Cleaning your atty

[oplholik]

Like to know how you atty users maintain your attys. Attys that I use for testing juices, I just soak in 91% ISO Alc. then blow out with a syringe and let dry. I'm figuring that if I start using attys regularly on the Reo, that I would do this every couple days. Would this be sufficient for good maintenance?

 

[Rhapsodies Fire]

That depends on who you're talking to and what kinds of juices you're vaping. Some are more sticky than others. I don't clean my atties very often....maybe once a month or so. But my experience isn't typical. For some reason, my atties last a very long time with minimal maintenance. Some folks clean them daily.

*edit...I guess what I'm trying to say is...I don't know.

 

[nerak]

That depends on who you're talking to and what kinds of juices you're vaping. Some are more sticky than others. I don't clean my atties very often....maybe once a month or so. But my experience isn't typical. For some reason, my atties last a very long time with minimal maintenance. Some folks clean them daily.

*edit...I guess what I'm trying to say is...I don't know.

You wrote what I was thinking! But I didn't have the nerve to write it! Glad you did Lisa! LOL

 

[oplholik]

Ok then, I'll see what works for me.

 

[Mudflap]

I don't have a regimented routine, but I vape two or three bottles through an atty, then I remove it and drop it in a little tupperware bowl with an airtight lid and some 99% isopropyl alcohol, and then start a new or previously soaked atty. When I take them out of the alcohol, I just set them on a paper towel upright, threaded end down and let them dry out. Doesn't take long at all. Then I blow them out from the threaded end, screw them on an eGo battery and give a very short dry burn. Just long enough to observe the coils briefly glow orange. If the orange glow is uniform across the coils, I give the atty a few minutes to cool off, remove it, blow it out from the threaded end again, just to make sure any crud that flaked off the coils doesn't stay in the atty, then I put it on my Reo, prime it with juice, give it a few minutes to saturate the wick, and start vaping.

Sometimes, when changing flavors, I'll use my Shark steam cleaner to blow steam through the atty from the threaded end and out the drip tip end. Let it cool, blow it out from the threaded end, prime with the new flavor, wait a few, vape.

I've found the alcohol soaks are pretty effective IF you don't let the coils get gunked up much at all. A bridge-less atty that lets you see your coil pretty easily is handy for observing which of your juices causes gunk build-up the fastest. Soak 'em before the gunk takes hold and the atty will probably last a good while.

 

[Decidion]

I thought I read something about not letting them dry out...to keep a little alcohol in there so the wick doesn't get dry (or at least priming it with some VG or PG before letting it sit until you use it). Isn't that why you have to blow primer out of attys before first use?

 

[Youmadbrah]

I'll go off topic , but plz excuse me I need to rant. I have extreme difficulties for importing stuff to Egypt and currently have 3 packages held in customs for 2 months. So I was running out of supplies until god helped me and sent me REO (The fairy tales god or Robert). I had only 4 attis with them , the only attis I have. I was using one atti and soaking 2 in Pepsi. The cleaning lady threw the pepsi in the trash. I was like FFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU , I got really mad. Then I tested the 4th Atti and found it DOA!! FFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU Now I have 1 atti
/rant

 

[Mudflap]

I thought I read something about not letting them dry out...to keep a little alcohol in there so the wick doesn't get dry (or at least priming it with some VG or PG before letting it sit until you use it). Isn't that why you have to blow primer out of attys before first use?

HH .357's are the ones that need to be stored wet. Hanna explained why in this post. I'm not entirely sure why most attys come with yucky primer in them. Perhaps they do a test fire before shipping them out and the primer is there to make sure the wick doesn't scorch or the coil pops? I've stored many attys completely dry and have had good luck with them, provided I prime them well before using them. I just flood 'em and let 'em marinate for several minutes. Blow out excess, vape!

 

[Laszlo]

Get a pair of rubber gloves and go thru the trash bin.

 

[Della Cirque]

I have 3 or 4 attys running on different REOs throughout the week. Every Sunday is REO cleaning day...all attys get cleaned, tubes rinsed out and woods polished. I throw all attys and drip tips into a coffee cup with warm water and a polident tablet for about an hour. Rinse with hot water, blow out and let dry. So far this has been working great and it is easy.

 

[Delilah718]

oplholik, i guess it's a preferential thing - I don't like to mess with things much so I clean on a bi-weekly or monthly basis
It depends on your atty too -- when you feel the draw start to tighten, it's probably time to give it a cleaning.

youmadbrah - Oh man, so sorry to hear that! Can you pick up your stuff at customs? I'd hate to have only one atty -- sending you lots of good luck vibes

 

[lizblue]

Della, Polident really? I think I've heard it all now! LOL Sounds good. I don't have a cleaning system and I need one. I've been toying with getting some vodka but now you've got me thinking... How long do the need to dry? Overnight? An hour?

I have 3 or 4 attys running on different REOs throughout the week. Every Sunday is REO cleaning day...all attys get cleaned, tubes rinsed out and woods polished. I throw all attys and drip tips into a coffee cup with warm water and a polident tablet for about an hour. Rinse with hot water, blow out and let dry. So far this has been working great and it is easy.

 

[Della Cirque]

Della, Polident really? I think I've heard it all now! LOL Sounds good. I don't have a cleaning system and I need one. I've been toying with getting some vodka but now you've got me thinking... How long do the need to dry? Overnight? An hour?

Now that I'm building up a supply I let them dry overnight. Before I had enough to do so I would blow them out (through the threaded end) and put them right back on...a couple short dry burns and vape away. 306's only...510's I always let dry overnight.

 

[TennDave]

I never let mine dry out...run them through hot water, shake them and then blow them out good and then reuse them immediately. Depending on the qualify of them, they are fine and have gone a month or more like this. Some just don't want to loosen up (their draw) even after I've boiled them or soaked them in PGA...those are usually the joye ones... Maybe I should let mine dry- seems I've been through more attys lately than before but really I have not done much different with them all along.