Atomizers are strange.

[Xtian]

So I'm new here.

I had been playing around with my black evo and found a few strange things going on with my atomizers.

First off, I think one of them may be slightly broken, but not dead.

I have two atomizers, one of which is working really well, the other acting strange.

With the one that I think is broken, It produces plenty of vapor, not as much as the good one, but more than enough. Thats not the problem. The problem is that I am getting no throat hit at all. It feels like I'm smoking thin air.

So even using some e juices, drying out the atomizer, or attempting to clean it, it seems to still function poorly.

I was wondering why this atomizer is producing vapor, but no throat hit, and my other vaporizer, is really good on both, regardless of the cartridge.


Now for my second question, Something I found strange with BOTH atomizers.

I have 25 cartridges that were given to me in my kit. They are 16 or 18mg tobacco flavored carts.

Without my e juices, I would probably go through 3-5 of these a day, which wouldn't last me more than a few days considering I only have 25.

So when I pop on a fresh new cartridge, I get a good throat hit, lots a vapor, and that lasts quite awhile, but after awhile, the throat hit starts to get weaker and weaker. Usually the vapor can keep going after the throat hit goes away, but when this happens, I put like 2 drops of e juice in there to get back on track.

This of course works, and I get another good 15 drags or so before it starts to fade on the throat hit.

Then things get kind of weird.

After awhile, the tobacco flavor starts to run out, and the flavors im dripping in it start to take over. Sometimes I will even wash out the juice from the wool and add about 6-8 drops and re stuff it back in there.

I make sure to dry it off before I do this of course, making sure no water is soaked in it.

Well when this happens, both of my atomizers don't seem to like it.

It will produce plenty of vapor, but no throat hit what so ever.

Then when I switch out the used cart, and put a fresh one in, it works fine.

I know its not the juice, because I get the throat hit again when I drip, but once the cart runs out of the original juice, it doesn't want to work properly. Like I said, plenty of vapor, but no throat hit.

I wonder if any of you might know what I'm doing wrong, maybe I'm not filling the carts properly.

I will also note, that after the cart gets pretty used, and Ive dripped over and over, the wool inside starts to get kind of fuzzy, like how an hold toothbrush gets after you use it a lot.

Thanks if you actually read all of this, and Thanks again if you have any ideas of what might be wrong here. I could use some help

 

[jamie]

I don't find anything wrong. Maybe I'm missing something but that's about par for the course. The wick material runs out of steam. Juice rarely has the bite of a fresh cart. One of your atomizers is crap.

 

[CandyGirl]

+1

outside of the bad atomizer i have the same experience.
how strong is your liquid?

 

[Xtian]

the juice is fairly strong.

I have two juices

Totally wicked, Red bull flavor, 24 mg

and

Johnson Creek, Peach Cobbler flavor, 18mg

The totally wicked juice gives a stronger throat hit than the JC juice, but they both give me good throat hits when the cartridge is running dry.

The atomizer that went to crap wasn't always like this though, it used to work fine.

It just suddenly stopped giving me throat hits.
I wish I knew why.

 

[chokmah]

Its possible you have a little too much juice in the atomizer that isnt quite working right.. Have you tried blowing it out and letting it drain some? Otherwise you might take a q-tip and clean it some. Hope this helps you.

 

[jamie]

Its possible you have a little too much juice in the atomizer that isnt quite working right.. Have you tried blowing it out and letting it drain some?

Second that. Some of mine have suddenly come back to life after sitting for a few days even.

 

[Xtian]

I dried this atomizer out pretty well, making sure not of the electrical parts were soaked, or anything of that sort.

but obviously, its not broken, it produces vapor.

the strange thing is, it doesn't produce a throat hit.

Its been almost a full day now since ive touched it, Its sitting on a dry paper towel, with the wick buried into it. I have it leaning on one of the juice bottles to keep it balanced.

Ill let it sit there for maybe another day or two, but I'm worried I'm going to kill my good atomizer vaping it all day, I like to switch them up a bit.

Ill see how it turns out,
thanks for the tips guys.

