The Vapefly Siegfried kit is a collaboration between Vapefly and cross-border charity team German 103.
This isn’t their first rodeo because they’ve also joined forces on vape devices such as the Core RTA, Brunhilde MTL RTA and the Kriemhild sub ohm tank.
Along the way we share the achievements and joy.
We work together to face and resolve the difficulties
…sounds like a pretty close knit team doesn’t it? Their teamwork certainly seems to be reaping dividends and this is the fifth collaboration between the two.
It will be interesting to see if that’s reflected in the design, build and overall flavour quality of the Vapefly Siegfried kit.
What Can We Expect From The Vapefly German 103 Siegfried Kit?
The Vapefly Siegfried Kit includes a battery section that, at first glance, looks just like a mechanical mod.
As far as functionality goes, it replicates a tube mech in term of voltage drain but it does incorporates a range of battery safety measures, it’s also capable of handling various sized batteries.
The strength of the battery is displayed via one of three coloured LED’s depending on the voltage level remaining.
There’s no display so don’t expect to be reading wattage or resistance of the mesh.
I find that an odd premise given that the Siegfried RTA has the versatility of using a coil as well as mesh strips. I would personally have felt happier if there was more info at hand, but it is what it is.
We can expect fewer refills from the large non TPD tank, decent flavour and cloud production from adjustable side airflow.
Expect a rather interesting AFC ring to provide between a restrictive to an airy, open direct lung vape.
Finally, the Vapefly Siegfried kit is a hefty bugger in terms of height and weight, so don’t expect to feel that comfortable wearing in a shirt or trouser pocket…or maybe doso – in which case, each to their own lol. It certainly isn’t an easy out and about vape pen type kit.
Vapefly German 103 Siegfried Kit – Inside the Box
The kit is immaculately presented.
There’s great use of embossed art work on the front of what is a very strong cardboard box.
A pull tag has been thoughtfully included allowing the inner carton to slip out effortlessly.
You’re initially greeted with the tube mod and RTA in a foam inlay, and beneath lies a multitude of spares, info cards and even a sticker.
It’s one of the most comprehensive list of extra’s I’ve come across.
Deep breath! Here’s what you get:
- Siegfried tube mod
- 18650 battery adaptor
- Tube mod user manual
- German 103 card
- Safety card
- Siegfried meshed RTA
- 1 x prebuilt coil (Ni80)
- 2 x Ni80 mesh strips 2 x KA1 mesh strips
- 2 x Firebolt M cotton
- Spare glass tube
- Siegfried Meshed RTA user manual
- Spare screws
- O rings
- 1 x Screwdriver
- 1 x Coil rod
- German 103 card
Vapefly Siegfried Kit – Features
Both tube mod and RTA are available as stand-alone products although from what I can make out, devoid of a TPD release.
We’ll just have to struggle with that 7ml juice capacity, then…what a bind lol!
It comes in a choice of five no nonsense colours: Stainless steel, Black, Blue, Blue Gunmetal, Copper and Gunmetal (under review).
All feature CNC engraving that boosts the level of detail found around the kit.
The build deck of the RTA utilizes a hollow design – more on that soon because it’s actually very innovative. It’s also said to be leak proof and again, we’ll be testing that claim shortly.
The tube mod incorporates a three step voltage LED to inform of current battery strength and is also home to six 3S chip smart protection measures.
Although the kit comes with Ni80 and KA1 mesh there’s also a third kanthal mesh strip referred to as the M4 grid mesh, it’s simply a little more powerful.
Vapefly Siegfried Kit – Specifications
Siegfried Tank
- Material Stainless steel and Pyrex glass
- Dimensions 25.2mm x 50mm
- Weight 100.2g
- Capacity 7ml
- Drip tip 810 Delrin
- Build deck Mesh or coil
Siegfried Tube Mod
- Material Stainless steel
- Dimensions 25.2mm x 99.2mm
- Weight 83g
- Output mode Bypass
- Battery 18650/20700/21700
Vapefly German 103 Siegfried Kit – Design and Build Quality
Vapefly Siegfried Tube Mod
It does indeed measure just over 25mm in diameter so should you decide to use another tank stick with those dimensions, anything else just isn’t going to look right.
