Hello again. I’m back with you today to present another review for Sourcemore. I just recently reviewed the Kylin M boro tank which was the first time I’ve used any of the Kylin series of tanks but today I’m with you to attempt to present a fair and honest review on the Kylin V3 RTA. The V3 boasts a classic Kylin design but with innovative honeycomb airflow. The tank comes with a bubble glass section pre-installed but includes a spare straight glass. This is backwards to what I am used to seeing on most tanks. Normally they come with the straight glass installed. The Kylin V3 has a 6ml liquid capacity with the bubble glass but they don’t give a capacity for the straight glass. Perhaps they should have just included a second bubble glass instead. The Kylin V3 claims to support both single and dual coil builds. We’ve heard that story before and often times the single coil operation on a dual coil rta is subpar. I plan on testing this one in both configurations so I will let you know how that goes. I have found that it often helps to run an oversized coil when attempting to run a single coil in a dual coil rta since the wick ports are usually large and you need to have enough cotton to avoid flooding.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?
1* Kylin V3 RTA
1* Pyrex Glass Tube
1* Accessory Bag
1* Coil Lead Guide
2* Tripe Fused Clapton Coil
1* Instruction Manual
SPECIFICATIONS:
INITIAL THOUGHTS:
The Kylin V3 comes in a fairly plain looking box but has a clear viewing window which I very much like. The only text on the box is the Kylin 3 name. I’m a little surprised that the Vandy Vape name isn’t on the front also. As you can see in the picture below, I received the stainless steel version for this review and the bubble glass is pre-installed to provide a 6ml liquid capacity. The back side of the box has the usual contents list, a warning, and some features. I didn’t include pictures of the sides since I didn’t think it is necessary but there is an authenticity code and a sticker with the version and serial number on one side while the opposite side has the Vandy Vape company information.
Once the lid is removed then you can get a little better look at the tank sitting in a white foam insert along with a spare straight glass section also. Underneath the foam insert there is a cardboard divider and under that is where you find the accessories which includes two triple fused Clapton coils, a coil cutting guide, user manual, and an accessory bag with spare o rings, spare grub screws, and an allen wrench for the deck screws.
Here comes the broken record. Always clean your tanks before using them. I use a single drop of dish detergent in a glass cup with hot water. I let them soak for a short time and then rinse thoroughly and let them dry. The V3 breaks down easily and for once the glass tank section came off easily on this one.
The 810 drip tip is a nice height for me. I don’t like the really short ones. You might be able to see in the picture below that there is a black o ring in the top of the cap that secures the tip very well. Some prefer this but I have never really cared if the o ring was on the drip tip or in the top cap.
There is an o ring around the top of the center tube that can be seen with the top cap removed. It sits directly under the threads that the top cap screws on to. Yes, the top cap on the V3 is threaded and not a bayonet style cap like we see on most tanks these days. This seals the inner portion of the chamber while the o ring on the bottom side of the top cap seals the outside edge. Because of this you can fill the tank through the large fill ports all the way up to the bottom of the center o ring if you want to gain some extra capacity. I’m not sure if the 6ml capacity includes filling to the o ring or not.
I really like when a tank comes with a coil cutting guide like the Kylin V3 does. I’ve had other tanks come with these and there is an arrow on the side to tell you where to cut the coil legs but hadn’t seen one where the arrow was white like this one. That makes it extra easy to see which slot to use when cutting the coil(s). The Kylin M included two triple fused Clapton coils rated at .41 ohms each. They are 3mm in diameter and should read close to .2 ohms with both coils installed at the same time.
The build deck on the Kylin V3 isn’t really anything new as far as having the honeycomb airflow on both sides of the coils. There are 15 holes on each side of the deck. However, I don’t think that I’ve seen one with the honeycomb configuration like this one has underneath the coils. I counted 19 holes in this one. Feel free to count them for yourself to double check my counting skills. I very much like that they used Allen head screws on the build deck. To me there is less chance of stripping and it is easier to insert the hex screwdriver or wrench than trying to see a slot in a tiny slotted head screw.
