My Atty Resurrection Method

[rianscott]

I saw this method but have adopted my own way which seems to be quicker for me and seems to work every time.

1. run under the hot tap both ends to flush out. (1 minute)

2. suck and blow until it no longer gurgles (breath through it) do this both ends (1 minute)

3. connect battery and vape on it a bit at a time (without a cart, or if it's not a 510 atty then perhaps use a blank cart with no stuffing)(taking a mouth full but don't breathe it in) keep doing this until no further vapor comes out on your exhale (usually about 1 min 30 secs and tastes a bit burnt)

4. two drips of E-juice on the atty, and a well juiced cart and you are back in business ! in under 4 minutes!

It was the original posters comment on not needing to dry it overnight because it has it's own built in dryer which inspired me, and although I don't know a lot about attys, I think that leaving an atty element with water on it to dry overnight is just promoting corrosion. (Dad always said "after motoring in the rain, always dry the car before parking it in the garage, to stop the rust " )

 

[BanjoMan]

Had a weird experience trying this on my factory Joye Stick attys:

Apparently the 302 attys supplied with the Joye Stick aren't designed to work with a 801 adapter. I guess I assumed they were interchangable since most 801 attys work in the Stick. I started to do a burn using my 5v 510 passthrough with an 801 adapter, but all the passthrough does is blink at me. Next I tried the adapter on my Bartleby... no go. The combination of 302 atty and 801 adapter seems to have a weird affect on whatever you attach it to. My Bart just blinks at me once and goes dead - then once I pull the battery out and reinsert it things go back to normal again. The passthrough just acts like it's shorting back or something...

Bottom line: The only way I can find to dry burn the 302 attys is in the Stick itself. If anyone knows another way I'd be interested in hearing about it.

 

[highping]

rianscott: Your method will work for cleaning out the nickel foam and the coil (a little), but without the "orange glow", you are probably not baking off any of the crud that builds up on the coil. While cleaning the nickel foam, will help with the wicking and give a better vape, if you go on to the next steps and get the sustained orange glow (add 1 more minutes to your process), you will notice an even bigger difference. You will probably notice that when you do get that glow, it will be brighter at one end first. That is because the other end of the coil is still encased in gunk. If you get the entire coil cleaned off, the vape gets much better.

Banjo: I have had many issues with the newer 510/801 adapters shorting out on certain attys. If you have a meter, Ohm out your atty with the adapter on and see if it's shorted. I have some attys that are 'borderline' shorted on the adapters. I check the ohms and it looks good, but if I wiggle the adapter just a little, I get a short. It seems like the new adapters have a thicker side wall and it touches the center post of some 801 attys.

 

[bogeyjim]

Ping, the only problem is, on the stock batteries, I couldnt get an orange glow.... Actually the battery shut itself off quite a few times..... But it did work like a charm anyways!

Jim

 

[BanjoMan]

Highping, looks like you were on to something. I have five 510 to 801 adapters I got from HG, and every one of them is shorting on the 302 atty I tested. Occasionally I managed to get a 3.7-3.8 reading, but it wasn't repeatable enough to be useable. I also tested the adapters on an actual 801 atty and they worked fine... no short. Looking at the two attys there's a noticeable difference in the sizes of the center posts: the 801 post is smaller in diameter and appears to be taller. All in all using the Joye Stick to do a dry burn on the 302 isn't the end of the world... it just takes longer than a 5v passthrough.

p.s. I wasn't getting the performance out of the 510 attys I cleaned earlier and I discovered I wasn't burning them long enough. The juice I'm using cakes up hard and fast and requires quite a bit of time dry-burning to get a nice orange glow. Luckily my passthrough has a cutoff on it so I used that to pace myself.

 

[sjohnson]

There's nothing in an atomizer that will rust. Stainless steel body, nickel foam, nichrome coil, copper wire, silicon dioxide wick and plastic make up an atomizer. None of which are prone to corrosion.

If you think about it, the atomizer is constantly exposed to fluids composed of PG, VG, water and/or PGA when in use. Water itself poses no harm to them.

 

[m401 user]

i experimented with dry burn cleaning some time ago, but i give up because it gives me good performing atomizer but nasty burned taste too.
I think i burned the wick.
Did you never experienced burned taste after this kind of cleaning?
What i did wrong?
Used stock manual battery @3,7V so i can´t get past orange hot point...
or is there a difference in atty design ? i´m using 401, please report experiences with 401 dry burning.

 

[Mac]

Are we sure that tap water is safe to do this with and that you don't need to use filtered or distilled water instead?

 

[highping]

i experimented with dry burn cleaning some time ago, but i give up because it gives me good performing atomizer but nasty burned taste too.
I think i burned the wick.
Did you never experienced burned taste after this kind of cleaning?
What i did wrong?
Used stock manual battery @3,7V so i can´t get past orange hot point...
or is there a difference in atty design ? i´m using 401, please report experiences with 401 dry burning.

There are three key steps that take care of that burnt taste.
First getting ALL the juice out in the rinse stage. It's not the wick that's burning it's the leftover juice.
Second, the sustained orange glow is important for to turn all the stuff that's on the coil (and in the wick) to ash. I'm guessing if you are using stock 401 batts, you may not be getting it hot enough.
Third, the second rinse, to wash all that ash out.

