Atomizer Help

[mavericmechanik]

Thanks for the help with the other thread I posted a while back. I am still using the same setup I had for now since I had spent a good amount of money on it. In the future I will be looking here for a better setup that will give me the results and reliability that I am looking for. For the most part things have been going good. Last week I did have to have my atomizer swapped out. While getting this done, the guy at the booth gave me an extra atomizer. When I first got them, both atomizers were producing the same amount of good vapor. Since then, the one that I have been using consistently over the course of the week has been producing far less vapor than the one I have not been using. I frequently test this by seeing the output of the 2 atomizers back to back.

The one that I have been using consistently is still producing a decent amount of vapor, but a lot less than the one I haven't used. At night I have been leaving the atomizer upside-down on a piece of paper towel for any excess fluid to drip out, and to my surprise most mornings the paper towel is dry, at most I have had very little fluid on the paper towel. I did look online at cleaning, and did follow a suggestion to soak the atomizer in rubbing alcohol for a few hours not only to clean out the excess fluid but clean the contacts. When I took it out I did notice the clear rubbing alcohol had a slight brown tinge from the fluid. After letting it dry out for nearly the whole day I had no vapor at all, I ended up having to use several drops of fluid to get my vapor back to what it was prior to the cleaning. The problem is now I am right back to where I started. Prior to the cleaning, I tested the amount of fluid in each by lightly dabbing a paper towel on the end of each wick. Both atomizers left what looks like the same amount of fluid on the paper towel. I did this to see if I accidentally flooded the one atomizer and not the other.

I do not know if I am doing something wrong when I use my ecig, or if I did something wrong in cleaning it. I am afraid to use my other one until I know what I should do. I do use my ecig frequently throughout the day, but both of these atomizers are only a week old, so they shouldn't be dying out that quickly, or at least I hope. I hope that the great deal of knowledge that all of you have with this can solve my vapor mystery. Once I have my answer then I will feel more comfortable switching between the 2 atomizers.

Again, I Thank You in advance for your help. All of the advice I will and have already received from all of you is greatly appreciated.

-Joe-
.

 

[elfstone]

I'm sorry, what is the question? And what's your setup? Not all atomizers are created equal. And they are semi-disposable, btw. So if your setup is something worth it, I'd say get some more / different atties.

 

[MrGiggly]

If you're looking to clean your atties, try this

Using this technique I have a couple of LR 306 atomisers that are in to their 6th week and still vaping great. The trick is that you need to burn the gunk off the coil. Boiling, or immersing them in any kind of fluid isn't going to fix that.

Just remember that you need to take care not to pop the atomiser. Once you've done it a couple of times its a simple 5 min job to do a couple at a time.

 

[RocketRod]

Joe, the VG mix in your juice is the vapor producer. Do you know what the ratio is? Is it a dark juice? Sounds like your cleaning them OK. Some atty's just clean better than others. Something I don't understand is the drying. Bear with me. You drip/drop/feed thicker than water fluid onto a coil, add battery power to heat the coil, that produces a vapor. So drying it to me seems silly. Some even "Dry Burn" their atty's. Many folks use a high grade Vodka or PGA. Some use the chemical you stated. Unless it is surgical grade alcohol I wouldn't use it, but that is just my preference. A good under the faucet hot water rinse and blowing out the excess water should also work. I have boiled carto's 4 or 5 times in a session (about a 3 minute boil each time), rinsed and thow them in an oven at 150 degrees for an hour to help dry. I can't say if that has any real benefit, but they are clean and work. Again depending on the viscosity and color of your juice. If it's producing little vapor after cleaning, you may have flooded it. Blow out the excess. Also make sure you are making a good connection at the battery and the battery has a good charge. It's all part of the equation.

 

[MrGiggly]

Drying out a carto is necessary because you can't dry burn them without burning the filler, and then its pretty much impossible to get rid of the taste. Not drying them out means you end up diluting the juice you put and it will take a fill or two to get the water out and the flavour back. Drying out an atomiser (eg in an oven) isnt necessary because there's no filler to burn.

Personally I think that once a carto drops off its time for the bin as you can't clean the coil effectively. Atomisers are semi disposable and can be brought back to life until the coil eventually gives out.

 

[LucentShadow]

Hey, mavericmechanik. You're most likely experiencing normal performance for atomizers. Atomizers will not last much longer than cartomizers, if you don't take the right steps to keep them going. They both will get burnt-on gunk on the heating coil and in the wick that runs through the coil during normal use. Darker liquids, and high VG liquids will hasten that outcome.

