Noob vaper, any shot at cleaning pre built coils, specifically smok bm2?

[Ben85]

I saw a YouTube video where a guy lets his dirty coils sit in rubbing alcohol over night, then another day in water, then gently rinse with hot water under the tap, then let dry another day on a heating vent. Apparently works well, but takes a few days. I have never tried it.

Learning to rebuild or stocking up on coils when on sale are the best options with building being the most cost effective by far.

That's an awful lot of faff to ultimately end up with a slightly cleaner spent coil. It would be SO much quicker to just build your own and change the wick. And don't forget, it will be a better vape too.

Cheaper, quicker and better when building your own. Why even consider cleaning factory coils IMO.

 

[ceeceeisme]

Let's put it this way... you can try to clean your factory coils by soaking them in vodka overnight. When you pull it out, grab a paper towel and out blow out the liquid through the open end. When you've got most of the vodka out, drop it in a glass of (preferably) distilled or RO water (or plain tap water if that's all you've got), rinse and repeat blowing it out again till most of the liquid is gone. Let it dry out for 24-48 hours then try and use it again.

I do this with my Kanger Tech factory SSOCC's and CLOCC's and it works pretty darn well. They can be washed 3 or 4 times until the wicking material wears out. Other coils don't always fare so well. I've never been able to clean any Joyetech coils so I now buy rebuildable ones.

Can't hurt to try and in the meantime, as everyone else says, shop around for a good rebuildable tank (or two or three as money allows). Back ups for your back ups lol.

 

[tckenno]

Hi guys, new to vaping and didn't realize the level it has been taken to nowadays. I've been a smoker for quite some time and just decided to give vaping a shot. Went to a local vape shop, didn't want to spend much and walked out with the Smok brit one mega. Ended up liking it a lot and have no urge to go back to my black and milds. I got my first coil gunked up in 3 days, I started researching and seeing how people were cleaning them, not realizing most are building there own coils. So i figured I would rip the thing apart but clearly it was not meant to be. Just seeing if it is even possible to clean this particular coil, the bm2. Doesn't seam to be much info on this one out there. Not sure if I should cut my losses now and get into a one where I can build my own coils or attempt at cleaning these ones. I like this one alot too which sucks.

Fouling coils in only 3 days is pretty fast JaCqEeZ. It is usually a combination of the type of ejuice you are vaping and the quantity being vaped. In general, the lighter colored juices foul coils less than the darker ones, and the less sweet slower than the dessert type. You might try another juice to see if that helps. As far as cutting quantity, one way is to step up nicotine so less of it fills your needs. Main thing for you at this point is not to let this coil distraction lead you back to those black and milds. Buy a five pack and just toss em into the vodka soaker when they lose flavor. Cost-wise you are probably still money ahead of buying the smokes.

You don't provide much information on how you vape such as mouth to lung or direct, how much juice you use daily and it's strength. You might also post a pic of your device and the tank with one of those pre-built coils. Knowing the ohms would be helpful too. Starter setups are just that. They are usually simple devices designed to get you clear of smoking while you learn more about vaping, And there's lots to learn as you are discovering. After a month or two people have a much better idea of the kind of device that will suit them. Not everyone wants to rebuild coils for instance. Some like devices with replaceable batteries, others not. Mouth to lung inhalers will favor different tanks than direct inhalers. Anyway, if you like your setup and it is working to keep you off smokes, don't rush to fix something that ain't broke...

 

[JaCqEeZ]

Thanks for all the replies. and tckenno you just touched on something that I am hoping is the issue here. So I went back to the vape shop where I bought the smok mega just looking to get more coils. He had none in stock which is kinda lame so I went to another shop, and told those guys i went through 2 coils in a week and they were basically like wtf, thats not right. so they narrowed it down to the juice just having way too much sugar in it, and the juice was made by the guy who sold me the vape pen, so i wasn't sure if they were just knocking the guy or not but I did some quick research and it seams they may be right. so after talking, and they also did not have the coils I needed, I ended grabbing a different tank completlely, the aspire cleito and some of their juice. according to the guy there he will run that tank with similar juice for weeks, so hopefully I am in a good situation now. The taste is obviously not nearly as sweet and delicious as the other but if I can get 2-3 weeks on a coil then Im happy with that. So far so good, the air flow on this one is insane compared to the other one, I have to close it more than half way to get it where I like it.

