Arg! I need a system for atty use/rotation/replacement

[RollTheBones]

I hope somebody has some ideas that can help here. Ok here is the deal:

I drip exclusively, don't use cartomizers or carts. For some reason I feel the need to squeeze every last bit out of every atty I buy. They are cleaned regularly, usually about every other day of use. (Iso alcohol bath) and sometimes it breaths new life into them and sometimes they just seem dead, not sure what the reasons are but I write it off as variance.

Here is where I am having problems; when I get a new atty the difference is HUGE. Good vapor, throat hit, taste, etc. It seems to last about 2 days before I notice a drop off at which time I start on the alky baths. Problem is all of my attys are black, I have no idea which one is only a few days old, which one is months old (yea I am cheap! ) until I try to use them. So now I have about 10 attys that I keep trying to revive. Some are fairly new and others are old...I can't tell by looking at them.

Does anyone have a system, like color coding or marking them in some way, or anything at all that might help with this?

Do I just need to accept the fact that I will burn through a couple attys a week and be done with it?

Open for ideas here....

 

[RollTheBones]

Anybody?

Bueler?

 

[lynleestar]

I just throw mine all in a container together and when I get low on fresh ones I clean the container full. I'm with you, can't tell the new from the old. IMO every couple days is too often to clean them. I just blow mine out when they get cloggy.

 

[pkj]

Keep two in rotation.
One in the drip
One drying out from alcohol bath.

Throw away, as needed, and dig out a replacement for the one you just threw away.

Does this help?

 

[WomanOfHeart]

I don't separate my atties by when I bought them. I'll put the new atties in my "Atomizers" drawer with the rest of the clean ones and use one for a week or so. The one I'm using gets blown out at least once a day and I'll give it a soak in IA after I've used it for a few days. That's when I get a clean atomizer out and start using it. Once the dirty atty is done soaking, I let it dry overnight and it goes back in the "Atomizers" drawer.

 

[lynleestar]

you could try the little bands that they sell in different colors to 'code' the attys

 

[Rockproof]

I use the little plastic zip lock bags I get with supplies. The bags are +/- 1.5"x1.5". I just use a sharpy to wite on the bag. My labels so far are "Dirty", "Clean", "New", "De-wicked Clean", "Dead"

 

[cshipman]

I use a label Maker and put Flavor Initials,etc on the label, cut the label down to just the words and put it on the attys. Once it comes time for their cleaning bath I pull the labels off and dunk them. So far it has worked good, Although on the 510's it works better to put the label on the cart than the atty sometimes.

Here is a Pic of what I'm Talking about.

 

[DC2]

You've been here awhile, and I imagine you are familiar with dry burns, so I'm guessing you don't want to do them.

But just in case, I'll mention my system...

I use one atomizer, all the time, until it dies, which actually has never happened yet.
When the vapor starts to drop off in any noticeable way I do a dry burn (using the proper techniques) and that fixes it.

I also blow out my atomizer every morning, to get old juice out.
That is the extent of the system I have been using for the last 10 months now.

 

[donnah]

what would you consider the proper technique? I've seen several

 

[caffeinated]

I usually blow my atty out a couple of times a day, then replace it on Friday night. Like pkj said above, one is always on the PV and the other is drying out from an alcohol soak.

I keep two attys in a one-week rotation. Every Friday night, a "fresh" one goes on the PV, and the one that's been in use all week gets "the treatment":

1. Blow it out.
2. Give it a hot water rinse. (Just tap-water-hot, not microwave-heated or anything.)
3. Blow it out again as thoroughly as possible.
4. Drop it into an alcohol bath and swish it around a few times.
5. Let it sit for in the alcohol for ½ hour or so.
6. Swish it around some more, then take it out.
6. Blow it out again.
7. Leave it to dry.

Total time spent actively working on this: 10 to 15 minutes, tops.

I'll usually get about 10-12 weeks out of a pair of atomizers using this routine.

 

[DC2]

what would you consider the proper technique? I've seen several

In my opinion, this method does all the right things for all the right reasons...
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/tips-tricks/69834-my-atty-resurrection-method.html

Using some kind of alcohol or hydrogen pyroxide instead of water might be an improvement.
But I doubt it, and even if it is, the possible minor improvement in results is not worth the added effort in my opinion.