The thing about atomizers lasting longer than cartomizers, is that atomizers have no filler material to burn or degrade. They are made with steel, ceramic, and high-temp wicking material only. Because of this, you can clean and dry them, then 'dry burn' them to burn the gunk off of the coil. It has to be dry, as any liquid will prevent them from getting hot enough to burn the residue off. Cartomizers with filling can't be dry burned, as the polyester filling will melt. Clearomizers can be cleaned much like attys can, though.

You can use alcohol to dissolve some of the residue, but it's not terribly effective compared to dry burning. What it is good for is keeping the airways clear, though. Also, if you use rubbing alcohol, do make sure that it's completely evaporated before use, as it's quite poisonous.

I just rinse my atomizers with hot water and blow them out a few times each night, and let them sit on a paper towel overnight. Just prime them with a few drops of liquid when ready to use them again. I will only dry burn once a week or longer, usually. I use several semi-dark VG juices, and I get 2-6 weeks from them before I feel like grabbing a new one.

 

[John D in CT]

I can't tell if you're using a stand-alone atomizer with stand-alone cartidge, or a cartomizer. I have always had zero luck with the former, and great satisfaction with the latter.

I've always used Joye stuff, starting with what I now think was a clone of a 501 with separate atomizers/cartidges. As I said, I got practically zero vapor with that setup. Even before I took my first puff (or tried to), I looked at that "system" and asked myself how the hell the juice is supposed to get into the atomizer efficiently. In my opinion, it doesn't. I stumbled across esmokeronline, and after a very productive chat with Tim, I ordered some low-resistance (1.5 ohm) cartomizers (combination atomizer and cartomizer), and the difference was huge. Now I was finally getting somewhere. (Before I got the cartomizers [box of 5 for about $12], the only way I could get a hit was to drip right onto the coils of an atomizer and use a hollowed-out cartidge for a stem. Not too convenient, but at least it worked).

Now, I use a 1000 mah Ego-T, and I couldn't be happier. Talk about options; I can use the tank, which is awesome; cartomizers if I want to show someone what they're all about, or just for old times' sake; or drip onto a stand-alone low-res atomizer if i want to try out different flavors, or drip just for the hell of it. I think that 99% of the time, I'm just going to use the tank; that is, until I discover the next great thing, like tankomizers, that also fit right onto the Ego-T. The Ego-T just works like a charm; no drips, huge battery, lots of vapor, lasts a long time between refills, reliable.

Hope this helps.

Oh, by the way; I told a friend who wants to quit smoking to just get the Ego-T and be done with it. Instead, he got an Ego 650 mah setup with separate atomizers and cartridges. he couldn't get it to work at all. I bumped into him and happened to have a couple of low-res cartomizers with me. He put it on, squeezed 19 drops of 24mg "cigarette flavored" juice into it, and then vaped for the first time. He was blown away, like a kid on Christmas morning. So again, if you're not using cartomizers, switch to them. Then I'd say to get an Ego-T just to see how great it is. Then try a tankomizer with it, like I'm going to.

 

[azvike]

Much wisdom in John D's post. For the newb, the simplest and most productive setup is the Ego size battery and a cartomizer. Cartomizers are cheap and disposible, and vape pretty well. I love to drip, but atomizers are a pain in the .... to keep functioning. I also like my EGO C tank system, but wouldn't recommend for a starter.

 

[mavericmechanik]

Thanks guys, it sounds to me like its just the atomizer wearing out. I am going to try a dry burn tonight to see if it helps at all. I am using my spare, the one that has good vapor, as a comparison to see how much vapor I'm getting. I also do have some cartomizers that I had picked up for the work day, but it sounds like I will be using them more. The only thing that I don't like about the ones I got is that they come pre loaded with a juice that tastes horrible, so I have to try to get as much of that out without burning the filling. One of mine still has that horrible flavor. I liked the cartomizers for the simplicity for during my day. I would fill up 2 for each of my 2 flavor liquids, and use them like normal. When one would start to run out, Id switch to a new one and then fill them back up at the end of the day. I preferred my atomizer while at home though since I got better vapor and better flavor, but now I'm worried about using them as much as I do.

