Where to buy fluval/poly-fil and what's the best kind?

[kristin]

Kristin, thanks for all this info! I had in my bathroom cabinet small generic CVS facial cleaning sponges (FCS), which are essentially generic buff puffs. They do seem like a honeycomb matrix like has been described for the bigger sponges, more omni-directional and random like original filler (OF). I rinse out the soap that is in the FCS completely with hot water, let it dry, and cut about 1/4 inch strip fromm one edge. Folded in half, added straw, inserted into my 510 cart, and cut off flush with the cart opening. Filled easily, seems to pull in VG fluid better than OF. Vaped almost exactly like OF. PTB wicks better, but the ones I made seemed to be lacking in the vapor production department. No filler flavor that I could detect from the FCS, but we'll try it a couple of days to see how it hangs up. One thing about FCSs, all you need is scissors. One sponge would make several carts, and quickly.

Just another twist on the sponge filler thing. One thing about these cleaning sponges though, and I am at work now so can't check up on it, is that they are abrasive cleaning sponges. This may mean the fibers have little barbs on them so they are "deep cleaning", and these barbs might inhibit wicking to the atty some. But I will look closely at mine tonight to see if this is true. These sponges are certainly less hassle and cheaper than PTB. My guess is a box of FCSs would make at least 500 carts.

At this point, however, my favorite cart is OF + straw. Haven't tried the plugs or springs yet. Hoping the FCSs + straw are at least as good after a couple of days. I generally get at least a week out of OF+straw before I replace the filler, and that's only to clean out the flavor. The function generally is still very good after a week or so.

Hi Kurt!

The key to the BP plug is to make sure not to compress it too much and to make sure the "channels" that the BP naturally has are pointing towards the atty. One direction essentially blocks liquid and the other slowly channels it to the bridge.

I used one plug, with no reduction in performance for 7 days. I just did a new cart, with a new liquid, to test if it works with different liquids and can be easily replicated. So far, I'm VERY impressed. I'm currently vaping a peach flavor and that tends to get a bad perfume-like aftertaste if the atty gets even slightly dry. I just drained a cart with no flavor issues - first time EVER! LOL

The straw I used is about 15mm tall. The plug is about 5mm deep, 4mm wide and 7mm long. I cut a strip 4mm X 5mm and slide it in with the excess hanging out, then trim the excess flush. No doubling up - that would inhbit the wicking/flow too much. (This is all for a flat-tipped 510 cart.) The straw holds it in place, so no need to double it to get it to stay put.

[Kurt]

Kristin, these are CVS Disposable Facial Sponges (DFS),

Buy CVS Disposable Facial Sponges With Cleanser Normal To Dry Skin online at CVS.com

are not really as matrixed as I first thought. Imagine fluval very even in density, random fiber orientation, but a sponge, not a wool. I must say that it is by far the best filler I have used to date (OP, tea bag, PTB, others). I think I'm going to vape this whole cart dry with no lose of anything good until the end. Spectacular performance! Just head and shoulders superior. My issue WAS vg thickness. Great vape, topping off all the time. This wicks VG-only juice like no other. If I take a a couple long drags in a row, and take off the cart and look, I can watch juice being replenished! Using a straw too, but I'm not so sure its necessary. Never vaped so long and so hard on a cart between toppings, and had such good flavor. Gotta get the soap out though!! I did detect a slight hint of sort-like-soap at one point. I would say hot water for a while, then rinse with vodka, let dry, and start snipping!

I have been HAMMERING on this cart for about 40 minutes without topping, and it just keeps going! We're talking 15 sec hits one right after another, on the USB-510 which is getting hotter than the sun, and zero harshness or loss of flavor. And I take it off and look and the juice just continues to wick up to the atty end. The capillary action is outstanding, almost intelligent. No leaking at all. And no white singes like with fluval under such extreme punishment. I'm gonna fry this atty and the river will just keep flowing! And its VG-only juice!

I'm sure the fiber material is the same for these two cleaning products. The matrix in yours probably wicks better than this, but my guess is they are very similar. And thanks to your idea, I just got up from my office chair, walked into the bathroom, and picked up at least a years supply of simply legendary cart filler. I finally had to add more juice after a solid hour of serious vaping. Zero flooding, clearly designed to retain its shape, makes a perfect bowl around the bridge. the no flooding thing is striking, as this is the bane of VG vapers, but this DFS is clearly simply holding the juice in place, and not letting it go down into the atty holes, and just feeding more when a little is used at the end.

You've changed my 510 outright...its 10x as good as it was earlier this evening. Simply never experienced vaping like this with this PV. Brava!

[bdsimpkins]

Kurt or Kristin,

Would this work as well without the straw mod???

[kristin]

Kurt or Kristin,

Would this work as well without the straw mod???

We are actually testing that right now. Another member and I have tried lengthening the plug and removing the straw. It has different reactions to different liquids. Using a thinner liquid, a longer, denser plug works well. Using a thicker liquid, a shorter, looser plug works better. HV liquid from nhaler seems to work better when the atty is warmer, too.

Check out the thread to see our progress: Reservoir Straw & Plug Mod (RSP Mod)

[fatalis]

I use Tulle from hobby lobby, better than PTB in my opinion..less prone to folding over where the wick hits it, it springs back better, maintains better contact, and holds insane amounts of juice with good wicking properties.

Sounds like it would take more skill than I know I have *lol* Same goes for the pyramid tea bag method. Saw a vid showing how to cut it and stuff and it looks really difficult! I don't suppose you have a vid showing how you use the tulle?