Thats it!!!! I'm done!!! (KFL)

[Garemlin]

After trying every conceivable combination of coil and wick amount I am done with these KFL's.

My journey

• Dry hits with obviously too much wick (my stupid first build)
  
• Dry hits with too little wick
  
• Flooding
• Working perfect after the build but get dry hits after the next fill
• Worked great when closing the afc to "suck a golf ball through a garden hose" level but then dry hits after filling
  
• Tried priming a little when I get dry hits after the next fill but then leaks from the air holes

I'm just one of those that can't seem to get it right. I have watched so many build videos and taken every bit of advice offered but my results still SUCK!!!!

I still have my trusty Taifun GT and hopefully I will have good luck with my inbound Squape clone. But the close tolerance levels of the KFL and my patience level are not good bedfellows. LOL

 

[Kang]

Aww man I'm sorry to hear you're not liking it. If you can get it close to where it's not dry wicking too much and not flooding, you cover the air hole and take a little draw, it will force juice into the chamber.

If you're still over it, I'd take it off your hands xD

 

[GargoyleK1]

Gimmie that KayFun yo!!!!

PM me your details and price.. We can talk…

If ya still wanna try it I'll give all the help I can.

 

[glassgrl]

You're not alone Garemlin. I was this >< close to getting the hammer. All the videos and wicking material and tricks and tips didn't help. I gave that stupid thing away.

 

[Garemlin]

I have three. One angelcigs KFL with no afc. Which surprisingly works the best. And two EHPro KFL+ v2 with dual afc.

@Kang and @GargoyleK1 Were either of you interested in all three???

 

[Garemlin]

You're not alone Garemlin. I was this >< close to getting the hammer. All the videos and wicking material and tricks and tips didn't help. I gave that stupid thing away.

Haha the thought has crossed my mind. But selling these damn things will fund something else.

 

[Thunderball]

I did master the Kayfun, and wont waste your time with any "tips". But you know, besides not hitting quite as hard as the Kayfun, that Taifun is easier to wick, easier to fix if you don't wick it right, the cotton lasts longer in a Taifun compared to the Kayfun and arguably it has a bit better taste.

Dont sweat it. Cheers

 

[Garemlin]

I did master the Kayfun, and wont waste your time with any "tips". But you know, besides not hitting quite as hard as the Kayfun, that Taifun ids easier to wick, easier to fix if you dont wick it right, the cotton lasts longet than the Taifun and arguably it has a bit better taste.

Dont sweat it. Cheers

I would be open to tips if I hadn't already heard them all. LOL Some people, like me, can just never get it quite right. Which I have heard people say about the Taifun GT. I got that one right. Just seems like the KFL has such a small window of error tolerance. It is either right or it is not. No in between.

 

[GargoyleK1]

I have three. One angelcigs KFL with no afc. Which surprisingly works the best. And two EHPro KFL+ v2 with dual afc.

@Kang and @GargoyleK1 Were either of you interested in all three???

The EhPro ones I would be interested in...

 

[Thunderball]

I had to edit my above post..... the cotton lasts longer in a Taifun than the Kayfun before its burnt

 

[Kang]

I have three. One angelcigs KFL with no afc. Which surprisingly works the best. And two EHPro KFL+ v2 with dual afc.

@Kang and @GargoyleK1 Were either of you interested in all three???

On second thought, I'm saving up for a dna30 build >< all you Gargoyle lol

 

[Garemlin]

I had to edit my above post..... the cotton lasts longer in a Taifun than the Kayfun before its burnt

I saw that but knew what you meant. And I agree. Cotton does last longer and the vapor is warmer and more flavorful with the Taifun.

 

[UncleRJ]

Sorry to hear that you have been having issues.

I have both the EHPro KFL+ and the Angelcigs KFL. Both have worked very well for me and I have never had a dry hit from either one of them.

This is the video that I watched and exactly how I build them if that will help you out.

 

[Garemlin]

Sorry to hear that you have been having issues.

I have both the EHPro KFL+ and the Angelcigs KFL. Both have worked very well for me and I have never had a dry hit from either one of them.

This is the video that I watched and exactly how I build them if that will help you out.

Just had wrist surgery so even attempting another build right now would be impossible. No video there but I am sure I have watched it at one point. LOL

 

[UncleRJ]

Just had wrist surgery so even attempting another build right now would be impossible. No video there but I am sure I have watched it at one point. LOL

Ooops, sorry bout that, I just put the video in there.

