Help with Kayfun

[wrath186]

I just finished my very first rebuild. Most things went right, nothing melted or exploded, but there are few things that need improvement. So that I have all the pertinent information in place I was building a kayfun LIte Plus with a 1.5mm Silica wick and 30g Kanthal. It's on a copper Nemisis clone with a 18350 battery. The kayfun was new so I cleaned everything before starting.

My coil ended up at 1.3 ohms, I was shooting for 2.5, but just couldn't get there for some reason. Since it wasn't sub ohm I decided to continue. I wrapped around an S configuration of the silica and everything went together well from there.

After filling I got some leaking and gurgling for the first few pulls and a slightly burnt taste. The burnt taste I attribute to the wick not being placed in a good configuration around the channels for proper juice absorption.

I checked my set up again and am not sure why the leaking out the air hole or gurgling. So, now I'm wondering what I missed.

Also, the flavor isn't as full as I thought it would be. Could that also be a wick issue?

Any thoughts?

 

[Jdbaker82]

Yes what exact version of the KFL+ do you have?

also I would recommend you try something like a microcoil with cotton this is what I did for my very first time and it never failed.

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[Cool-breeze]

My 2 cents: check to make sure your coil isn't suffocating the air hole. Very easy to do while figuring it out. Rip tripper has a good kf3.1 video on youtube I def recommend. The leak is most likely from the vacuum pressure being off. There are a few different ways to handle that in which I again suggest you tube. A quick fix that has worked for me before sometimes is once everything should be good to go and that leak from the air hole starts give it a few stern draws without firing. Basically suck the liquid back to where it should be. Then fire it up and take a couple of slow drags. Often times thats been the easiest fix for me if I've been lazy and filled it 'incorrectly'. Tips on the wick I can't help as much with as I'm a cotton person myself.

 

[AndriaD]

+1 on using cotton instead of silica; it just provides better flavor, especially if you use organic cotton -- I thought it was all a bunch of hooey, till I actually tried organic cotton, but it's completely amazing. I was a bit let down at first too, because I was using silica or ekowool for wicking. There's nothing really wrong with those, but organic cotton really does provide the best flavor. Once I got some of that, I suddenly understood what all the kayfun-mania was about.

And you don't need very much. Just enough to fill the coil without being *squished* into the coil.

Andria

 

[Clark F]

Wicking the Kayfun is a challenge. I tried silica a few days ago and did not get the best results. A micro coil and cotton have been the most consistant. I rewicked two of them a couple of dozens times last week and yesterday decided to try a little bigger cotton wick with my 1.5 - 1.8 coils. So far it's working good, one of them might have to much cotton as the taste and draw are lacking but no burnt coil. The other one seems to be working great, but I rewicked it and haven't had much time with it yet.

I also have two KFL with the air flow adjustment on the bottom and they both leak unless I get just the right amount of juice in them. I was cleaning them and noticed that the fill screw and the bottom of the chimney are related in that if one is screwed all the way down or in the other will not go in all the way. I was going to do some experiementing with them but got side tracked with my recent wicking issue.

Keep at it, try wicking with more and less material until you find the sweet spot.

 

[Jdbaker82]

Wicking the Kayfun is a challenge. I tried silica a few days ago and did not get the best results. A micro coil and cotton have been the most consistant. I rewicked two of them a couple of dozens times last week and yesterday decided to try a little bigger cotton wick with my 1.5 - 1.8 coils. So far it's working good, one of them might have to much cotton as the taste and draw are lacking but no burnt coil.

look wicking the Kayfun is not a challenge if myself as a total newbie to rebuilding can build 12 builds between 3 different Kayfuns and have a successful build everytime it cannot possibly be that sensitive to a proper wicking.... There is no way I got this lucky and just magically did something so precise everytime.

There is really only 2 important things and it's explained in so many build videos... maybe that's why I never had a problem

1. Make sure when you roll the cotton through the coil the cotton is pushing against the inside of the coil but not so tight that you have to force it through (If you were to sit your mod on table it should not fall over if you pull the cotton) it should gently pull back and forth sliding it back and forth.
2. Stick the cotton to the side of the deck well to where it's just touching the bottom floor and after you put the chimney back on make sure it didn't bunch up near the channel and use a small screwdriver or such to push it back to the side wall

Done. You won't leak gurgle dry hit burn


KFL+ wicking if you only take one thing away from wicking remember LESS is MORE

One more thing my newest black KFL + V3 that will just not work right for no obvious reasons. I have spent 5 hours and 10 builds on it taken it totally apart replaced all the parts and it just doesn't work right I will get a constant slight gurgle and then followed by a dry or burnt hit and back and forth ..... So if anyone out there with only one KFL+ clone I suggest try another one because they are NOT all created equal IMO duds exist. I have 2 of the EhPro V2 and they are both rock solid as well as my Russian 91% authentic

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[AndriaD]

look wicking the Kayfun is not a challenge if myself as a total newbie to rebuilding can build 12 builds between 3 different Kayfuns and have a successful build everytime it cannot possibly be that sensitive to a proper wicking.... There is no way I got this lucky and just magically did something so precise everytime.

I agree; it's really not that hard.

KFL+ wicking if you only take one thing away from wicking remember LESS is MORE

No... you need *enough* -- too little will also not be very tasty. It needs to fill the coil, but not be squished into the coil. I like your example, if your mod is standing, it should not make your mod fall over just to pull the cotton thru.

