510 wickless atty, my cleaning method

[Ourei]

Since I've started direct dripping, I carry a handkerchief with my ecig, and after every 3 or 4 dripping sessions, I notice the flavor when I puff gets more 'peppery' or 'hot' which is when I clean it. Here's my 30-second cleaning method:

Blow through the top of the atty (not the threaded battery end, but the other side) into the hanky. Blow, and as your cheeks puff out, squeeze your cheeks in to really force the air through the atty. As the liquid comes out, there's a gurgling noise. Keep blowing until there's no gurgling. Blow, blow, blow, the harder you squeeze your cheeks, and the more times you blow, the better. Blowing through the top has considerably more airflow, so you can get practically all the liquid out, to the point where the atty is almost dry. If you normally only blow through the bottom threaded side, you'll be surprised to see how much liquid comes out in this step.

Wipe the threaded battery end. Now blow through that side. You don't have to blow too much, it's just to make sure there's no liquid in the airholes. There shouldn't really be anything left in the atty. If you hear any gurgling, then next time, blow some more through the top of the atty. Wipe the threads when done.

Now stuff the hanky into the atty, as much as you can stuff. Twist the atty back and forth - this will wipe anything on the inner walls. I do this one twice, usually.

If using the same liquid, the atty is done. If changing flavors, do a quick dry burn: Put the atty back on the battery, press the button until you hear a sizzle. Blow out any smoke, then take a sniff of the atty. It should be almost odor-free. If not, blow the atty to cool it a bit, then press the button one more time, listen for the sizzle, then blow in it again. Sometimes there's a teeny bit of odor left, but not much.

Done!

Doing this all day between every third or fourth vaping session, I've been using a single atty with multiple liquids, and all my vapes taste great, and the coil is extremely clean and I can see no carbon buildup at all. Going on a month and the atty is like brand-new!

If you order a bottle of plain PG or VG liquid, you can vape that a couple of times after cleaning the atty (don't inhale) and that'll usually take care of any remaining odor. Of course, vaping with a new flavor will do the same thing, but with the plain liquid, you won't be wasting the first 1 or 2 puffs of your flavored ones

Working very good for me so far, just wanted to share!

Happy vaping, everyone!

 

[Biergott]

Are wickless better for dripping? Did you pull the wick out? I clean mine very similary (though not as often). But I fo get burnt taste, esecially on RY4-X using my PV-1 with LR attys. Should I remove the wick for dripping?

 

[Ourei]

Yes, the wick is what's giving you the burnt taste. When dripping, you don't need the wick, it's safe to remove. If you're using carts with filler, you want the wick, because the liquid doesn't move down to the coil fast enough, so the wick helps keep the coil moist. But with dripping, you're wetting the coil directly

To be on the safe side, just take the wick off of one of your attys, and use that one. If and when it dies, then you can grab another atty and remove the wick.

Here's a video on removing the wick It's the one I watched Grab a toothpick and tweezers for this and you're set! If you're doing this on a used atty, the threads will be colored like the liquids you're using, and it'll be all syrupy. Yuck.

 

[Nagios]

I just took the wick out of one of my atties Friday and have been using it all weekend wick-less, it gives a much better TH and VP.

 

[mudrumski]

i tried it too. what a difference! thanks for the tip

 

[Ourei]

If you'd like to take your atomizer a step further, you can remove the bridge, so that you're dripping directly on the coil. For me it helps cut down on drops, because I only need 2 drops on a clean atty instead of 3, and it's also a LOT easier to clean with a hanky. The hanky can actually clean the coil directly, and if you clean it right after vaping, the coil is moist and you can actually take off a lot of the carbon buildup.

All you need is tweezers, it's very easy to do, but please do at your own risk. I highly recommend it if you're a dedicated dripper.

Even if you don't plan on removing your atty's bridge, watch the video, it's very educational. Knowing about the innards of an atty sort of makes you more aware of what's going on whenever you're dripping

WARNING If you're using a high voltage PV mod, listen to what Phi has to say in this video before removing the bridge.

Removing the Bridge

TIP: In the video, Phi sticks the tweezers into the atty to pull the mesh out (after pulling out the metal bridge). What works easier for me is to just stick one side of the tweezer in the atty, leave the other side out. You can sort of 'scrape' the mesh against the inner wall of the atty, and it'll basically cut the mesh, then you pull it up and out. This way, you don't accidentally pull all the mesh out - which the video explains, you only want to remove the mesh that was covering the bridge, and leave the rest of the mesh alone. For what it's worth, I don't use tweezers with the pointed tip, I have the kind with a flat edge. It helps cut the mesh out.

Happy tinkering!