Anybody give up on Kayfun style RBA's

[sandt38]

The burned cotton taste is probably coming from 2 things. In this pic you can see the first and second coils from the left are deformed. Lastly, that's way too much cotton. You should be using at least 1/3 less than that. You shouldn't see big shoulders on it when it's wet.

Yep. Way too much cotton.

 

[marc42]

read lots about the clones and ended up getting the real thing , was a novice to coil building etc, worked great first time , love them to pieces.
its kayfuns and my trusty Igo l all the way for me

 

[Crunktanium]

Get a 16g needle build on that and make sure the cotton moves freely. It will expand from absorbing juice so a little slack is good. Pull wick up chimney and cut just slightly above the rim.

 

[DelboyinDorset]

I can say nothing but good things about my Tobeco clone, I don't use cotton but a navy nest, a lot easier to coil than a genny, the hardest part is getting the shoulders of the wick juuuuust right so they trap the juice from the channel but don't restrict it or choke it either.

I put on a twisted wire coil on mine this afternoon, stripped it down, gave it a good clean inside and out, wrapped the coil and set it up, on the posts, resi check, threaded through the wick, folded the shoulders, put the chimney base on and tested again, all was good and put the rest back together, filled her up and spot on vaping in under 10 minutes. I have extremely shaky hands due to medication but I would rather do a KFL than a gennie any day of the week

I use a bit of silica between the coil and airhole to ensure it stays clear and just whip it out once its all screwed down and secure.

 

[NonCorp]

I just got my Tobeco KFL+ Clone and I am loving it so far. I didn't really want to mess with getting the wick just right inside that damn chimney (and I wasn't convinced it would wick that well looking at it), so I copied an idea I saw someone post in the modding forums and basically turned it into a giant carto lol.

2.0 Ohm vertical coil (28 ga. kanthal)
Boiled Organic Cotton



Hits like a champ, great TH and vapor! Can drip (which is a plus for me) and it holds a fair amount of juice so it's good to go for quite a while.

P.S. This is only my second build btw, not bad (even heating and no hotspots), but I need some practice getting the coils nice and tight.

 

[jamesfarrell]

Well that's about my 15th coil. The area to work with is just too damn small. I tried silica wick as well. I just tried less cotton and the same issue, juice is just not getting to the wick. I tried a thinner type of juice too.

 

[csantiago1911]

James,

I looked at your pics again. It looks like your juice channels are not undersized, so that is good. Two suggestions at this point:

1. Press the wetted wick tails against the walls of center island. Be sure to completely clear them of the juice channels. I use a T-pin or micro screwdriver to do this.

2. Check the height of the coil above the air hole on the island. I recommend a space of 2mm. Too close or too far can cause problems.

Can you provide any specs on your build? Kanthal or nichrome? Mandrel size? Number of wraps? Resistance on ohmmeter?

 

[scrappy]

Well that's about my 15th coil. The area to work with is just too damn small. I tried silica wick as well. I just tried less cotton and the same issue, juice is just not getting to the wick. I tried a thinner type of juice too.

Changing the wick doesn't address the two coils that are wonky in that pic I quoted. That second coil is the one burning the cotton. When your coil deforms like that it's usually from not enough tension when wrapping.

 

[jamesfarrell]

Here's the thing. When there's juice in there, it works fine. I suck some juice in by holding my finger over the air hole, then hit it and it works. Couple more hits later, dry. I don't have a dremel bit small enough to clean out the channels at all either. The wick is about 1.7ohms .28 kanthal. I fixed the coil so it's a little more even, but it lights up evenly with no hot spots. I have about 10 hours into this piece of crap. Or I'm a piece of crap. The stuff is 2mm elkwool. It's a tad loose inside the coil. I put the chimney on, tuck the elkwool to the sides and put the chimney cap on. About 2mm gap between the center hole and bottom of coil too.

 

[csantiago1911]

James, it sounds like your Kayfun is not holding vacuum. I'll link later to a pressure and vacuum test you can try.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[DelboyinDorset]

Could you be missing the top tiny O ring in the top cap by any chance? My Tobeco didn't have it in the tank but sitting in the box and I had merry fun with flooding that first time I also found my chimney bottom piece was threaded slightly different so if I put it upside down, there was a small gap on the chimney itself which allowed pressure to leak in the wrong places.

It sounds like you are doing all the right things, the coil sounds spot on at those readings, its not like a SS genny so if its lighting up, that part is sound I reckon, I'm using 2mm eko in mine right now so no prob there, def think it might be a vacuum issue you got there mate.

 

[JimzDogz]

I have a Tobeco KFL clone and a Russian 91%. I drilled the air hole in the Tobeco with a 5/64" bit to match the air hole in the R91. That solved the whistling from the Tobeco while opening the draw a bit. Now when they are setup the same I can't tell any difference between the two. I use a chimney coil with hemp fiber packing and nothing else on these type atomizers. The 2 major issues that I find when a problem arises are (1) less is more, when packing the juice well with hemp. Loose packing wicks much better than a tightly packed well. Over packing will cause dry hits, while too loose packing can cause flooding. (2) Maintain good air flow. Make sure you leave a route for the air to travel unobstructed through the juice well. If you use too much packing it will swell and can obstruct the air flow. When the air flow is obstructed the higher vacuum will cause flooding. The harder you suck on this atomizer the more problems you'll have, if your after huge clouds stick to a dripper or genesis style atomizer. These issues will over time become less of an issue as you get the feel of these devices. Soon you will be able to diagnose a problem without opening it up, It's just the learning curve, as with anything it gets easier with experience.

