First and foremost, I need to give props to the folks that came up with some of the fundamental ideas behind this "mod". The groundwork for this was laid out by folks like Carlos, Scottyballs, Kristin, and some guy in Germany....
Background: I'm a big fan of fillerless mods like the ZFM (Zero Filler mod), Spring and Plug mod, Straw and Plug Mod, and other variants like that. But I've always had two problems with them. One is that we still rely on the intrinsic wicking capabilities of the atomizer. And that not only varies wildly from atomizer to atomizer, it also changes with the viscosity and film tension characteristics of the fluid that we are using. Change atomizers or change liquids, and a perfectly working cartridge now either floods or starves that atomizer. Secondly, if you build a "perfectly sealing" cartridge like the silicone ZFM, it will ultimately stop deliverying liquid to the atty (unless you introduce an intentional leak). That's because the the liquid reservoir is sealed, and as the bridge pulls liquid away from the reservoir a vacuum (partial pressure) developes. That inhibits or completely stops the flow of additional liquid into the bridge mesh.
My idea was to build a cartridge that perfectly sealed like a ZFM... but that had a "button" that would allow me to "burp" away the vacuum in the cartridge.. delivering more liquid to the bridge when I wanted it to. In other words.... a "dripper" that I could use to put some more liquid into the atty when it was running dry. Throwing some additional capacity into the unit, and allowing for easy "field refill" were additional goals.
Here's what I did.
First I cut up two cartridges (901's.. my cartridge of choice for the 510). This would allow me to piece together the functions that I needed along with increasing the storage capacity.
Then I carefully drilled into the top of one of the cartridges and installed a "check valve" that has a stainless ball bearing and a stainless compression spring. The ball protrudes through the side of the cartridge and makes an air-tight seal. I can press on this ball with my finger or fingernail to "break" the seal and allow air to enter the cartridge.
The other cartridge half has the tip removed and the passages have been opened up to extend the vapor path and liquid reservoir. Then a stainless steel sleeve has been pressed on:
When assembled, the cartridge looks like this:
Continued in next post:
Background: I'm a big fan of fillerless mods like the ZFM (Zero Filler mod), Spring and Plug mod, Straw and Plug Mod, and other variants like that. But I've always had two problems with them. One is that we still rely on the intrinsic wicking capabilities of the atomizer. And that not only varies wildly from atomizer to atomizer, it also changes with the viscosity and film tension characteristics of the fluid that we are using. Change atomizers or change liquids, and a perfectly working cartridge now either floods or starves that atomizer. Secondly, if you build a "perfectly sealing" cartridge like the silicone ZFM, it will ultimately stop deliverying liquid to the atty (unless you introduce an intentional leak). That's because the the liquid reservoir is sealed, and as the bridge pulls liquid away from the reservoir a vacuum (partial pressure) developes. That inhibits or completely stops the flow of additional liquid into the bridge mesh.
My idea was to build a cartridge that perfectly sealed like a ZFM... but that had a "button" that would allow me to "burp" away the vacuum in the cartridge.. delivering more liquid to the bridge when I wanted it to. In other words.... a "dripper" that I could use to put some more liquid into the atty when it was running dry. Throwing some additional capacity into the unit, and allowing for easy "field refill" were additional goals.
Here's what I did.
First I cut up two cartridges (901's.. my cartridge of choice for the 510). This would allow me to piece together the functions that I needed along with increasing the storage capacity.
Then I carefully drilled into the top of one of the cartridges and installed a "check valve" that has a stainless ball bearing and a stainless compression spring. The ball protrudes through the side of the cartridge and makes an air-tight seal. I can press on this ball with my finger or fingernail to "break" the seal and allow air to enter the cartridge.
The other cartridge half has the tip removed and the passages have been opened up to extend the vapor path and liquid reservoir. Then a stainless steel sleeve has been pressed on:
When assembled, the cartridge looks like this:
Continued in next post:
