Attn: atomizer rebuilders

[Bubo]

I thought about a mesh - but foam would be easier to cut and stick a + and - wire into - less connections.... (How the hell are you going to weave that?!?!?! :-) )

I googled "Nichrome Foam" but came up with nothing worthwhile... One guy back in 1979 has a patent for something using it - so Nichrome Foam exists, somewhere...

Nichrome mesh had a few more hits... But nothing I could take a look at....

Personally, I am envisioning a disk 10-13mm in diameter, maybe 1-2mm thick, with two wires coming out of it, a unit, like present atomizers, that would screw on to a AA battery housing... If you want - I could post pictures...

[Vaporer]

I've made a few different designs before. One was a conical spiral, point up.
I'd thought of a straight "box" weave , over and under. The problem is that electricitry takes the shortest path. The tests I did always shorted out at some point no matter how much oxidation I let form 1st. I was trying to let the natural oxidatiion act as a protective coating.
I still think the idea will work if you can prevent this from happening. The wire will distort while getting red hot. It always seems to look good just before it goes.
If you solve that problem, you could weave it for a "hot filter grid" that vaporizes anything trying to pass it.
It forms better after heated without springing back, but is more likely to break. Been there.

Don't let this discourage your efforts. Open discussion lead to answers one person cannot always solve. Good post and idea.

Edit: if a NiCr mesh could be found, that had the right resistance, for the dia naturally, that could possibly work.

[Bubo]

The problem is that electricitry takes the shortest path....

Okay... didn't know that!


Is there someway to SEE how the electricity is traveling?

For instance, if the black things are the + and - wires, and we have a mesh or foam as the red... could we see if electricity is flowing enough around the edges? (Other than the obvious of making it and plugging it in and watch what turns red...)

[roadkilldeluxe]

I'm not sure but if electricity takes the shortest path it seems like it might not go out to the "ends" of the "T"?

I was thinking if electrical contacts were at the corners, electricity might be more even. But I have no idea...

[Bubo]

How about a cross piece then?


We still have to be able to SEE the current flow though....

[roadkilldeluxe]

Cross piece would be good, plus it gives us something nice to "weave" off of. But yeah, i'm not 100% sure if the "chain link" is possible to do, it's probably the hardest, but I think it would look cool Perhaps there are some other good "absorbent" coil designs...

The other issue: it might be hard to stuff this thing into the atomizer, and especially without it touching itself somewhere.

[Vaporer]

I see you are starting to get the concept.
It's not an easy feat. The 2nd drawing in post 155 is the best shot at it as it is.
If one place decides to touch changing the path or another gains resistance from material changes (resistance) the lower resistance now carries the most load and will fail at that point. Thats why you see most coil configurations as a single strand, never crossing.
The conical shape I described earlier was a single strand, like a stove burner with the center pulled up. The idea was to form a "heat cage" that the least amount of atomized liquid could pass without vaporizing. It distorted and touched making a lower ohm circuit, drew all the current in that length and failed immediately on touching. That was with an 801 atty. Which is big compared to a 510 which has a 2 x 4 mm opening to work in. Even with wire .005 dia thats not much room.
Also you need to decide on the flow path of the atomized particle. It wouldn't do much good to just wrap it around the inside walls as the particles will pass it and may not reach vaporization temps. Some cermaic bowls have one feed hole, some 2. Another problem.

I'm not trying to discourage you in the least. With the present design atty there are limitations as with any design.
With the right tools and materials, it may be easier to just redesign the whole atomizer process.

Edit: The next problem you find is being able to feed the beast. The better it works the more it can handle.

[roadkilldeluxe]

Thanks, Vaporer. I have been spending tons of class time drawing prototypes of new atomizers I've just started playing with Nichrome and need all the help I can get. I really want to improve the design and performance... but it's nice getting feedback and not having to start the "research" and experiments from scratch.

So... any advice on failed or successful attempts at unique DIY atomizers? I think I've read almost every single post on this forum on the subject, but I get the feeling that a lot of people have tried many things without necessarily detailing them here.

[Vaporer]

I'm sure there have been many attempts that have failed. Some dont want to talk about failures. To me those are important posts as much as successes. Another may see a diff approach or why it didnt work. Its a human nature thing.

Do you have an atty torn down or have you ever disassembled one?
If not, thats where to start and look ait the airflow pattern. That will be your target area. Try blowing a visible vapor through it backwards and if you can make a piece of clear to fit the atty...drip it and vape with a vid camers on the side view so you can see whats really going on. Then you can see where improvements can be made.

[roadkilldeluxe]

This was going to be a reply but I made it into a thread to keep things organized: New Atomizer Prototype.