Advice on a clogged 510 atomizer

[MrDismal]

Thought I'd put this in where the newies are because I just tried this and worked great for me.

I got 2 atty's with my 510 kit (1 worked like a charm and the other didn't so well)
I bought a spare atomizer and it worked just the same as the crippled one that came in my kit.
They gave me a semi throat hit with hardly any vapor so I kept using my other atty (the one from the kit).
Wasn't really sure if they were almost stuffed or just clogged up, they became a little better after some use but still nothing like the one I kept using from my kit.

Anyway, after reading some threads here I thought I'd give one proper cleaning and hoped that it didn't kill it for good.
I didn't trust water as it's not as thick as some of the other products used, and I had a crap load of Vodka left over from New Years so I thought I'd bath one in a small shot glass.
Before I did this blew out the excess juice and dry cleaned it as best I could.

I left it soaking in the Vodka (40% alcohol) for about 15 minutes until pulling it out and blowing out the alcohol.
Left it to dry for another 15 minutes and added 2 drops of e-juice inside the atty (on the metal wick) and worked better than anything! I get so much vapor from this thing now it makes me cough nearly each time.
I just dropped in my other 2 atty's in a glass of vodka and hope this will do the same.

Now if you buy an atty and think it might be faulty, try this method before contacting your supplier, because I think it just could be the primer fluid that is shipped with the atty that's clogged the atomizer and just needs to be cleaned.

 

[jlmanno]

100 proof vodka works really good for me as well. I keep a little cup of it nearby and when vapor slows down or I'm not hearing that light sizzle, I drop em in the cup , let em soak then blow them out. I haven't lost one yet been using the same ones for about 6 weeks so far. I've read keeping them clean may extent life versus waiting for them to clog. Never had any problems with new ones. Simple blow out and a couple drips, vaping away!

 

[MrDismal]

Well after reading some negative feedback on this forum about atty's I've had it good! All 3 atty's I've used and lasted me well over a few months and none have died.

 

[Kelemvor]

hey MrDismal, seems we both made similar experiences, i already helped some people getting weak new atomizers working, even jsut with a hot water rinse instead of vodka most of the time.

it really seems that sometimes the factory primer gets blocking the metal wick. i think the longer they lay around, at the shops or at home, the weaker the performance.

what works best for me ist, after cleaning them, i nearly fill them with 5 drops with pure pg, let them rest overnight, blow them out and put a new filled cart on them.

 

[Richie G]

what works best for me ist, after cleaning them, i nearly fill them with 5 drops with pure pg, let them rest overnight, blow them out and put a new filled cart on them.

That's funny. I do something very similar...

I vape some of the primer off with a few drops of PG. Then rinse. Then the same procedure as you list above. I set the battery side down for the overnight soak on top of a piece of duct tape -- this way the mesh gets a good soak without the PG leaking out too quickly.

I'm still not sure of the purpose of the primer. I tend to think that it is specific for a break-in period (like oil in a new car engine) so I don't flush it out completely before the first few drags. Sometimes I don't do the overnight soak at all -- just fresh PG and vape 'til it's gone, drip new e-liquid and go. *shrug* It seems every vaper has their own ideas for break-in and cleaning or non-cleaning. LOL

 

[MrDismal]

Yep, you're both right, and I think the bottom line here is to not freak out and just give it a good puff before giving it a clean to get that primer crap off it. It must serve a good purpose like keeping it moist while in storage but damn it tastes like .....