The “Cola” Method Taken to Another Level That Works

[ProfessorDaffy]

Well, the cola soak has been working for me. I'm still using the atty I put in service on July 20th. I gave up on trying to count the number of days it has been in use.

It's the acid in the cola that's supposed to do the trick. I use lemon juice for the same reason, acidity. Cola or lemon juice I always nuke it for about 20 seconds first. It's a very simple method to just dilute the juice build up. Even if it isn't the solution for thoroughly cleaning the atty, it has easily given me top notch performance for at least a month. Often longer.

--Prof Daffy
P.S. Even a good soak in hot water is better than nothing. Cleans out the dried up e-juice and opens up the air holes.

[nubee]

I started using Crest Pro Mouthwash (blue) for 15 minutes - was recommended in another thread.

Been working very well and even brought back a pretty fouled 801 to around 90%.

[Vaporer]

I'll agree on keeping the mesh clean. Lots of dark reformed juice gets in there.

I removed an atty from a DSE601 pipe that had 2 1/8" balls of carbon that led to its demise. The balls formed above the 2 feed holes in the bottom of the bowl.

I tortured this thing. Pepsi, Coke, boiling water, denture cleaner, engine degreaser, electronic part cleaner......on and on.....24hrs at a stretch. Even higher concentration phosphoric acid (rust remover).....nada
This carbon chain is about as tough as a diamond.

Maybe its the early maint that keeps it loose before it can mutate into this atty killing crap.

Looks identical to when I started. Nothing is forever with life.

It hates me now, or it really liked the baths lol

[Majestic]

Thanks.
So you are paralleling them. Atty of choice?
The longevity intrigues me as to which lasts the longest.
The average PV at 3.7 is running at about 4watts.
I've rewound them to produce 5watts still making good vapor, but they do gunk a bit.
If ran dry, the heat is still enough to carbon the gunk dooming the atty.
I should use a regular cleaning regieme.

I'm now going to try higher wattage as to imitate the 5 & 6v users to see if carbon reduction can actually be prevented by ashing the liquid before it has a chance to stick.
Hotter temps will allow more expansion and contraction of the wire possibly discarding premature buildup.

Just a looooong test.................................

Yes, the batts are wired parallel.

As for the atty, it's a original 901 high bridge. I prefer those as I feel they wick the juice better as I am a cart user. Also I had read previous discussions that said the original 901 uses a thicker wire for the coil. Don't know whether it is true or not, but I've had good results.

[grumpster]

I've rewound them to produce 3watts still making good vapor, but they do gunk a bit.

Am I to understand that you found a way to rewind a atty thus rebuliding them? I'd love some more information on that procedure.

The following pertains to PG juice and regular batteries. VG juice seems to be able to be dissolved unlike PG. Higher voltages may also make a difference. IF you use PG and regular 3.7v batteries, then the following may be of use to you.

As for the cleaning, I've had a 901 atty that failed due to carbon buildup soaking in the for over 2 months now. It did make some difference in the beginning, but hasn't done much after the first week and is far from clean, though I can almost see the shape of the coils now through the carbon.

I vape exclusively PG juice with a stock battery.

There is one thing that I've found that does make a difference in the life of my attys though. I bought a manual battery for both my 901 and 801. Everyday, when I am low on juice I use the manual battery to give it about 5 good burns of about 5-8 seconds each. I give it a minute or two blowing in it to keep it cool to the touch between burns. Drain the excess juice out or shake it like an old glass thermometer to remove excess juice first. Your coil should begin glowing in about 2 seconds during the burn.

If I start this on a new atty it seems to at least double the life of the atty. I've tried doing the same thing on a used atty to revive it and promptly killed it. I think the reason for this is the used atty already had a excessive carbon build up on it and insulates the coil causing it to overheat. A new atty, kept clean with regular burning doesn't seem to produce the carbon buildup so doesn't overheat.

So far I haven't found anything that actually reduces the carbon build up on the coil. I agree Vaporer, that stuff dissolves about like a diamond. Cleaning the wick seems to help, but almost anything will do that. I use a tub of alcohol, but some hot water out of the faucet for a minute or two seems to work as well.

[Vaporer]

In the modders section you will find an atomizers thread. Much info there.
Read through it an PM me any questions you have.
I've thought about doing a tutorial on one start to finish. It may be there already. This is a huge forum. I have it partially covered in the DSE601 rebuilders thread. Its basically an 801 in the tube with a high bridge. It can be done without unwrapping the metal mesh if you have the right small tools, a steady hand and a cheap headband magnifier. I don't see that well now....lol

I rebuild all my attys now. 901's are tough to get apart. Just bought enough to have frames that came apart well enough be redone.

Early maint on attys has to help. Nothing is forever. I was going to do the tuorial in the event of a ban, some could continue on and help others.

Thanks for the info and sorry to drag the thread off topic.

[Vaporer]

On topic,
I've vape mainly PG based. I do add 30% VG, but that does not seem to help the aid in carbon reduction or removal.

[Mactavish]

But surely the fun of it is on the joy of the jouney,
not arriving at the destination

True, LIFE is about the JOURNEY!

Wanted to thank you and the others that went very deeply into the testing, time, costs, etc. Granted after reading the ENTIRE 61 pages of this thread there was no "happy ending", kind of an "open ending". Last post before mine was Nov. 2009.

Wondering if you still use the "Nu-Calgon Ice Cleaner", or your previous "Hydrogen Peroxide Burn In Place" method found here:

Atomizer Cleaned ! Simple Cheap Effective Method.

Also wonder what happened to all the other experimenters? There seemed to be a lot of excitement and participation for sometime, then nothing, no more feedback etc. Did someone find a better solution someplace?

Oh well, a good, though long read....

[exogenesis]

afaik it's likely strong HCl is less used than maybe implied by all the older interest,
think gentler methods are probably more favoured (and less risky),
current flavour for atty 'freshening' still seems to be the 'Crest mouthwash' thing
don't think it's quite the same 'degree' but then I've never tried it.


There's a recent-ish poll
Poll: What method works best for cleaning Atomizers
but it doesn't contain all the options, particularly not the (probable) most common
effective method - 'dry burning' (or the 'chuck it away' option),
& it hasn't got too many votes so far...


Personally I'd still use the 'dry heat & fizz' H2O2 method - if I had atties that were
clogging as much as they used to - mine don't cos I've mainly switched to snus.


Lots of people drift away or just post less, it's pretty normal for forums generally I think

[Mactavish]

afaik it's likely strong HCl is less used than maybe implied by all the older interest,
think gentler methods are probably more favoured (and less risky),
current flavour for atty 'freshening' still seems to be the 'Crest mouthwash' thing
don't think it's quite the same 'degree' but then I've never tried it.


There's a recent-ish poll
Poll: What method works best for cleaning Atomizers
but it doesn't contain all the options, particularly not the (probable) most common
effective method - 'dry burning' (or the 'chuck it away' option),
& it hasn't got too many votes so far...


Personally I'd still use the 'dry heat & fizz' H2O2 method - if I had atties that were
clogging as much as they used to - mine don't cos I've mainly switched to snus.


Lots of people drift away or just post less, it's pretty normal for forums generally I think

Thanks, NICE to see you still monitor this thread, I learned a lot from all the guys HARD work and experiments, plus all the photos you posted. The BEST was the photos of your "smoking machine"! I kept notes etc, and it seems the heat and fizz method would be a safer route to use. Good luck with da snus!