Reservoir Straw & Plug Mod (RSP Mod)

[Scottbee]

Darmeen,

No problem. At first it may be tough to understand the actual "flow" of materials on a standard cart. The cart has an inner well that holds the fluid. Vapor never flows through this well or cup, it is sealed at the "bottom". Typically this well is filled with polyfill, and then that polyfill is soaked with e-liquid.

The e-liquid "wicks" out of the polyfill and is absorbed by the atomizer bridge, which is in contact with the exposed end of the well. The mesh material on the bridge (and the wick on a 510) carries the e-liquid down to the hot coil, where it is atomized and vaporized. This creates the vapor. There are air vents on the battery end of the atomizer. When you draw on the mouth piece, air enters these holes, mixes with the vapor and the vapor flows around the inner cartridge well (it is tube in a tube), through the mouthpiece. and into your mouth. So for the e-liquid.. it initially flows away from your mouth, becomes vaporized.. and then flows back toward your mouth.

There are actually diagrams and schematics for this somewhere on the forum.

Anyway... what we are trying to do is improve on the cartridges ability to hold liquid, and then feed it to the atomizer in a controlled fashion. And we're trying to reduce the amount of liquid that gets left in the cartridge.. liquid that you can't get to wick out of the cartridge and onto the bridge.

This mod removes almost all of the filler from the well in the cartridge... so there is only raw liquid in there. Then a small layer (plug) of some porous, absorbent material (poly, Scotch Brite, etc..) is placed between the raw liquid and the atomizer bridge... creating the throttling wick, and stopping the raw liquid from just dumping into the atomizer.. or leaking out of the whole PV. And in this specific case, a straw is only used as a spacer, holding the plug in the correct position so that it will properly contact the atomizer bridge.

Whew.... does any of that help?

[kristin]

Basically what Scott said. Look at the image again. (This is JUST the cartridge and not the atomizer, This is the part that gets attached to the atomizer.)

The grey area is where the liquid/filler goes. Notice how it's not open to the hole in the mouthpiece at all? The liquid soaks into the blue stuff and then the blue stuff (filler) touches the atomizer once it's attached. The area around the atomizer fills with vapor, which is then sucked through those channekls along the sides of the cartridge.

Does that make sense?

[Darmeen]

Got it...thanks to both of you...i guess its because I am using this SE Gold (and the cartridge is buried deep in the mouthpiece, whereas all the pics and videos I have watched about this mod, it seemed very different than what I am holding in my hands right now...it totally makes sense to me now.

and yes, I know that if I use a bent paperclip or something similar I can push the cartridge out of the mouth piece for filling.

its a great idea, and when I finally get some e-fluid, I will try it out...

[Scottbee]

I've got a SE Gold laying around here somewhere.... might just give it a try.

I've also got a M702 (Revolver)... which is a tiny PV reminiscent of the SE Gold design. I'm going to steal a straw off of the kids juice box or a Capri Sun (small straws) and try it with that unit too.

[buttercrunch]

I like the snap-on top idea but think a hinged top would be even better!

[Scottbee]

I like the snap-on top idea but think a hinged top would be even better!

Yeah... you know dern well I'm gonna shoot the snap-on ones across the room....

[kristin]

I was thinking more like it slide INTO the cart. The rubber texture would hold it in place. Or a small ring molded into the cart about 4mm down. Like a cork. It'd only be about 3-4mm thick. Of course, now that I think about it, how would you get it out to refill? Umm...yeah - a cap or hinge would be better! LOL

[ZiaDollface]

I am vaping with a DSE901. I am pretty new to this and I appreciate the time all of you have spent explaining how all this works. I have a few questions, and so they don't get lost in this long post, I'm putting them in a bold font. I have been vaping for about a month now and I see that I'm going through what I think is an awful lot of e-liquid (almost 24 ml in a month - is that a lot for someone who used to smoke a pack a day?) and I think a lot is wasted.

I tried the mod with a spring and ended up putting two springs in there because there is no notch inside the "whistle" type mouthpiece. Works okay, I'll have to see how long that liquid lasts in there. Then I tried the mod with the straw and I just used the poly fill that comes with the cartridges. Also works okay, but again, I'll have to see how long the liquid lasts in there. I have to say, I am getting a lot of liquid in my mouth with the straw mod, am I doing something wrong?

