How do these K4 clones compare to higher quality genesis style
tanks? Like a kracken or origin?
Btw, know about genny weaknesses like leaking & tilting .... More interested in the quality of
vape comparison. TIA.
Maybe I was lucky, but I built my Kraken clone before I built my first KF V4, while I was new to the whole rebuildable thing. The rolled SS 400 mesh wicks were about 2 mm in diameter, so there was a little "play" in the 2.5 mm deck holes (which BTW are threaded on my Klaken crone). The coils were built on a 5/64" drill bit and installed on the deck, the wick was pushed through each one afterwards. The two coils in parallel came out to around 1.1 ohms, though I was aiming for 1.5.
The whole thing performed flawlessly. I dry burned it 3 or 4 times, once a week, red hot then under running hot water, with the tank glass removed but the wicks in place. After faithfully serving for around a month that way, the top connection wire on one of the coils finally started looking weak where I had repeatedly straightened it, it was showing signs of hot-legging, and that coil was running cooler, so I trashed the whole build and have yet to rebuild it.
It wasn't a leaker. I mostly kept it vertical, but sometimes just lying on the desk, and it seeped but didn't leak much. One time when I left it on its side all night, it puddled its guts out.
I had to tip it to get best feeding, but never very much as long as I kept the tank over half full, just a sort of ritual nod now and then. The vapor quality and thickness were excellent, running on a Nemesis clone mechanical mod, with the dual coils totaling 1.1 ohms. The taste was very VERY good. I only vape my home-made gourmet liquids, 95% VG, 5% FlavourArt flavoring with a few drops of Bicardi 151, no nicotine. There was no problem wicking. So, surprisingly superb.
The Kraken's taste had a certain "digital" cleanliness to it from the SS mesh. The fact you can pull the cap in an instant and inspect the coils, tip the unit and talk the coils into behaving, is very nice. My Tobeco KayFun V4 clones are now different-tasting with all-cotton wicks, though equally great. But my first KF V4 build used a 400 SS mesh wick, with cotton barbells dipping into the wells, and that was a great build that tasted very similar.
The fact you can't see the guts on a Kayfun unless you take it apart is a little less miraculous, though it's SO easy now to pull the deck on the V4, with no liquid getting wasted, that it's just fine.
So overall I'd say that with very different vibes, they both can vape very tasty and thick. Building a single coil KF V4 takes about a quarter the labor of building a dual coil SS mesh wick Kraken Genisis RTA. And of course, while both can offer great taste, the KF V4 is incomparably more practical and more pocketable. Maybe a little SS collar to tighten the hole around the wick would make the Kraken leak-proof? Or would it stop wicking then?
