A cheap alternative to PTB

[Scottbee]

Kristin,

You should have let me know you were lookin' for PTB. I picked up boxes and boxes of PTB tea off of eBay a month ago or so. Not ever, ever, ever gonna drink this much tea! ;-)

 

[kristin]

Kristin,

You should have let me know you were lookin' for PTB. I picked up boxes and boxes of PTB tea off of eBay a month ago or so. Not ever, ever, ever gonna drink this much tea! ;-)

LOL! Darn!

OK, the ribbon is NOT the same. The PTB is a much finer mesh and has different characteristics. The PTB will crease and hold it's shape. The ribbon is softer, PTB stiffer, springy. The PTB is more...er..."plasticy" for the lack of a better word. It seems more like a sheet of plastic with a bunch of tiny holes vs an actual woven fabric, if that makes sense.

I'm trying the PTB now. It took 20 drops of liquid. Taste and vapor are good. No leaking so far, no funny taste. It did the double top fols, roll & partial shred. (Fold once, fold the folded edge over again twice more, roll it up and cut the open end once lengthwise up to the fold, insert folded end up.) Very easy to do with the PTB, not so easy with the ribbon.

I'll let you know how it works, but I'll take a piece with me to the store and see if I can still find a good alternative! The PTB is pretty cheap. I paid $2 for a box of it at Walmart, so I don't know if cheaper is the goal or just being able to find it easier - like the ribbon.

 

[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.

 

[kalani]

Picked up some tulle at a local craft/sewing store. with a discount coupon it was .40 for half a yard. Cut a piece aprox. 6"X2.5" , folded it in half and used a very small diameter screwdriver shaft to roll it up tight. shoved it in my 801 cartridge and trimmed it down so it is recessed just a little. used the screwdriver tip to unravel it some and recess the center to clear the atomizer some. filled with 20 drops of liquid and it worked awesome. vaped for a few hours and when it seemed dry i pulled it out and almost all the liquid was gone. seems to wick very good and does not flood atomizer. I am on my 3 refill and no change from my first fill.

 

[paulsostereo]

i tried ripping apart a cigarette filter from when i used to roll my own cigs

oh my god

it tasted like caca - i felt like i was getting cancer all over again - i'm so so glad i found this post, i have been wonder what to refill my carts with. wow. going to hobby lobby tomorrow.

-p

 

[kodykills]

PET is Polyethylene terephthalate. sorry i just knew that, i work in plastics extrusion

 

[anim8r]

in a word... WOW

I'm pretty glad I found this thread couple days ago.

I have no idea whether my tulle is nylon or polyester, but it's white and 6" x 25' and looks like it will last me forever.

I tried the PTB method and maybe it's the lipton bags, or the JC liquid, but they were brittle after 2-3 uses and once they turned brittle, they leaked terribly.

I don't even shred this stuff. Roll and stuff (took me a few attempts to find the right amount to use, but since I have a ton of it, I didn't mind wasing it lol).

Thanks for the find!

 

[General Idea]

After reading this thread I am totally off to michaels in the morning. I may hit petsmart for some aquarium filter as well.

 

[JohnandMe]

I'm still having fabulous success with my Tulle. I have vaped it DRY over and over and over - it uses every drop of liquid. I've pulled it out everytime to look for melting or shrinkage - and nothing. It's super easy to wash too. Thanks so much Isande for the thread and the instructions of how much to use. This stuff is amazing. I've never had ANY leakage and it wicks perfect every time. LOVE IT. I've also noticed that my atty doesnt get hot to the touch like it did with the PTB.

 

[General Idea]

I picked up both a roll of tulle and some eheim aquarium filter today. Played around with both and I still need to experiment more. For the moment I am using a couple 801's and both are working well, but I intend to experiment at length with a 510 and 901 tomorrow. For tonight it's a grape and lemon vape-a-thon with 2 801 carts.

It does seem that the tulle is a bit easier to work with for starters. I keep over compressing the eheim filter (I think)...

 

[fanofwalt]

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:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...call-adp-mod-auto-drip-mod-16.html#post696486

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?