What am I screwing up?

[cainne]

Ok I've been using the blue foam mod.

I got the sheets from ModernVapor.
I poked out the inner clear cart, and took out the stuffing.
I cut the blue foam slightly longer and slightly wider than the inner clear cart. (Slightly in this case = maybe 1/8th to 1/4 of an inch wider and 1/4 of an inch taller.)
I filled the clear inner cart 1/2 way with fluid. I twisted the end of the blue foam and pushed it in just a bit, about 1/4 of the way, then used an unbent paperclip to gently slide it in the rest of the way.
I dripped in more fluid until it's about 1-2 millimeters from the top of the inner cart.
I use the unbent paperclip to gently push the blue foam down,this squeezes out the air bubbles trapped inside and gently pull it BACK up to the top until it's just a touch below the top of the inner cart.
I press a papertowel gently to the top to absorb the bit of free floating fluid on the surface.
Use paperclip again to push inner cart to the bottom of the outer cart
vape.

The first day I did this it worked fabulously. Used almost 90%+ of the fluid in the cart up. I just left the foam in, filled it more, squished foam down with paperclip to release trapped air, refilled more, vaped more.
Again, worked almost perfectly.

I left the cart about 1/2 filled attached to the atty. Charged battery, went to sleep. The next morning refilled as described above, same way, to get it back to full, took a few drags, it was fine. Suddenly it's just air. The blue foam isn't wicking the fluid up at all. It's like dipping almost. What's on top that the atty touches gets vaped, then nothing. I get like 5-6 good puffs then it's dry. Open up the cart, it's still 90% full. Foam is up near the top, no obvious issues. The foam isn't melted or otherwise obviously damaged or anything.

I think, OK. Maybe it is melted a bit somehow or maybe the atty's clogged because I left it all night with juice on it. But no. Without the cart using dripping the atty works 100%. I take out the blue foam that worked perfectly yesterday, use it for a model, cut another piece exactly the same of new foam, put it in a new cart; same method as yesterday. Again. No wicking.

WTF am I doing wrong here???

Let me add this:
When I pull out the inner cart the top of the blue foam is about 1/4" of an inch below the top of the clear inner cart.
Is that too low?
Should the bottom of the atty bridge be pushing snuggly INTO the foam or just touching the top of it?

 

[pdssoft]

I wish I could help you but I have had similar issues with the blue foam... it doesn't appear to be reliable. One time it works great, the next... nothing.

If I cut the foam just slightly larger than the inner cart, it will wick properly, but then leaks become an issue. If I cut it too large (like you explain), not enough wick.

 

[auTONYmous]

you probably need to cut the foam a bit longer than the cart. I've recently started refilling my carts with just foam instead of my RSP mod just as a trial, and the first one I cut was too short. Put it in, vape it for a while, let it sit, vaped again: dry. Pulled it out, foam is a few mm down into the cart, not wicking.

I'm not real familiar with using just foam in the cart, since I use RSP so much, but there's definitely more finite science to getting the top of the foam to STAY in good contact with the bridge.

IMHO when the foam gets saturated with juice, it tends to shrink. You may want to try using a larger piece (read: longer than your last piece).

Oh, and thoroughly rinse your foam in hot water and dry before use. I get residual taste if I don't rinse it first. Especially when it dries out.

 

[cainne]

Thanks, I guess I'll just have to keep dicking around with it and hope.

So far I've cut it a little shorter than the inner cart and almost a 1/2 inch longer and about everything in between. Too short and no contact, too long and it compacts the foam too much and with a closed cell material like the blue foam squished = won't really absorb or wick so it just sits there, in contact with the atty bridge but not wicking up any of the juice... GRRRR...

Sidesho cartomizers anyone? lol

 

[pdssoft]

FYI: I've been experimenting with the Pyrimid Tea Bag agian... so far it's working much better than my prior experiences.

I'm gald Modern Vapor sells the Blue Foam though (not available in my area)... I've been playing with that as well, but still running into similar problems. I wonder if the foam breaks down in the liquid or due to the heat of the atty...

 

[cainne]

I've had a similar thought since it's really not designed for heat load.
They almost always wick like 75% when I first cut them then after 1-2 refills are down to like only using 20% of the juice before refusing to wick up any more even though the carts 80%++ still filled.

I've also noticed around that point they're much "squishier".

I tried the white Fluval foam I got at Petsmart and it works better because it's more rigid. Not WORLDS better, but a small noticeable bit better for me at least. Especially if I just cut it to fit into the case without really any compaction, just sliding in pretty much "as cut".

PTB worked crap for me, couldn't even get ONE solid drag off it but then again, limited practice/experience so who knows what a jedi master of PTB would achieve

**To correct my earlier post it should have been "Open cell" foam NOT "Closed cell foam".

 

[cainne]

FYI:
This is a link to the one I found that works great. Better for me at least than the blue foam.

Fluval Canister Filter Foam Blocks for Models 104 - 404, from Hagen - Filter Media - Fish - PetSmart