Kayfun Lite Flooding - Russian 91%

[DaveP]

You can check your o-ring seals by holding your finger over the air hole and drawing normally through the drip tip. It should be tight like a plugged soda straw. If you get juice gurgling when you draw harder while your finger is blocking the air hole, then you probably have a good seal and juice is drawn in since the o-rings aren't leaking air.

If you can draw air through it without juice being pulled in, there's an air leak. I'd fill it through the phillips screw at the bottom. You get no gurgling after a fill that way and you don't stress the o-rings every time you fill.

 

[Whistle_Pig]

Nope, no air leak.

 

[PONKAW]

I wonder if there should be an o-ring there at the base of the chimney. Looks like there's a cove machined for one.

For clarification: Do you mean the bottom of the chimney or the bottom of the top cap? There should be an 8mm oring seated in the bottom of the cap to catch and seal the chimney tube. If it's not there it kills the vacuum and will flood and leak.

 

[Whistle_Pig]

For clarification: Do you mean the bottom of the chimney or the bottom of the top cap? There should be an 8mm oring seated in the bottom of the cap to catch and seal the chimney tube. If it's not there it kills the vacuum and will flood and leak.

At the bottom of the threads, below the coil deck, i.e. at the very bottom of the tank. The ID of the machined cove there is 11mm.

I wonder whether the inherent design is just not right for me. The amount of juice coming into the coil chamber is dependent on lowered air pressure during the draw, so if the coil isn't keeping up with that, does it really matter what the wick does? Eventually, if the wick/coil aren't keeping up with the inflow, the juice level will reach the air hole, and also, I assume that as more wick is covered by juice at the bottom, the wick will supply more juice to the coil, but if the coil isn't keeping up, it'll vape like a flooded 510.

 

[DaveP]

Unscrew the air adjustment to where the screw is flush with the body if there's an adjustment screw next to the air hole. More air = less juice. Draw slow and easy and find the point that provides the right juice feed.

The other option is to turn up the voltage to burn off the excess juice. If you are at 3.7 volts go to 4.7 and see if the extra voltage can vaporize the excess. You may have to do both if your juice is thin. I vape a 1.8 ohm coil at 4.5v all the time with 100% PG and the wick never goes dry. If I want thinner vapor I drop to 3.7v. It all depends on the juice I'm vaping.

If you are used to a free and airy draw you may not get it with the Kayfun. Heavy draws will flood it over time. It's a little tighter than an Aspire Nautilus or a Kanger Aerotank mega, but the flavor is worth getting used to the draw. The secret to keeping up with the juice feed to the coil is to find the highest voltage you like that vaporizes enough liquid to keep the coil at the right level. Slow easy draws will help. You will be surprised at how much voltage it can take without burning the juice.

 

[PONKAW]

Mine is a Russian 91%. I'm running 1.8 on a mech, so 3.7V nominal.

Oh, I should add that I'm using DIY, 60%VG.

Have you tried running 4.0-4.2 volts? Should be quite do-able at 1.8ohms, and will help clear the wick.

 

[Whistle_Pig]

I use a mech. K100, hoping to get something better, maybe an ELA from SuperT, at some point. I like a somewhat tight draw, and I've already opened up the airflow on the Kayfun as much as I can tolerate. My normal vape right now is a Mini Vivi-Nova at 1.8. I rebuild those, but there are issues with that, so the Kayfun is a hope for something a little better.

 

[PONKAW]

WP,
It is possible you have a dud kayfun. Since you use a mech exclusively, there is no way for you to regulate (change the heat characteristics) of the vape, and that's fine, but it limits a portion of your ability to control your experience.
Out of the 4 kayfuns I have owned, one was a dud... (a kayfun lite plus clone), whistled like crazy, and I was constantly fighting the juice/air flow. My two identical 3.1s i use everyday in rotation... and I have a Russian I use on occasion but is much harder to tune.
Just a thought... It sux but you may have gotten a lemon. It happens to all of us.

 

[Dshobe]

WP, the horizontal channels definitely look bunged up. I have 2 Russians with a 3rd on the way, and neither of mine look like that. I've been getting good at coiling and wicking these things over the past month or so. I'm in the Littleton area if you'd like to meet up and grab a coffee. Maybe I could give you a couple pointers. Pm me if you'd like.