The build deck for the V3 has plenty of building room. I think you could even go with two coils larger than 3mm on it and still have room. However, you would have to thin the tails out quite a bit to fit in the wick holes. Hopefully the wicking would keep up.
Since the V3 is advertised as a single or dual coil rta, I decided to start with a 3.5mm Ni80 flat wire coil for my first attempt. It came in at .53 ohms. I did a dry burn on the coil and inserted a cotton thread that fit well. The tails only had to be slightly thinned and fluffed to take up the room in the wick holes. I started low around 30 watts and worked my way up to 45 watts. This is a wattage setting that I seem to like with a lot of different coils. I started with the airflow about ¼ open and worked my way up to ½ open with the higher wattage. Even half open there is a lot of airflow so if you like big airflow then you’d probably like this tank.
I started out with the pre-installed bubble glass and ran a couple tanks through with it before switching to the straight glass. I kind of like the look of the straight glass on it but it requires more frequent filling. The results with the straight glass and the single coil were not great. To me the draw on the tank seemed different than with the bubble glass and I could only get up to about 42 watts with it without getting dryish hits. I turned it up to 45 which is a range I run in frequently and got a nasty dry hit. I thought maybe it was my wicking but when I put the bubble glass back on it wicked fine at 45 watts. Also, if you’re going to use the straight glass then you’re going to need to fill slowly because the liquid will back up on you instead of leveling out in the tank like it should if you fill too fast. I almost had mine overflow the first time filling it.
After running the single coil with the bubble glass a few days then decided to clean the tank out and install the dual coils that were included with the tank. The build deck has plenty of room even for two coils. I trimmed the coil legs at the 7 mark on the cutting guide and easily installed the coils, straightened them, and did a burn in on them. Next up was wicking both coils. I was able to use one COTN thread to wick both coils. The tails don’t need to be very long so I trimmed the wicks even with the outside of the knurled deck. You do need to give the wicks a good comb out since you are putting two into one hole and want to make sure not to over stuff the wick holes or it won’t work well. Some people like to just barely have the wick sticking in the holes but I like to see the cotton in the holes and as long as the wick ends aren’t too thick then it shouldn’t be an issue. To me this deck is super easy to build whether installing a single or dual coil build. I felt like I got really good flavor and of course larger vapor production compared to the single coil build. I honestly would not recommend using the straight glass tank section with the dual coil build. It just doesn’t seem like the tank wicks well enough with the straight glass and you can tell the straight glass seems a little too close to the inner chamber to allow proper liquid flow with thicker liquids. If you’re a higher pg ratio user then you might be fine with the straight glass but I mix all my liquids at 70vg.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The Kylin V3 seems to hold true to the claims of being truly compatible with single or dual coil operation. I was happy enough with the flavor and vapor production with both types of builds. As far as the vape quality I was very happy.
With that being said, I have a few complaints on the V3 that I reviewed. First off is the top cap is threaded and the knurled part that you have to grab to unscrew it is very narrow which makes it hard to get a grip on without turning the entire tank. Turning the entire tank on this one is a no no because the deck is not threaded and is basically a ¼ turn and pull type deck so if you try to turn the top cap and turn the tank instead then you could end up with a tank of liquid dumped on you. When installing the deck you have to align the juice flow holes in order to insert the deck. It only goes in one way which is a slight inconvenience. The airflow control ring on the one I received for review is very tight even after lubricating it so once again, I have to hold onto the center of the tank while adjusting the airflow or I risk loosening the base and dumping the tank. The base on mine is unusually loose and easy to turn. So much that I find myself constantly checking to make sure the base in turned in the correct position so it doesn’t dump on me.
Perhaps it’s just the tank that I received that had the above issues but for those reasons I really can’t recommend this tank. The tank does vape nice but to me there are other tanks out there that perform just as well or better and you don’t have the issues that I had with this tank. To me it’s just worth the hassle of constantly worrying if the base is going to come loose and dump the tank on me and it takes two hands to adjust the airflow to prevent the base from loosening.
I’d like to thank Sourcemore and Kavis for sending the Vandy Vape Kylin V3 for this review. Thanks as always to the readers. Below is a link to the Sourcemore website and there is a coupon code for you if you would like to try one.
CODE: VVV3 $23.29
Vandy Vape Kylin V3 RTA Φ25mm 6ml (sourcemore.com)
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?
1* Kylin V3 RTA
1* Pyrex Glass Tube
1* Accessory Bag
1* Coil Lead Guide
2* Tripe Fused Clapton Coil
1* Instruction Manual
SPECIFICATIONS:
| Diameter | Φ25mm |
| Capacity | 6ml |
| Filling | Top filling |
| Coil | Single/dual coil supported |
| Airflow | Top/honeycomb airflow |
| Color | Matte Black, SS, Rainbow, Gunmetal, Frosted Grey |
INITIAL THOUGHTS:
The Kylin V3 comes in a fairly plain looking box but has a clear viewing window which I very much like. The only text on the box is the Kylin 3 name. I’m a little surprised that the Vandy Vape name isn’t on the front also. As you can see in the picture below, I received the stainless steel version for this review and the bubble glass is pre-installed to provide a 6ml liquid capacity. The back side of the box has the usual contents list, a warning, and some features. I didn’t include pictures of the sides since I didn’t think it is necessary but there is an authenticity code and a sticker with the version and serial number on one side while the opposite side has the Vandy Vape company information.
Once the lid is removed then you can get a little better look at the tank sitting in a white foam insert along with a spare straight glass section also. Underneath the foam insert there is a cardboard divider and under that is where you find the accessories which includes two triple fused Clapton coils, a coil cutting guide, user manual, and an accessory bag with spare o rings, spare grub screws, and an allen wrench for the deck screws.
Here comes the broken record. Always clean your tanks before using them. I use a single drop of dish detergent in a glass cup with hot water. I let them soak for a short time and then rinse thoroughly and let them dry. The V3 breaks down easily and for once the glass tank section came off easily on this one.
The 810 drip tip is a nice height for me. I don’t like the really short ones. You might be able to see in the picture below that there is a black o ring in the top of the cap that secures the tip very well. Some prefer this but I have never really cared if the o ring was on the drip tip or in the top cap.
There is an o ring around the top of the center tube that can be seen with the top cap removed. It sits directly under the threads that the top cap screws on to. Yes, the top cap on the V3 is threaded and not a bayonet style cap like we see on most tanks these days. This seals the inner portion of the chamber while the o ring on the bottom side of the top cap seals the outside edge. Because of this you can fill the tank through the large fill ports all the way up to the bottom of the center o ring if you want to gain some extra capacity. I’m not sure if the 6ml capacity includes filling to the o ring or not.
I really like when a tank comes with a coil cutting guide like the Kylin V3 does. I’ve had other tanks come with these and there is an arrow on the side to tell you where to cut the coil legs but hadn’t seen one where the arrow was white like this one. That makes it extra easy to see which slot to use when cutting the coil(s). The Kylin M included two triple fused Clapton coils rated at .41 ohms each. They are 3mm in diameter and should read close to .2 ohms with both coils installed at the same time.
The build deck on the Kylin V3 isn’t really anything new as far as having the honeycomb airflow on both sides of the coils. There are 15 holes on each side of the deck. However, I don’t think that I’ve seen one with the honeycomb configuration like this one has underneath the coils. I counted 19 holes in this one. Feel free to count them for yourself to double check my counting skills. I very much like that they used Allen head screws on the build deck. To me there is less chance of stripping and it is easier to insert the hex screwdriver or wrench than trying to see a slot in a tiny slotted head screw.
The build deck for the V3 has plenty of building room. I think you could even go with two coils larger than 3mm on it and still have room. However, you would have to thin the tails out quite a bit to fit in the wick holes. Hopefully the wicking would keep up.
