Cleaning atomizers? Never works!

[elationisfacile]

I've never had an atomizer last longer than two weeks. I've tried cleaning with water, boiling water, vodka, everclear, sonic jewelry cleaners, and just blowing it out everday; I've followed everyone's suggestions to a "T." And yet - after I clean them - the vapor production is even worse than before the cleaning. Luckily, I can afford buying atomizers at the rate I consume them, but I read about how people have atomizers lasting months and months. Am I doing something wrong?

I'm a dripper. I don't vape constantly, but I go through about 2 mL a day. I've been through a couple of vendors but now I DIY a 70/30 with minimal flavoring. I usually use an eGo type battery. I've gone to Low Resistance atomizers because, if it's only going to last me two weeks, I might as well get a better bang for the buck?

Do I just have higher expectations out of an atomizer than others? Or am I just a weird vaper?

 

[emus]

Atty can last months if you use clean burning eliquid.

Once wick gets slag it is difficult to remove.
Sometimes a dry burn can release enough slag to improve performance.
If not you can pick at wick w/ needle on some debridged atties.

 

[IOWN]

hehe your weird lol just kidding. I too have tried all the above cleaning methods.. My LR 510's would last about two weeks and then I would replace them. I've since switched to LR 306's and I'm getting about 4 weeks out of them + I use a 3.7 volt mod which gives me a little more power compared to an eGo battery.

How old are your batteries?
What kind of atty's are you using?

 

[IOWN]

haha my first veteran post

+1 on the dry burn, but not too long it's hard on eGo batteries.

 

[WIvapor]

I find that without dry burning, cleaning by just soaking, doesn't do much. You have to get the crud off the coil. If your a dripper, remove the bridge so you can see the coil. After you dry burn, the crud turns grey and flakes off easy. I use a pin and gently pick off the ash. Then soak it to remove the burnt taste.

 

[elationisfacile]

My eGo batteries are about 4 or 5 months old, but the attys performed the same while they were new. I'm using an ecigg.org Mad Max that's about a month old. I used a couple of 3.7v box mods occasionally, one is only like a month old. The other I lost, but I used it for about 3 months. Not sure how battery age could affect anything?

I've used Joye 510's primarily since February. I switched to LR's about 2 months ago. I got some Volcanos recently and I haven't met the two-week mark yet. Going to try a Bauway soon. I've tried Smoktech too, the same.

I hate the Joye 510's because of the primer, eugh.

 

[elationisfacile]

Anyone have a good instruction reference for removing the bridge?

 

[emus]

As batt ages it produces less current resulting in atty performance decline.

 

[elationisfacile]

Yeah, definitely not that. I tend to buy something new every 3 months.

 

[IOWN]

A 6 month old battery will not preform as well as a brand new one even though their both fully charged. Doesn't seam like a battery issue in your case..

I guess It could be the supplier your atty's are coming from. Maybe try the higher end 510's or 306's from Ikenvape. I've heard good things about them.

I've had good luck purchasing atty's from HeavenGifts. Their cheap and work good

when I notice a decrease in vapor production I blow the atty out and do good dry burn.

 

[ghosteye]

elationisfacile-
I have been in the same boat as you. I still don't see how some people are getting a month on 1 atty, especially the people who don't dry burn.
Anyway, I have been having great success with this: Arm & Hammer Spinbrush Globrush for Teens from CVS
It all comes down to a battle of the slag crud. I find that the only way to keep the coil clean is to clean fairly often. And the only way to get the slag removed is to dry burn and manually remove the crud. I think that people pop atties when they dry burn because they wait too long and there is too much slag to burn off. So, I have to have a rotation of 4-6 atties.
The other thing that I have found is that the 306 is the only atty that I can really easily clean. Once you debridge and dewick them, which is easier because it is right out there in front of you, it is easier to clean for the same reason.
I am refining the method and trying to keep track of results but basically this is what I do:
1) soak in vodka
2) Use the vibrating toothbrush (gently) for about 30 sec or so under running water
3) swish in the vodka and let dry.
4) do a quick dry burn until the coil glows fairly fast and evenly and cool a bit.
5) repeat step 2 and 3
The atty comes out slag free.
This has been the only way that I have been able to keep my atties as close to new as possible.

