Help with Russian build?

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Ozwald

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While I was out on the rounds this morning I got to thinking... how are you filling the tank after it's all assembled? As in, through the fill port on the bottom? Holding at an angle? How much liquid are you putting in there?

I'm wondering if you're getting a slight vacuum inside the tank which is necessary for it to work. If you cover the air hole, take a few deep draws w/o firing it & then draw with the air hole uncovered, does it gurgle slightly (like it's starting to flood)?

Just a thought. It shouldn't be too hard to get this working, so I'm wondering if we're overlooking something simpler.
 

Anthal69

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When I wick my r91 with cotton, I usually cut the cotton to just below the base with the air hole. I then pull the wicks straight up and put bottom portion of the chimney on. Then I cut both ends of the cotton so they are just about 1/4 of an inch above the chimney base. I saturate the tips of the cotton and push them down into the juice channels lightly.

After that's done, I place a couple of drops of liquid on the juice channels on the outside of the chimney and watch to make sure it disappears into the chimney. That shows you that the wick is in the proper place for the channels and its wicking properly. Saturate the rest of the cotton, install the chimney top. Reassemble and fill with ejuice. Now, the best way to tell if your build is wicking properly.....you should see one or 2 small bubbles floating to the top after a couple of hits, but only after its been used a while. It won't feed until the wick uses up all the pre build liquid.
 

Cob24

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While I was out on the rounds this morning I got to thinking... how are you filling the tank after it's all assembled? As in, through the fill port on the bottom? Holding at an angle? How much liquid are you putting in there?

I'm wondering if you're getting a slight vacuum inside the tank which is necessary for it to work. If you cover the air hole, take a few deep draws w/o firing it & then draw with the air hole uncovered, does it gurgle slightly (like it's starting to flood)?

Just a thought. It shouldn't be too hard to get this working, so I'm wondering if we're overlooking something simpler.
I fill it using the fill hole underneath. I usually fill it with the hole on top as I angle the Russian down at a 45 degree angle. The very first time I filled it I filled it up entirely. Since then I only fill it until i can start to see it because I've dumped so much juice.
Yeah, I'm wondering what volt you are at?
If you are getting burned taste at 6 puffs, it seems like you have a wicking problem


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I'm at 3.6-3.8 volts on a 1.5 ohm coil. It's definitely a wicking problem. The best assumption I was able to theorize was that I was stuffing too much cotton/yarn in there and the coil was choking the wick. I could see some darker parts where the coil was around the cotton when I pulled it last.
When I wick my r91 with cotton, I usually cut the cotton to just below the base with the air hole. I then pull the wicks straight up and put bottom portion of the chimney on. Then I cut both ends of the cotton so they are just about 1/4 of an inch above the chimney base. I saturate the tips of the cotton and push them down into the juice channels lightly.

After that's done, I place a couple of drops of liquid on the juice channels on the outside of the chimney and watch to make sure it disappears into the chimney. That shows you that the wick is in the proper place for the channels and its wicking properly. Saturate the rest of the cotton, install the chimney top. Reassemble and fill with ejuice. Now, the best way to tell if your build is wicking properly.....you should see one or 2 small bubbles floating to the top after a couple of hits, but only after its been used a while. It won't feed until the wick uses up all the pre build liquid.
Since I learned about priming it I've just been doing drops onto the cotton inside the chamber. Putting juice on the channels makes way too much sense and I will definitely be trying that when I get back around to building this silly thing.

Thanks to all the people that are patient enough to help me out with this thing. It's absolutely driving me crazy as I like to think of myself as an engineer and am typically really good at figuring out how things work. So have this little turd beat me for so long is really killing my self esteem.
 

Ozwald

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I fill it using the fill hole underneath. I usually fill it with the hole on top as I angle the Russian down at a 45 degree angle. The very first time I filled it I filled it up entirely. Since then I only fill it until i can start to see it because I've dumped so much juice.

