Cleaning coils

[tattooed]

I've been loving my DUD. Having no troubles making new coils and all that. My only issue is after a couple weeks the gunk on the coil starts messing with the taste. Is there a good way to clean the coils? I've been wiping them off with paper towels that won't leave any lent behind and that works for about a tank but it always comes back.

I'm certainly not unhappy with 2 weeks of a coil and I could leave it at that and wrap a new one, but if the thing is working perfect why not attempt to clean it up a little?

 

[tattooed]

Now I feel like a jerk after reading this http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/rebuildable-atomizer-systems/346394-coil-deterioration-issues.html

Maybe 2 weeks is plenty.

 

[StereoDreamer]

This is like going to a stereo forum asking asking what the best way to set up a turntable is. Ask 100 members, and you'll get 250 answers--and at least 50% of them will actually be right... ;-)

Here is how I clean my coil in my Phoenix.

1) I rinse it with distilled water (pour it into the coil well from the jug, not hard, but with enough of a pour to actually splash a little).
2) I then soak it in distilled water for an hour or so, occasionally agitating it.
3) Then I shake and blow the atty dry.
4) then I fire the coil in short bursts until all the water an fluid is vaped off and it starts to glow. I'll then do short bursts of "dry firing" it until the coils are no longer black.
5) I let it cool down for an hour or so, then set it to soak in Everclear for a few hours, again, occasionally agitating it.
6) rinse with distilled water again, and blow it dry. Then I let it air dry over night, and then I'll put a few drops of VG on the coil to "prime" it, and for storage until I use it next time...

Of course, with "dry firing" you always run the risk of popping the coil--especially if it is REALLY gunked up, or is getting old. So be sure to have spare coils or a spool of Kanthal wire to build a new one.

I've cleaned my Phoenix several times like this an it leaves it clean and fresh as the day I got it. This also works on regular attys. Haven't tried it on cartos, but they are so cheap that I figure what's the point?...

 

[lumalju]

I rewick my coil on clearomizers every 5 days.
On genesis atty change kanthal also every 5 days and mesh once or twice per month.
Some times I do that all twice in a day if I´m not satisfied with set up.

 

[greenman]

I'll do a dry burn on my Phoenix and Rainbow once every day and a half and rinse under a tap. On my Ody dripping mode I usually take it apart and do a rebuild with the same coil if possible. I use fairly thick combos of homemade juices so by the time I get around to cleaning them they'll be pretty gunked. With my wick I'll just clean them up with some soap and water and they're ready to go.

 

[tattooed]

I rewick my coil on clearomizers every 5 days.
On genesis atty change kanthal also every 5 days and mesh once or twice per month.
Some times I do that all twice in a day if I´m not satisfied with set up.

Yeah the stuff is so cheap its not like you can't change it as often as you want.

I was just hoping someone had a quick shoot it with a syringe of unicorn tears or something quick to revive it if you're too lazy to wrap a new coil. I guess I'll just ditch once it starts going south.

 

[PhreakySTS9]

Actually I will fill up a syringe with water or alcohol. I will then dry burn it quite a bit. Once it's nice and hot and it's been dry burned a lot I will give it some hard sprays with the syringe and I will see a lot of gunk come off. Then I will run the wick/coil under water for a few seconds, dry burn it until it's completely dry and fill back up. Seems to help a lot. I actually find it a lot of fun wrapping coils and stuff now a days but I still don't want to do it if I don't have to. Just because it's cheaper than a regular atomizer doesn't mean I want to just start wasting money for no reason. Not a good habit to get into, IMO.

But yeah, if the coil itself just isn't performing and it doesn't just need a good cleaning then I will just clean the wick and wrap a new coil.

 

[EDO]

Actually I will fill up a syringe with water or alcohol. I will then dry burn it quite a bit. Once it's nice and hot and it's been dry burned a lot I will give it some hard sprays with the syringe and I will see a lot of gunk come off. Then I will run the wick/coil under water for a few seconds, dry burn it until it's completely dry and fill back up.

This is how I clean my atomizers. I haven't tried it yet with a genesis type but I don't see why it wouldn't work the same way. If you have a very soft touch....you can scrape off the chard gunk after the dry burn using a toothpick before rinsing the wick/coil with water.

 

[Zenataos]

I use 28 gauge Kanthal and find it to last much longer than the 34/32/30 gauge, probably due to it being thicker stronger wire.

To clean I just use a cheap $1 toothbrush and brush the coil/wick, I empty the remaining ejuice (if any) and dry burn at a low voltage until the wick is dry and all the coils are firing at the same time, refill with ejuice and vape away.

My coils last me months, and I'm pretty sure I abuse them (~1.2 ohms and 4.5 volts).

 

[nnote]

If you use the method of putting a screwdriver or drill bit down the wick hole and wrapping a coil around that first, you can just pull the wick leaving only the coil and do a low volt dry burn. Then just slide the wick back in.