Are we sure that tap water is safe to do this with and that you don't need to use filtered or distilled water instead?

I've been using tap water on the atty that I mentioned in the OP, and like I said, 300ml of juice vaped through it (closer to 400 now) and still going strong.

 

[sjohnson]

Tap water here, as well. As long as your water is clear and not *terribly* hard, you won't leave anything behind when the water evaporates.

The way I look at it, if it's safe for my clothing, dishes, body and mouth it's safe for the atomizer.

 

[highping]

Notes on using stock batteries for this technique:

I have tried this a couple times in the last few days using stock batteries. I never vape with stock batts anymore, but wanted to experiment with them so I could better advise those that do.

If you have a passthrough, or better yet a mod (like a chuck, SB, etc) the button pulsing can be very precise and allow the orange glow to be sustained easily. However, with stock batts, there is a slight delay both when the button is pressed and when it is released. This makes the pulsing useless.

If all you have is stock batts here are some modifications to the process that seem to help...

Drying:
After you rinse and blow out as much water as possible, screw the atty onto your batt and just do 'dry puffs' while holding the button down. Just keep the button held until it cuts off, then repeat until it is completely dry. You will know when it's dry because it will begin to get hot on your lips and you will not be puffing out anymore wisps of steam. You will also notice that during this step you will get a nasty burnt taste for a few puffs, and then it will disappear suddenly. This is good, that means you are through any juice that is on the wick and down to just the water.

Burning:
Once you have it dry, it will get the orange glow.
When you get to this point, just hold the button down while looking down the barrel to keep an eye on the coil. You only need to release the button if you see it getting really bright. (in all the times I have trialed this with my stock 510's, I have never seen it get bright enough to pop). Just hold the button until it cuts off and then release for a couple seconds, then repeat a few times.

From what I have seen the stock batts will maintain that orange glow perfectly without the button pulsing. I think they are just not strong enough to pop it.

It seems like if the atty doesn't glow orange, it's not dry yet. Keep dry puffing and you will get it.



.

 

[justsomeguy]

Highping - you're a genius.
I tried this last night with a couple of attys that I got recently from a member here (was kind enough to throw them in with some other stuff I bought from him). They weren't new (obviously) and were actually so filled with stuff that you couldn't see the coil or any orange glow in them at all.

After running through your steps - they are both nearly indistinguishable from the atty's I got with my 510 that have only been used for a few days. Clean, quick to heat up, firing on all cylinders.

Thanks so much for the detail in outlining this process... it's made this newbie's life a lot easier!

 

[redgirl]

Anyone try this method with HV attys yet? I have an HV 510 5.2 ohm that isn't performing as well as it first did. I myself have never cleaned any of my attys, just blown them out.

 

[highping]

redgirl: To do this with a 5.2 ohm atty you will definitely need to use 2x 3.7V batts to get it hot enough. But I assume that's what you are running the 5.2 at to begin with? If you are running the 5.2 at 6V, you are probably not going to get much vapor at all.

If you haven't cleaned any of you standard attys, you might be surprised at how much better they perform after doing this cleaning method on them.

 

[bogeyjim]

ok so I was trying to get the bridge to turn orange, and apparently that is not the coil.....

Where is the coil located and how do I know if its orange? I cant see any orange glow at all!

Thanks!

Jim

 

[Thyestean]

the orange glow will come from below the bridge jim. If you're looking at the bridge you won't be able to miss it when you get the glow you're looking for.

 

[highping]

What thy said.

Also I think you are using stock batts (if I remember right). If you haven't already done so, read post #51 on extra tips for doing this with stock batts. In my testing I found that it does take a bit longer to get it dry with them, but once you do it will glow. No glow=not dry yet (or weak batt).
I also noticed that doing this will almost drain a fully charged stock batt, so throw it on the charger when you are done.

 

[redgirl]

redgirl: To do this with a 5.2 ohm atty you will definitely need to use 2x 3.7V batts to get it hot enough. But I assume that's what you are running the 5.2 at to begin with? If you are running the 5.2 at 6V, you are probably not going to get much vapor at all.

If you haven't cleaned any of you standard attys, you might be surprised at how much better they perform after doing this cleaning method on them.

Yeah, been using two 3.7 batts. I'll definitely have to give this a go. I've honestly been too lazy to do much maintenance. Guess I'd better start if I wanna get optimum vaping time!

 

[Circuit]

What thy said.

Also I think you are using stock batts (if I remember right). If you haven't already done so, read post #51 on extra tips for doing this with stock batts. In my testing I found that it does take a bit longer to get it dry with them, but once you do it will glow. No glow=not dry yet (or weak batt).
I also noticed that doing this will almost drain a fully charged stock batt, so throw it on the charger when you are done.

I just tried this method on stock batteries today, and found exactly the same thing. It took 1 full battery to get through the burn.

I've tried all kinds of methods of atty cleaning, and this controlled burn is the best method I've seen yet, likely because it cleans the coil, and not just the mesh (which Crest blue is great for!!). Between those two methods, I'm vaping warm flavorful vapor on 4-5 month old attys again.

Thanks for the tips!!

 

[BanjoMan]

Just an idea, but if you want to save yourself a little time and trouble I recommend getting a 5v passthrough from someone like MadVapes. It's a 510 but with a few adapters you can not only dry-burn just about anything well, but enjoy 5v vaping without spending a ton of money.