Hope your surgery went well and that you are well on the way to recovery!

 

[retrox]

Original KFL's are finicky devices, and cloned KFL's are often even more so. Five factors that must be part of the equation when setting up a KFL, ranked (loosely) in order from most important to least (differing opinions are welcomed):

1 - Width of juice channels
2 - Amount of airflow
3 - PG/VG ratio of juice
4 - Type of wicking material
5 - Amount of wicking material

I have 7 KFL's: 2 SvoeMesto originals, 1 Russian 91% original, 2 of the Artemus Black Editions (v1), 1 EHPro, and 1 Tobeco. Each brand performs differently and requires different handling. For instance, the Tobeco has wide juice channels, making it ideal for my max VG stuff, but it will flood like a mofo if I run any more than 30% PG through it at my preferred airflow setting. The EHPro is one of their first Lite clones without AFC, and the airflow inlet is too small for the device to be of any use with anything other than 100% VG. Even then, I'll borrow your "sucking a golf ball..." analogy here. I'm not using that device any more for this reason.

There is a subtle balance you must strike with airflow, juice viscosity, and the actual physical machining characteristics of your particular device to find that sweet spot. As far as wicking, the ability for your juice to flow freely into the evaporation chamber is paramount. Even an overstuffed chamber can be effective (although not necessarily optimal) as long as your airflow is working in harmony with your juice viscosity.

Finally, I always recommend using cotton yarn in a KFL over loose cotton to ease rewicking and to keep the amount of wick measurably consistent. I would not recommend silica as it doesn't saturate as quickly as cotton, and you absolutely need as much wicking speed as possible. I always recommend using a macro coil (wide bore, fewer wraps) instead of micro or standard. The idea is that you want the shortest, fattest wick possible, and you need a wide bore coil to accomplish that. I aim for around 1 ohm, though I've gone as low as .5 with good results using my particular build method (which is unique enough that I may eventually make a how-to video).

Just trying to help in case you haven't given up entirely.

 

[Garemlin]

Original KFL's are finicky devices, and cloned KFL's are often even more so. Five factors that must be part of the equation when setting up a KFL, ranked (loosely) in order from most important to least (differing opinions are welcomed):

1 - Width of juice channels
2 - Amount of airflow
3 - PG/VG ratio of juice
4 - Type of wicking material
5 - Amount of wicking material

I have 7 KFL's: 2 SvoeMesto originals, 1 Russian 91% original, 2 of the Artemus Black Editions (v1), 1 EHPro, and 1 Tobeco. Each brand performs differently and requires different handling. For instance, the Tobeco has wide juice channels, making it ideal for my max VG stuff, but it will flood like a mofo if I run any more than 30% PG through it at my preferred airflow setting. The EHPro is one of their first Lite clones without AFC, and the airflow inlet is too small for the device to be of any use with anything other than 100% VG. Even then, I'll borrow your "sucking a golf ball..." analogy here. I'm not using that device any more for this reason.

There is a subtle balance you must strike with airflow, juice viscosity, and the actual physical machining characteristics of your particular device to find that sweet spot. As far as wicking, the ability for your juice to flow freely into the evaporation chamber is paramount. Even an overstuffed chamber can be effective (although not necessarily optimal) as long as your airflow is working in harmony with your juice viscosity.

Finally, I always recommend using cotton yarn in a KFL over loose cotton to ease rewicking and to keep the amount of wick measurably consistent. I would not recommend silica as it doesn't saturate as quickly as cotton, and you absolutely need as much wicking speed as possible. I always recommend using a macro coil (wide bore, fewer wraps) instead of micro or standard. The idea is that you want the shortest, fattest wick possible, and you need a wide bore coil to accomplish that. I aim for around 1 ohm, though I've gone as low as .5 with good results using my particular build method (which is unique enough that I may eventually make a how-to video).

Just trying to help in case you haven't given up entirely.

That is the funny part. I only use cotton yarn. I use it doubled over and snipped so it barely touches the deck. I never use silica and I could never get the consistency right with shredding cotton. I have tried 2mm, 2.4mm and 3mm coils. 2.4 is what I use the most. Usually 7-9 wraps. If I hadn't just filled all three I would post a pic of the build for critique.

My juices are mostly 60pg/40vg.

As I said the only way I can get good flavor and vapor with no dry hits is to tighten the afc down. I just discovered this yesterday. Screwed them way in and vaped happily all day. When they were backed out is when I was getting dry hits.

