Kayfun Lite Plus Clone Issues

[ashron64]

Hey,
I recently got my first RBA, the kayfun lite plus by tobeco. I'm having a few small issues that I hope someone can clear up for me.
1) Everytime I fill the tank, I end up with flooding and leaking. I was using the fill screw in the bottom, but it kept leaking through the mouthpiece. I read some notes on how to top fill and I get mixed results. Sometimes it works well and sometimes it doesn't. Here's what I'm doing now:
I place my thumb over the air intake hole on the side and unscrew the top cap, fill it up with juice several threads below the top, screw the top cap back on a few times and invert the tank, wait for the air bubbles to rise, release my thumb from the air hole, and screw on the top cap, and flip it back upright.
Like I said it get mixed results. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?
Also, do you use a different process when you are just refilling than you do when you've re-wicked or built a new coil?
2) I'm having some issues with flooding and dry hits when vaping. I've been told that this is probably mostly due to too much wick/not enough wick. Any ideas?

Using a 1.5-1.6 ohm 28 guage kanthal micro coil and organic cotton wick on a vamo v5.
Thanks in advance!

 

[State O' Flux]

Hey,
I recently got my first RBA, the kayfun lite plus by tobeco. I'm having a few small issues that I hope someone can clear up for me.
1) Everytime I fill the tank, I end up with flooding and leaking. I was using the fill screw in the bottom, but it kept leaking through the mouthpiece.
If it's leaking from the DT after bottom filling (where an "automatic" negative pressure should occur in the tank after turning upright) - with the chimney screwed down all the way and the top cap o-ring seated in it's recess - then you have an actual leak, between the chimney "tube" and the o-ring that it goes through in the top cap.
Basically, you have a manufacturing defect or error... and this is not the first time this issue has come up, or only with this brand of clone.

A few quick fixes. Visually inspect this area. If it's as I describe...

• Place a thin o-ring between chimney base and cap, to space the "tube" up deeper into the o-ring.
• Another fix would be either using a small washer to space the top cap o-ring down, a thicker o-ring, or a custom "extended" o-ring made from silicone tubing (which has worked nicely on more than one KF clone).
• A more complicated fix is to shorten, by using a file or other method of machining, the tank metal section(s).
  
  In all cases, you are trying to get the chimney tube deeper into the sealing o-ring.

2) I'm having some issues with flooding and dry hits when vaping. I've been told that this is probably mostly due to too much wick/not enough wick. Any ideas?
Experiment with wick density, thickness and length. If the wick is too tight in the coil, it will restrict juice capacity within the coil. If the wick is too tightly rolled, it will be slow to wick. Length fine tuning can cure both flooding and dry hits. A loosely fit, thinner and sometimes longer wick can often cure both issues.

Using a 1.5-1.6 ohm 28 guage kanthal micro coil and organic cotton wick on a vamo v5.
Thanks in advance!

You can go to a lower resistance with the Vamo... if you choose. I've found that, although somewhat juice blend dependent, a sweet spot for Kayfun type attys is between 0.8Ω~1.2Ω.

 

[ashron64]

Thanks for the great info. A couple quick questions. Could I use any of the supplied extra o-rings to accomplish that fix? I have used thinner cotton before and not had any dry hit issues, but I had flooding issues. You think I should try making it thinner but leave the tails a little longer? Also, I thought that the vamo was limited to 1.5 ohms, is that not the case?

 

[State O' Flux]

Thanks for the great info. A couple quick questions. Could I use any of the supplied extra o-rings to accomplish that fix? I have used thinner cotton before and not had any dry hit issues, but I had flooding issues. You think I should try making it thinner but leave the tails a little longer? Also, I thought that the vamo was limited to 1.5 ohms, is that not the case?

Leak fix: No... none of the supplied o-rings will do the trick, you'd need a good selection of o-rings to experiment with... or a trip to the hobby shop or hardware store, with the atty in hand.
I've used the silicone carb overflow hose from dirt bike carbs to make "extended o-rings" with. Sounds weird, works fine. ;-)

Truthfully, if it's like most KF clones that are mis-machined, you only need about 0.040" or so deeper fit, and an o-ring between chimney bottom and top would be the easiest, quickest.
Got any old clearos or glassos laying around? Plenty of about the right size o-ring (about 10-11mm) there.

