Re: 501 questions

[ALC]

Models: I personally own 2 different 501s, 901, 401 and 808s. I am having trouble with flavor in my carts on the 3-pieces.

Filling: I wanted to see what different people are using as filler. I have only tried using an analog filter, that seems to work great at first, but is very fragile to say the least. I was going to try to buy some of the blue foam, but the pet stores in my area do not carry it so I'll have to try a Petsmart or something. I have not tried the pyramid tea bags, so I look forward to hearing about those and where to buy locally hopefully. Any other suggestions of filling that I have not listed please let me know.

Cleaning Filling: I do wash all filling before I use it in boiling water, and I have also tried cleaning with Crest.

Filling methods: I have tried the paper clip trick, but it does not work for me as good as others claim it does. I think I must be doing something wrong. I have not tried the straw method yet. I keep searching around the house for something to use. What does anybody think about a plastic q-tip tube? Will it burn up?

Flavor: I use methol personally. I tried an experiment where I used the same flavor in all my carts and cartomizers and I keep getting inconsistent flavors. Some literally taste like sucking on plastic. I have perfected using my cartomizers, but even some times if the cartomizer is a blank or cleaned out flavor cart, the taste varies. This leads me to believe that it is all about the filling material.

I gladly welcome all opinions no matter if your a newbie or veteran.

 

[highping]

ALC, I use the 510 almost exclusively. I own (and have used) 401, 901, 801, 4081, KR808, and Greencig, but when I compare them all side-by-side, the 510 always comes out on top. It's just the best throat hit for me. The 808's are good for not having to refill as much (GC are even better), but I find that I just get too much air in my hit with the cartos.

As for the cart filler. I have tried just about all the cart mods (PTB, ZFM, spring, straw, blue foam, white foam, pipe screen, coffee filters, etc. <that's all I can think of right now>)
I did the no-fill, direct drip method for a while too, and while that is the best way to get good clean flavor, it's a major PITA to keep up with. 2-3 drips every 5 minutes gets old.

So, after all that, what I have finally settled on (believe it or not) is stock filling. However, I make a small modification to it. What I do is pull the filling out and cut it down so that it is only about a half inch long. Then I can fill the empty cart with juice and basically just use the filling piece as a 'plug' on top the juice. I have found that in doing this, not only do I get a lot more juice in the cart (since the filling isn't taking up all the room), but the little filler plug always stays saturated until the cart is completely empty.

I also have had no issues at all with flooding the atty with this method. This actually surprised me a little because I the only thing I vape with now is my Chuck. With the chuck, when I'm in between uses, it sits on end (batt side down), so I was worried that all the juice would just run out in this position...but it doesn't.

As for the flavor (and burnt plastic taste)...I got the same thing when I was using completely unmodified carts. The problem with the stock carts and filling is that even if the cart is still half full of juice, the top (where it contacts the bridge of the atty) will dry out. As soon as this happens you start getting the dry, burnt plastic taste. (hence all the many cart mods that are out there).

The only cleaning I do for my cart filling is to dab it dry with a paper towel occasionally. The only cleaning I do on my atty is to give it (what I call) a "blow-out and burn-off". Again, I've tried all the atty cleaning methods and that seems to be the most effective. I am using an atty right now that I started using in October, and it still hits like the day I got it.

Sorry for the long reply. I hope some of that info helps.

 

[Drozd]

I'll speak on the easy one first taste difference using the same juice.. some atties run hotter than others and some juices do better on a hotter than cooler one or vice versa..the KR8 and the 901 should be close to similar but will vary greatly from the 510 (I've no experience with the 401 so I can't comment on that)

Cart mods...it really depends on the mod..most straw mods are different that what you're proposing with the q-tip (I think) some do use a plastic q tip tube down the edge of a cart to let the air vent out when refilling (as long as it doesnt touch the atomizer it's been ok)..
The blue aquarium foam does work well the BFD even a bit better..

 

[Electricnut]

Right now, after trying lots of mods, I am using a carto with the top off, then I drip around 10 drops into it. Lasts pretty long and when it gets dry the flavor stops before it gets harsh or burns my throat. On 6v the tip gets hot so I use a foam pen grip and a plastic tip like from a 510. This also keeps juice out of my mouth. Right now I'm not using any attys at all.

 

[ALC]

Thanks for all the tips, I will give them a try tonight due to the fact that my order doesn't come in until this afternoon and I only have prefilled cartos.

I don't know why I didn't think about the heating being so different between each model. I do seem to get the better flavor, when it comes to the 3-pieces, with the 901. So am I right to assume that the 510 runs the hottest? That is the model I am having the worst flavor from. Like I said I will try cutting the filler and add more juice and see how that does. Next I'll give the blue foam a try.

By the way, Electricnut are you talking about just putting a 510 emtpy cart on top of the cartomizer? If not, I feel like a dumdum because I just tried it. It does work though.

 

[highping]

...Right now I'm not using any attys at all.

Did you mean not using any carts? (AKA "tail-piping")
That's what I did when I dripped. But sometimes I would just stick an empty cart with no filler on it so I didn't get the splatter, and hot lips.
Or the rubber pen grip also worked well. The good thing about the pen grip is I could pick a color that matched my Buckeye Chuck.

... or do you mean that you are strickly using cartos now?

 

[VapoSmith]

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/cartridge-mods/58690-b-f-d-cart-mod.html

Try this one the best i've tried so far