Since the V3 is advertised as a single or dual coil rta, I decided to start with a 3.5mm Ni80 flat wire coil for my first attempt. It came in at .53 ohms. I did a dry burn on the coil and inserted a cotton thread that fit well. The tails only had to be slightly thinned and fluffed to take up the room in the wick holes. I started low around 30 watts and worked my way up to 45 watts. This is a wattage setting that I seem to like with a lot of different coils. I started with the airflow about ¼ open and worked my way up to ½ open with the higher wattage. Even half open there is a lot of airflow so if you like big airflow then you’d probably like this tank.
I started out with the pre-installed bubble glass and ran a couple tanks through with it before switching to the straight glass. I kind of like the look of the straight glass on it but it requires more frequent filling. The results with the straight glass and the single coil were not great. To me the draw on the tank seemed different than with the bubble glass and I could only get up to about 42 watts with it without getting dryish hits. I turned it up to 45 which is a range I run in frequently and got a nasty dry hit. I thought maybe it was my wicking but when I put the bubble glass back on it wicked fine at 45 watts. Also, if you’re going to use the straight glass then you’re going to need to fill slowly because the liquid will back up on you instead of leveling out in the tank like it should if you fill too fast. I almost had mine overflow the first time filling it.
After running the single coil with the bubble glass a few days then decided to clean the tank out and install the dual coils that were included with the tank. The build deck has plenty of room even for two coils. I trimmed the coil legs at the 7 mark on the cutting guide and easily installed the coils, straightened them, and did a burn in on them. Next up was wicking both coils. I was able to use one COTN thread to wick both coils. The tails don’t need to be very long so I trimmed the wicks even with the outside of the knurled deck. You do need to give the wicks a good comb out since you are putting two into one hole and want to make sure not to over stuff the wick holes or it won’t work well. Some people like to just barely have the wick sticking in the holes but I like to see the cotton in the holes and as long as the wick ends aren’t too thick then it shouldn’t be an issue. To me this deck is super easy to build whether installing a single or dual coil build. I felt like I got really good flavor and of course larger vapor production compared to the single coil build. I honestly would not recommend using the straight glass tank section with the dual coil build. It just doesn’t seem like the tank wicks well enough with the straight glass and you can tell the straight glass seems a little too close to the inner chamber to allow proper liquid flow with thicker liquids. If you’re a higher pg ratio user then you might be fine with the straight glass but I mix all my liquids at 70vg.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The Kylin V3 seems to hold true to the claims of being truly compatible with single or dual coil operation. I was happy enough with the flavor and vapor production with both types of builds. As far as the vape quality I was very happy.
With that being said, I have a few complaints on the V3 that I reviewed. First off is the top cap is threaded and the knurled part that you have to grab to unscrew it is very narrow which makes it hard to get a grip on without turning the entire tank. Turning the entire tank on this one is a no no because the deck is not threaded and is basically a ¼ turn and pull type deck so if you try to turn the top cap and turn the tank instead then you could end up with a tank of liquid dumped on you. When installing the deck you have to align the juice flow holes in order to insert the deck. It only goes in one way which is a slight inconvenience. The airflow control ring on the one I received for review is very tight even after lubricating it so once again, I have to hold onto the center of the tank while adjusting the airflow or I risk loosening the base and dumping the tank. The base on mine is unusually loose and easy to turn. So much that I find myself constantly checking to make sure the base in turned in the correct position so it doesn’t dump on me.
Perhaps it’s just the tank that I received that had the above issues but for those reasons I really can’t recommend this tank. The tank does vape nice but to me there are other tanks out there that perform just as well or better and you don’t have the issues that I had with this tank. To me it’s just worth the hassle of constantly worrying if the base is going to come loose and dump the tank on me and it takes two hands to adjust the airflow to prevent the base from loosening.
I’d like to thank Sourcemore and Kavis for sending the Vandy Vape Kylin V3 for this review. Thanks as always to the readers. Below is a link to the Sourcemore website and there is a coupon code for you if you would like to try one.
CODE: VVV3 $23.29
Vandy Vape Kylin V3 RTA Φ25mm 6ml (sourcemore.com)
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