 

[Eskie]

2 to 3 weeks is a pretty long time for a factory coil to last. If you were vaping an unflavored juice, I guess it's possible, but anything with flavorings will degrade the coil faster. Of course a high flavored juice with lots of sweeteners will do it faster, but coils don't last very long if you vape a decent amount every day.

Even building your own coils does not eliminate all gunking. It's just far easier to replace the wick and clean up the coil to extend its lifespan, versus throwing another $2 coil in.

 

[Cheallaigh]

remember this... various temps/wattages and not just the sweetener in the juice with dictate how long the coil will last. sure you can go with less sweeteners, but if you're a higher wattage it wont last as long.

 

[JaCqEeZ]

just found that the aspire cleito tank I got has a rebuild-able RTA option, seams pretty solid. That could be my next step if this coils dont hold up long enough.

 

[JaCqEeZ]

remember this... various temps/wattages and not just the sweetener in the juice with dictate how long the coil will last. sure you can go with less sweeteners, but if you're a higher wattage it wont last as long.

The Smok mega im using says 30-45w. So i woudn't think high wattage is my problem?

 

[Eskie]

The Smok mega im using says 30-45w. So i woudn't think high wattage is my problem?

Take manufacturers "recommended" settings with a grain of salt. Far more times than not, lower power can provide a solid vape, and the recommended may actually be too high, especially for coil longevity. Another important factor in coil longevity is properly priming and breaking in your coil. Do not simply take a new coil, put a few drop of juice on it, and go straight to a target power of 50W (or whatever). Start low and work your way up over say a tank of juice..

 

[Cheallaigh]

what eskie said...

 

[JaCqEeZ]

got another question. so i switched from the high sugar juice to one without sugar and obviously the taste is different but I am also curious to know, if my pen says its 30-45w and the coil i have is 40-60w could I not get full flavor if it's not getting enough wattage? Getting a good pull and solid cloud but the flavor is so different from the sugary one. i can't adjust the wattage so it is what it is. Ill get a nice one eventually

 

[Cheallaigh]

as eskie said, sometimes they exagerate... one of my coils is ceramic, the base wattage is 35... at that temp it was almost boiling the juice in my tank and probably would have ruined it quicker long term. i could run it at 25 and have it at a cooler vape. it doesn't work with every coil, some DO require the higher wattage.

 

[Falco78]

A lot of times I vape well under the wattage range they give you. I start low and slowly bump up until I like the wattage

sent from my Galaxy Note 4 using MOAR 2.1b ROM running tapatalk

 

[Eskie]

got another question. so i switched from the high sugar juice to one without sugar and obviously the taste is different but I am also curious to know, if my pen says its 30-45w and the coil i have is 40-60w could I not get full flavor if it's not getting enough wattage? Getting a good pull and solid cloud but the flavor is so different from the sugary one. i can't adjust the wattage so it is what it is. Ill get a nice one eventually

Comparing the flavor of a high "sugar" to low "sugar" juice is highly subjective. Assuming they are in identical settings, that is same tank, same coil, same power, you just have to decide which one tastes better. However, it is easier to "tune" the performance of a coil/tank when the current can be adjusted to personal preference for coil and juice used. So it is possible to get more flavor out of the less sweetened juice by fiddling with the wattage.

 

[NU_FTW]

Comparing the flavor of a high "sugar" to low "sugar" juice is highly subjective. Assuming they are in identical settings, that is same tank, same coil, same power, you just have to decide which one tastes better. However, it is easier to "tune" the performance of a coil/tank when the current can be adjusted to personal preference for coil and juice used. So it is possible to get more flavor out of the less sweetened juice by fiddling with the wattage.

sweeteners are the #1 reason coils/wicks go out quickly, not the color of the juice or even the flavoring used. this would be one of the many reasons i make my own juice so i can keep from having to rewick my coils every 3 days instead i get 2-3 weeks on the same cotton. Wattage/Temp makes the difference in flavor. I suspect vape shops know this and is why they pack their juices full of sweeteners (i think EM is the biggest culprit and most heavily used) so that you will be forced to buy the coils more often.

 

[Cheallaigh]

any highly sweetened juice... i do love my cotton candy... goes into an rba or rda for me. i don't mind rewicking every few days and as long as i don't abuse the coil too much i don't need to re-coil after taking the 5 mins to clean it.