Damaged the wick hole insulator... help!

[Richard75]

So I got a Somnium second hand today. Gorgeous little atomizer... I've always wanted one. I set it up, wrapped a damn fine coil, it fired perfectly. I wanted to play with it some more, so I went to take the wick out, and... it was stuck! I eventually had to grab a pair of pliers and yank the mesh out, and along with it came the plastic insulator from the wick hole. Somehow the heat from the coil melted parts of the plastic insulator onto the mesh wick. I managed to save about half of the insulator, but this kind of defeats the purpose of having one.

At first I figured, "oh well, just more room for a thicker wick!", but it didn't work out well like that. Does anyone know where or how to replace this? My only thought is to head to the hardware store, buy some plastic tubing and cut it to size, but if there's an easier fix, I'd like to know.

Any thoughts or opinions?

 

[jmarkus]

kinda worries me that theres a plastic insulator at all. if the wick melted it that quickly, id imagine youd be vaping some serious plastic fumes, id say you just oxidize the mesh and leave the insulator out. just dont want you inhaling something harmful.

 

[Rule62]

I would just leave the insulator out. It's not really needed. Once your mesh is properly oxidized, either by pulse method or torching, the insulator serves no purpose.

 

[Richard75]

kinda worries me that theres a plastic insulator at all. if the wick melted it that quickly, id imagine youd be vaping some serious plastic fumes, id say you just oxidize the mesh and leave the insulator out. just dont want you inhaling something harmful.

I've thought about that, but without the insulator in, the wick hole is too big - the wick is almost pressed up against the positive post. I'm on the hunt for a high-temp plastic tube with the right dimensions.

It's funny... when I examined the insulator that came out, it was oddly similar in size and feel to that of a simple drinking straw.

There were also some cracks in it, so I'm not sure if the heat itself melted it, or if there was a short of some kind and that melted it. It's hard to say! Somnium-Mods doesn't seem to sell any kind of replacement, either.

 

[jmarkus]

eesh, just be careful mate. dont vape plastic if you can help it !