Problem re-filling carts with poly fill...

[beautifuldisaster]

Ok, so I have yet another question. I have read a lot of the post on cart mods, and watched a few videos about refilling your carts with new poly fill, however I think I am doing something really, really wrong. When I do it, and fill with new e-juice, I can get a few vapes in, but then there is this yucky burnt taste, only when I take out the poly fill, the bottom half ( the part closest to the atty) is dry, but the top of the poly fill still has liquid. OR if I don't get the burnt taste, then I get a really harsh vape, and I can hardly taste my flavors. And I have yummy flavors. Any idea, what I could possibly be doing wrong? Is it the way I'm doing the poly fill or could it my atty's?

Any help would be great... thank you so much!

BD

 

[wrp]

Hello!
I've been vaping for just a few months, and I've encountered some of the same problems you describe.
A post that really helped me is "The Highping Cart Mod" here on ECF. I'm still working on getting just the perfect amount of filler, but this method has worked best for me.
Hope this helps!
- wrp

 

[dormouse]

I could never get polyfill working right. try blue foam. I refill all of my carts with blue foam. It is the easiest cart filler. I keep a piece of blue foam in my drawer at work and quick cut a new plug one day when I decided my old one had gotten too frayed.

If you have 510 carts you can buy the precut blue foam pieces at strictlyejuice.com super cheap. If you have a super-mini you can probably cut plugs from the 510-size pieces - that's what I did to start. Else look in Petsmart aquarium dept for Marineland Rite-Size U Foam Sleeve in the aquarium section but it costs 10x what 10 precuts cost at strictlyejuice.


The plug length can be almost as long as the depth of the juice cup and tapered on the bottom, or shorter if you want to be most daring and have higher risk of juice leaks to be able to fit more juice in. I usually cut plugs at least 3/4 the inner depth of the cart and tapered on the inner end. I cut them a bit wider than the cart's juice cup (just a tiny bit wider on tiny juice cups) to help the foam stay in place.

Full fill - remove the foam, fill the cart 1/2 (or 2/3 if you are daring) way with juice, Insert the tapered end of the foam and push the foam plug down into the juice to wet it. Using an unbent smooth small paperclip reposition the foam even with the top end of the juice cup. Top off with 2-3 drops.

After that, you should be able to just top off when needed until it seems to need a new full fill.

 

[beautifuldisaster]

Thank you so much for the feedback. I'm trying the poly fill mod now... since I do have a big ol' bag. But I am thinking of checking out the blue foam as well. Couldn't hurt. Anything to taste my flavors, and not the burnt harshness of the poly fill.

I got my my flavors from FSUSA... they're good right? I mean, the flavors? Oh dear I hope so!

 

[dormouse]

I never got the knack of having the right amount of polyfill. If it is not wicking well then you probably have to too tight. Remove a bit, fluff it up by pulling the fibers apart and try again. I love the blue foam - even conssistency, super-easy to take out, rinse and pat dry, put back.

 

[Nomoreash]

I use Fluval which is basically the same as poly fill except it comes in square blocks which makes it easy to cut the same amount every time once you figure out what consistency works best for you.

 

[beautifuldisaster]

Well I got one vaping smoother, just not much of a taste. (cherry/FSUSA)... If there is vape coming out, then it's working right? LOL The other is still too harsh, and no taste. Are there e-juices out there where you can actually taste the flavor? And how do you know if you flooded your atty??? Ugg, sorry for all the questions.

 

[dormouse]

If you flooded your atty it won't make much vapor. if you get a dry burny taste, check the cart and make sur the stuffing didn't slip down into the cart.

re flavor - you need to SMELL it. The human tongue can detect 5 flavors - sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami (MSG). A good cherry juice should taste a bit sweet/tart (sweet/sour) on the tongue and smell like cherries. let your nose have some of the vapor - occasionally let some escape you mouth so your nose can catch it on the inhale.

Some flavors of juice don't really contain any distinctive sweet or sour (or bitty or salty) and you need to mostly go by the aroma. What PG/VG blend did you get? Some FSUSA juices only come in 50/50 and some are selectable. I like 70pg/30vg when offers. PG lets through the most flavor and the most irritation/TH of nicotine. VG smooths the TH and dulls the flavor somewhat.

re blue foam - once you get a plug cut right it will work at least as well as a new prefilled cart and often better.

 

[grandmato5]

I've used the polly fill for 6+ months. Took a bit of a learning curve in the beginning but once you get the hang of it shouldn't be a problem. A toothpick or paperclip and kleenex or papertowel are your best friends while you're learning. It sounds to me like your using too much pollyfill. If its stuffed in the cart too tightly its hard for the juice to make its way through fast enough to keep the atty wet and if you don't keep that atty wet you'll get the burnt and/or harsh taste. If I think I've gotten too much pollyfill I take my scissors and clip off a small slice from one side and try again. I can always take off more but if you take off too much you have to start all over again which I try to avoid. Also make sure after you fill the cart with drops (I find its usually 8 drops) and put the pollyfill into the cart IF there's no juice pooling I add 3-4 drops onto the pollyfill until the juice is just slightly pooling on the top and then take the toothpick and slide it down the side of the cart which takes excess juice back down into the cart. If I need to top off with another drop I then do that. IF after that theres juice sitting on top of the pollyfill I just dab it onto the papertowel.

It sounds like a lot of work but when you get the hang of it you really don't have to go through so many steps every time you do it because it just becomes automatic and its rare I have any problems or mess at all.

Hope this al makes sense to you. Good Luck!

 

[TheLexicana]

Another thing that I've found with the blue foam - it does tend to leak, but if you use a little less, and cap it with an itty-bitty piece of the polyfill, it is less likely to leak, and the minimal depth of the polyfill doesn't seem to reduce the wicking in my experience.
So basically, go with the blue foam method, cut off 1/3 to 1/4 of your polyfill plug, and insert after filling the blue foam. Add a couple more drops, and you're good to go!

 

[beautifuldisaster]

Oh my.... so I've been vaping completely wrong?? LOL Hilarious... you should see me, as I look in the mirror trying to let some escape on the inhale. Bahahaaaa. Thank you so much! I'm def. going to try the blue foam. Oh I hope I get the hang of all this. Thank you again.