Rocket (Kayfun clone) leaking issue...

[BecAbejas]

Alrighty, required info:

• Rocket (kayfun clone) rba
• 26g Kanthal, 10/12 wrap microcoil (I forget, B&M I bought it from did it for me/showed me how to build it, as I'm not familiar with the kayfun style)
• Resistance: 1.3 ohms
• Wicked with sterile cotton
• 100% VG e-juice (may be relevant as to why it didn't start getting gurgle-y until it really warmed up…I'm in a very warm part of the country, and the day I got the Rocket was the coldest day we've had in a LONG time)
• Airflow control screw later removed as the draw I wanted required the screw to be sticking out some and it kept seemingly screwing itself back in (and I read somewhere here that you could remove it entirely if so desired), and the draw was great with screw removed

So I bought this thing on a whim at a really nice B&M crosstown that I hadn't checked out yet, and loved LOVED loved the way it vaped. Until I got three miles down the road and it started gurgling and leaking like a sieve out the airflow holes, a whole bottle of 10mg of juice since I got it on Tuesday (and barely got any, thank god it wasn't any of my Adirondack stash) and after experimenting tonight another 3mg or so. Okay Google (and ECR, and Reddit), do your magic. Unfortunately no internet research love, so here I am asking for your wisdom!

Troubleshoots:

• Realized right off that the screw into the fill port wasn't installed. Once installed, no change.
• Tried the block air hole/fill from top/start top threads/flip upside down, no love.
• Tried filling from the fill port, same thing.
• Ripped it all apart, cleaned it, checked o-rings. Seals seem to be fine.
• While it was apart, I checked that the coil was not on the deck or too far off, it seemed to be just where it was supposed to be.
• Dry burned coils and rewicked with sterile cotton, a la RiPTrippers (original build used a little less cotton). Dripped to test, awesome. Replaced tank section, filled it up, tried it out and…gurgled, flooded, juice all over the towel.
• Blew it out via mouthpiece, no change. Blew it out via air hole, no change. (Major frustration setting in about this time…)
• Realized that the liquid level in the tank dropped DRASTICALLY. As in, suddenly I couldn't see any liquid. Whahuh?
• Remembered reading somewhere here to check airflow by holding a finger over the airflow…Hey wait a sec, I shouldn't be getting any air here, and I am!
• Decided to check the overflow well in the bottom. Hey, all the liquid that hadn't been leaking out the air holes? It was in there.

So, I have some kind of sealing issue, and I'm hoping that one of you here can help me. I can certainly go back to the B&M and beg for assistance (or an exchange, and they're very cool so I'm guessing it would be no issue) but I'm hoping it's something that I didn't come across in my hours of internet travels or something I overlooked. Help please

 

[mgmrick]

Make sure you did not lose the air tube oring in top cap

 

[Thunderball]

Its leaking out of the air hole on the side isnt it?

Its your cotton.

The cotton needs to go all the way to the bottom, lay across the bottom to completely cover the juice chanels on both sides of the lower base (stuff the cotton gently with a screwdriver or tooth pick or something), then let the cotton come back up and lay on the sides of the coils. (this will make it so you wont ever have dry hits)

Before you screw the chimney top back on, make sure you move any cotton that may cover up the air hole that is directly under the coil so you will get that "power vape" you were experiencing.

PS... If you EVER move that cotton away from those juice channels at the bottom of the deck....it will leak all your juice out. If done right, you can lay the thing down on its side and it will never leak.

Trust me

 

[Thunderball]

Make sure you did not lose the air tube oring in top cap

Take head to this warning !! Thats the one thing that tries its damndest to get lost..and they come off all the time....and they are hard to find at a hardware store or lowes......

 

[BecAbejas]

Its leaking out of the air hole on the side isnt it?

Its your cotton.

The cotton needs to go all the way to the bottom, lay across the bottom to completely cover the juice chanels on both sides of the lower base (stuff the cotton gently with a screwdriver or tooth pick or something), then let the cotton come back up and lay on the sides of the coils. (this will make it so you wont ever have dry hits)

BOTH air holes. And I tried your fix also, I went through some threads looking for it (I remembered seeing it) and tried it. Still no go

Take head to this warning !! Thats the one thing that tries its damndest to get lost..and they come off all the time....and they are hard to find at a hardware store or lowes......