I'm at 3.6-3.8 volts on a 1.5 ohm coil. It's definitely a wicking problem. The best assumption I was able to theorize was that I was stuffing too much cotton/yarn in there and the coil was choking the wick. I could see some darker parts where the coil was around the cotton when I pulled it last.

Since I learned about priming it I've just been doing drops onto the cotton inside the chamber. Putting juice on the channels makes way too much sense and I will definitely be trying that when I get back around to building this silly thing.

Thanks to all the people that are patient enough to help me out with this thing. It's absolutely driving me crazy as I like to think of myself as an engineer and am typically really good at figuring out how things work. So have this little turd beat me for so long is really killing my self esteem.

You don't want to fill it up all the way anyhow. You want that little airspace up top. Here's something a whipped up in another thread for this same conversation.

kflfill.jpg


Basically fill it on an angle, but make sure you can see the very edge of the bubble.

Also, is the mini o-ring in place where the chimney portion of the chamber meets the cap on the inside?
 

kas122461

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This was posted by Donnah on the Kayfun lite thread

KAS


Just thought I'd pop in with some recent observations.

I'm helping a couple people with their kfls. The first is a guy.. I'm showing him how to take it apart and recoil/rewick it. I'm putting it back together and filling it from the top and juice is leaking out the drip tip Never had this happen. So I turn it upside down and blow out the chamber and it just keeps dripping from the air hole. Take it apart and start over. Same thing over and over. After close inspection.. he had cross threaded the plastic section on one of the metal sections. I was able to snap it back together and then assemble it properly. The leaking issue was solved.

My second friend is a woman who complains of both flooding and dry hits. When we met up, I took it apart and the wicks were standing straight up! Like they were reaching for me to pick them up LOL. Her problem? She sucks way too hard! She managed to suck the wicks straight up into the chamber/chimney! She was sucking so hard that too much negative pressure was pulling too much juice up into the chamber..more than the coil could handle and quickly flooding it. It doesn't help that she's using my EH Pro clone that has a tight draw anyway. I'm going to let her use my kfl+ with the afc all the way open and see if that helps but if she doesn't change her draw (stop acting like she's sucking a golf ball through a rubber hose) then she may not be able to use the kayfun.

She tried a protank type device and said that it would drip out the bottom. I couldn't figure it out at the time but now I know it was from her sucking too hard and flooding it. She bought my RSST and it works great for her (wicked with cotton) she can suck hard on the RSST all day and it won't hurt it.

Here's a list of problems and possible solutions that I found somewhere... supposed to come from the SvoeMesto site. I know it's long but it may be of some help to ones having problems.

