DIY Drip System: Think, "The Dipper"

[keitht253]

Hi Everyone,

I was just sitting around here bored tonight, and was looking at drip systems such as "The Dripper," and the vapemate. While this mod isn't quite as streamlined and easy to use as those two systems seem, it still seems like an attractive option for those who want to drip without needing a drip tip, the use of two hands, etc.



I did this mod using my Magma (510) that I recently purchased, along with a spare cart that I had lying around.

First, I took the cart and removed the inner piece as seen below: (Actually, I left the inner piece in to begin with, but did not seem to get favorable results. If anyone tries this and leaves the inner piece, let me know how it worked for you and how you went about setting it up.)



Then I took a T-Connector that I got from the pet store (either Petco or Walmart's pet section - what is it with vapers using aquarium equipment for mods?!) and cut off one of the branches of the T so that I ended up with this 90 degree L-type fitting.




Using a small section of some air tubing used for fish tank aerators (of which you will need maybe a foot or so max in order to do this, taking into account some trial and error or possibility of a screw-up), I made one cut long-ways through the tubing so that it opened up into one strip. (Length of the tubing that I actually used was about half of the tubing pictured, perhaps only 5mm long)




Cont'd in next post....

 

[keitht253]

Then I folded the strip in half (in the opposite direction that I made the cut) and shoved it into the open end of the T-Connector that was there after cutting the branch off. I used a flashlight looking into the perpendicular branch to see how far the tubing was pushed in (just to make sure I didn't push it in too far so that the tubing blocked the passage for the remaining L connector).

There was some excess tubing hanging out of the hole that I had shoved it in, so I went about sealing that end off. I took a lighter to the excess tubing so that it started to melt, and pushed it down around the hole to ensure it was sealed (same concept as burning cellophane to seal it shut - there's probably a better way to do this, maybe with rubber cement or something, but this is what I had lying around).

Then I took a drill bit and drilled a hole into the mouthpiece part of the cart that I had separated from it's inner piece. The drill bit used was slightly smaller (as seen in the picture below) than the fitting, and this worked out well since the end of the fittings are kind of flared, so I was able to push the fitting into the hole and then pull it back out so that it snugly mated up to the hole.

I cut about a mm off of the part of the L connector that goes into the hole on the mouthpiece so that the fitting was aligned in such a way that liquid would drop straight down the center of the mouthpiece and into the atty (pictured below, although I could not get the camera to focus ... you will see what I mean when you go to do the mod though)

Then I cut a 35mm piece of the aquarium air tubing. On one end, I flared it a bit by sticking needlenose pliers into the opening and stretching outward just a little so that the end would fit over the e-liquid bottle dropper. The bottle pictured is a 3ml bottle, not sure if the tubing would fit over the dropper part of a larger bottle, but I suspect it would.

Then I attached the other end of the tube to the L connector coming out of the cart.

Then I attached the cart to the atty and batt setup, and ta-da, setup complete. Side note: you could use a rubber band if you want to hook together the batt and the bottle like shown in the second picture below, but I prefer not to do this, for a reason you'll see in a minute.

Since we disposed of the inner part of the cart setup, there is nothing there to catch the liquid from going out the opening of the mouthpiece. Therefore, to drip from the bottle, I rotate the bottle upwards and then squeeze to drip, and then rotate it back down when I'm done.

This mod is certainly not perfect, and it may take a little trial and error, but hey, that's what makes it rewarding when you get it working the way you like! Like I said earlier, I could not seem to make it work with the inner part of the cart still attached, but if someone out there can, it would certainly be an improvement since one would not have to worry about having the batt facing down before dripping. Let me know what you all think! I'd love the feedback, suggestions, modifications, etc, and especially would like to hear how it worked for you!

 

[keitht253]

I forgot to mention that the little dropper part from the e-liquid bottle comes off, so once you're out of liquid, or you want to swap it out, you can just leave the dropper part attached to the clear tube and refill the container or reattach it to a different bottle (at least, this is how it is on my 3ml bottle).

 

[keitht253]

Just a brief update:

I was able to make the system work after reinserting the inner piece of the cart, I don't think it was causing the problem that I thought it was. In fact, it may even make the air seal between the L connector and the cart tighter.

Second, I took the dropper part off of the bottle and inserted a piece of tubing on the part that goes down into the tank, enabling the ability to drip without having to flip the bottle up in order to dispense the liquid into the atty. This makes the rubber band part more reasonable now, and perhaps even more desirable. If anyone wants to see updated pics, just ask.

 

[pkj]

Now this is creativity at it's best.
Very Very cool.

 

[keitht253]

Now this is creativity at it's best.
Very Very cool.

Thanks pkj, can't take too much credit though, I got the idea from looking at The Dripper, the Vapemate, and various box mods with drip systems.

