Here's what I do when I notice a drop off in the length of vapping sessions or, any other unsatisfactory performance while vapping. I vape a whole lot, from dusk till dawn and longer. When things aren't working the way I expect them to, it could mean a few different things. My suggestions are as follows;
First, make sure you've got your technique down. From what I've heard and my own personal experience, there's a learning curve. I wouldn't bother messing around with any sort of mods until you've really gotten to know your 510 in and out.
Second, maintenance. People say to soak your attys in all sorts of crazy stuff, some things work and others I wouldn't want to try. That's just me though. Simplest way to keep things clean in my opinion is to let your attys drain over night and use canned air in the morning to blow em' out. Make sure to blow out ALL the holes, the big hole on the battery end and the two little ones under the threads. For good measure blow through the cart side as well. Don't forget to drip the bridge before usage.
Also, keep your connections clean. Use a q-tip and some rubbing alcohol on both the atty and battery. Clean all the threads thoroughly and anything thing else that makes contact between the battery and the atty.
Lastly, as far as refilling and topping off. You're just going to have to keep on trying 'till you get it down and you will.
Kent C gave me a few videos that helped me out a lot when I first got my 510.
Video : InnoVapor, The Finest in Personal Vaporizers
Here's another for good measure. Always good to have as much knowledge as possible when using any sort of electronic device.
Charging lithium-ion batteries
Hope this helps, happy vapping
-Kristin, I really enjoyed your article. It was very concise, thoughtful and a great read. As far as publishing goes, have you tried contacting Matt Salmon (salmonbetterway@gmail.com)? He is the president of the Electronic Cigarette Association. Here's his youtube video;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLVlSY4fwIg