Cleaning atty: Coca-cola VS Vodka VS 90% Alcohol

[Winzz]

HEllo,

I saw so many threads about cleaning... I get a little confused... I don't know now what I have to do, should i put my atty in Coke while i drink vodka.... or should i put them in CVodka, while I sniff 90% alcohol....

What seems to be the best way to do it?

For what I know, alcohol and vodka only desinfect atty, does it take away dirt and leftovers of juice as good as coke?

What are your experiences?

Sorry if this thread seems redundant... but so many different ways, I don't really know what to do!

 

[cozzicon]

HEllo,

I saw so many threads about cleaning... I get a little confused... I don't know now what I have to do, should i put my atty in Coke while i drink vodka.... or should i put them in CVodka, while I sniff 90% alcohol....

What seems to be the best way to do it?

For what I know, alcohol and vodka only desinfect atty, does it take away dirt and leftovers of juice as good as coke?

What are your experiences?

Sorry if this thread seems redundant... but so many different ways, I don't really know what to do!

Actually with Coke you leave behind a lot of garbage *from the Coke*. If you rinse the coke out with water, you leave behind the minerals in the water.

If you use alcohol, it evaporates cleanly leaving no residue after leeching anything still viscous from the atty.

The goal of alcohol cleaning is to get the gunk off while it is still liquid or gooey. If you let it go far enough that stuff has hardened... you may be SOL.

 

[Winzz]

Hey Coz,

I already wacthed your videos on youtube (very interesting) and the way I do it by now is yours... I got not bad results...

But for example some people say when you use alcohol you have to let the atty in it for 6 hours... and in what i understood from your video you don't let it more than 15 minutes right?

That's why I'm a little confused on the right way to do it...

 

[cozzicon]

Hey Coz,

I already wacthed your videos on youtube (very interesting) and the way I do it by now is yours... I got not bad results...

But for example some people say when you use alcohol you have to let the atty in it for 6 hours... and in what i understood from your video you don't let it more than 15 minutes right?

That's why I'm a little confused on the right way to do it...

No problem- let me clarify.

l use the alcohol soak as *maintenance* on a daily or bi daily basis in order to keep the atty clean in an ongoing fashion. The atty get's a five minute soak, a drain through, and then dry over night. Actually, a few hours given good airflow will dry the atty completely and it will be ready for priming and use.

The idea is to *prevent* any buildup in the first place, while the deposits on the atomizer can still be leeched off by alcohol- before they are dried gunk.

Most other methods wait until the gunk is built up, and then use hot water, boiling, Crest denture cleaner, alcohol, or other things in order to remove a huge buildup of gunk. Dry burning also is an attempt to "crack off" deposits (through heat related expansion and contraction) on a terribly messed up atty.

The effectiveness of an isopropyl alcohol soak goes *down* the more days between cleanings because *more* gunk can harden onto the atty. So once a month soaks, would appear to me to have zero consistent success. The alcohol will have little effect on solid juice residue. In that case perhaps Crest denture cleaner would help.

This isn't a rescue method... it's a maintenance method. And some people feel it's too much work. But I'm a geek-nerd. I play with everything.

In looking at cleaning methods, I discovered that cleaning with something like vinegar, was only useful for e-juice components that had a ph greater than 7. And something like baking soda was only good for e-juice components with a ph lower than 7. PG and VG are ph 7 and don't react with anything. So the only solution was to maintain- rather than rescue the atty.

I hope that helps.

 

[Winzz]

Perfectly clear, thank you for your time and explanations

 

[sjohnson]

I've been using nothing but tap water for nearly a year (with ultrasonic cleaning). I've yet to have any mineral buildup, and one of my atomizers is also nearly a year old - still vaping like a champ.

 

[PVPuff&Stuff]

Water, hot water and water. Don't use solvents like alcohol on the atomizers....they can dissolve the glue holding them together.

 

[DaveP]

I'm still using all the same atomizers I've used for the last 4+ months. I have been using the same 510 mega atomizer daily since mid May and it's still creating clouds of vapor from my Ego.

My cleaning method? 125 degree hot water from the kitchen sink tap. I blow out the atty, hold it under the stream for about a minute with a pair of small pliers modified with heat shrink tubing on the jaws so they don't scratch, blow it out again, and do a dry burn until I begin to see a glow on the atty (in a dark corner). I then add two drops to the bridge, insert a cart, and vape.

It takes a few puffs to burn off the water and vaping is good again. I use both PG and VG juices, some straight and some mixed. I don't get much crud buildup on the atty coil. That would show up as dark spots during a dry burn and I see none. Yes, there could be buildup under the coil but the vapor is like new, so I'm not even concerned.

 

[cozzicon]

Water, hot water and water. Don't use solvents like alcohol on the atomizers....they can dissolve the glue holding them together.

Um... the only glue on a 510 atomizer is a tiny bit between the sleeve and the atty proper. But even hot water softens that- and it's not really needed since the sleeve is pressure fit.

 

[cozzicon]

I've been using nothing but tap water for nearly a year (with ultrasonic cleaning). I've yet to have any mineral buildup, and one of my atomizers is also nearly a year old - still vaping like a champ.

