for any e-liquid bottle tip to be used. Filling can be carried out using either slot. One really good feature is the concave design of the filling plate. If your e-liquid spills while filling, the e-liquid will run down into the filling hole.
Stripping down the Arbiter RTA is straightforward and all of the parts come apart for cleaning and fit back together really nice. All threading’s are very smooth with the right amount of restriction maintained on the large airflow ring.
Both the top cap and 510 threaded base plate have diamond cut indents around their diameter to assist with grip when unscrewing from the tank during filling and re-wicking.
One point worth mentioning, the 510 threaded connector has a pretty decent protruding 510 center pin so can always be used on a hybrid mod without any worry that the center pin will short out against the positive terminal of the battery.
Logo branding on the Arbiter RTA is not the most discrete. There are 5 small “OXVA” names stamped into the sides in between the diamond cuts on the 510 base. The words “ARBITER” etched into the outer chimney and a symbol on the other side, all visible through the glass.
On the base plate are the usual CE markings together with the word “ARBITER” and the words “Designed by OXVA”
One thing I have to mention is the spares pack that comes with the Arbiter RTA; there is everything you need and more. A 510 drip tip adaptor, the wide bore 810 drip tip, two fused Clapton Ni80 28gx3+40g coils, two shoelace cotton wicks, a spare glass, hex wrench/Allen key, a removal tool, spare deck screws and a bag of O-rings.
Build Deck:
The OXVA Arbiter RTA facilitates both single and dual coil builds. Its build deck is quite unique from the standard decks I’ve come across, being a raised U-shaped 4 post-less block separated by a white insulator.
Building on the deck is straightforward and the coils fit top down with the coil legs passing through the 450 posts and can be easily trimmed after they’re secured by the hex screws.
Air Flow:
Top airflow RTA’s are not common but if designed correctly can produce incredible results. The CEO of OXVA is Justin Lai who was the designer of the Geekvape Aegis mods and Zeus tanks so it’s no wonder that this Arbiter RTA is a really good tank.
We reviewed the Geekvape Zeus X RTA a little while ago and you can certainly see the likeness between the two.
Being a top airflow RTA, air is drawn in from the dual cyclops slots and flows downwards through the inner chamber that sits on top of the build deck. This in turn draws the air from around and under the coils and once energized, back up through the wide bore mouth piece.
The control of airflow is carried out by the variable dual cyclops slot air flow control ring at the top of the tank. Its operation is quarter turn from fully open to fully closed and adjustable to cater for any of the coil builds and your particular vaping style.
Coil:
Supplied with the Arbiter RTA are 2 Ni80 Tri-core Fused Clapton’s (28gx3+40g). While the build deck accommodates both single and coil builds, I found the best performance is achieved using a dual coil build.
The beauty of this U-shaped build deck means you don’t have to pre-trim the tails before fitting the coil in the posts. The coil leads go in at a 450 angle and the tails protrude from the post block making it really easy to trim the tails once the coil(s) are fitted.
Securing the coil(s) is carried out by the hex screws and the supplied Allen key.
Don’t forget once your coil(s) are secured to the deck, dry burn the coils before wicking by pulsing the mod and lightly raking the coil(s) with a non conductive tool to remove any hot-spots. You’ll want the coils to glow evenly around each wrap to produce the best results.
Wicking:
Wicking is pretty straightforward but you do have to ensure, because the build deck is elevated, your tail lengths are fairly long to reach the bottom of the deck. The best performance I found was NOT to use too much cotton. Keeping them “fluffy” and not too tight worked really well for me.
Lightly place your wick ends a millimeter or two inside the wick slots, don’t over cram the cotton in the slots otherwise it will impair the capillary action.
Once you’re happy with your wicking, saturate the coils and wick with e-liquid then assemble the RTA. Fill up the RTA with e-liquid, leave to stand for a few minutes then your good to go.
