Straws now obsolete!? Simple discovery!

[voltaire]

Newbie here, but I've made what I believe may be an important discovery for cart mods currently using straws as a sort of shelf to support plugs of various types. This discovery is probably also useful for all sorts of other mods not even involving straws. I have no idea if anyone has ever discovered or posted about this before, but if they have, then I don't see why anyone would be still using straws to support a plug of wicking material.

This is using a 510 whistle tip cart, I have no experience with any other type.

First, you just need a thin paperclip or something that will fit in the small hole in the mouthpiece you inhale through. It helps if you put a slight bend at the very end of the paperclip. Stick it in the hole, and pull the tip of the mouthpiece out. Yes, it comes out, it's not just one solid piece.

Now that you have that out, and you look deeper down into the hole where it used to be, you'll see another little hole the same size as the one you just used to pull that piece out with. That's another removable piece - use the paperclip to do the same thing again and pull that sucker out of there also. Now you've got two little pieces out of the end of the mouth piece.

So here's the simple discovery: Both of these two pieces fit *PERFECTLY* into the atty-side of the cart!!! If you take the second smaller piece and push it down into the atty-side of the cart, it will automatically stop at the perfect height to put a small plug of your favorite wicking material on top of it. And it will support that plug a hell of a lot more securely and precisely than a straw ever would. Plus, you don't lose space in the cart from putting the straw in there.

Now, I haven't even tried this in practice yet. I literally *just* made this discovery. But I imagine that the existing hole will probably need to be drilled larger, but maybe not I dunno, but that should be simple. I have zero experience with this stuff, and have never done any kind of mod at all - I've only been vaping for a week.

Additional Notes:

-You'll most likely want a syringe to refill with, unless you feel like pulling the piece out everytime - which should still be easy as long as you have a paperclip properly bent at the very end. A metal dental pick or lock pick would be a more elegant solution for doing this regularly, particularly if the hole does need to be made considerably larger.

-When drilling the hole larger, it will probably best be done with the piece in place in the cart so as to hold it in place. Since you'll be sacrificing a cart anyway to get the donor piece from, you don't have to worry about drilling too far, getting little pieces of plastic in the cart, or damaging the donor cart by holding it with pliers or a vice while drilling.

So whatcha think? Are straws now obsolete?

[voltaire]

Thinking about this a little more...

This may be better with an actual wick of some sort inserted into the hole extending all the way down into the reservoir and poking up out of the hole. This would better deliver juice to the plug of foam or whatever. Or with the right kind of wick, you could even eliminate the foam completely and deliver the juice straight to the bridge.

I wonder what Zippo lighter wicks are made out of, and if they would work well with e-juice. (and be safe, of course)

I'm telling you, the perfect fit of this little piece of plastic opens up a whole new world of possibilities. I need you experienced modder types to help me brainstorm on this.

[Dark Knight]

Fantastic Find! you are now officially a cart modder, now get to work!! I think you should check out scottyballs ZFM mod, I think there may be a use for this little treasure. I got those carts from Johnson Creek.

[eclypse]

If you read one of my early posts in that same scottyballs ZFM mod, i mention doing the same thing.

I ended up hollowing it out and then setting 2 of the cap plugs on top inorder to make good contact with the atty bridge. No one seemed to care and figured someone already figured that out or something.. hehe.

At first it is a extremely tight fit.. but you can use the end cap plastic piece to help push it down in.

Yeah by itself the hole is too small.

EDIT: Sorry its ealry and i just got up.. lol.

Another couple of problems with using the plastic piece for a bridge.

Having plastic close to the bridge.. if its all the way down to the inner lips down in the cart it may be alright though. Would have to test it.

The other prob is that the edges of the piece may clog up the flow of juice.

Again.. those things would have to be tested.

I thought of using it with the hole and a hole in the back side of the cart for a dripping cart mod.

[umjim]

This must only apply to whistle-tips,right? I sure don't see where a round tip would work and have no whistles to look at.

[eclypse]

This must only apply to whistle-tips,right? I sure don't see where a round tip would work and have no whistles to look at.

