Boiling is the best cleaning method. Period.

[Catman51]

Just tried the tea kettle to steam. Seems to have done a good job.

[vex321]

hammertoad , if you are ever in the east coast area , you can use the steam coming out of ears ( due to frustration over atomizers ) to clean your atomizer

[Sun Vaporer]

If you take one of these atomizers apart, you will see that it is at best risky to boil them--the wires and contacts are just too thin and small to handle that kind of treatment and only weakens them or breaks them--A slight hit of steam may--and repeat may be ok.

[MikeMac]

I have only (2) 901 atomizers. One kicked butt from day one. The other was wimpy from the first moment. I fiddled and dripped and puffed harder on it to no avail.

So I took a 4oz drinking glass and filled it halfway with water. Stuck the water in the microwave and got it boiling. Then I took the glass out and I added about 1 oz of white vinegar and then dropped in the wimpy atomizer. I set this whole setup on my desk and waited several hours. Which allowed it to cool down gradually.

Then I took the atomizer over to the faucet and rinsed it with warm water. After that I blew it out from the battery end and let it sit overnight.

In the morning I blew on it again and gave it a few drops of juice. Puffed a few times and heard water steaming away in there. I gave it a few more drops of juice. Puffed a bit more (harder this time) and it produced good vapor like my other atomizer. It's been fine for many days now.

Yes, the wires inside are small and the connections are whimpy. But, I've gotta figure, these things perform under extreme heat and oily, steamy conditions on a normal basis. They do get hot when vaping! Shoot, there's a coiled wire in there that acts just like the cigarette lighter in your car when it heats up!

Sticking paperclips in them, tapping them on tables could break the wires. Gently putting them in boiling hot water seems to me to be a legitimate option. However, I would not recommend putting them in a pan on the stove. That could get too hot. Also if while it is actually boiling it can get slammed around.

In the end, if you have a lackluster atomizer that you have kissed off already, it doesn't hurt to give the boiling hot water thing a try. Worst case you could have a dead atomizer (still). Best case, it comes back to life!!