Connector o-Ring Mod

[rc10mike]

Purpose of this mod: Prevents juice from contaminating the gasket material in the connector, makes flavor switching easier.

My story: I had a mini I left a fruity juice in. After switching back to a tobacco flavor, I noticed the fruity flavor was still there. Long story short, I tried everything and I mean EVERYTHING to flush this flavor. Eventually I boiled the mini too long and the connector gasket completely melted. I still need to send my mini to Rob for repair...

So I received my new Grand the other day and noticed a large gap in the bottom of the connector.

After some measurements and searching I found these o-rings made by HPI, part number 6899.

They fit nice and snug down into the connector. I used a wooden toothpick to push it down in there.

Now, its all sealed up, no more juice flavor can get down into the connector gasket. Its kind of hard to see, but now I can start using my Silver Vein Grand!

On a side note, my old mini and old Grand appear to have a (too small) black rubber piece already in there, but my new Grand did not. Perhaps Rob uses different connectors?

 

[Sterno]

good work Mike

 

[rc10mike]

Thanks, I recommend this to everyone here who switches juice flavors and has had the same issues I had.

I had a thread on my issues a while back. Even after extreme cleaning, new tube, bottle, cap, cap o-ring the previous juice still contaminated the new juice. All that was left was the connector.

 

[deny]

I recently bought a VV Grand and notice the gap too. I assume its to drain the juice back to the bottle. Can someone explain to me how the juice from the gap goes back to the bottle?
Picture of gap for reference

 

[rc10mike]

Juice that gets stuck in that gap does NOT get sucked back into the bottle. Thats why I posted this o-ring idea.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

I think juice in that gap just hangs out until the overflow level rises and then it can go down the center hole? If it went back in the box it would end up all over the place, not in the tubing/bottle

 

[deny]

I see. I opened the part where the tubing is and it didn't seem like juice leaked so far. My guess is that there is something blocking juice from going down to the bottom. I can't see inside the center pin to be sure. Does someone know if this is the case or should i be careful of leaking juice inside the box.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

If the o ring is doing its job, it won't be able to get into the box. That's my understanding anyway. Only other path it can take is down the tube through the atty hole-connector, or if you flood it, up over the drip well and down the sides of the box

 

[rc10mike]

My problem started when I left the juice in my REO for a long period of time. No matter what I did, I could not get rid of the lingering flavor after switching juices. I tried every cleaning method and then some, nothing could get rid of the fruity flavor.

Eventually, the only component left was the connector gasket.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

that makes sense, those gaskets absorb flavor skunk like few other things in the world lol

I like this mod and am going to try it next time I put something stanking in the Reo VV

 

[rc10mike]

I mention in my original post that there appears to be different connectors.

In my original post, my Grand had a rather large gap, with no visible gasket. On the other hand, deny posted a pic of what appears to be some sort of gasket material in the connector.

 

[jeenam]

The gasket people keep mentioning is what keeps juice from leaking down into the reo's bottle/battery compartment. I know this because I over-tightened a vapage atomizer and crushed the gasket so much that the rubber broke. Once the rubber broke, there was no longer a seal to keep the juice in the connector well. Rob sent a few extras over when he sent back the repaired reo. I will post a pic of the gasket later tonight so you can see the part.

 

[deny]

Thank you jeenam that pretty much answered my question.

 

[jeenam]

Aight. No need for a pic then. Glad to help clear things up. Beware the vapage atomizers. Great vape, but they are a tad longer than most 510 atty's. Rob posted in the Reos Mods forum about ERA rebuildables also being longer than a standard atty as he had quite a few customers who also crushed their gasket and caused the rubber to break. The post is a sticky at the top of the forum.

 

[whatitstrue]

I see. I opened the part where the tubing is and it didn't seem like juice leaked so far. My guess is that there is something blocking juice from going down to the bottom. I can't see inside the center pin to be sure. Does someone know if this is the case or should i be careful of leaking juice inside the box.

The gasket serves as an insulator between the positive and negative poles of the connector (post and threads) as well as keeping juice from seeping into the mod. Also notorious for holding on to flavors. crushing the gasket will cause shorts as well as allowing juice to seep.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

I'm curious about the spares Rob sent you Jeenam, how could you get them in place without desoldering/resoldering the center pin/tube?

 

[jeenam]

To my knowledge the center pin is not soldered in place. Rob sent me a video showing the pin CAN be removed. Takes a bit of work but it's definitely user serviceable.

@whatitstrue - lucky I didn't short my reo after the gasket broke. whew

 

[whatitstrue]

On the standard metal reos grand, mini, mini 2.0 there is nothing to solder. Its a screw on post with firing pin in between.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

Ahhh I see, I only have the VVG, makes sense