 

[zanedog]

Have authentic Russian 91. ordered some clones, will get back about them.

The Russian 91 is all right, really really hate the center pin.

When I unscrew it, it loosens up the terminal blocks. Am going to locktite the screw that holds the blocks in.

It's kind of unacceptable that each time I take it off i have to wonder if the dumb center pin has unscrewed itself and allowed the terminal blocks to shift and short out. lol, you know right away as the battery gets really hot quickly!

 

[scrappy]

Here's the thing. When there's juice in there, it works fine. I suck some juice in by holding my finger over the air hole, then hit it and it works. Couple more hits later, dry. I don't have a dremel bit small enough to clean out the channels at all either. The wick is about 1.7ohms .28 kanthal. I fixed the coil so it's a little more even, but it lights up evenly with no hot spots. I have about 10 hours into this piece of crap. Or I'm a piece of crap. The stuff is 2mm elkwool. It's a tad loose inside the coil. I put the chimney on, tuck the elkwool to the sides and put the chimney cap on. About 2mm gap between the center hole and bottom of coil too.

You can't really fix a coil when it gets like that. You can pull the wick out and stick whatever you wrapped it with back in there, then pull and tweak it back to uniformity. But it'll just go back to it's original shape.
Your best bet is to rebuild it. I'm guessing those messed up wraps are your first 2 wraps. Next time do two extra wraps then pull the two extra wraps through. This will get rid of the first to coils that had uneven tension. Speaking of tension, the more you can apply when wrapping the better.

 

[Talyon]

Could you be missing the top tiny O ring in the top cap by any chance? My Tobeco didn't have it in the tank but sitting in the box and I had merry fun with flooding that first time I also found my chimney bottom piece was threaded slightly different so if I put it upside down, there was a small gap on the chimney itself which allowed pressure to leak in the wrong places.

It sounds like you are doing all the right things, the coil sounds spot on at those readings, its not like a SS genny so if its lighting up, that part is sound I reckon, I'm using 2mm eko in mine right now so no prob there, def think it might be a vacuum issue you got there mate.

Does sound like a vacuum thing not happening ergo liquid can not enter the island area, I had exact same problem a few weeks back watched a few vids and noticed I was missing the upper small rubber grommet or oring, I located it poped it in, and all has been fine since.

Your coil should be ok, any wick u have tried sounds ok. This type of device needs the vacuum variant to work correctly. Or u end up getting dry burnt hits especially with cotton.

 

[xyanide]

I own a genuine kayfun lite+ and here's one of the wicking issues I ran into. When you try to do the method of twisting your XL length wick back over the top to use as flavor wicks be very careful. My cotton and bamboo yarn wicks tend to expand, so what happens is the juice canals get blocked off. I can fix that by priming it well with my finger over the air hole, but that's a pain in the ....

A surefire method to get your wicking right, I can chainvape 14W off this (can't test 15W with my current coil):
-use a large precision-screwdriver to wrap your coil to make sure your wick is fat enough
-pulling your wick through should be a firm process but not a tight one, if you have to hold your coil firmly in place to get it through it's too tight
-run the wick down the sides of the build blocks and trim the length to the base of the juice well (diagonal makes it easier)
-prime the wick and tuck it against the sides of the build blocks, making sure there's enough space around the canals
-precision trim some excess if needed, don't be shy to do it

Now if you make a sharp draw, regular airflow, on a fully loaded tank there should be a sizable bubble floating up just a few seconds after (50/50 juice experience). If it takes too long there's probably wicking material in your canals. Don't worry too much about bubbles floating up from both canals, mine currently only produces a single bubble but it works just fine.

 

[dice57]

I'm thinking you have a wicking problem is all. If you clog the juice channels with wick, or your cotton densities are off, one will get dry hits. I've built the Russian, every which way but sunday, and it just performs well. Running my current build at 23 watts, and never a dry hit. Well, except when it runs out of juice, but fill it before that happens.

The easiest to build and best all round performer rba I own is the Flash-e-Vapor V2. I have an authentic and 2 Clones, all give a fantastic Vape. Can be used as a tank system, 5.5 ml of juice, or as a dripper. I prefer tanks on board, but do have the drippers cap for it too.

On a side note, personally I try to stay away from Tobeco clones, they seem to have the most quality control issues. But then, clones are always a gamble.

I vape 70-80% Vg juice without a problem.

 

[tragictaste]

I have to use 70/30 pg juice in my Tocecos. I had the exact same issues as you and tried everything. Almost scrapped it, but then I thought about a thinner juice, and now it vapes like a champ. Maybe worth a try.

 

[jamesfarrell]

which o-ring are you guys talking about? There's 2 on the clear section and 2 (1 for the upper part of outer tank, 1 for lower part of outer tank.

 

[Sh0wTime]

which o-ring are you guys talking about? There's 2 on the clear section and 2 (1 for the upper part of outer tank, 1 for lower part of outer tank.

There should be an o-ring where the chimney fits into the top cap