Cleaning atomizer

[Sun Vaporer]

Has anyone tried using one of those water toothpicks as a way to blast off the carbon?

(Excuse me if it's been asked before - this is a long thread to scan.)

Strayling--to show you the lengths I have gone, not only have I tryed that, I took an atomizer disassembled to my friend who is a Dentist and used the water blaster they use to clean teeth with and that carbon would not move off the coil. So we need to look at solvents---Sun

 

[strayling]

Strayling--to show you the lengths I have gone, not only have I tryed that, I took an atomizer disassembled to my friend who is a Dentist and used the water blaster they use to clean teeth with and that carbon would not move off the coil. So we need to look at solvents---Sun

Wow, that's dedication. I expect you're right about a solvent being necessary, although a pick might still be useful as a way to blast off the carbon deposit. That might let us use something a little less fierce which won't dissolve the atomiser too.

 

[newfie4ever]

I wonder if a sonic bath with Pepsi in it would work better, I don't have one so I can't test it.

 

[smokie]

I know I am new here but I have done a lot of reading and learned a lot from it. I have 6 atomizers and all of them are working from great to good so far. They are about 4 months old so they have see a lot of use. I drip my liquid on them also. Anyway I read here that Pepsi would remove the buildup on the atomizers so I went out and got myself a 2 liter bottle of Pepsi (some for me and some to test). I can honestly say that after 30 minutes in a glass (stirring occasionally) then washed in hot water and blow dry, it looks and works like new. It is really giving me a throat hit and lots of vapor. Maybe its just luck but I will be trying this from now on when the vapor slows down. Cheap enough to try and no after taste when smoking.

Yes, It is recommended by most experts to use Coke-a- Cola, or Pepsi to clean your atomizers, let it soak in it, then rinse with hot water, and let dry. If that fails, it's time for a new one!!!

 

[Kristy_424]

...and it killed it. R.I.P. little atomizer...

 

[exogenesis]

Think I've got a winner cleaning method for badly coked-up bad-tasting atomizers:

Based on kinabaloo's suggestion of hydrogen peroxide,
and on ted26's suggestion of 'burning it off'.

IN = black really carbon-residue gunked-up atomizer coil & wick.

High street items:

9% (30 vol) hydrogen peroxide (over the pharmacy counter from Boots, 90p for 200ml)
- normally used as a skin disinfectant & mouthwash.

Charged e-cig battery,
or better, switchable 3, 4.5, 5, 6, 9, 12V generic DC power supply (from Argos, £10),
(gives 1.2 amp current-limited at 4.5v, just right )

Simple procedure:

Wash out atomizer with water, blow out excess water, dry excess
Drip a drop or two of hydrogen peroxide onto the coil with a plastic pipette or whatever.

Connect to power
(i.e. above power supply - which nicely contacts the battery connection-end of the atomizer)
or attach battery & cause it to activate - vacuum cleaner ?, don't suck on it!

Fizzzzz, bubble, & nice steady cherry-red coil for a few seconds.

Maybe repeat once or twice.

Wash with water & dry (I use fan heater about 15 mins, but not so long as to make the wick bone-dry)

OUT = clean white wick (all the way through), & bright clean coil wire.

Will attempt to get some piccies when I've re-gunked a coil again ...

 

[surbitonPete]

that sounds interesting exo ..I did try a little bit of hydrogen peroxide but it didn't seem to work....yet it was the thing I was convinced 'would' work......I am looking forward to your pics.....and must give it a retry with your method.

 

[500KV]

I'm so new here I squeak, and prolly should not even .... in, but had to add this observation: My wife cleans some of her SS cookware that gets dull from cooking starchy things (potatoes, rice, etc.) by boiling about 1/2 inch of lemon juice and water in the pan for a couple of min.
They turn out shiny as new and I'm betting this would clean an atomizer as well.
I just ordered my Rio yesterday from Vapornine,(don't even smoke but got to quit this Skoal), so obviously can't try this yet.
Seems that the RC treatment is working well for most, just thought I'd throw this out there if someone wanted to try it.
Anyway, thanks for letting me .... in.
Seems like a great site with alot of helpful folks.

 

[Spikey]

I'm so new here I squeak, and prolly should not even .... in, but had to add this observation: My wife cleans some of her SS cookware that gets dull from cooking starchy things (potatoes, rice, etc.) by boiling about 1/2 inch of lemon juice and water in the pan for a couple of min.
They turn out shiny as new and I'm betting this would clean an atomizer as well.
I just ordered my Rio yesterday from Vapornine,(don't even smoke but got to quit this Skoal), so obviously can't try this yet.
Seems that the RC treatment is working well for most, just thought I'd throw this out there if someone wanted to try it.
Anyway, thanks for letting me .... in.
Seems like a great site with alot of helpful folks.

Interesting idea... maybe I will try this next time I get a stubborn one Welcome and good luck with vaping!

 

[Jim Davis]

I wonder if a sonic bath with Pepsi in it would work better, I don't have one so I can't test it.

After 2 weeks of constant use on my RN-4081, I'm having absolutely no problems, but I'm sure they will pop up.

From what I'm reading, we basically need heat & forced air. Has anyone tried a standard hair dryer? This may also be useful after washing or steaming to dry the atomizer. Any thoughts in this?

I travel for a living, and am in a Hotel as I speak. I grabbed the hair dryer from the bathroom, and just my luck, it's broken. Maybe I'll try it at the next Hotel.

 

[Sun Vaporer]

After 2 weeks of constant use on my RN-4081, I'm having absolutely no problems, but I'm sure they will pop up.

From what I'm reading, we basically need heat & forced air. Has anyone tried a standard hair dryer? This may also be useful after washing or steaming to dry the atomizer. Any thoughts in this?

