DEAD ATOMIZERs

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martha1014

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Apr 8, 2009
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I decided to do maintenace on my atomizers since I haven't cleaned them except blowing them out occasionally. They had all been working fine. Some of them were 3 months old and were still working. I soaked them in 190 proof Enclear about an hour then ran water over them and let them dry. 4 out of the 7 cleaned quit working.

Were these just going to die or do you think the cleaning killed them.
 

breakfastchef

Moved On
Feb 12, 2009
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Were these just going to die or do you think the cleaning killed them.

Yes, no, perhaps, maybe. 3 months is a good run for an atomizer! Your blowout routine is a good practice.

Your cleaning procedure should not have killed a working atomizer unless it was FTD (fixin' to die) anyway.I am not an advocate of cleaning with liquids unless absolutely necessary. One instance would be to clear out a mint/menthol taste from an atomizer when switching to another flavor.

If the atomizers are completely dry and do not work, find someone with a multimeter and do a continuity and/or resistance check on the non-working atomizers. There are several threads here about that simple procedure. This is a sure-fire way to determine if the atomizer has any life left to it.

Should the atomizers prove to still be working, another problem could be the center contacts of the atomizer and battery may no longer be touching. Depending on the type of atomizer, there are a few ways to test for this.
 

MadScientistVapor

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Feb 7, 2010
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New Hampshire
In my experience, the best way to clean an atty is by running hot water over it into the sink. Then blow into the hole on the side that connects to the battery. Water should come out. The final step is to dry the mesh with paper towel by leaning it against something to keep it standing up. I've tried the swishing the atty around in a mug of hot water with a spoon technique and found that running it under hot water is the most effective.
 

beast775

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Dec 30, 2009
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victoria bc canada
i have cleaned 1,it was working good and used crest blue mouthwash.let it sit for 2 days to dry,ow ya i just run hot water from tap through it for a minute and its cold dead now,i dont think i will clean again?maybe maybe not.:confused:but i found a good use for the mouthwash,i put my carts in it for a day,, clean as new.
 

aschmidy

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Mar 4, 2009
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I never clean my attys. I blow them out if they are flooded and sometimes I will let them drain overnight. I've only ever lost 2 510 attys and one of those lasted 8 months. I only drip and only use VG. I figure attys are disposable, they are pretty cheap and haven't been a big expense for me.
 

crashtestjeep

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Aug 14, 2009
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try them again in a few days...give them time to completely dry out ;) sometimes some retain water worse than others. I had one that I cleaned that wouldnt work for 3 days then started working like a charm...thought it was dead n gone but gave it a shot anyway! Glad I did!
 
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sjohnson

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Nov 12, 2009
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Be sure they're completely dry, and use a multimeter to measure the ohms resistance. The resistance measurement doesn't require a dry atomizer, it should be the same dry or wet.

If the resistance is between 2-5 ohms (depending on the model), you should be GTG with respect to the atomizer coil. Other problems may exist, but if the ohms are good the coil itself is most likely also good.
 

Wireguy

Super Member
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Oct 24, 2009
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Birmingham Al
I'm in the camp of if it ain't broke don't fix it. The only time I clean or blow one out is if I'm changing flavor or I think it's on the way out, last resort stuff.

I keep 3-4 attys going for different flavors so I rarely even do that.

I've been blowing on my 510 attys after every few uses and haven't had to clean them yet after a couple days. Is there something else I should be doing?

As I answer a 3 day old post.:p
 
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