The height measurement is bang on too taking into account the threaded battery cap.
There’s actually quite a lot of threading on the battery cap and feels a little loose up until the final few turns.
Release it from the tube mod by unscrewing anti clockwise. Micro knurling helps when attaching or removing.
The underside of the cap is home to four battery venting holes which is pleasing to see. The German 103 team logo and serial number is also placed here.
A beautiful CNC engraving adorns the front of the mod beneath the fire button, wrapping itself around the tubular frame. It’s not etched very deeply into the stainless steel material but looks flawless.
The fire button protrudes a little more than I would have liked but at least it’s very tactile and responsive without being loud when repeatedly pressed.
The gold plated 510 connecting pin is spring loaded and surrounded by a ring of peek insulation providing added protection.
For the purposes of review I’m using a Molicel 21700 external battery.
Looking inside the tube mod I’m left with no doubt as to how to insert a battery. The inside of the battery cap has a – symbol and deep inside the mod there’s a very clear red and white + symbol.
So is there any battery rattle when everything’s screwed into place? Nope – not one iota. Obviously the mod does feel much heavier in the hand but it also feels very solid.
Despite the smooth nature of the stainless steel build I can’t see this slipping from the hand.
An anti corrosion proof coating applied over the stainless steel seems to offer that extra degree of grip.
Vapefly German 103 Siegfried kit – Tube Mod Functions and Safety Features
As far as operating the mod goes there’s little to mention. I’m constantly reminded of a mech tube mod in this respect because it’s in the same ball park in terms of dimensions and void of any screen output.
It’s the industry standard of five clicks to power the device on/off. Powering on will see those (rather bright) LED’s cycle rapidly through the three voltage strength colours.
The red LED flashes five times when the mod has been switched off.
Vapefly and German 103 have integrated their 3S smart protection features onto the board.
These will protect against:
- Short circuiting
- Excessive current
- Reverse battery placement
- High board temperature
- Low voltage
- Ten second vape cut off
The red LED will flash three times in the event of short circuiting and excessive current. It flashes eight times in any other eventuality.
Put the battery in the wrong way and the device simply fails to function.
So in terms of functionality the LED is the only way of checking current battery voltage.
A green illumination indicates voltage is above 3.8V. Once it turns blue the voltage is between 3.4 – 3.8V while red means it’s fallen below 3.4V.
Vapefly Siegfried Kit RTA
It’s a shame the instruction manual is barren of information as regards to actually building on the Siegfried RTA. Not everyone has adequate knowledge of decks or indeed the safe installation of mesh coils, for example.
The tank has a height of 63.7mm when taking into account the drip tip so clearly the official specs don’t take this into account. It makes for a very tall RTA in my opinion, yet at the same time not excessively heavy.
Speaking of the 810 Delrin drip tip, the diameter is 17mm with the internal bore reducing to 7.5mm. It includes a metallic band of knurling which really only aids with aesthetics. It looks OK but bound to attract skin oil and lip gunk over time.
The catch cup includes two O rings so it’s perfectly feasible to swap the drip tip out for one of your own.
The top cap has some heavy knurling and a quarter turn anti clockwise releases it. I’m a big fan of this bayonet style system because it makes filling the tank quicker and so much easier.
The underside of the top cap houses a large silicone gasket to help seal in the juice while the fill port itself is also covered by silicone. Two 12mm kidney shaped fill ports will cater for all bottle nozzles of various sizes.
In fact the top cap and fill ports carry the same design of the Vapefly Kriemhild II sub ohm tank.
Moving down the RTA the viewing height of the glass tank is a mere 6.5mm. The majority of the 7ml tank capacity is hidden behind a steel cover. This leads to a little guess work as to how much juice is actually being poured into the tank.
Directly beneath the viewing window are the dual adjustable airflow ports. It’s a kind of ‘stepped’ airflow arrangement and looks quite innovative. At their widest the ports measure 15mm but in practice only half is ever used.
