Cleaning atomizer
- Thread starter KatyS
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Yes, yes, yes. The Everclear (or Golden Grain) is a must. Great, residue free solvent for cleaning. Dries fast, cheap ($4.99 USD half-pint) and is also great for mixing, thinning and extracting.
I will have to try the everclear method. I have a bottle that has been sitting in my fridge for over a year. If this works it will give me an excuse to use it up and get the bottle outa there.
I had an atomizer starting to lose it's performance after a week. Since i'm a real newbie at all of this i thought i'd use just one to start with. That way if i messed up by overdripping, heating up too much, dry vaping, i'd still have one good one.
After reading this post on cleaning and not having either rubbing alcohol or everclear i thought i'd try boiling. Somehow it doesn't seem like a good thing to do but hey, if it gets it working better it's good, if not i'm only one atomizer down. Ordering some more soon anyway.
After reading this post on cleaning and not having either rubbing alcohol or everclear i thought i'd try boiling. Somehow it doesn't seem like a good thing to do but hey, if it gets it working better it's good, if not i'm only one atomizer down. Ordering some more soon anyway.
I don't recommend the air compressor method. Tried that and blew the atomizer right out of the tube! (still had my psi set for framing nailer. oops)
I pulled one of mine apart on the weekend, used for a month or so. It was hard, crispy, and coated in black residue. It still worked.
I soaked it in:
water
hot water
vodka
pure alcohol
vinegar
then moved on to nastier stuff
bleach
ammonia
CLR
The process was, rinse/dry it off, immerse in it the above, check it in 20 or 30 minutes
by rubbing it with my finger to see if any was softening, loosening, or coming off.
The first group (since it would still be smokable after) I left a lot longer.
Further, with the water and vodka, I powered up the atomizer and let it "boil" itself for 20 sec , and 60 seconds.
NOTHING I tried did anything at all. I think oven cleaner may have worked, wish I had some of that when I was fooling around this weekend. It looked / felt like the burned/baked on stuff when your oven needs cleaning.
Then (since I wanted the wire off it anyway) I squished it a bit, and it broke apart like coal. The wisps of fiber at each end were all the fiber there was, the rest was just "coal"
From that, all I can conclude is that if you did find something to dissolve the black stuff, there'd be nothing left ? I dunno.
That was my experiment
I know nothing more about cleaning my atomizer than I did before, LOL.
I soaked it in:
water
hot water
vodka
pure alcohol
vinegar
then moved on to nastier stuff
bleach
ammonia
CLR
The process was, rinse/dry it off, immerse in it the above, check it in 20 or 30 minutes
by rubbing it with my finger to see if any was softening, loosening, or coming off.
The first group (since it would still be smokable after) I left a lot longer.
Further, with the water and vodka, I powered up the atomizer and let it "boil" itself for 20 sec , and 60 seconds.
NOTHING I tried did anything at all. I think oven cleaner may have worked, wish I had some of that when I was fooling around this weekend. It looked / felt like the burned/baked on stuff when your oven needs cleaning.
Then (since I wanted the wire off it anyway) I squished it a bit, and it broke apart like coal. The wisps of fiber at each end were all the fiber there was, the rest was just "coal"
From that, all I can conclude is that if you did find something to dissolve the black stuff, there'd be nothing left ? I dunno.
That was my experiment
I know nothing more about cleaning my atomizer than I did before, LOL.
That was a great test RjG! Thanks for sharing. I was wondering if anyone could just take one apart and try various cleaning methods to see what happened. So maybe oven cleaner would have worked...but if it dissolved the black crud there'd be nothing left anyway? Hmmm....interesting!
Here is something else I found on the net. Haven't tried it myself so don't know how well it would work:
"After ripping several atomizers apart i have come to the exact same conclusion as the mesh is still clean and free of debris but the wick is charred and stops soaking liquid as it should.
I struggled at first with the cleaning and think i found the secret to getting them 100% back to life as the one i have at present is 11 days old after 2 cleans as good as new.(could also just be luck)
When the atomizer starts to block place it in a pan stood on the battery end and fill with water to the level of the collar, then boil the water for 15 mins or so.(this makes the atomizer hotter than the water and causes bubbles of air to rush up inside the atomizer)
Now swish it about, drain, blow out water, add 3 drops of liquid, full cart and hey presto.(can take a good half hour puffing to flush water out and liquid in)"
Here is something else I found on the net. Haven't tried it myself so don't know how well it would work:
"After ripping several atomizers apart i have come to the exact same conclusion as the mesh is still clean and free of debris but the wick is charred and stops soaking liquid as it should.