Ultrasonic has a lot of potential. I'm planning on trying it.

 

[Eldoen]

It would be interesting to find out the break down of the particles left in the mesh that causes the build up.

I would think that most of it would be from the flavorings used which would run the gambit of the ph scale. and the Sugars that are being caramelized over time.

VG would probably be a large contributer also. PG I would have to investigate further on how well it atomizes.

Oh well. Coca cola is being used primarily for its acid content. If I remember correctly carbonic acid is the main acid. and contains citric acid and phosphoric acid.

but to be perfectly candid, the concentrations in Coke, and the fact that some of those acids will attack metal (zinc and copper), you'd be better off with Acetic acid (Vinegar) at 8%.
one you won't have the sugars, and are we not trying to get away from the 3000 some odd particles that we inhale from a cig.??

Alcohol is a solvent. doesn't matter if it is in its Grain, Wood or other form. I personally prefer IPA over a Grain or even methanol. Typically your cheaper Vodka's for example add sugar to the mix to help
kill the flavor a poorly distillation process. Also helps sell the stuff, when a good vodka has almost no scent and would be hard pressed to tell the flavor, at least until it hits the back of your throat.

I may look at a buffered caustic or buffered acid in the future in some experimentation on cleaning. although that primarily would be for atomizers that were not maintained. I am happy with the results from cozzicon video. (buffer agent would be h202, and would use those in a ultrasonic cleanse).

Sorry didn't really add a lot to the thread. Only been vaping a week. although Have been in Electronics for over 20 years, especially in the cleaning of semiconductors.

El

 

[Winzz]

Well what I understand is that coke is not a very very common cleaning method, so maybe I'm not gonna try it... I think I'm gonna try Hot water, and if results are not good enough I'll go back to alcohol for now which seems to be a good way...

I would give a try to vodka but not really a good idea as i live in Indonesia and here alcohol is freaking expensive........

 

[PoliticallyIncorrect]

I've had a suspicion that the whole Coke-as-cleaning-solution idea came about as a result of the urban myth that a tooth (or a nail, or a penny, or a chunk of meat) will dissolve if left to soak in Coke overnight. Whether I'm right about that or not, all the dyes and sugars do seem counterproductive.

 

[catlvr]

Haven't cleaned any myself yet. They have been lasting 4 to 6 months before they start feeling alittle clogged. I've kept them all just in case lol. I only vape Cola ha ha. Not going to clean my atty in it. If I need to try to restore one in the future (an emergency or ban) I will probably just go with the plain hot water cleaning.

 

[PoliticallyIncorrect]

...The atty get's a five minute soak, a drain through, and then dry over night. Actually, a few hours given good airflow will dry the atty completely and it will be ready for priming and use.

I've been using your method ever since I saw your video--if for no other reason, because it was the simplest, and the materials were the cheapest and easiest to find. And good vodka or pure grain alcohol seemed like a colossal waste of good liquor.

I've wondered about the requirement of overnight, or even several hours of drying the things out--especially when I'm just trying to clear the primer out of a new atty, don't have another worthy of the term and I'm anxious to get on with it. My experience with isopropyl is that it evaporates extremely quickly. Perhaps it's not nearly so quick when confined in the guts of an atomizer, and I know well enough to know that canned "air" is a misnomer. I wonder, though, if honest-to-god compressed air might blast the stuff out in about five seconds.

 

[cozzicon]

I've been using your method ever since I saw your video--if for no other reason, because it was the simplest, and the materials were the cheapest and easiest to find. And good vodka or pure grain alcohol seemed like a colossal waste of good liquor.

I've wondered about the requirement of overnight, or even several hours of drying the things out--especially when I'm just trying to clear the primer out of a new atty, don't have another worthy of the term and I'm anxious to get on with it. My experience with isopropyl is that it evaporates extremely quickly. Perhaps it's not nearly so quick when confined in the guts of an atomizer, and I know well enough to know that canned "air" is a misnomer. I wonder, though, if honest-to-god compressed air might blast the stuff out in about five seconds.

Well, yes there may be ways of drying it faster... a hair dryer comes to mind. But for safety's sake, I chose the overnight time span since I do not *want* people inhaling the alcohol. Compressed air may not be a good idea since sometimes it comes out very cold, will cool the atomizer, and condense water out of the air into the atty.

I'd endorse a hair dryer however.

 

[wardge76]

I use cozzicon's method (I use 91% or 99% alcohol from my local supercenter) - I was using vodka before that, and it worked fine, but not as well to really get the flavors out of my atomizers.

This is what I do, of course YMMV... Once I put the atomizers into the alcohol, I take my sonicare toothbrush (with an old head that I don't brush my teeth with of course), dip the brush head into the alcohol and run through the normal timed brushing cycle. After the cycle is done I take out the atomizers, tap out the alcohol and dry them overnight like normal.

I usually do this every other day, and so far so good

 

[Dr Fred]

FWIW I use everclear 15 min soak swish 'em around, blow 'em out dry burn and good to go.
No problems so far.