 

[Whistle_Pig]

WP, It is possible you have a dud kayfun... It sux but you may have gotten a lemon. It happens to all of us.

I would think there are some objective criterion by which I could establish that. Mechanical drawings, for example. What diameter should the juice channels be?

 

[Whistle_Pig]

WP, the horizontal channels definitely look bunged up. I have 2 Russians with a 3rd on the way, and neither of mine look like that. I've been getting good at coiling and wicking these things over the past month or so. I'm in the Littleton area if you'd like to meet up and grab a coffee. Maybe I could give you a couple pointers. Pm me if you'd like.

Thanks for the offer, PM on the way.

I'm not all that bothered by the channels -- I can polish that out. I do have 14-day warranty, so Sat. is my drop-dead date. Glad I bought this locally. Hate to have to return something though. Well, I suppose I can head over to Cignot and have them look at it anyway.

 

[Dshobe]

Texted you. I went back and looking at the pictures you posted, your coil looks to be sitting pretty high above the air hole compared to where I set mine.

 

[vapdivrr]

Texted you. I went back and looking at the pictures you posted, your coil looks to be sitting pretty high above the air hole compared to where I set mine.

They do look slightly high, but that will not make it flood.

 

[Whistle_Pig]

I think it comes down to the juice channels being too deep. But I don't have another to compare to. Have to get over to Cignot's Denver store today and see what they say.

 

[vapdivrr]

I think it comes down to the juice channels being too deep. But I don't have another to compare to. Have to get over to Cignot's Denver store today and see what they say.

Could be..

 

[vapdivrr]

Whistle pig, have you looked at where the plastic tank threads meet metal threads? I remember once I had dropped the device and those threads jumped and had created a gap which messed up the pressure. Another time on one of my kayfuns one side of the plastic threads actually had a crack, this also made it a gurgling machine.

 

[Whistle_Pig]

I'm pretty sure I've dropped everything I have, except the Kayfun. No, no seal problems, exept one place where the guy at Cignot says no, isn't supposed to be an o-ring there, but I might stick one there anyway, if for no other reason, to keep it from unscrewing. I'll try to remember to take a pic next time I have it apart.

Verdict from Cignot is the unit is fine, it's just a matter of fiddling with the wick until it has the balance I want. He re-wicked it, with a bit more cotton than I've used, and it worked well @ 20W. But with a mech, I'll be at 18.5W. Seems that more (i.e. fatter) wick = less juice flow, so I'll be playing with that. One thing for sure, it delivers more nicotine from the same juice, which follows from vaporizing more liquid at once. Might be I can switch to higher VG and lower nic level as well, and improve it that way. Have to see how much VG I can use with my recipes. I'm sure there's room to go higher than 60%.

 

[Whistle_Pig]

Seems this is a place where there could be an air leak.




But I couldn't find any appropriate o-rings at my local hardware store. Nor at Amazon. Need to find a place that sells thin o-rings.

Also, Cignot advised that it'd be better with the tank more full, as that would have more "vacuum" in the tank during the draw. This doesn't seem to be the case, as it's worse with about 3ml in the tank. Makes me cough. Well, still some things to try.

ETA: Sealed those threads with Teflon tape.

 

[Dshobe]

I went up to Cignot today too, great folks there, thanks for the recommendation! I agree with him about having the tank filled more. His wicking recommendation was spot on as well. What is the square nut looking piece?

 

[Whistle_Pig]

What is the square nut looking piece?

That screws into the top cap of the tank. It's where the chimney goes through the top cap. I wasn't even aware it was a seperate piece, until I noticed it was loose when I was cleaning it up.

I have a new wick in there now -- as much cotton as I could get through the coil. It's almost OK. So, I mixed up some 72% VG juice to try. Have to give that a week or more to age a bit. That much cotton will be a pain to do every time, so I'm going to try a bit less actual wick, and then packing more cotton in around below.

Glad you liked the shop. I just wish they were someplace else. I imagine the retail rental is better there than around Santa Fe & Belleview though, or downtown Littleton.