The problem: Kayfun Lite sloshing, flooding, liquid flows out through the duct hole.
First you need to check if the tank is airtight.
If the tank is not sealed, e-liquid will pour out of it into evaporation chamber by the
principle of communicating vessels, and then it will flow through the air duct.
Check if evaporation chamber (3) is firmly screwed to the base; all o-rings are in place and
intact: (1с), (3с), (4b), and especially - (4c).
O-ring (4c) is the easiest one to lose during disassembly/assembly.
Also make sure that the transparent window (3b) is not cracked in case you use it.
Also make sure that the screw (1l) in place and tightly screwed.
If you have verified that the seal is not broken, but the problem still persists - let's try to
find and eliminate the cause.
There may be several more reasons for leaks:
The reason: Wick is too long and/or coil lies too low over the air duct.
What happens: If the wick is too long and it takes all the available space in the
evaporation chamber, then, when swollen with e-liquid, it leans to the posts (1d) and (1e)
at the level of the air duct or even higher.
Liquid begins to flow from the wick to the poles and then into the duct.
In this case the duct becomes kind of extension of the wick.
The same happens when coil lies too low over the air duct - swollen with liquid wick can
stick out between the coils and touch the poles.
What to do: shorten the wick, position it correctly on the sides of the poles, lift coil higher
over the air duct.
The reason: With each draw, evaporation chamber receives more e-liquid than can be
evaporated; as a result e-liquid floods the evaporation chamber and flows through the duct
out.
There may be several reasons for this:
Reason number 1: insufficient heating temperature, or rather lack of power (voltage) to
the coil, when coil can’t heat up to required temperature
What to do: Increase the power (voltage) on the battery mod or build a coil with less
resistance.
Probably batteries are depleted - charge/replace battery if it is the case.
Reason number 2: Too strong/long draw
Try to inhale slowly and smoothly.
You need to get used to the lighter draw, especially if you are used to hard draws of
conventional cartomizers and tanks.
Find comfortable for your strength and duration of the draw that would at the same time
allow all e-liquid entering the evaporation chamber to evaporate during the draw and
Kayfun Lite would not overflow/slosh.
You will quickly get used to this type of draw and will get the most from your Kayfun Lite.
Minor leaks may also happen if the tank is filled completely, or it is filled more than halfway
while Kayfun Lite is lying horizontally or with mouthpiece tilted down for some time.
In this case, one of the grooves (1h) could be at the top "in the air" and another one at the
bottom dipped into e-liquid.
In this case the air will escape from evaporation chamber through the top groove and eliquid
will flow from the tank to the evaporation chamber through the bottom groove.
Naturally this process stops as soon as both grooves are covered with e-liquid.
Make sure that both grooves are always covered with e-liquid, keep Kayfun Lite horizontally
in such a way that the mouthpiece is always slightly higher than the evaporation chamber.
Even better, keep it in the vertical (or near vertical) position if your battery mod allows it.
Leaks may also happen when ambient temperature and/or pressure changes abruptly, for
example when you walk into a heated room from the cold or in an airplane during
takeoff/landing.
It may even happen during rapid ascent/descent in express elevator.
Solid (metal) parts of the device are expanding/shrinking with temperature/pressure
change, changing the volume of the tank and causing e-liquid to flow into the evaporation
chamber.
Pressure drop causes the process similar to what happens when you draw, just without
heating the coil.
To avoid leakage in such cases we recommend you to keep/transfer Kayfun Lite upside
down i.e. mouthpiece down.
In this case, grooves (1h) will be at the top in the «air bubble» and when the temperature
or pressure changes, air will flow between evaporation chamber and tank instead of eliquid.
The problem: Burnt taste. This problem is opposite to the leakage. Dry wick is the most
common cause of burnt taste.
The reason: Too high heating temperature, to be exact - excessive power (voltage) is
applied to the coil. This heats up the coil above desired temperature.
What to do: reduce the power (voltage) on the battery mod or install higher resistance
coil.
The reason: No liquid left in the tank.
What to do: Refill the tank
The reason: Tails of the wick are packed too tightly in the evaporation chamber.
What happens: Too tightly packed wick may block grooves (1h) and obstruct e-liquid flow
from the tank to evaporator chamber.
What to do: Place wick properly.
It must lie free over the grooves (1h) but should not be pressed against or stuck into them.
The reason: The grooves (1h) are blocked
What happens: Pieces of wick are stuck in grooves (1h)
What to do: Remove pieces of wick from grooves (1h)
The reason: Holding Kayfun Lite upside down (mouthpiece part down) all the time, for
example when lying down.
What happens: In this position liquid does not cover grooves (1h). As a result, liquid
doesn’t flow into evaporation chamber and does not saturate wick during the draw.
What to do: Do not use Kayfun Lite in this position
The reason: Too long piece of the resistance wire is left between the screws and the wick.
What happens: The pieces of resistance wire that don’t contacts the wick get easily
overheated
What to do: Adjust the coil position to eliminate long resistance wire legs not contacting
the wick.
The reason: Resistance wire is wrapped too loose around the wick
What happens: Coils that don’t contact the wick get easily overheated
What to do: Rebuild coil correctly: resistance wire should have contact with the wick along
the length of the coil
The reason: Resistance wire is wrapped too tight around the wick
What happens: Resistance wire pinches the wick and obstructs the flow of e-liquid along
it, this can be the reason of burnt taste
What to do: Rebuild coil correctly: resistance wire should not pinch the wick
The problem: Burnt taste and flooding at the same time
The reason: Yes, this can also happen if during assembly you don’t place tails of the wick
along the grooves but leave them lifted.
This is usually done out of habit - wick tails are placed this way in some popular
cartomizers.
What happens: In this case, when you draw, liquid flows into evaporation chamber, does
not find wick tails to suck into (they are raised up), eventually rises over the air duct level
and overflows.
Meanwhile coil remains dry causing burnt taste.
What to do: Install wick correctly
The problem: The draw is too tight
The reason: Very large coil and/or wick
What happens: Air flow in evaporation chamber gets obstructed
What to do: Setup the coil and wick correctly
The reason: The blockage of the air duct (1g)
What happens: Something obstructs the airflow through the duct
What to do: Remove the obstruction
WARNING: Some flavorings that make up liquids for electronic cigarettes have a
devastating impact on the polycarbonate material transparent body part is made of.
If you use such a liquid, please use metal body part instead of polycarbonate body part in
order to avoid breakage.
 