 

[WomanOfHeart]

I have 5 of the original 6 atomizers that I purchased back in September last year. One doesn't really count because I killed it trying to debridge it. All I do is blow them out at least once a day and give them a soak in 91% Isopropyl Alcohol once a week or so for about 15 minutes. My LR atties might last a little over a month, but I don't soak them and I think I'm probably just harder on them.

 

[brandon555]

Cleaning every couple of days isn't necessary. Try blowing them out once a day. You'll notice the juice that comes out is a lot darker than what went in. That's the stuff clogs up the coil and causes the atty to work harder. I find preventative maintenance works better than cleaning.

I use KR8 batts with 901 attys mainly. I was going through lots of 510s at 5+ volts.

You'll find that there is a point where an atty just needs to be tossed. But for the most part they can be revived with alcohol soaks, dry burns, etc...

I keep all my worn attys in a container. Then come back to them later and try reviving them.

 

[DC2]

Try blowing them out once a day. You'll notice the juice that comes out is a lot darker than what went in.

Absolutely, and once you see this yourself, you should come to realize that letting old juice stick around is not productive.

Just blow your atomizer out completely and then put in a light colored juice.
Use only that juice for one whole day, and then blow the atomizer out again the next morning.

The difference between what went in and what comes out will be readily apparent.

 

[Aunt Lala]

You can write on them like I do my cartos... but it does come off when you clean

 

[FantWriter]

I only use cartos, but the methodology should work for atties . . .

Each of my cartos has a 'serial number.' I use the resistor color code:
Resistor Tools and Calculators

For my system, the first band indicates type.
2 = bought as regular-resistance blank
3 = bought as low-resistance blank
4 = bought as high-resistance blank
6 = bought as pre-filled
9 = ceramic

The second band indicates vendor. The third and fourth bands shows it's the nth carto of that type from that vendor.

I rarely use 0, 1, or 5 because some cartos come black, brown or green, and the contrast might not be high enough.

I started using felt tip pen, but they smear or wash away too easily and don't work well on some wrappings. I've since switched to paint pens (available at Wal-Mart for about $4 apiece) that mark on anything and are harder to wash off (but you can by soaking in iso alcohol and scrubbing).

They're easy to mark perfectly if you have a small v-block -- just roll them past the pen. Otherwise, it's up to your inventiveness or agility to keep the lines sharp and even.

 

[alldayvape]

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/tips-tricks/69834-my-atty-resurrection-method.html

^this. It revived my atty which I was about to throw away. IMO it works better now than before. Dry Burning did the trick.

don't hate/

 

[RollTheBones]

Thanks for all the tips everyone!

Keep two in rotation.
One in the drip
One drying out from alcohol bath.

Throw away, as needed, and dig out a replacement for the one you just threw away.

Does this help?

Yea that is sort of what I do now. But since I am paranoid I always have two attys on me; I can't think of anything worse than being out and about and having one fail so I tend to carry a backup. Guess that means I need to have 4 in rotation?

You've been here awhile, and I imagine you are familiar with dry burns, so I'm guessing you don't want to do them.

But just in case, I'll mention my system...

I use one atomizer, all the time, until it dies, which actually has never happened yet.
When the vapor starts to drop off in any noticeable way I do a dry burn (using the proper techniques) and that fixes it.

I also blow out my atomizer every morning, to get old juice out.
That is the extent of the system I have been using for the last 10 months now.

I have been going back and forth between the alky bath and dry burn; have not decided which one to stick with so have been doing both. The thing I am not clear on is when is an atty really dead? At this point I have about 8 black attys, and I have no idea which one is the oldest (from last July) and which one I just started using a week ago.

I also dewicked a couple of them and I guess my eyesight is going because I cannot see into the darn things to be able to tell which ones they are.

Cleaning every couple of days isn't necessary. Try blowing them out once a day. You'll notice the juice that comes out is a lot darker than what went in. That's the stuff clogs up the coil and causes the atty to work harder. I find preventative maintenance works better than cleaning.

Hmmm, maybe I am cleaning them too much? Good point on blowing the juice out, I mainly use Wyatt Earp from FSUSA and that is a pretty dark, thick liquid. I think I recall conversations here about different juices affecting attys in different ways, is there any truth to that?

 

[aziffel]

The darker the juice,the harder on atomisers-more stuff to roast.