 

[Busaholic]

Johnson Creek

There's your problem. Your atomizer is either on it's last leg or dead.

 

[basslion]

Water being left inside the sponge in the cart could actually be absorbing nicotine and not letting it pass into your mouth. They should start selling replacement sponges for the carts.

 

[Xtian]

There's your problem. Your atomizer is either on it's last leg or dead.

Oh really?

Well its a good thing I have only one bottle of this.

Ill make sure not to use it that often, when I do, I wont be dripping directly on to the atomizer.

What a waste though, 30 bucks after shipping.

The water theory, that the nicotine is being absorbed in it, was interesting, but probably not the problem, as I stated before, It wont give me a throat hit even with a fresh cart. But will produce plenty of vapor.

Something is not right though, Its working, its producing vapor, but is somehow holding in the nicotine.

Maybe its able to vape the PG but not the nicotine.
Could that be the case?

How hot does nicotine have to get to vaporize?

It would explain a lot though, but still no clue on how to fix it.

Ive tried using a office duster, those canned air things you use on keyboards, to clean it out. Still no luck.

I'm not giving up on it, hopefully I can fix it, and be able to fix this problem if it continues.

But if the nicotine is what give you the throat hit, then obviously the nicotine isn't getting vaped. It would be interesting to see if I got my fix tomorrow morning, when I wake up craving my nicotine.

Thanks for the input guys, Keep it coming

 

[Keef]

I have no experience with evos but I presume their atomisers work the same as the rest.

Some work like Trojans from day one.

Some of them can take days to break in.

How long have you been using this atomiser ?.

If it is new, you dont want to keep washing it and drying it off I think this will just put it back to where it started.

Re the carts...
The stuffing starts to get compressed after you have been using it a few days, the more often you wash it the more matted it becomes and also its liquid holding properties will diminish.

I use mine for 4 days (no washing) and toss them, others use theirs for weeks without cleaning.

 

[jamie]

Oh really? Well its a good thing I have only one bottle of this.

Something is not right though, Its working, its producing vapor, but is somehow holding in the nicotine. Maybe its able to vape the PG but not the nicotine. Could that be the case?

But if the nicotine is what give you the throat hit, then obviously the nicotine isn't getting vaped.

You've been led off the path here IMO.

The Johnson Creek clogging atomizers, I'm real iffy on that. Back when they used oils that was a problem but many many users shared that problem and discussed it. AFAIK that is not a problem particular to them anymore.

Dripping onto the atomizer, with any juice, is more likely to result in clogging and flooding than topping carts or just using straight carts.

A cart holding in the nicotine or atomizing only the pg but not the nicotine? Nope. Until scientific testing says this, I say it doesn't happen. So far as nic and throat hit, folks can get a throat hit with zero nic juice.

I'm not clear on what you meant by, "Its sitting on a dry paper towel, with the wick buried into it". If you meant that you stuffed a bit of paper towel into the atomizer to soak up extra water... okay. If you meant that it was sitting with a cart attached or a cart filter in it, then it may not be really draining.

 

[Xtian]

Well, the atomizer cant sit upside down, It would fall over, it has no balance, unless the battery part is on the bottom, which wouldn't really drain it.

So, I have it leaning on something, usually the juice bottle, on a paper towel so the wick is on the bottom, touching the paper towell. And the battery part, or the part that connects to the battery, is facing up, not touching the paper towel. I watched a video suggesting to do this.

Ive also used canned air to clean it out.

For the most part, It works. It makes vapor. So its getting hot, obviously.

Why one atomizer makes a throat hit, and the other doesn't, I have no clue.

Its not the battery, Ive tried both batteries on it, still the same.
And its not the cartridge, Ive tried several different carts on it, still no throat hit, but plenty of vapor.

The other atomizer on the other hand, works fine on both batteries, and all carts.

If vapor = nicotine + PG being vaporized, then where is the nicotine going?

And if I am mislead by that statement, Then what causes the throat hit?