Wick: Yes, try that. thinner, perhaps less densely rolled and longer. My KFL+ and R91% cotton or hemp wicks are all about an inch long. This also allows you to adjust the wicks so they aren't laying on the build deck.
A small point... just for convenience. It helps if you (over or under) wrap your coils so the open ends are in the 10:00/4:00 position... so when you screw on the chimney bottom, the wick tails are pulled away from the coil, rather than bunched into the corner of the juice decks.
AFC adjustments, if you don't already know, can affect flood/dry hit issues. Less fresh air means more vacuum and more juice available for the wick, per draw... more air, less juice.

Vamo: The Vamo V5 has a 5 amp limit, so in theory, if you had no low resistance limiter, you could go to 0.6Ω. The advertising says "Fit atomizers with resistance 1.5~5.0 ohm."... but it most folks seem to be able to go at least down to 1.2~1.3Ω.

 

[ashron64]

I'll give it a shot. Thanks again!

 

[iowajosh]

I've had real issues with the top of the chimney seals in the $15 clones. I also put an o-ring around the middle of the chimney and I've had luck rounding off the corners on the very top of the chimney as well because they don't smoothly slide inside the o-ring.

When the thing is sealed up and working right, no issues with using the fill screw. If it leaks out the top when filling, there are going the be flooding issues down the road, anyway.

 

[jonhall2]

i have an ehpro lite plus clone and two v5 vamos. first the vamos, will fire down to what it reads as 1.2ohms. in reality, that is 1.37ohm minimum when using an ohm meter. the vamos also read battery condition .1v lower than actual. that taken into consideration they are still an amazing value and excellent performers. i typically use 30ga. on 1/16" bit 6/7 wrap coils 1.4ohm with cotton and fire at 9watts most juices. mine are 70/30 pg/vg. as the unit heats up either set it down to cool or drop a half watt. on a cool broken-in unit i may start at 9.5watts for a few puffs and then retreat. 10watts is almost certain burnt taste. i lightly juice the wick and test fire before attaching the chimney top and m-tank. you will get leakage before installing the tank if you soak the wick. no worry it will soon go away. i fill from the top initially and refill from the bottom. also when breaking in a new setup, suck on the mouthpiece to clear the vent hole and pulse the power while tasting to be sure you are not burning cotton. i use 6 watts until it is wicking new juice and then kick it up. my first experience with leakage was due to over pre-wetting the wick during assembly. also kayfuns don't like being laid down horizontally. there is always some possibility of leakage and its a good idea to inspect frequently, dry if needed, and wash your hands if juiced.
thread as much cotton as will slide without bunching behind the coil. my 1/16" coils use about a forth of cotton ball width to start and adjusted as needed. remember it needs to slide through the coil. you can pull on the tail of your cotton gently while pulling on the thread end and slide as much as will fit without bunching or tugging on the coil. pulling on the tail gently helps eliminate slight bunching by orienting the cotton strands straighter. once enough length is slid through i slide back and forth, feel the resistance and cut cotton to deck height length. resulting wick is about an inch long total. i like to install the combustion chamber straight down over a dry wick. this keeps cotton straighter to deck and lets me see the length is good. i start a thread and look down the chamber to see if the wick is caught while turning. it usually moves but not actually caught in the thread. back off a little and gently thread it all the way down. back off a thread at the bottom and then tighten securely. 2-3 drops on the coil and a couple on each side. i use a sewing needle to knead juice into the wick both sides. just make sure the cotton is wet. maybe one last drop on the coil and test fire. screw on the chimney, tank, fill it up and cap. i don't have dry hits unless the tank is empty. i rewick every three tanks or for flavor change. tobacco, dark colored, and sweet juices seem to gunk sooner. as always, experience will soon make you the master. happy vaping

 

[jonhall2]

on a different note: if you want to go subohm, i got a nemesis clone, a kick 2, and purple efest batteries. i build the same coil as always but with 28ga. i get a .8ohm resistance and can fire at 12watts regulated. i have this build in my lite plus now and love the flavor 28ga. unleashes. the tank is full with five pawns castle long clone i made yesterday. the recipe will be posted in the flavor apprentice recipes only thread soon after i verify the percentages.

 

[ashron64]

Thanks for the great info. I'll get the hang of it. Practice makes perfect lol