 

[MickeyRat]

Okay, I just found a way that seems to work and like you I've tried them all. This video describes a method for cleaning cartomizers. I got the same syringe setup he's using at Wal-Mart. I think it was less than $2.00. If your atomizer is dead, it's dead. You have to do this before that happens. First, do a few dry burns. Do not use tap water, use distilled. Put it in the microwave and bring it to boiling. Have the atomizer in the sytringe doodad like he shows when you get the water out of the microwave and pump the water through the atomizer a few times. If you use a white bowl, you should see the carbon specks in it. Blow it out as he shows and it's like new. You'll even have to break it in again.

 

[elationisfacile]

De-bridged a poor performing atty today. The coil (and wick?) were quite dark. I attempted to dry brun and scrape it but I don't think it worked out so well. I had a bad burnt taste, which I suppose means I dry burned it for too long.

But it was fun debridging!

 

[emus]

De-bridged a poor performing atty today. The coil (and wick?) were quite dark. I attempted to dry brun and scrape it but I don't think it worked out so well. I had a bad burnt taste, which I suppose means I dry burned it for too long.

But it was fun debridging!

That means that you have yet to remove all the slag.
The wick can handle high temps.
Burnt taste can often be removed w/ your fav cleaning method.
I like to boil in H2O followed by alcohol.

 

[telsie]

I've always had the same problem as the OP, going through atties very quickly and I've never found a cleaning method that got me more than maybe another day or two of use. I'm sure my problem is that the brand of nic liquid I use gums up the wick. So if I pull out the bridge to try and clean the wick, would I be able to re-insert the bridge for normal cart use? Or would it have to remain bridgeless (and useful only for dripping)?

 

[Rocketfish]

I'll start with a question If you drove your car to 50, 000 miles on the same oil, would you expect it to run better, and return to a reliable state simply by changing the oil and filter?

IMO maintenence on atomizers comes down to a preventative routine. FWIW I skip all the complicated stuff and throw an atty a day in a small water bottle, on sundays I fill it with hot tap water, shake them around, maybe blow some water through them if I'm exceptionally bored. The fill with hot tap water again, and chuck in a denture tablet. Swirl it around a bit, watch tv and generall laze about.
My(loose) empirical tests tell me this works the best. The test I have is simple: what happens when I dry burn?

Cleaning with water, boiling, alcohol whatever I get a ton of smoke and a foul smell dry burning. Even when the atty had the same juice and same time used.
After a denture tablet I get a very minute amount of smoke right at the end of the drying period and that's it.
I used to dry them by basically doing a very short dry burn.

I've reached the point where I skip the dry burn all together most of the time, and simply dry them in front of the heater(lazyness again).

The atomizers I bought before starting this cleaning method never got back to a new atomizer level. The atomizers I kept clean this way have not degraded to the level of the old ones. I see no reason to de-wick or de-bridge. To me it creates a nasty 306 experience. My wicks are still white, if one ever dies or I get bored of the Joye ones because I've found something amazing I'll cut one open. I dewicked one already out of curiosity. The inner wick is white, the coil is grey and metallic.

I suspect that like most things, once a little bit of crud builds up, it grows much more rapidly, preventing it getting a foothold and the atomizers last great I vape about 5mls a day I think.

 

[normajean999]

I just got my kit yesterday so haven't had to yet but I did just read this thread and it sounds pretty easy and promising: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/e-cigarette-maintenance/177570-novel-way-clean-atty.html

 

[mia347]

I have been in a quandary about cleaning the attys. I believe that dry burn would be the best solution along with some sort of soaking method. When I finally remove the bridge more times than not, the wick is either shredded, dissolved, disappeared. How can I dry burn without removing the bridge? In the interm, I am going to purchase some fresh LR attys from Cignot. Spending $20 on 2, every 7 - 10 days, is worth not going through all this grief!

 

[edebran]

I drip too sometimes and have found removing the bridge works great for that. As for cleaning... simple and cheap method: boil in vinegar, rinse with water, blow out, and dry clean remainder of water out of the aty before dripping a few priming drops of juice. This has brought atys back from the dead for me.

 

[mia347]

I will try to clean a couple over the weekend the way you stated. When all else fails, I can always drip. Anyways, I am very grateful that I haven't picked up an analog in 8 1/2 months and thanks to this forum, I know that I am in the right place.