The movement of the AFC ring is silky smooth resulting in some very precise dialing in of airflow resistance. Impressive!
Vapefly Siegfried RTA – The Build Deck
Remove the base of the tank by unscrewing clockwise, micro knurling around the perimeter once again helps with the process.
Upon removal we’re given access to the working of the inner chimney.
Inside are two 8.5mm wide juice flow ports and two cut outs designed to perfectly align the mesh/coil up with the oncoming straight shot of side airflow.
The first thing I noticed about the build deck was the apparent lack of juice well or space to drop wicking into. It’s all to do with the Vapefly anti dry burn system.
Two 3.5mm openings on the sides of the deck allow juice to enter beneath the mesh/coil. Yes. I did write that correctly – from beneath.
A further two 5.5mm openings sit directly under the position of the cotton ensuring constant saturation and hopefully preventing any nasty dry hits.
This explains the lack of a juice well. Because the wick is fed from underneath there’s no need for it. Neither is there any need to tuck cotton legs down.
..Now that smacks of innovation to me!
Cross head screws are supplied on the 8mm wide post-less clamp system. I must admit they do look easy to strip, grub screws may have been better.
The clamps are spring loaded and move away from the deck when unscrewing which makes building that much easier.
They also open out quite a distance meaning more exotic single coils will feel very much at home sitting here. I would suggest coil diameters of no more than 3.5mm if taking this approach.
Vapefly German 103 Siegfried Kit – How Does It Perform?
Ni80 0.2ohm mesh strip (50-60W)
The strips are approximately 18mm long with a height of 7.5mm.
The honeycomb pattern is slightly larger than those of the KA1 mesh which is also rated between 50-60W.
There were no issues when bending the mesh around the included coil shaping rod although the Vapefly Firebolt M cotton legs are far too thick to pass through the mesh on the first pass.
Remember to trim them before installation. Look for a snug fit but nothing that’s going to warp the mesh coil in any way. Try removing around a third of what’s supplied – it worked for me.
Another strong recommendation would be to test fire the mesh coil on another mod or build tab before wicking, checking the resistance and using short bursts at lower wattage to break the mesh in.
It felt odd cutting so much of the cotton back but I gained reassurance by knowing the wicking was being constantly supplied with juice from beneath.
Also remember that because the deck is free spinning you’ll need to screw it back into the RTA before attaching to the Siegfried tube mod – or any mod for that matter.
A Nervous, Dry Throat!
I’ve got to cut to the chase…
I had a nightmare of a time with both mesh material. The Ni80 strip refused to behave itself, concentrating heat on the outer edges of the strip before distributing across the entire surface.
I couldn’t break it in. It constantly displayed hot spots across the edges where the mesh makes contact with the clamps. For that reason alone I wasn’t taking any chances.
The Kanthal strips did fare slightly better and heated evenly when pulsed.
Judging from the dry hits from hell that followed however, it seemed eager to follow in the footsteps of its ni-chrome neighbour.
What worried me further was the voltage output from the fully charged 21700 Molicel battery.
The instruction manual states that a fully charged cell is capable of firing above 3.8V, that’s far too vague an approximation.
At the highest recommended output both mesh strips were reading 3.68V when checked using the Voopoo Drag 3 mod.
Too Many Volts?
This is where the unregulated aspect of the Siegfried tube mod comes into sharp focus.
A fully charged battery provides 4.2V, so could it be the mesh coils were being pushed above and beyond their capabilities?
I really am no expert and open to answers, please feel free to use the comments section.
What I do know is that the cotton was also fitting snugly within the arch of the mesh so I’m not going to blame any wicking technique (for a change!).
All four mesh strips were used with little to no success, so you’ll have to accept my apologies on this occasion for not providing a realistic opinion.
Anyway – let’s move onto the single Clapton coil, shall we?
Clapton Ni80 0.35ohm coil (Best 45-60W)
It was a simple case of snipping the legs to length and dropping into the clamps allowing for a height off the deck of around 2mm.
After positioning central over the juice intake ports I dry fired the coil to get rid of any hot spots.