The thing that I really don't get is how the damn thing can be working fine before a fill. I am pretty sure I have the coil, coil placement and wicking right. Which is why when I first build it, it works great. Maybe the occasional dry hit but nothing a primer puff won't cure. After filling is mostly when things go south. So there is a variable somewhere in there that I am missing.

 

[Garemlin]

Ooops, sorry bout that, I just put the video in there.

Hope your surgery went well and that you are well on the way to recovery!

Thanks. Getting better slowly.

And yup I had watched that video a while back when I was researching the KFL and if it would be worth a shot.

 

[Fishee]

I have a KF clone that I picked up from fasttech and I had those same issues and finally just threw it in my junk box and stopped using it entirely......until
I discovered rayon and learned how to properly wick with rayon and then decided to try it in that piece of junk KF clone just for shits and giggles.
No more flooding, no more dry hits, no more KF clone in the junk box.
I don't know where you stand with the rayon but once you get a good feel on how to use the stuff it's amazing.
I had tried everything I could think of with the cotton, the yarn the silica and nothing worked.
First rayon wick in it and perfection.
This was my experience YMMV
Glad your recovery is going well and if you do sell them hope you get a great new something or other that works well.

 

[retrox]

If you're building the "traditional" way (as in, the way 99% of YT'ers I've seen build), you're placing your coil at an angle so that your wicks tuck down into either side of each juice channel. Try fastening your coil leads so that the bore of your coil is lined up with the juice channels. It's a bit tricky, as you'll be tightening the deck screws in such a way that it'll tend to push the leads out. Just hook those suckers around the screw a bit to facilitate tightening.

Screw your chamber onto the deck before you snip your cotton (push the strands up with your thumb and index finger so that they feed through the cylinder). Snip and discard everything sticking out above the top of the cylinder. Your wick length is now perfect. Now, with your double strand of cotton, use some pointy tweezers to tuck each strand down on either side of the juice channel (on both sides of the chamber). You'll end up with an inverted Y shape on each side, where the stem of the Y is where your coil is. So you'll have two "tails" of wick on each side, with a gap in the center where the juice channel is.

Hope that makes sense, I'll try to snap some pics later. This is the exact deck configuration I use on all my KFLs, and it performs flawlessly with AFC set properly. When the juice enters the chamber, there is literally nowhere else for it to go but into the wicks, unlike the "traditional" build, where there is plenty of space for it to make its way up the terminals and down into the central airflow channel.

edit: Oh, one more thing I really need to mention: Get some clear full sized M-Tanks!

http://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10006473/1678200-replacement-polycarbonate-tanks-for-kayfun-3-1

If I'd had those when I first started with this device it would've saved me a great deal of frustration. The advantage to using clear tanks is that you can see if the device is working properly or not. If you're not getting consistent little bubbles from those juice inlets every hit, tweak that AFC until you are!

 

[Chowder]

This one thing I haven't noticed anybody taking about yet: juice control! I don't know if you're using the top fill method, but on my 3.1 the chimney is a juice control and backs out (unthreads) as I take the top off. This leaves a greater amount of the channels exposed, which in turn allows for more juice to enter the chamber; leading to flooding. I can also adjust the chimney to any point between flooding/leaking or dry hits. If everything you are doing is solid, try paying around with the juice control before giving up entirely. You may still have problems, or it might just be what you've been missing.

 

[Garemlin]

This one thing I haven't noticed anybody taking about yet: juice control! I don't know if you're using the top fill method, but on my 3.1 the chimney is a juice control and backs out (unthreads) as I take the top off. This leaves a greater amount of the channels exposed, which in turn allows for more juice to enter the chamber; leading to flooding. I can also adjust the chimney to any point between flooding/leaking or dry hits. If everything you are doing is solid, try paying around with the juice control before giving up entirely. You may still have problems, or it might just be what you've been missing.

This is the first time I have ever heard this mentioned. So what you are saying is by tightening or loosening the chimney you are controlling juice flow?? Is this by design or just something that you found works for you by accident?? Seems there would be a major learning curve trying to find the right threading of the chimney for the right amount of juice flow to the channels.

 

[VapedCrusader]

maybe I'm just lucky but I picked up a KF black edition v2 after taking about a year off from RBA's and I've never had a problem.. first time using cotton too and there were a couple times I overwicked and got a couple dry hits, but I pretty much know how much to use now to get it perfect.. I use different kinds of ratios and never had any flooding issues either.