LOL, first thing I looked for actually. Mine seems to be stuck in pretty well, thankfully.

 

[Thunderball]

QUOTE=BecAbejas;11839246]BOTH air holes. And I tried your fix also, I went through some threads looking for it (I remembered seeing it) and tried it. Still no go



LOL, first thing I looked for actually. Mine seems to be stuck in pretty well, thankfully.[/QUOTE]

Im stumped then....and a bit suprised.

I have two rockets (my oldest clones) tobecco clones, FT sold clones, hcigar clones. This works in all of them.

Hmmm. I do stuff my cotton down there and get it all set before I drip juice in it to prime it. Then I put the chimney on top and vape it that way without putting the tank on it. I will usually put my tank on after a few vapes out of the chimney alone.

I can tell you this..... every once in a while, when I take my top (drip tip and top) off to fill the tank up, the chimney top will kinda get stuck on the top cap and will partially unscrew at the base. If this ever happens, my cotton has then moved around on the bottom base and it will leak out the air hole. ......I have tried to empty the tank and go into the chimney tank andf adjust the wet cotton. If this ever happens, I HAVE NEVER been able to make it stop leaking. And I know mthis is due to the cotton is now wet, and thin, and will just not cover that juice channel hole perfectly ever again.

If this ever happens, I just have to pull out the cotton, put new dry cotton in (leaving about an inch on each side of the coil)..then go to stuffing that cotton down on the base. Drip about 5 drops of juice in there, screw on the small chimney cap, and start vaping right out of the chimney cap. After two mor three draws and Im going "this tastes so good".....I put on the tank and fill up and screw the top back on and vape away for a few days (filling a couple times a day)

Thats all I can think of. I wish I were there and could experiment with yours. I hate your having problems.

 

[BecAbejas]

Thank you. All I can realistically figure is some kind of weird air leak/vacuum issue, since I noticed that the tank drains so quickly and ends up in the overflow reservoir. I assume I didn't notice when it was first filled at the store because it was 100% VGA and it was cold as heck at the time. That, and "ooh shiny and ooh flavor!" It's like it has a breach near the juice canals or something...

 

[JD1]

.......
[*]Remembered reading somewhere here to check airflow by holding a finger over the airflow…Hey wait a sec, I shouldn't be getting any air here, and I am!

You might even try another oring or something behind that oring at the top of the chimney to make sure the top of the chimney presses up into it firmly when assembled.

The orings for where the tanks screw together could be made a little fatter with a piece of dental floss underneath them. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[BecAbejas]

Okay, updating. I decided to go to the B&M where I bought it to see if they could find something I didn't see. I was trying to be considerate (didn't want juice all over them and their counters), so I broke it all down and cleaned it. In the process, I apparently managed to misplace that darn o-ring, and it wasn't noticed until I had gotten to the store, explained what was going on, they'd checked it all out and put it back together, etc.. They took the o-ring off the display model (it was all they had left) and guess what? No issues. I was even asked to hang out for a while to make sure it didn't start misbehaving again, which I did, and watched two Kayfuns get purchased and built, and got to talk to everyone for a while.

And then they found me a nice, inexpensive tank for my new Diver! Yay, finally

So maybe it was the o-ring itself. All I know is that the guys at Vapor Envy certainly have my business! And their Vanilla Sunrise juice...OMG yummy.

 

[Thunderball]

Whew !!! Im glad you got it fixed !! ....a killer vape isnt it ?

 

[BecAbejas]

Whew !!! Im glad you got it fixed !! ....a killer vape isnt it ?

Yes it is! I just had a little gurgle and spit, but I've been chain-vaping it, and it was just some just that had collected above the chimney under the drip tip. Cleaned that out real quick and back to perfect.

I really want a Kayfun mini for my pipe (they had one at the shop, it looked fabulous on my pipe), I just can't justify buying it right now. I've got a Kayfun clone in transit at the moment via USPS though, so yay!


Apparently I have an "ooh shiny" issue.

 

[JD1]

......Apparently I have an "ooh shiny" issue.

Don't we all lol.

 

[Whiplash205]

Apparently I have an "ooh shiny" issue.

Try adding "ohh pearly" to the mix. I'm a disc golfer and pearly discs are my downfall. Between plastic and mechs/rba's I am constantly in the dog house with the wife.

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