When wicking, the ends were cut very short to the side of the build deck and tucked in to make sure they remained clear of the chimney barrel.
After screwing everything back into place the tank was filled and left to sit for five minutes.
When testing on the Voopoo Drag 3 mod the resistance was running at 0.33ohm so near as damn it.
The Siegfried RTA definitely knows how to chuck those clouds! With airflow wide open I got a very smooth vape and very little crackling from the coil.
The citric nature of Wick Liquor Contra was slightly diluted however and even with a fully charged 21700 battery, the vape was still very cool.
Reducing the stepped airflow down to mid position using just four airflow slots turned an airy, open lung vape into a semi restrictive one. Any improvement to flavour quality was kept to a minimum.
The complex tones of the e-liquid did seem to be struggling to break free.
Maximum Restriction
This setting gave me optimal flavour replication.
It offered a more restrictive direct lung hit which happens to be my preferred style of vaping.
The vapour is compressed enough to provide the slightest of throat kicks which again is another personal preference.
There’s less cloud production yet still remains thick and dense – something I very much appreciated.
During inhale very little turbulence is generated. I was impressed by how quiet the RTA was.
The flavour’s suitably sweet and concentrated, displaying no signs of dryness whatsoever. It’s actually quite wet during exhale but I never encountered any spit back.
As before the exhale is cool at best but that’s ideal with this particular fruity and citric profile.
Not once did I experience a dry hit even when chain vaping.
Equally impressive was the fact that every vape retained a consistently good flavour, proving that this innovative wicking technique works extremely efficiently.
Pros
- Fantastic design and build quality
- Convenient quarter turn top cap for refilling on the go
- Massive 7ml juice capacity reduces frequency of the refill
- Amazing flavour replication from the included Ni80 Clapton coil
- Leak proof tank
- Clear and bright LED voltage indicator – even in direct sunlight
Cons
- Instant dry hits from both Nichrome and Kanthal mesh strips (subjective)
- Lack of juice viewing window
- Quite heavy and not the most pocket friendly kit
- Included Delrin drip tip feels oversized and uncomfortable (subjective)
- Protruding fire button (subjective)
Final Review Verdict
I honestly can’t find anything to fault with the design and build quality of the Siegfried kit.
The knurling and threading are damn near perfect.
Adjustable airflow ensures subtle differences to the inhale and refilling is a cinch thanks to the quarter turn release system.
It all combines together into a rock solid piece of kit that, when using the Clapton Ni80 coil at least, refuses to leak a single drop of E liquid.
When restricting airflow to the max, the Vapefly/German 103 Siegfried kit puts out incredibly juicy flavour to rival the best RTA set ups on the market.
..all this from a single coil.
Impressive stuff!
Now, you may well be thinking I’m no good at building with mesh strips.
I haven’t used them as extensively as say a standard coil granted but the process is easy enough in my opinion, so is the wicking method.
However, I always have an uncertainty with mesh and especially their limited power capabilities.
Using a freshly charged 21700 it just seemed like the Nichrome or Kanthal strips were being pushed beyond those capabilities, resulting in dry hits.
The under mesh juice feed to the wick also concerned me. In the absence of springs on the deck to hold it constantly in place, how long will it take for cotton to sag into the juice feed ports beneath?
In the case of the Nichrome Strips I’m prone to believe they were faulty straight out of the bag.
I wasn’t able to spend enough time with the Kanthal equivalents…those dry hits just kept occurring.
Because of this they don’t feature in the final score break down, the review has to reflect a working experience of the product.
Vapefly/German 103 Siegfried Kit – Who’s It For?
Most certainly the intermediate to advanced vaper with a working knowledge of Ohms Law. The tube section effectively works like a mechanical mod.
It’s also aimed at those familiar with mesh strips, mesh resistances and how to wick correctly. In fact anyone used to deck building in general because of the versatility the kit offers.
If (unlike myself it seems lol) you tick all the right boxes the Vapefly German 103 Siegfried Kit is certainly going to be worth a look.
So, is this a vape kit you’re using or looking to buy?
Let me know your thoughts and opinions in the comments below 🙂
