Reservoir Straw & Plug Mod (RSP Mod)

[Scottbee]

As I mentioned, I found the 8mm blue pads at my local WalMart. Previously I used the Scotch Brite #96 5mm green pad (which I'm pretty sure doesn't have any abrasives) and it worked well for me. You would use a longer straw with the green pad.

Good luck!

[a2dcovert]

As I mentioned, I found the 8mm blue pads at my local WalMart. Previously I used the Scotch Brite #96 5mm green pad (which I'm pretty sure doesn't have any abrasives) and it worked well for me. You would use a longer straw with the green pad.

Good luck!

I will try to find and use the blue pads. I have had very good results using the stock filler as a plug but it doesn't wick quite fast enough for my 5 volt Prodigy, sometimes I vape too fast. It really works great on my Protege though.

Kevin

[kristin]

I guess I hadn't been paying attention to this thread for a day or so.... my bad!

My local Menards didn't have the blue pad that Kristin indicated... but I found it at the Walmart right next door. Hate shopping at Walmart.. hate it! I hate it even more when I only have this one thing to check-out with!

Anyway.... the 8mm thick blue pad performed a little differently than my 5mm thick green 96 pad does/did. Not enough to get excited about.. just a little bit different.

BUT... it did lead me to a revisited observation that most of you probably know.. but some don't:

If you do this mod and you get a dry and burnt tasted after about 10 hits (atty starving for liquid), trim about a mm off of your straw and try again. Your pad is probably getting compressed too much and when this happens, it doesn't feed the liquid as well (for a quick test, just pull your cartridge out about a mm or so and see if the vapor production picks up.. adjust until you find the "sweet spot".. and that's how much you should trim off).

If you are constantly getting a flooded atty, try increasing the length of your straw a mm or so. You will get the opposite effect to the one noted above.

I think this is a slick feature of this mod, allowing us to almost precisely regulate how much liquid we want to have fed to the bridge.

Working well for me!

Scott, I agree - the blue pad DOES perform a little differently than the green. I've been having trouble with it. But I just realized that I never adjusted the straw length on my one cart for the extra depth of the blue pad - thanks for the reminder!

Oh, and I did see the blue scour pads at Walmart, too! Couldn't find the agave pads, though - only the ones attached to sponges.

I've been playing with some alternate plug material - I got some cosmetic sponges from Walgreens. They are meant for applying makeup. They are a very dense yet soft sponge. You can barely see the pores. There was a thin white pad with tiny pores and a red one with larger pores. Also, a facial scrubber with a texture similar to the greenie pads. I've been using that one today. It is much thicker (about 4x the scour pads) and have a definite "grain" to them. I cut a piece to fit the cart, but it didn't wick well. Then I changed the direction so the grain/layers were facing out and it seems to be wicking well now. Even though I washed the cosmetic sponges, I didn't like the flavor they had. They worked pretty well, though.

I'm going to have to try the blue pad again with a shorter straw.

How many notches do you guys cut in the bottom and which way to you put it into the cart - notches to the long side or the short side? I cut 2 and it worked well, but when I put it back in it didn;t wick as well. I'm wondering if it's in the placement of the notches in the cart?

[Scottes]

Notches *must* be in the corners. Well, the straw I tried touched the cart on all four walls, but did not touch in the corners, so I turned the straw so the notches were in the corners, thus allowing juice to flow freely.

Your drawing is actually kinda wrong for me, since it shows the notches up against the long wall of the cart. My straw hits these walls solid - placing the notch here does absolutely nothing for allowing the juice to flow.

[Scottbee]

Kristin,

Are you using the 510 carts... or did you convert over to the 901 whistle tips?

I've got some stuff "in the works", but it is specifically tuned to the 901 D-shaped carts.

[kristin]

Notches *must* be in the corners. Well, the straw I tried touched the cart on all four walls, but did not touch in the corners, so I turned the straw so the notches were in the corners, thus allowing juice to flow freely.

Your drawing is actually kinda wrong for me, since it shows the notches up against the long wall of the cart. My straw hits these walls solid - placing the notch here does absolutely nothing for allowing the juice to flow.

I agree - that was my suspicion, as well. My straw doesn't hit the short walls, so i turned my notches to face that way.

Kristin,

Are you using the 510 carts... or did you convert over to the 901 whistle tips?

I've got some stuff "in the works", but it is specifically tuned to the 901 D-shaped carts.

Yep, I have a 510 with 510 carts.

[kristin]

Working much better again since I turned the straw so the vent notches could actually vent! LOL!

I'll try to fix that picture...

[kristin]

I just realized the pic doesn't indicate which side the view is, but hopefully, it'll be more clear now!

[them0nk]

This is a variation on this very clever mod:
Must Try! ADM auto drip mod so I thought I should post this one in a seperate thread.

There was some concern about the metal spring corroding. With a 510, you can use the natural ledge on the inside, but that sits pretty far into the reservoir. Or you can special order plastic springs. This method eliminates the metal and also works on carts that are smooth on the interior. It also uses everyday items. This also incorporates Scottbee's notching idea & uses a springier filler like Scotch Brite blue non-scratch scrub pads (one without abrasives) or the blue fish filter foam.

Supplies:
One drinking straw or coffee straw
Scotch Brite Non-scratch Pad or Ehiem Fish Tank Filter
Scissors
Tweezers

Remove the polyfill that came with the cartridge & discard. Cut a drinking straw to about 4 mm below the open end of the cart & notch the bottom. Slide into the cart. If the diameter is too wide to fit in the cart, cut the straw all the way through lengthwise, to remove a section of it. It'll roll back into a tube on it's own. Or use two coffee straws cut to equal length.

Press the end of the empty cart on the greenie to get a template. Cut off the piece. Fill the cart with about 15 drops (on a 510) and plug the end with the filler material using a tweezers. Prod it gently and you should see some of the liquid seep into the pad.

If it floods the atty or leaking, you need to cut a larger piece to seal the end better. If it's not wicking, cut a smaller piece. The only purpose of the straw is to keep the plug from sliding into the reservoir.

You can do a LOT of cart mods with one straw and a pad!

straw is the perfect idea... i'm going to try this when i get a chance... and the plugs that i've made were way too big i think... i got the drying effect... that plug must be 1/4 x 1/4 x 1/16 by the drawing... does it fall out at all? or when you pull out the cart get stuck? this looks promissing.

[kristin]

I've never had the plug fall out except a polyfill plug can get stuck on the atty bridge and get pulled out.

I would say the plug is about 7.5 or 8mm long, 8mm deep (or whatever the thickness of your pad) and about 5mm wide.

You want to have to comprerss it just a little to get it into the cart, so it stays in and doesn't leak, but not so compressed that it hinders wicking.