Yeah thin tips only as the parts inside are round on the round carts.


Update: I have tried it out with a blue foam plug.. Seems to work ok.. though my plug is too small and its leaking hehe. Though below the bridge it did look empty which is good. No idea if theres any melting of the plastic though.. prob not as it would taste as bad as a melting cart and we all know what thats like!

[SCOTTYBALLS]

I saw it eclypse, there are so many Ideas flying around in there I dont have time to adress them all, Im sure you understand that with the slug thread...

I thought it was a bit much to do just for a ledge, so I been doing somthing else.. I have not posted about it yet did not think it was really that big of a deal.. but Ive been taking a straw and cutting it to I dont know did not mesure it, but I think it was around 3-4mm and put it in the cart till it hit the lips inside the cart, eliminating the 90% of the straw.. thoe Im not really getting much more juice in the cart maybe a drop 2 at the most..

[eclypse]

I saw it eclypse, there are so many Ideas flying around in there I dont have time to adress them all, Im sure you understand that with the slug thread...

I thought it was a bit much to do just for a ledge, so I been doing somthing else.. I have not posted about it yet did not think it was really that big of a deal.. but Ive been taking a straw and cutting it to I dont know did not mesure it, but I think it was around 3-4mm and put it in the cart till it hit the lips inside the cart, eliminating the 90% of the straw.. thoe Im not really getting much more juice in the cart maybe a drop 2 at the most..

I know what you mean.. sometimes its better to post pictures of new ideas as it would help them stick out in the thread hehe.

Ok.. That sounds like a good idea as well.. though i'd be worried about the straw metling.. though its probably not an issue behind that plug you got.

[voltaire]

Ok, so I guess there's no such thing as a totally original thought.

I don't think there will be any problem melting, because if you push the piece down as far as it will go, it seems to be just deep enough to be ok. Plus the filler material will go on top of it to isolate it from the bridge. I imagine that it might be a problem if the juice were allowed to run dry and the atty started to overheat. Just like with the stock setup, the juice functions as a coolant - you just have to be aware not to keep sucking on a dry and overheating atty.

Now, thinking about the wick idea, I believe that holds some good potential. Besides the Zippo lighter wick, I was thinking about using some braided SS wire that's slightly "unbraided" or loosened up to wick a bit better. But then I thought of the bridge. If I had an extra dead atty lying around (I don't) I would try to yank/cut that bridge out of there as intact as possible and use that for a wick. With a high bridge, that might be just the right length to run down the hole to the bottom of the reservoir to wick juice directly up to the atty bridge.

I'm thinking that you could leave the existing center hole as-is for using to refill with a syringe needle. With the little nipple on the other side of it, it will resist fluid from passing through it, but still allow air to pass to prevent a possible "vacuum" effect from not allowing the juice to flow. Then just drill a new hole to the side to use for the wick. It will be a tight fit, but just may work with careful drilling. A small dremel tool would probably be best.

If I had spare parts besides my starter kit I would be in there trying some of this stuff, but right now with two of everything +5 prefilled carts, I'm waiting on another order I have on the way before I start tinkering.

BONUS:
After skimming some of the ZFM thread, I have an idea for using the left over cart-cap scrap for a comfort mod on a whistle tip. Once you've cut out the end of the cap, you can use what remains to slip over the whistle-tip mouthpiece. This feels more comfortable on my lips and allows you to more comfortably bite down on the tip with your teeth to hold in your mouth. It's so simple, I bet someone out there has already done this too, lol.

[SCOTTYBALLS]

BONUS:
After skimming some of the ZFM thread, I have an idea for using the left over cart-cap scrap for a comfort mod on a whistle tip. Once you've cut out the end of the cap, you can use what remains to slip over the whistle-tip mouthpiece. This feels more comfortable on my lips and allows you to more comfortably bite down on the tip with your teeth to hold in your mouth. It's so simple, I bet someone out there has already done this too, lol.

We have been doing that since the 60's...

















J/K I dont think anyone has done that Congrats!!..