Atomizer Life

[Mycide]

How do you determine when its time to switch out the atomizer ?

The reason I ask is mine is not running as strong as it used to, but it still works.

When I first received my kit, the atomizer would glow inside if the cart wasnt on and you pressed the button, now it still makes the sound, but its not glowing in there.

 

[breakfastchef]

Your atomizer is FTD (fixin' to die). I have had several go the route of the long slow death. If you have access to a mulitmeter, you can test the resistance. Anything much higher than around 3.5-4.2 is an indication it is about shot. Start a new one and enjoy.

 

[Mycide]

ugh...thats what I was fearing...that means my first atomizer went out in 13 days

thats not normal, right ?

 

[solonguniverse]

Depending on what kind of e-cig you're using there are a couple of options. Keep it up with the atomizer you're using until you notice that its producing almost NO vapor...theres no reason to waste what life it has left. Make sure you're blowing out excess juice and letting it dry battery side up overnight on a tissue. If you're using a manual, you can try the extreme heating method. I do it every once in awhile when they're not performing so well. Blow out the excess juice and then heat up the atomizer for 10-12 seconds. Blow it out again and drip a bit on the atomizer. It might just help. If you're using an automatic, you can read through the hundreds of tips on how to clean your atomizers. I would suggest waiting to do this until your atomizer is almost dead, but not cold. It's pretty much impossible to revive an atomizer that won't even heat up.

 

[Mycide]

I have a 510. I will try and let my atomizer dry overnight, try it out in the morning, and if it still sucks i will try the extreme heat steps you mentioned.

Thanks for the tips

 

[solonguniverse]

I have a 510. I will try and let my atomizer dry overnight, try it out in the morning, and if it still sucks i will try the extreme heat steps you mentioned.

Thanks for the tips

If you haven't been drying it out at all your atomizer might be flooded. Try blowing on the battery end into a tissue and see how much juice it collects. If there's juice collecting in the atomizer it won't work properly at all.

 

[Mycide]

I just tried 2 new things with my vape, that seem to have lead to my current situation.

My new liquid said on the label to keep in a cool dark place, so I thought I would use my refrigerator.

I also just started mixing VG in with my PG.

This definitely thickened up my drops. And this is where I overfilled my cart. I must not have been thinking at full speed, because I should have figured out what was going to happen. When it heated up the liquid expanded and ran out everywhere, including between the atomizer and the battery.

Sorry if that was foolish, but this is still my first run at this.

 

[solonguniverse]

Expect to make mistakes constantly...less often once you get the hang of it but it'll still happen. Also make sure to clean the threads of your parts with alcohol on a cloth pretty often. You'd be amazed at how much gunk comes out of them and how much better the conduction will be. I never messed around with mixing VG with my juices. Your carts should be wet, but liquid shouldn't pool on the top. I've found its a lot easier to use a glass dropper bottle to get a really good top-off. I hope any of this is actually helping at all.

 

[Mycide]

This is an incredible help.

You mentioned another thing I have done, that helped create this mess.

My friend advised me to take a teabag, the pyramid style, and roll up strips of it to use inside the cart. So far my impression of that is, it works fine, but I dont know if its worth the trouble of converting the carts or not.

Anyway, this causes it to pool up at the bottom instead of the top of the cart, so by the time you notice it, you have gone too far.

And thank you so much for the advice. Everyone has been so helpful, its made it so much better then on my own.

 

[solonguniverse]

If you've decided to start looking for alternative cart fillers, I've started using felt. It's really the best solution I've found. I just can't get the tea bags to work the way I want them to...pyramid or regular.

 

[Mycide]

If you've decided to start looking for alternative cart fillers, I've started using felt. It's really the best solution I've found. I just can't get the tea bags to work the way I want them to...pyramid or regular.

Just regular felt ? Roll it up ? Anything else I should know before I test it out ?

 

[solonguniverse]

Don't roll it up. It'll swell when it takes in juice and it can hold A LOT. A single fold works the best for me. Just make it a tiny bit shorter than your cartridge. I haven't tasted any burned taste since I started using it and I feel like I've been topping off a lot less frequently. Let me know how it works out for you.

 

[Mycide]

Is a craft store a good place to go looking ? Any better places ?

 

[solonguniverse]

I stole mine from my wife's craft box. But yeah she bought it at a craft store. It's not very cheap, but it's not any more expensive than some of the other mediums people are using.

 

[solonguniverse]

It's always a good idea to give credit where credit is due and I believe it was MaryKay that gave me the idea to use felt for a filler. If this is accurate, thank you very much MaryKay.