What happened to my atty?!?!

[cashresolution]

Not sure what I did wrong, but my atty quit producing like it should (510) so I blew it out, then soaked it in alcohol over night. Next day I took my air compressor and blew it out. Probably blew it tooooo much, but not it don't work. Ugh..only had that about 4 weeks. Maybe I should try to dry burn..what do ya think?!?

[M3Tyler]

4 weeks is a pretty typical lifespan of an atty, especially the 510 (burns much hotter than other models) the only real reason to clean an atty is due to it becoming gunked up and finding it restricts airflow too much / the draw becomes too hard. Soaking in "Crest Pro-Health Mouthwash (Blue Liquid)" for 15 minutes and then soaking in warm water for a few hours is the best method I have found.

Using an air compressor is NOT recommended. That is simply too much force. You likely blew the coil apart with that thing, which is why it no longer works. At best you'll blow the wicking material out of the assembly and find yourself with a drip-only atty after using a compressor.

[nick76]

Originally Posted by cashresolution

Not sure what I did wrong, but my atty quit producing like it should (510) so I blew it out, then soaked it in alcohol over night. Next day I took my air compressor and blew it out. Probably blew it tooooo much, but not it don't work. Ugh..only had that about 4 weeks. Maybe I should try to dry burn..what do ya think?!?

yeah you should try the dry burn, that's worked for me everytime!

or soak in warm vinegar+water or vodka for few hrs do not use rubbing alchohol!
Nick!

[emus]

My attys last several months. I use only 3; 510, M401, and RN4081. I keep my spares for a rainy day. If the atty has between 2-5 ohm resistance there is still hope. I clean with mouthwash followed by H2O then PGA. The PGA dries quickly. If all else fails and you have 2-5 ohms on your dried atty, then a dry burn followed by another quick rinse would be worth a shot.

[jadeninja]

I agree with the above about the air compressor. I soak in vodka or gin for about and hour or so, then I used canned air to blow them out. I start at the battery end (this clears out the coil without directly spraying it), then the air holes in the threads. Then the bridge. Let them dry for an hour before use.

I also agree about the rubbing alcohol. I would use anything in an atty that I wouldn't use internally.

I only dry burn shortly, (only had to do it once) and always after cleaning, Then I clean again.

My technique. Hope it helps!

[doots]

this can be typical time frame. some users get more and some get less.

[RKayne]

I don't know, we don't clean ours, have had them for about the same amount of time and rotate between 2 (with a few in reserve) and they are all still fine at this point? I got one used one I soaked in rum overnight (was all I had on hand) and it's a champ now but was pulling way hard and did not seem to be heating all that well. I just soaked it overnight, rinsed in water, dried it, primed it, and now it is a backup as well...

[stroh22]

Originally Posted by emus

My attys last several months. I use only 3; 510, M401, and RN4081. I keep my spares for a rainy day. If the atty has between 2-5 ohm resistance there is still hope. I clean with mouthwash followed by H2O then PGA. The PGA dries quickly. If all else fails and you have 2-5 ohms on your dried atty, then a dry burn followed by another quick rinse would be worth a shot.

Emus, how do you measure the ohms on the atty? I have the 510. Please advise, thank you.

[M3Tyler]

Simply get a multimeter, set it to the lowest Ohms (Ω) available (200 on mine) put the red probe in the small hole at the end of the battery side of the atomizers and touch the black probe to the metal threads on the battery side. You should see a reading of anywhere between 2.8-4 Ohms.

[breakfastchef]

Originally Posted by cashresolution

Not sure what I did wrong, but my atty quit producing like it should (510) so I blew it out, then soaked it in alcohol over night. Next day I took my air compressor and blew it out. Probably blew it tooooo much, but not it don't work. Ugh..only had that about 4 weeks. Maybe I should try to dry burn..what do ya think?!?

First, you got very good service from that 510 atomizer. Second, before 'spinning your wheels' by trying crazy cleaning procedures, check the atomizer with a multimeter, as suggested by emus, to see if it is 100% deceased. If the atomizer is physically dead, there is nothing you can do to revive it.

If the resistance of your atomizer starts around 3.5 ohms when new, and climbs to 10 or so ohms over time, it is FTD (fixin' to die). You could try intervention at this point, but my experience is to pitch the atomizer as soon as vapor production falls below what you like. I have tried wet and dry cleaning methods, none of which were capable of reversing the natural physical degredation of the heating coil from normal vaping.

If you can keep an atomizer running for a month and they cost $10 to replace, you pay $120/year for atomizers. If you have quit smoking analogs, this is about three cartons of cancer sticks you are not ingesting. A pretty good trade off, IMO.