Alcohol does work

[mikea]

After reading this and other threads about cleaning, I have used the hot-water-rinse/Everclear-soak approach with some of my 510 atomizers. Some came out just fine afterward. But two have gone haywire. Might I have done something wrong in soaking them in the Everclear? I posted about it in the following thread:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/joye-510/36389-psychotic-atomizers.html

I know lots of very expert people hang out in these mods forums and if anyone here can advise what I might have done wrong to turn these from working atomizers into 'psycho' atomizers, I would greatly appreciate your advice. I'm now a bit worried about doing more cleaning!

(One (vendor) web site I happened across insists that the soak in Everclear be done for only five minutes -- max. That contradicts most of what I've seen in these forums, however.)

 

[rhoneil]

I have completed the resurrection of my atomizers. I had 6 atomizers that were not performing very well. I had already tried soaking them overnight in alcohol with not so good results. So I put the first 3 in rubbing alcohol for about 5 or 6 days. All 3 came out working like new. I put the last 3 to soak for about a week. One came out working right away. the second one had only a slight improvement. The 3rd hissed but produced almost no vapor at all.

I decided to try the hydrogen peroxide burn on these last 2. The first one I put through 3 30 second burns while being full of peroxide. Amazingly it came through with great results. It took a little time priming and vaping but in the end I think I got it back to about 95% of original condition. The last atty I tried the same burn proceedure but got no results. It has more resistance than the working attys but 12 ohms isn't too high. Still I guess I am going to pronounce it officially retired.

Not bad at all, Ive been vaping for 4 1/2 months and only 1 dead atty. This is way much better that I had originally thought things would work. So now I have 8 fully working used attys. I hope I can store 5 of them successfully until they are needed. At this rate I have, counting my new unused attys, I have a several years worth of attys.

One word of warning. One of attys, luckily the dead one, started losing the powder coat. I guess too much alcohol can do damage to the finish on these e-cigs. So I recommend only soaking for the amount of time needed to clean the attys. Somewhere less than 7 days.

And, that's all I know on this subject. I hope this helps someone.

Kevin

Crap! I thought this was a thread about picking up women.
I think I'll try it anyway... on my attys.

Joking aside, I DO really appreciate you sharing your results. I have been very tentative in attempting to soak my attys in anything other than hot water. I am all for getting them working to up to 95%. I guess the important part is having extras.

thanks
rho

 

[Soon to be E]

Has anyone tried white vinegar? I use it for almost EVERYTHING that needs to be cleaned thoroughly. Think ascetic acid. It´s very useful. I have an almost dead atomizer I´m going to try on tonite. I´ll let you know tomorrow!

 

[Bubo]

Crap! I thought this was a thread about picking up women.

BWAH!
And I was going to make some comment about the whole Coke and PGA thing... I mean - why waste it after its been used to clean?... Bottoms up!

Mine are soaking right now... I'll let you know how it tastes when I'm done.. Assuming I can remember...

 

[Celeastar]

I am going to try this - and the dry vape as well. Only a month in and atomizer stopped working. Was terribly disappointed, yet lo and behold, I had ordered another sde 801 and the day the new set arrived, was the day the other stopped working.

Do inanimate objects have jealousy? Just kidding - but it was quite the coincidence. I freak out when a spare is not nearby. I love this e-cig and the fact that I still have the joy juice keeps me calm and without withdrawals from no nicotine injestion.

 

[gammax]

Why would you use test tubes? When you have shot glasses!! Really I am sure you can fix any Atty in a normal sized shot glass. Test tubes also have a rounded bottom while shot glasses don't. So unless your a chemist that has a test tube rack. I suggest shot glasses.

 

[Scottbee]

I use old Advil bottles.. the small ones. They have snap-on caps that stop the alky from evaporating during long soaking cycles. Also makes for easier "shaking".

 

[Bubo]

I suggest shot glasses.

Anyone that has PGA, should have shot glasses!

 

[dubnluvn]

I'd like to chime in here regarding cleaning solvents and such that people are using to clean atomizers, take it for what its worth.

First, I'd like to address the use of consumable alcohol i.e. Everclear, Vodka, Tequila, etc. I wouldn't use these to clean anything unless I was dying and it was an emergency, it just doesn't make sense and here is why. Ethanol, (the alcohol we drink) is a very effective solvent, however, and with the possible exception of EC 190, liquor is no more than 75% ethanol, usually less. What is in that last 25% can be troublesome because its not just distilled water. There is sugar, possibly undigested starches, perfumes and flavors(yes even in vodka). So while the ethanol will evaporate, the sugars and other additives will likely leave residue. On the other hand Isopropyl can be attained in concentrations between 75 and 91%. The difference here is the remaining 25-9% IS just distilled water which will not affect the item being soaked and will evaporate fully and leave nothing behind to be vaped. Neither Ethanol nor Isopropyl will have any effect on plastics, wire insulation or metals. It could possibly remove paint, but its a solvent, what do you expect. Cost wise 91% isopropyl runs about $5 per L compared to Everclear 150 at about $15-20.

Hydrogen peroxide may also be an effective cleaning agent. It is known to react (albeit extremely slowly) to nickel, however, with the addition of chromium in nichrome its resistance to corrosion is increased substantially and is negligible for reasonable periods of time. More so, the low concentrations of hydrogen peroxide available slow the effect even more. We're talking molecules here, immeasurable for what we're working with.

While pure ethanol is probably a better cleaning solvent than pure isopropyl to a degree, its cost and the additives that it comes with due to the products it is found in make, for me, isopropyl a clear winner.

 

[Dredbull]

I used some of the nastiest gross semi clear single malt scotch EVAH!
This stuff is so bad solents and gas tremble in fear and loathing, everclear is drinkable compaired to this stuff.
I bought the bottle almost 2 years and attempted to drink a glass, a 2 fingered dram.
I used it to clean my atties and I was amazed how much juice was in them.

 

[crazyhorse]

While pure ethanol is probably a better cleaning solvent than pure isopropyl to a degree, its cost and the additives that it comes with due to the products it is found in make, for me, isopropyl a clear winner.

You can get 190 proof Everclear for 2¢ per milliliter and it only takes a few milliliters to submerge the atomizer in a test tube. To me, that's quite affordable.