Also, I frequently hear a sort of bubbling sound when I draw on the e-cig. Is that normal?

I rarely get the kind of vapor I see coming out of e-cigs I see in video reviews. What's up with that?

Finally, where do I get the little banner at the bottom that says how many cigarettes I have avoided and how much money I have saved? I'd like to add that to any post I make from now on (this is my first). Thanks again!

[NightShadow]

I am vaping with a DSE901. I am pretty new to this and I appreciate the time all of you have spent explaining how all this works. I have a few questions, and so they don't get lost in this long post, I'm putting them in a bold font. I have been vaping for about a month now and I see that I'm going through what I think is an awful lot of e-liquid (almost 24 ml in a month - is that a lot for someone who used to smoke a pack a day?) and I think a lot is wasted.

Most seem to use from 2-4ml per day here, so no that is not a lot imho.

I tried the mod with a spring and ended up putting two springs in there because there is no notch inside the "whistle" type mouthpiece. Works okay, I'll have to see how long that liquid lasts in there. Then I tried the mod with the straw and I just used the poly fill that comes with the cartridges. Also works okay, but again, I'll have to see how long the liquid lasts in there. I have to say, I am getting a lot of liquid in my mouth with the straw mod, am I doing something wrong?

I suspect you need to take a stiff paperclip and poke it in the small hole
that you draw on and pry that end off, then you will find a small resevoir inside that has become partially filled with liguid that you need to dry out, more on this below.

Also, I frequently hear a sort of bubbling sound when I draw on the e-cig. Is that normal?

If you hear bubling, you have a flooded atty. This is caused by the filler in the cart letting more fluid than is needed by the atty wick faster than you are vaping it. The next phase of this is liquid leaking out where the atty connects to the battery indicating severe leakage / flooding.

Also flooding due to a leaky filler will result often in liguid in your mouth as while the liquid is flowing down into the atty you are sucking some of it back up through the side of the internal cart into the small resevouir I mentioned above. Once enough accumulates in that space, you suck it into your mouth from there.

Possible solutions to this would be, storing the pv cart down so the fluid stays in the cart while not being vaped on.

If the above does not work well enough read on below.

Replace the filling in the cart (or entire cart if you prefer) as the current filler is not dense enough and is letting the liquid wick too fast and causing the flooding. It is VERY tricky to get filler cut/sized right to be thick enough not to leak, but not so dense that it slows or stops the wicking action. Also the type of liquid you use can affect this, thin liquids like PG will leak easier, thicker liquids like VG will wick less in the same filler in a cart.

Another option is to simply remove the cart filler entirely and simply direct drip onto the atty. Doing this can spoil you as it is a much nicer vape than most carts give.

I rarely get the kind of vapor I see coming out of e-cigs I see in video reviews. What's up with that?

Many things can cause this, having a bubbly / flooded atty would cause the atty to need to work more to produce vapor, so fix that issue first and your vapor should improve a bit.

A low battery charge can cause this.

An old tired atty can cause this.

The way you draw and for how long can cause this. Short and fast = less vapor, long and slow = more. Also if you have air space in your mouth when you start to draw you may end up with thinner vapor as it is thinned out by the existing air in your mouth.

How long you hold the vapor in your lungs also affects this. The longer you hold it in the more it dissipates.

Finally, where do I get the little banner at the bottom that says how many cigarettes I have avoided and how much money I have saved? I'd like to add that to any post I make from now on (this is my first). Thanks again!

I will let someone else who actually has that banner assist with the question above

[Scottes]

"I rarely get the kind of vapor I see coming out of e-cigs I see in video reviews. What's up with that?"

Those reviewers have been doing this a while, and it seems like video reviewers like to produce vapor so they go a bit crazy/unrealistic. I highly doubt that they normally vape like that - I think it's just for show.


"Finally, where do I get the little banner at the bottom that says how many cigarettes I have avoided and how much money I have saved?"
For most, if you click on the banner it will take you to a page where you can make your own. Then they give you the code to put into your signature. You may have to wait until you get 15 posts before you can add it to your sig though.