I have some rayon finally on its way so I'm hoping that helps cut back having to rewick after every friggin tank I go through.. Heard its the best thing next to sliced bread. We shall see!

 

[Garemlin]

Ok so I ran the tank dry. Here is the build. Am I doing anything wrong??

Tap'd from my LG G2

 

[SeniorBoy]

OP ---> Some great tips. I'm a firm believer in whatever works reliably so each of us may have a slightly different method. I have about 10 KFs and the key for me is to FIRST trim the wick and then saturate it BEFORE I install the chimney. I DO NOT thread the wick up through the chimney, stuff it down, and then saturate. See the following pic and this is exactly what my build looks like before I install the chimney. This is Bio Wick Organic cotton:



EDIT: The wick just touches the ledge and as I'm saturating it I also push it back towards the block so it does not catch on the chimney. When I change wicks via a strip down the chimney has held the wick flush up against the block. Works every time. No dry hits. Wicks like a champ. Always filled from the bottom. Note that I'm a single coil kinda guy around 1.4 OHMS.

HTH

 

[Chowder]

This is the first time I have ever heard this mentioned. So what you are saying is by tightening or loosening the chimney you are controlling juice flow?? Is this by design or just something that you found works for you by accident?? Seems there would be a major learning curve trying to find the right threading of the chimney for the right amount of juice flow to the channels.

It's actually by design. I can't remember which model right now, but one of them actually has slots in the top of the flute so when you take off the drip tip, you can adjust it with a standard (strait slot) screwdriver. I find that after I place my build, or refill, I close the chimney all the way and then back off about 3/4 to 1.5 turns. Right around 2 full back turns, I started to notice flooding/leaking while using 50/50 juice. When refilling I noticed that the o ring in the drip tip base has enough friction to turn the chimney as you unscrew it, causing it to back off. Before I place more juice in, I simply use my fingertips to readjust the chimney. Since you've had surgery, sorry to hear that by the way, I suggest needle nose pliers or something similar. Just screw it back down and unscrew to the desired flow rate.

 

[Liu]

In total contrast, I position my coil at 45 degrees to the juice channels, and I use ball cotton. Tank's full right now, or I'd try to get some photos to show it off, but here's a (probably lengthy) description.

I build and position my coil as close to the airflow as possible without shorting out, and I use a 3/32 mandrel with 5-8 wraps, regardless of the wire. Ohm reading is tuned by adding or subtracting a wrap, and by selection of wire.

Wick layout is everything in the Kays. I unroll a cotton ball into a flat sheet, then tear off 1/3 of it's width, about 2" long. Then I gently pull at it to align the fibres and fluff it out, not compress or roll or twist the body of the wick in any way. Twist the very end into a point to thread it through, and hold the wide end while pulling the point, it will bunch up just a tad on the wide end. Straighten that out a little then pull back and forth until you get a fairly even, fluffy wick. Pull the tails upward, thread on the chamber tube, and clip off about 1/4" above the tube, then work the tails down onto the shelf, along the side of the deck and over the juice channels, without stuffing it in. When viewed from above, the layout of the wick should look like an "S" with the tails laying on their sides on the shelf.

Then I'll prime the wick, as dry cotton takes a little time to saturate at first, and the tank doesn't feed anything into the chamber unless you draw. (Forgetting this a few times, I've dry hit on a brand new build/wick, and full tank, and had to strip it all down and change cotton) Assemble and fill as usual.

 

[Midniteoyl]

View attachment 1626

After trying every conceivable combination of coil and wick amount I am done with these KFL's.

My journey

• Dry hits with obviously too much wick (my stupid first build)
  
• Dry hits with too little wick
  
• Flooding
• Working perfect after the build but get dry hits after the next fill
• Worked great when closing the afc to "suck a golf ball through a garden hose" level but then dry hits after filling
  
• Tried priming a little when I get dry hits after the next fill but then leaks from the air holes

I'm just one of those that can't seem to get it right. I have watched so many build videos and taken every bit of advice offered but my results still SUCK!!!!

I still have my trusty Taifun GT and hopefully I will have good luck with my inbound Squape clone. But the close tolerance levels of the KFL and my patience level are not good bedfellows. LOL

View attachment 1623 View attachment 1624

Pretty much right there with ya.. I did make it 3 tanks with this build using NETs.. Open coils.. try it.

 

[Liu]

Yep, my wicking is exactly like Midnite's, I just use compressed coils.