Cob24

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You don't want to fill it up all the way anyhow. You want that little airspace up top. Here's something a whipped up in another thread for this same conversation.

kflfill.jpg


Basically fill it on an angle, but make sure you can see the very edge of the bubble.

Also, is the mini o-ring in place where the chimney portion of the chamber meets the cap on the inside?

Yeah that's pretty much how I'm filling it. The oring is in place. Some times when I unscrew the base the chimney actually hangs onto that I ring and keeps it from flowing out.
 

Jazzman

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Well, mine comes in tomorrow, and I'm gonna do my coil and wick the way Pbusardo did his. .. I'll let you know how it goes.

I've tried both the PBusardo method and the GrimmGreen method. Both gave excellent results. The PBusardo method was just a bit easier, but both methods work great. Watch both videos because they both do a really good job of explaining what to do and why to do it.

I just got mine on Saturday and burned the cotton wick the first time. I watched both the videos and tried both methods and no more burning. No real difference in the vape between the 2 methods... good draw, good vapor production, and great taste. I also found filling it up all the way like PBusardo shows gives me just a little bit of gurgle (no leaking) until the level drops a bit. Not a big deal since it didn't affect the vape at all, but figured I'd mention it.

Good luck with your RTA.
 

Cob24

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My biggest issue has been the wicking unfortuabetly (sorry too much beer). I found that I was wicking the coil way too right causing the burnt cotton flavor. I loosened it up majority and seem to be having better luck. I don't think I'm out of the dark yet (as I'm way too intoxicated to know (yeah I know sounds familiar)) but I might have it. I'll keep you updated.
 

Cob24

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Can't wait to hear the sober results :D ... and I hope when you say 'robbed' that you didn't actually have something stolen from you at the game! That would suck.

Yeah it's wicking now. Not sure I like the juice I have in there at the moment though. I guess I was choking my wick too much causing that taste.
As far as being robbed at the game I was just bitter we didn't get on tv. There was a big fight in the parking lot and they stopped serving beer at halftime because of it.
 

Cob24

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Ok, after using mine for several hours now, I'm stoked. I used 28 gauge Kanthal, 3/32" bit, 10 wraps, 1.8 ohm. Organic cotton wick... Built just like PBusardo did his. Not too many issues, though, I am have used too much cotton, cause the draw got a little bit tighter after an hour or two.
I'm jealous of how well yours is going. I'm definitely using a bigger bit when I get the rest of my kanthal later this week. I'm putting in my third cotton wick now. Hoping I have the success I had the previous one.
 

Cob24

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You'll get it brother, that's the beauty of these devices. You can experiment and find what works! Don't give up!! Message me and I can give you my email if you want. I can do some step by step pics or something...

Yeah I think my problem was shooting too high with the microcoil things. I've made my coils too small for the wicking I used. So I think I'll have more success when I make my coil a little bigger.
If you can the pics would probably be great on here and helpful to more people.
 
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