I travel for a living, and am in a Hotel as I speak. I grabbed the hair dryer from the bathroom, and just my luck, it's broken. Maybe I'll try it at the next Hotel.

Jim--the blow dryer works very well but you need to hold that atomizer with a potholder as it gets to hot to handle. I put mine in the oven on 150 degrees for about 10 minutes and it works very well----Sun

 

[rsngfrce]

...and it killed it. R.I.P. little atomizer...

When you say it killed it, do you mean if you blow on the battery end with the cart off, you can't see the atomizer heat up at all, or do you mean it isn't producing any vapor? I have to ask, because a dry atomizer seem to take a lot of juice priming before it starts vaping again...

 

[ceo51378]

Has anyone tried Brake Cleaner yet? It cleans just about everything and dries without residue.

 

[proton32060]

I hesitated to post this since I am sure someone will find fault with it. But in spite of that this is the best method to clean the atomizers ( that I have found) without damaging them.

Propylene Glycol is a very safe chemical for humans but it tends to gunk up electronic components rather quickly. I have been cleaning electronics for years and the best solvent is Denatured Alcohol that can be had at any hardware store. It cleans components very well and is not a solvent for any of the materials used in their manufacture.

But this is the only solvent that will clean without damaging the unit. Don’t try any other organic solvent you might have on hand. They will destroy the unit.

I have been doing this for a while now and what you do is soak the atomizer itself for a few minutes in the alcohol. After that you use compressed air to gently blow the unit dry. Note you are not blowing it out- just gently blowing it dry. After that let it sit for a few hours to let any remaining alcohol evaporate.


After that it should work again like new.

If anyone is wondering why this works I will give you the chemistry of it. Denatured alcohol is ethanol ( Grain Alcohol) laced with methanol to prevent people from drinking it. Alcohols are “polar” solvents meaning they will dissolve anything that dissolves in water, like Propylene Glycol. But that will not act as a solvent for the materials used in the components themselves- and they won’t short them out like water.
Don’t use any other type of solvent like paint thinner or even isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) - they will destroy the unit.

This is better than trying to blow them out by force with compressed air. It is better to gently dissolve the gunk than to forcibly remove it. The alcohol evaporates very quickly and leaves no residue but still wait a few hours to make sure it is all gone.

If you have a dead atomizer then try this for yourself. But again make sure you give it time for all the alcohol to evaporate.

This is also the best way to clean electronic circuit boards.

 

[kinabaloo]

proton - the problem is not glycerine itself but hard dry black deposits than have been burned and are probably carbon and silicates. Alcohol is a nice way of lifting off grease and particles as you say, but this stuff is more like rock !

 

[Sun Vaporer]

proton - the problem is not glycerine itself but hard dry black deposits than have been burned and are probably carbon and silicates. Alcohol is a nice way of lifting off grease and particles as you say, but this stuff is more like rock !

The VG, once turned to residue is tough to tackel at best. The atomizer was really designed for PG--VG leaves a stone hard coating on the coil---Sun

 

[proton32060]

You got me on that.
I have had atomizers die thinking the batteries were bad. Finally decided to try Denatured alcohol since it won't damage or short out electronics. So far I have not had to throw one away.

I am pretty sure what has killed mine is the Propylene Glycol getting into the electronics and stopping them from working. The Denatured alcohol cleans it all out and it functions again like new.

If you are having stuff "cook out" on the element I would try letting one soak overnight. One, you have nothing to lose and two- Denatured alcohol is a great solvent that will not damage electronics regardless of how long they remain in contact with it.

I think it will probably cut the crud you are talking about given enough time. I was a chemistry major in college and I can tell you that if what is cooking out on your element was suspended in a Propylene Glycol or Glycerin then Denatured Alcohol should dissolve it given enough time.

 

[Sun Vaporer]

You got me on that.
I have had atomizers die thinking the batteries were bad. Finally decided to try Denatured alcohol since it won't damage or short out electronics. So far I have not had to throw one away.

I am pretty sure what has killed mine is the Propylene Glycol getting into the electronics and stopping them from working. The Denatured alcohol cleans it all out and it functions again like new.

If you are having stuff "cook out" on the element I would try letting one soak overnight. One, you have nothing to lose and two- Denatured alcohol is a great solvent that will not damage electronics regardless of how long they remain in contact with it.

I think it will probably cut the crud you are talking about given enough time. I was a chemistry major in college and I can tell you that if what is cooking out on your element was suspended in a Propylene Glycol or Glycerin then Denatured Alcohol should dissolve it given enough time.

Proton--what is Denatured alcohol?---Sun

 

[proton32060]

God I got to go to bed.
Sun- we live in the same state.
Looks like I am not the only night owl.

Denatured alcohol chemically is ethanol (Grain Alcohol or plain old booze if you will ) with methanol ( wood alcohol) mixed in to prevent people from trying to drink it.

It is used as a solvent for shellac and other paint primers.

It is very flammable and evaporates very quickly leaving no residue.

It can be bought in the paint section of hardware stores, Lowes, or Home Depot.

 

[Sun Vaporer]

God I got to go to bed.
Sun- we live in the same state.
Looks like I am not the only night owl.

Denatured alcohol chemically is ethanol (Grain Alcohol or plain old booze if you will ) with methanol ( wood alcohol) mixed in to prevent people from trying to drink it.

It is used as a solvent for shellac and other paint primers.

It is very flammable and evaporates very quickly leaving no residue.

It can be bought in the paint section of hardware stores, Lowes, or Home Depot.

Proton--got to hit the hay as I am going to Home Depot tomorrow to get some and give it a go--thanks my friend for the info--Lights out---Sun