I struggled at first with the cleaning and think i found the secret to getting them 100% back to life as the one i have at present is 11 days old after 2 cleans as good as new.(could also just be luck)
When the atomizer starts to block place it in a pan stood on the battery end and fill with water to the level of the collar, then boil the water for 15 mins or so.(this makes the atomizer hotter than the water and causes bubbles of air to rush up inside the atomizer)
Now swish it about, drain, blow out water, add 3 drops of liquid, full cart and hey presto.(can take a good half hour puffing to flush water out and liquid in)"
I would have approached it differently, if I knew I was working with a "lump of coal" to begin with. I was attempting to clean it, expecting black stuff to go away, and fibers to be visible again.
It's entirely possible that all that's required is to clean the charred atomizer core. I mean , maybe once the black charred stuff is clean and dry, it acts as a wick too?
Remember, it still worked fine when disassembled. 100% coal, 0% fiber (except a wisp of fiber on each end).
It's entirely possible that all that's required is to clean the charred atomizer core. I mean , maybe once the black charred stuff is clean and dry, it acts as a wick too?
Remember, it still worked fine when disassembled. 100% coal, 0% fiber (except a wisp of fiber on each end).
Do you guys know any voodoo?
I have an atomizer which is down to about 25-50% output
Cleaned it 2x both times using boiling and alc
No improvement
Took a hit without a cart, atomiser fires up nice and seemed to be lots of vape from the residue on the wick
Dripped it, new cart, let it sit- no improvement
Any tips?
Have not tried the air yet, still under waranty maybe I'll just send them back
Thanks,
I have an atomizer which is down to about 25-50% output
Cleaned it 2x both times using boiling and alc
No improvement
Took a hit without a cart, atomiser fires up nice and seemed to be lots of vape from the residue on the wick
Dripped it, new cart, let it sit- no improvement
Any tips?
Have not tried the air yet, still under waranty maybe I'll just send them back
Thanks,
I had a dead atomizer 901. I boiled it and the black paint started coming off. Only boiled for 12 minutes. Atomizer worked for a while longer but eventually died again. I may try the everclear for CPR of the atomizer.
I have concluded that since I mainly drip that i will expect my atomizer to last 4 weeks at the most and just have new ones in the mail. Still much cheaper than smoking.
I have concluded that since I mainly drip that i will expect my atomizer to last 4 weeks at the most and just have new ones in the mail. Still much cheaper than smoking.
after having destroyed 3 atomizers with too much steam, I have looked for the cause of the clogging rather than the repair of the clogging. I think that being (if you will pardon the reference) too quick on the draw causes the filler material to singe itself onto the wire mesh. I have taken to making sure that the filler material is always topped off and that I wait long enough for the liquid to wick up to the end of the cartridge (or blow a bit) to make sure that the end of the cartridge is wet enough no to stick.
I have been cleaning by simply blowing out the carts each night with either canned air or just blowing into it by mouth and then leaving it overnight cart side down to drain. In the morning I attach the battery and vape it clean, drop 2 or 3 drops of liquid onto the mesh and place a topped cart onto it.
Current vaporizers (I rotate between 2 901s) are 10 days old and still look new inside and are drawing well. We'll see what the future brings.
I have been cleaning by simply blowing out the carts each night with either canned air or just blowing into it by mouth and then leaving it overnight cart side down to drain. In the morning I attach the battery and vape it clean, drop 2 or 3 drops of liquid onto the mesh and place a topped cart onto it.
Current vaporizers (I rotate between 2 901s) are 10 days old and still look new inside and are drawing well. We'll see what the future brings.
I just tried the Everclear route and it worked well on my dead atomizer but will wait and see if it continues to perform for much longer.
I have 3 different brands of e-cigs and they all have the same low vapor/atomizer issues after several uses. I want to try the brand "ePuffer" because each cartridge contains its own atomizer. The cost for 5 cartridges is about $10.00. It sounds like a good idea to have a new atomizer with each new cartridge. Has anyone used this e-cig to confirm max vapor with each cartridge.
Very interesting, I have an air compressor laying around somewhere, should definitely give it a try when needed.
after reading of trumpy's misadventure with his e-cig going into the washing machine,
I decided to try a slight deviation -----
I put 4 of mine, 2 whimpy and 2 not working,
thru the dishwasher........
wait for it ........
4 good working attomizers !!!!!!!!
Di .........
I decided to try a slight deviation -----
I put 4 of mine, 2 whimpy and 2 not working,
thru the dishwasher........
wait for it ........
4 good working attomizers !!!!!!!!
Di .........
To my knowldge, this is the first report of a dishwasher being used for me--hot water and a strong heating cycle is plausable by all means. Worth a try for me and I will post my result--always looking for another good idea--Thanks for the tip and your post--Sun
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