To answer your questions, the ecig I got is a smoke free one from the mall. I had purchased it before getting the advice in my other post about a better model. While I do have plans to get a better one, right now I can't spend the money on it since I just spent a good amount on this one. Im not sure what number it is, 510, etc since I'm still pretty new to it. Both of the atomizers are the same, and both were opened at the same time. The difference is that I put one in a drawer to keep as a spare and used the other one consistently. It wasn't until the other day that I noticed that my spare has far more vapor than the one I had been using. I thought cleaning it would work but when it didn't I decided to ask here. While Im thinking that this atomizer is just wearing out, part of me wants to think that it may not have been as good as the spare one to begin with. When I got them both at the same time I never compared the vapor output between the 2, so maybe there is a possibility that the spare one was always better than the one I had been using, or maybe its just wishful thinking on my part.

The place I got the ecig from gave me the spare for free, but he informed me that they sell the replacement/spare atomizers for $30 each. To me this sounded really high, but at the same time I may be wrong on that. The only good thing is that I have a lifetime warranty on the atomizers and the battery if they stop working altogether, but not if I don't like the vapor output, so I guess if the atomizer stops working completely I can get a new one. The only thing that worries me about that is the mention that most atomizers only last a few weeks. I don't want them to not give me a new one if I keep coming back every few weeks to get a new one. Maybe I am giving this too much thought, but being my first real ecig purchase, even if its not a top of the line one, I would like it to be what I expected.

Thank You all again for your help

 

[snapback77]

what is the answer youre looking for

i ahve never had problems with attys

whats your problem

 

[hairball]

After you clean your atty, let it dry as you already did. Do a three second dry burn...let off..do it again...repeat until it glows orange. Now add about 6-7 drops of juice and let it sit for 5 minutes. Blow out...add 3 drops and vape. When you notice vapor is no longer being produced, it needs blown out or cleaned again. There are a few vendors that will kill atty's quickly because of the type of juice they make. I generally use cartomizers and these certain vendors will clog a carto in a days usage so it could very well be the type of juice you're using.

 

[LucentShadow]

The place I got the ecig from gave me the spare for free, but he informed me that they sell the replacement/spare atomizers for $30 each. To me this sounded really high, but at the same time I may be wrong on that. The only good thing is that I have a lifetime warranty on the atomizers and the battery if they stop working altogether, but not if I don't like the vapor output, so I guess if the atomizer stops working completely I can get a new one. The only thing that worries me about that is the mention that most atomizers only last a few weeks. I don't want them to not give me a new one if I keep coming back every few weeks to get a new one. Maybe I am giving this too much thought, but being my first real ecig purchase, even if its not a top of the line one, I would like it to be what I expected.

Thank You all again for your help

I would be wary of that company. Atomizers can be bought for as little as $5. Most are $8-12 for mainstream ones I've found. They are disposable, though not to the extent that cartos are. I've never seen better than a '30ml of juice though it' warranty on an atty. Batteries generally will only last a few hundred charges, depending upon your particular discharging/charging cycles.

I can't see how they can offer a lifetime warranty on batteries, even at the high prices they charge. I saw no mention of warranty on atomizers, and cartomizers are not included at all, which is normal. If they will replace things for free, then that's cool, but it doesn't seem sustainable as a business model. These things are not built to last anywhere near that long.

 

[Warren D. Lockaby]

If you're looking to clean your atties, try this

Using this technique I have a couple of LR 306 atomisers that are in to their 6th week and still vaping great. The trick is that you need to burn the gunk off the coil. Boiling, or immersing them in any kind of fluid isn't going to fix that.

Just remember that you need to take care not to pop the atomiser. Once you've done it a couple of times its a simple 5 min job to do a couple at a time.

Thanks, definitely one I'll have to try. (This trick has that nice "the way it should be done" ring to it!)

 

[pfaber11]

i think your problem is the juice you are using. i use unflavoured juice and my atomizers last for months regardless of how much nicotine i have in them. the one i am using right now has been going 8 weeks and is as good as new. some favourings ruin an atomizer in just a couple of days. glycerin at about 25% does not damage the atomizers. i only use one atomizer at a time so i know exactly how long they last. i never clean them any more as they don't need it. i am not saying don't use favoured juice just that some juices kill atomizers.

 

[MrGiggly]

Basically the flavouring sticks to the coil, forming a crust that builds up over time. Some juices do this faster than others. Usually, the darker they are the quicker the process takes place.

It hasn't 'ruined' the atomiser though as there's still a nice shiny coil underneath, you just need to burn the crust till it turns to ash (grey instead of black) and then rinse it off. Using the method prescribed above my coils come out shiny again after 5 mins of maintenance and pop and crackle like they were fresh out of the packet.