Also, How should I be cleaning these atomizers? I have heard of people putting them in a pot of boiling water, wouldn't that kill the atomizer?

I should be able to experiment on this in two weeks or less, as I have ordered 3 more atomizers, along with 3 more batteries. I'm starting to have a problem with one of my batteries now.

I try not to get too frustrated. Its a learning process. But an extra boost of some information would be a great help.

 

[jamie]

Oh okay, I understand what you mean about the wick and towel. An egg cup or jigger helps with that.

If vapor = nicotine + PG being vaporized, then where is the nicotine going? And if I am mislead by that statement, Then what causes the throat hit?

Vapor density, definitely. Some folks say amount of nicotine also, but that's arguable as many of us get the same hit regardless. Heat possibly too.

One guess for your problem is that the crap atomizer is vaporizing at a different temp than the good atomizer.

How should I be cleaning these atomizers? I have heard of people putting them in a pot of boiling water, wouldn't that kill the atomizer?

There is no solution yet that works consistently. Many people don't clean them at all and have as much success as folks with elaborate maintenance rituals. You can read about all the experiments in the Tips & Tricks section of the forum.

 

[Xtian]

Thank you Jamie, You have been a great help.

 

[lordmage]

well i dont have experenice with your device i had a simiar proplem with the janty mini fogger i had and it was caused by having a micro fissuer or crack in the metal case that the atomiser is sealed in.

 

[Xtian]

well i dont have experenice with your device i had a simiar proplem with the janty mini fogger i had and it was caused by having a micro fissuer or crack in the metal case that the atomiser is sealed in.

Not exactly sure what your talking about.

Care to expand on that a little?

I think it may be a little damaged, and I probably should have pointed this out from the start. I did at one time, drop my e cig.

When I picked it back up, it didn't work.

But then an hour later, it worked fine.

However, I am unsure which atomizer was in it. I wasn't paying too much attention to that at the start, but now I know the difference between the two.

I am using the weak atomizer right now, vaping away.

Even though its a little frustrating that I don't a huge throat hit, its doing the trick as far as my cravings, and it looks cool, lol.

It seems to work a little better when I inhale gently, rather then taking a big huff. I figure maybe I can burn out the JC juice that got in it, and it will work a little better over time If I use it a little more.

After all, its only a week old.

 

[jamie]

well i dont have experenice with your device i had a simiar proplem with the janty mini fogger i had and it was caused by having a micro fissuer or crack in the metal case that the atomiser is sealed in.

Great info, hadn't heard of that before. Thanks! Yes that could definitely let in a tiny bit of air and cause the vapor to be less dense.

 

[UkUsa]

Xtian - expanding on Lordmage's experience, are you noticing a difference in draw between the two atomizers?

I have a 901 and one atomizer seemed harder to draw than all the others. I tried all the other cleaning methods with no improvement. The atomizer was one of my originals that had been going for at least 10 weeks so it had done well. As a last thing to try i drilled out the airhole with the smallest drill bit i had 1/16". It went the other way, the draw was too easy, it produced vapor but i couldn't feel anything at all. To remedy this i put some scotch tape over the hole, then poked a new hole in the tape with a pin. I increased the hole till i got the draw i wanted.

Don't be getting out the drill and tape on my word, i just thought this info may give you some more ideas of possible ways to go.

 

[Keef]

There is no hard and fast rule to cleaning, what works for one person kills the others atomiser stone dead or at the very best it shows no improvement.

I have tried boiling them and never had any success while others do it all the time .

I now expect an atomiser to last me 2 weeks if it lasts longer its a bonus.
That atomiser will vape 40 ml of liquid in that time.
If you vape less you should get longer out of them.

I drain it in a shot glass and blow it out each morning.

I only clean them when I have to.

If it starts to taste yuck .
I soak it in Coke overnight .
Rinse under the tap, blow it out leave it to dry off .
Prime it with a couple of drops of liquid directly on to the bridge let that soak in.
Then apply a cart.
I find they are very thirsty just after cleaning and you may need to apply more liquid to the bridge at intrevals.

Having lots of spares is a very good idea.