A cheap alternative to PTB

[fanofwalt]

Originally Posted by kreiderb

I'm a newbie with a few posts under my belt and about 5 weeks work of vaping. I have read a lot about different cart mods and they all seem to be about finding a better filler.

What I'm wondering is if anyone has a good working knowledge of fountain pens and would it be possible to modify that design to deliver liquid to the atomizer. The cool thing about fountain pens is you can place a liquid filled cartridge which is what I would love to see in an e-cig.

Just a thought.

An excellent thought, Kreiderb! I'm a noob who hasn't even tried PTB or straw or any mod yet, but this sounds like a fabulous suggestion!

I have several fountain / calligraphy pens myself, and dozens of little cartridges of ink. These cartridges are sealed, cylindrical plastic tubes of ink. To use, one pops them onto the top of the nib (pen's writing tip), which has a metal tube or "straw" sticking out of it. The metal straw is angle-cut at the end, and inserting that straw into the ink cartridge is not unlike popping one of those little straws into a box of kids' juice or a Capri Sun. The act of inserting breaks the seal, and the fluid travels through the straw only when pressure is applied, as in writing; but suction should bring the liquid through as well (as with juice boxes).

The primary hurdle to tackle would be, how to break the seal and direct the juice where needed. Also, it's important to consider that once the seal is broken, the juice would likely dry up/evaporate if removed from the PV, unless there would be some way to re-seal the cartridge. So that would need to be addressed, or be prepared to vape an entire cartridge of flavor X (which may take quite a while, if I'm picturing the same kind of cartridge as you).

See #2 on this page to get an illustration of how these ink cartridges work. The metal "straw" atop the nib is not shown, as it is recessed inside the plastic barrel attached to the nib itself.

Also? I can see this for 510s, but I'm not sure how this could work for 401s, etc. 510s have that recessed atty (much like the recessed nib tops for the writing pens), but not all PVs are recessed like that. Perhaps another design using similar ideas, but modded in a different way.

But I just love that you made that ink cartridge / e-juice supply idea connection. THAT would be a mod I'd be very excited about! Would love to see ECF members and also e-juice vendors tackle this idea and start manufacturing cartridges of juice.

[kristin]

The concept of the fountain pen is interesting. The big thing is having a reservoir for the liquid and a way to release it slowly.

A member came up with using a spring from a pen sideways in the cart to leave the space below for the liquid. The spring holds up a "plug" made of filler:
I call it ADP Mod.. Auto Drip Mod!

There was some concern about the metal corroding in the liquid.

I took that concept and took a cut drinking straw and slid it into the cart. this leaves space for the liquid and a "lip" for the filler plug to rest on. I used a piece of Scotch Brite No Scratch Pad (edited - do NOT use a green pad, they have abrasives) as the "plug." It's made of nylon, dense enough to stop leaks but open enough to wick the liquid. We also figured out that two coffee straws cut to equal length would work just as well as one larger straw and you could also use the fish tank filter foam for the plug. Some people use just the filter foam and rest it on the ledges inside a 510 cart. For carts without the ledges, like the 801/901, the straw provides the needed support.



I think this is the cart mod I'll be using from now on!

It's so cool to have all of these smart people to put us on the right path!

[Scottes]

Fountain Pens:
RichardsPens.com • Fountain Pens by Richard Binder
On the left, chose Reference Pages, and then scroll down a little to Anatomy Of A Fountain Pen.

Edit: Man, that's complicated! Do we have any vapers who used to design fountain pens?