I'd definitely like to see some other people give this a try and let me know how it turns out. I just put this together tonight and I'm still fiddling with it here and there but I'm hoping to have it straightened out soon. I de-bridged my atty as well, though I'm not yet sure if this has helped or hurt the performance of this mod.

 

[Zag]

Looks like a fun mod. May give it a shot.

 

[ukeman]

what i didn't like about the VM is it flooded too easily imo; for me, tactile challenged, it was always hit and miss... hope yours works...

and kudos for a diy ingenuity....

 

[keitht253]

what i didn't like about the VM is it flooded too easily imo; for me, tactile challenged, it was always hit and miss... hope yours works...

and kudos for a diy ingenuity....

It does seem to flood too easily, I think one of the problems is that it's tough to gauge how much you're dripping into the atty when squeezing the bottle. Not sure what I can do about this though other than trial and error and testing w/o the cart on the atty.

 

[keitht253]

Quick update: turns out the mod was not at fault for any flooding of my atty. The atty itself was bad, due to my failed de-bridging endeavor. Put a new atty on there, worked great! So if you're looking at this mod and contemplating doing it, don't worry about the atty being flooded too easily. Of course, though, you should do some trial and error to see how much liquid drips out depending on how hard you squeeze the bottle.

 

[keitht253]

So I made another modification to the design. This involved using a empty 3ml juice bottle and turning it into the mouthpiece, the reasoning behind which was that I wanted to see how much juice I was dripping into the atomizer. Turned out the threaded part of the bottle fits perfectly into a 510 atomizer and has the nice benefit of carrying the fluid down in such a way that it is taken directly to the bridge, eliminating some of the worry that the liquid would funnel down the side of the atty and pool up around the edge of the inside. Not sure how closely it fits to the bridge though, so some pooling may still occur. The threaded end of the bottle is also short enough that it does not extend all the way down past the bridge, thus does not risk contacting the atty. If this is true on your setup, you could just trim a little bit off of this end.

See the pics below.

 

[mwa102464]

It is like a VM kind of, but I do love my vapemate hooked up to my Provari, it works like a dream for me, good luck with your Mod

 

[keitht253]

It is like a VM kind of, but I do love my vapemate hooked up to my Provari, it works like a dream for me, good luck with your Mod

Thanks mwa. I've got it working pretty well right now. It's really nice actually considering it was free for me, since I already had the spare bottles, tubing, and fitting lying around. If someone did not have the tubing or fitting, it would only cost maybe 5 or 10 bucks total (I know the fittings are only about 2 or 3 bucks for a pack of 2, and the tubing varies in cost depending on how much you get). It is a drip system that can be operated one handed, provided you're in a situation where you can take a peek at how much liquid is dripping down in (could even be pulled off while driving, I bet).

 

[keitht253]

So has anyone else given this a shot yet? If so, I'd love to hear from you.

 

[aziffel]

View attachment 29445Much the same as this
Journeyman 3ml bottle/w tube inside
Silicon tubing
clear driptip(carts will also work,just can't see the juice)
small strip of velcro

 

[revolver]

The mod is very effective!

 

[keitht253]

View attachment 29445Much the same as this
Journeyman 3ml bottle/w tube inside
Silicon tubing
clear driptip(carts will also work,just can't see the juice)
small strip of velcro

Yes, exactly aziffel. Do you know where you can get a clear driptip? I've been looking and all I can seem to find are frosted-type drip tips but not exactly see-through.

Revolver: glad to hear the mod is working nicely for you! Keep us updated if you run into any issues or make any modifications to the design.

Does anyone know where clear tubing of various sizes can be purchased locally? I've been looking but no luck. I'm thinking maybe a craft store, hobby store, or a medical supply store. Any other ideas?

 

[aziffel]

Yes, exactly aziffel. Do you know where you can get a clear driptip? I've been looking and all I can seem to find are frosted-type drip tips but not exactly see-through.

Revolver: glad to hear the mod is working nicely for you! Keep us updated if you run into any issues or make any modifications to the design.

Does anyone know where clear tubing of various sizes can be purchased locally? I've been looking but no luck. I'm thinking maybe a craft store, hobby store, or a medical supply store. Any other ideas?

The tube,I got at amazon.com,It's du-bro brand super blue silicon fuel tubing,cat.#221.
the driptips are at avid vaper.com or nitelite vapor.com(probably more sites than just them)
And the velcro can be got at just about any dept. store

 

[revolver]

This mod reminded me of the fatty by jon cammarata which is GREAT. Check it...
This link includes video tutorials to his mods... Check 'em and the fatty...

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...m/160903-diy-vids-no-leak-atty-tank-mods.html

 

[Scorched]

Looks very intresting... I will have to give this a shot.

It seems to me that some of your leaking issues would be solved if you used an atomizer with the bridge still in it and put some filler material in the cartridge you have the bottle attached to.