One more thing my newest black KFL + V3 that will just not work right for no obvious reasons. I have spent 5 hours and 10 builds on it taken it totally apart replaced all the parts and it just doesn't work right I will get a constant slight gurgle and then followed by a dry or burnt hit and back and forth ..... So if anyone out there with only one KFL+ clone I suggest try another one because they are NOT all created equal IMO duds exist. I have 2 of the EhPro V2 and they are both rock solid as well as my Russian 91% authentic

Very true. I have a Tobeco KFL+ that seems incapable of delivering a bad vape, no matter how inept my coil+wick -- extremely inept at first, but it worked fine. I have another clone, a very cheap KFL (not "plus") and it's a lot more finicky; no microcoil, need some space between the wraps; and it's very touchy on wicking. If I get it *just right* it vapes fine, but finding *just right* is a bit of a challenge.

Andria

 

[wrath186]

I believe that my KFL is V2. And I thought that I would start using silica vs cotton as it would be easier to practice on. Also, How far to do you fill up the KF? I'm assuming it's only up to the top of the chimney. Lastly, since I'm asking, how long can you vape on a 18350 before having to change out batteries?

 

[The Ocelot]

Before I take a real hit, I cover the air hole with my finger and do a cold draw to get the vacuum going. I haven't had a gurgling problem since I was told to cold draw first.

It's hard to fill the right amount if you're using the metal tank, but if you're using a clear one, you fill it tilted almost horizontal and look for a bubble to appear in the tank. You fill it until the bubble is almost gone.

As far as the battery, how long it lasts depends on how you're vaping, of course. I use only 18350s and what I do is half the mAh rating. If it's 800mAh, I plan for the battery to last for 4 hours of chain-vaping. It usually lasts longer, but that's what I prepare for.

ETA: I wasn't crazy about silica when I tried it. I use Cellucotton now. It has longer fibers than balled cotton. The burning might be caused by the wick not being wet enough. Leaking out the air hole can be related to filling. You can wrap a piece of paper towel around it and gently blow through the drip tip to clear it out.

 

[wrath186]

I found a few more videos on filling. I didn't use the fill screw, as is recommended, since I don't have any needle nose fill bottles. I filled from the top and apparently you're supposed to cover the air hole, fill your tank, start threading the top cap back on the tank, then invert it and tighten it all the way to secure the vacuum. Should be fine after that. Will try that next fill.

I'm thinking that the burning might be the same problem. the coil is too tight. Gonna try some looser wraps and then move onto organic cotton eventually. I've got about five feet of silica, by the time I'm finished with that it should be ok.

Will the vape change as the voltage gets low? I know that you're not supposed to pull on these batteries below 3.3 volts I believe, but other than constantly carrying around a voltage meter I'm not sure how to monitor this.

 

[The Ocelot]

I found a few more videos on filling. I didn't use the fill screw, as is recommended, since I don't have any needle nose fill bottles. I filled from the top and apparently you're supposed to cover the air hole, fill your tank, start threading the top cap back on the tank, then invert it and tighten it all the way to secure the vacuum. Should be fine after that. Will try that next fill.

I'm thinking that the burning might be the same problem. the coil is too tight. Gonna try some looser wraps and then move onto organic cotton eventually. I've got about five feet of silica, by the time I'm finished with that it should be ok.

Will the vape change as the voltage gets low? I know that you're not supposed to pull on these batteries below 3.3 volts I believe, but other than constantly carrying around a voltage meter I'm not sure how to monitor this.

With my unregulated devices, I change batteries when I notice a drop in vapor production. I have yet to run one below 3.5, but usually it's not even that low. For some reason with my Reos (the only mechs I have) I like the vape really hot, so I run LR coils and fresh batteries.

ETA: I don't know about the coils being too tight. I make micro coils.

 

[wrath186]

ETA: I don't know about the coils being too tight. I make micro coils.

I'll eventually get there, but not sure now to wrap a micro using silica.

 

[AndriaD]

Good luck on the top filling; the one time I tried it, I found it quite beyond me, and had to blow out a flood for nearly half an hour. You can also use a regular dropper-tip; needle not really required.

I've found, with my cheapie KFL that's so finicky, that a larger-diameter coil does work better, it just seems to assist better wicking, and is much less likely to crowd the wick once it's full of juice. Actually I find this to be true with both of my KFs, but especially so with the cheapie that's so finicky. I commonly use 3/32 with my "good" KFL+, and sometimes 7/64; with the finicky one, I don't do anything smaller than 7/64, and often use 1/8.

Andria

 

[xpl0it]

I didn't use the fill screw, as is recommended, since I don't have any needle nose fill bottles.

You really don't need a needle tipped bottle. Just insert the tip of the bottle at an angle and fill slowly.

Here are two videos I found helpful!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=aWrFsa6YOaE#t=1200

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT2bkmsNVmI

 

[Sandylp]

I use a syringe to fill the metal tank on my Kayfun Lite+ (second batch, original). I put about 4.5mls in it and it doesn't leak or gurgle.

 

[Tinkiegrrl]

For the Lite, I always use the fill port on the bottom. For the 3.1, I found it easier to top fill. So far, I've yet to find the right sized, plastic, needle tips to engage with the ball valve in the 3.1. I've tried both the green and the pink and neither worked. Hcigar clone though, so perhaps I wound up with a dud in that department? I'm sticking to the Ehpro Lite's from now on. Not because of the filling, but also because there are less pieces to break down for cleaning. It's just less time consuming.

 

[wrath186]

I've been filling it through the top, holding the airhole closed. Been working fine for me so for, no spilled juice or gurgling.