During my time vaping on the RTA, I didn’t have any dry hits and as you’d expect NO leaking whatsoever. Various e-liquid PG/VG ratios were used in the RTA with no adverse effects.
OXVA Arbiter RTA / Performance
Being a top airflow design really does take the worry out of leaking tanks. I’ve been using this RTA for two weeks non stop and I’m loving it.
As a single coil build I would have to say it was ok but not exceptional. Due to the top to bottom airflow, to get the best performance from a single coil set up required that coil to be pretty large in terms of its diameter.
Positioning the single coil centrally in the deck worked best as the airflow seemed to hit the coil rather than passing it by. I’m guessing for those folk that prefer single coil builds, OXVA developed the Arbiter Solo for this need.
Where this RTA comes into its own is in dual coil configuration. The flavor and vapor really was very on point. The flavor matched that from my dripper’s and the vapor, when increasing the wattage was intense using the supplied coils and wick.
My optimum airflow was set around the mid-range mark giving me my ideal loose and airy DTL draw. With the wattage set to 60W the flavor and vapor was really great, increasing the wattage to 75W produced some of the best results I’ve had from any RTA.
Tweaking with different coil builds, coil placement and wicking methods is certainly something I will be experimenting with but for now, using the supplied coils and wick is working like a charm.
For a top airflow system this really does compete with some of the best bottom airflow RTA’s that are around today. I can honestly say this is the best top airflow tank I’ve used to date.
How do I Fill the OXVA Arbiter RTA?
The OXVA Arbiter RTA, being a quarter turn top opening filling mechanism, is very easy to fill. Simply grasp the glass tank and turn the top knurled metal section above the airflow control ring anti-clockwise by a quarter turn until it stops turning.
The top cap will simply lift off from the main tank. There are two decent sized e-juice openings, choose either one to fill with your favorite e-liquid.
Once filled, place the top cap back onto the tank section and once the top cap locates into the center grooves and sits flush, turn the top cap clockwise by quarter turn till you feel resistance. The top cap is now locked into position.
OXVA Arbiter RTA Price
Expect to pay around £25-£30 ($25-$30) for the OXVA Arbiter RTA. Considering the build quality and performance, not forgetting the array of spares that are included with the RTA, it’s too good to pass up.
Hopefully because the Arbiter RTA has been proceeded by the Arbiter 2, you should be able to find the original Arbiter RTA at a discount price as I did.
A quick Google search for an Arbiter RTA should highlight where and at what price you can pick this up for.
OXVA Arbiter RTA Verdict
Pros
- Really good build quality
- Great design
- Leak-proof
- Fill method really good
- Build deck very good
- Very good airflow
- Great flavor and vapor
- Excellent dual coil performance
- 4ml/6ml capacity
- Good set of spares
Cons
- I couldn’t find any
OXVA Arbiter RTA Summary
The OXVA Arbiter RTA is one of the best RTA’s I’ve come across. It’s a top airflow design and IS leak-proof. The flavor is first class with really great vapor as well. Having the option to be used as either a single or dual coil build is a plus although I did prefer using as a dual coil set-up.
Building on this RTA is a breeze and wicking is very simple. The design and build quality is really good and can be completely stripped down to every part for cleaning. The airflow worked really well, being very smooth with no turbulence.
The included spares in the package were impressive giving everything you need to get started, especially the two sized glasses and 510 drip tip adaptor.
Yes it is big and won’t fit smaller mods but for me that is a real bonus having the increased e-liquid capacity.
I would definitely recommend the OXVA Arbiter RTA to anyone wanting to enter into the RTA side of vaping due to the ease of building and the performance obtained. Equally existing experienced vapers should also like this RTA as it doesn’t leak and the flavor is really impressive.
Hope you enjoyed this review on the OXVA Arbiter RTA and found it useful. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to leave us a comment below.
If you do purchase one, please do drop us a comment and let us know how you’re getting on with it.