Did I kill my attys?

[Gwenzilla]

I've had my Titan 510 for just over 2 weeks now (15 days) and haven't had an analog cigarette since it arrived at my house. I've been enjoying reading all the FAQs here and learning more about electronic cigarettes. I've been refilling my cartridges with Totally Wicked apple and absinthe, and I really like both flavours, though I'm sure I'll branch out in the future.

I was reading about the life of attys last night and decided to clean both of mine, since I'd had them for two weeks. I rinsed each atty with hot (tap, not boiling) water, dabbed with a paper towel to dry, and left them overnight on my warm laptop to dry completely.

This morning when I refilled each with a new cartridge, nothing. And I don't have any spare attys yet.

And now for the stupid n00b question:

Have I broken my attys? Will I have to buy a stupid pack of cigarettes for the weekend since I can't possibly get Titan attys today?

Lamenting in Lewisham,
GwenZ

 

[MsSki]

They may not have been dry all the way. Can you get them to do a dry burn or see or hear if they are heating up? If i let mine air dry it takes about 48 hours, or 170 in the oven for 20 minutes

Also after cleaning them and they are completly dry you need to add 1 drop of juice to the bridge/wick to get em going again. Or at least that is how it is for me

 

[Haddock]

I clean my atty's almost the same way, dryburn 5 x max. 5 secs. at the time, then under a hot tap and then i blow from both the battery end, and in the top of the atty, until its dry, puts it on the battery gives it a short dry burn, primes the atty on the wick, with 2 -4 drops, and then on with the card, and its vaping after a few puffs.

This cleaning process takes 2 min. and i don't leave it to dry, just be sure to blow it dry with your mouth, very simple and works fine.
Do this twice a week.

Som times the atty needs to get primed 1 or 2 times more to get started.

 

[cyberwolf]

primes the atty on the wick, with 2 -4 drops, and then on with the card, and its vaping after a few puffs.

Som times the atty needs to get primed 1 or 2 times more to get started.

This is the important part. Make sure you drip at least a few drops directly on the bridge before vaping. It sounds like your atties may be completely dry and a cartridge will not quickly supply enough juice to get them primed again.

 

[Richie G]

This is the important part. Make sure you drip at least a few drops directly on the bridge before vaping. It sounds like your atties may be completely dry and a cartridge will not quickly supply enough juice to get them primed again.

Agreed.

We see this so many times, folks thinking that they've killed their atty after a thorough cleaning. What needs to be understood here is that for the first time in that atty's life it is BONE dry. That's one of the reasons why they are shipped with the primer liquid in them -- to prevent anyone from heating up a DRY coil. Heat up a coil that way just once and you can expect to have that burnt taste (the wick fibers) in that atty for its short life.

To the OP, you always want to err on the side of flooding a freshly cleaned atty. NOT one drop to start (from freshly cleaned) like somebody suggested. At least 3 to 4 drops as Cyber mentioned. Vape it a few times and don't be afraid to add a couple of more drops after that if it's still not vaping as normal. The worst thing that can happen is a flood which is easily corrected. Vaping a dry-ish atty is, oh so bad, by comparison.

FWIW, I never do dry burns.

 

[Gwenzilla]

Thanks to everyone who answered my noob question! Priming the wick helped a lot and I'm nearly back to normal. I actually had no idea there was liquid in the atty as shipped. O I have so much to learn!

 

[walker8989]

This is great I just brought back to life a dead atty!!!! I tried removing the wick and bridge and then cleaning it and thought I broke it. Glad I didn't throw it away.

 

[waxaddict]

I would try the above suggestions. I was afraid of killing an atty, but haven't yet. I have been using the same atty for 4 months. I did order a couple extras, just in case.