Kayfun hates to travel

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Asbestos4004

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We drove to the Ohio Valley from the Atlanta area for the holidays. My kayfun Lite hates elevation changes. Apparently the elevation changes really mess with the pressure and apparently the kayfun family likes to stay in one place. Flooding has been a constant issue. I'm ok driving through the snow and ice, but doing it while trying to calm the restless atty drives the wife nuts. I went back to cartomizers and a tank.....I've always liked those but I miss the Kayfun. It works fine in the hotel room though. How do people in the mountains get by? The Ithaka seems to work fine....I don't really get it. Bad builds or is this normal? My builds have been successful for months.... Anyone else experience anything like this?
 

DrillRX

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We drove to the Ohio Valley from the Atlanta area for the holidays. My Kayfun Lite hates elevation changes. Apparently the elevation changes really mess with the pressure and apparently the Kayfun family likes to stay in one place. Flooding has been a constant issue. I'm ok driving through the snow and ice, but doing it while trying to calm the restless atty drives the wife nuts. I went back to cartomizers and a tank.....I've always liked those but I miss the Kayfun. It works fine in the hotel room though. How do people in the mountains get by? The Ithaka seems to work fine....I don't really get it. Bad builds or is this normal? My builds have been successful for months.... Anyone else experience anything like this?


It's not the only one. When I travel I use my pro tank 2 and it does the exact same thing. My home is a 900' and the drive to Los Angeles is up to 4000' and back down to 500' again. I avoid using the tank going over the mountain and it seems fine when I get back down.
 

Steam Turbine

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It's not the only one. When I travel I use my pro tank 2 and it does the exact same thing. My home is a 900' and the drive to Los Angeles is up to 4000' and back down to 500' again. I avoid using the tank going over the mountain and it seems fine when I get back down.

my protank does that.... Not my kayfun
 

Paul.K

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We drove to the Ohio Valley from the Atlanta area for the holidays. My Kayfun Lite hates elevation changes. Apparently the elevation changes really mess with the pressure and apparently the Kayfun family likes to stay in one place. Flooding has been a constant issue. I'm ok driving through the snow and ice, but doing it while trying to calm the restless atty drives the wife nuts. I went back to cartomizers and a tank.....I've always liked those but I miss the Kayfun. It works fine in the hotel room though. How do people in the mountains get by? The Ithaka seems to work fine....I don't really get it. Bad builds or is this normal? My builds have been successful for months.... Anyone else experience anything like this?

One type of leaking on kf's can be associated with o-rings. They may not be bad and just may need a good cleaning. I had this issue last week so I inspected all the o-rings thoroughly and did not find any that were ripped or scuffed. I took all the o-rings off and soaked everything overnight in hot water. This week zero leaks and is holding pressure very well. Try it, it might work.
 

quatro

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We drove to the Ohio Valley from the Atlanta area for the holidays. My Kayfun Lite hates elevation changes. Apparently the elevation changes really mess with the pressure and apparently the Kayfun family likes to stay in one place. Flooding has been a constant issue. I'm ok driving through the snow and ice, but doing it while trying to calm the restless atty drives the wife nuts. I went back to cartomizers and a tank.....I've always liked those but I miss the Kayfun. It works fine in the hotel room though. How do people in the mountains get by? The Ithaka seems to work fine....I don't really get it. Bad builds or is this normal? My builds have been successful for months.... Anyone else experience anything like this?

Weird, mine went with me from Dallas to Tokyo, Osaka, then back to Narita and Dallas (10 day trip), no issues!
 

State O' Flux

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Here's how they work...

You start with X negative pressure (vacuum) in the tank. 'X' is determined by variables in the air system, the original assembly vacuum and user generated vacuum. In the vent system, we have atmospheric (14.7 psi at sea level) or positive pressure. One pressure balanced against the other... both working to keep the juice in the tank, rather than your pocket.

You go to a higher elevation and what happens? Right, atmospheric pressure drops. At 5,000 feet, a bit less than 20%.

Now... how does that effect a Kayfun or any other pressure differential atomizer? There is less positive pressure pushing against the fluid boundary between pressures... and to compound matters, our vacuum is also decreasing as elevation increases. At our 5,000 feet, a little less than a 20% loss of vacuum. (Funny how some of these numbers seem to correlate... ain't it? ;-) )

At some point, as pressure inside and outside approach a neutral point, our pressure differential isn't sufficient to keep the fluid from flowing (gravity, fluid dynamics, capillary action) into the positive pressure area of the atomizer.

Two things to consider: The wick used, it's density and volume come into play, as the wick acts as a sort of "leaky seal" between the two pressures. Taking draws, with the vent system covered, will serve to increase (supplement) vacuum in the tank.

The folks that build Kayfuns at high elevations have less to work with in both absolute vacuum and pressure, but the balance is the same, so they have no elevation induced issues. All you have to do, as a "flatlander"... as elevation increases, compensate.
 

toddrhodes

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Very informative post! FWIW, I took both a KFL clone and my Russian 91 on a flight, on my person, last week. No issues after landing with leaking or anything. They weren't completely full though, I figured if they were full I'd have issues so I only had them at about 50% capacity. The amount of gear I took for a 3 day trip was embarrassing but I was not about to run out of options 2000 miles from home :)
 

State O' Flux

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Cool stuff, flux! Turns out I had a tank section cocked a tiny bit and my positive pin loosened up a tiny bit. The cocked tank prevented a good seal from the top cap to the chimney and the positive pin allowed play in the deck. All is well in the hills. Thanks folks!
Understandable. I've gotten in the habit of, having a few Kayfun and Russian attys, disassembling them completely, dumping what ever has found it's way to the collector (if it has one), re-lubricating all the seals and o-rings and reassembling. Somehow, things you had previously only snugged... found a way to have self-tightened. :blink:

It's the only way I can keep track of maintenance - without resorting to writing it all down. :blush:

Ooops... a quick addendum: Forgot to mention, that's every few weeks for maintenance. At first read, it almost seemed as though I might do that on a daily basis.
facepalm.gif
 
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Myrany

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I wonder if temperature change is not a big part of it. I know until about a week ago we were still hitting 90F in the afternoons and suddenly we have had a cold snap. Actually hitting freezing at night (yeah I know thats nothing but for us it is cold). All my tank style devices are misbehaving now when I go out.
 

Subdivisions

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I wonder if temperature change is not a big part of it. I know until about a week ago we were still hitting 90F in the afternoons and suddenly we have had a cold snap. Actually hitting freezing at night (yeah I know thats nothing but for us it is cold). All my tank style devices are misbehaving now when I go out.

Quick temperature changes cause my protank or evods to flood. I noticed it mainly in the summer going from inside to outside on a hot day.
 
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