Do you clean attys for mantinace?

[Caffusss]

I have a lot of issues with atties not working well for very long. I have read about some people that say they have never lost an atty....wondering do you clean them once a week or so to keep them working good or only when they aren't working right? I usually only clean them when they are hardly working, sometimes I keep trying to use them, till they just die. Sometimes I just change them out.

 

[foebea]

I tried once upon a time to clean them, but it felt like too much effort for not enough benefit. I didn't start this quest to save money, and even throwing away potentially working attys I am still coming in well under my previous costs. I treat them as disposable. If I were using Cartos I think I might be persuaded to work to get them into usable state. If I get at least two weeks out of an atomizer I count it as a win. My normal seems to be just over a month with heavy use and no cleaning. At the end of that month they still work, just feel a bit tight on the draw. I've only ever had one get used until it ceased firing (about 3 months).

 

[Caffusss]

I've cleaned them with viniger, cleaned them with alcohol....rinsed for about ten mintutes in very hot water...it seems to help but they never worked as good new...I've tried dry burning, but I burned to many out, have to watch it to well
. I always wait until I dont like the way there working before I clean them.....why I'm asking does anyone clean them on a regular bases to keep them working well? And how does it work for you?

 

[SkeetS]

I soak mine every week in vodka.
After an hour or two soaking i take them out and put put vodka on the top of the atty and blow it out. I keep doing this until the wick is almost white.
After that i dry burn them, but never more than 3 seconds at the time.
Press the button 3 seconds, let it go, blow the vapor out, 3 more seconds...until i can see the light at the end of the tunnel .
Put some liquid in there and they are just perfect.
Never lost an atty until today (even my 510LR is perfect)

 

[mostlyclassics]

I think the key to successful atty maintenance is preventive.

All of mine get thoroughly cleaned before they've vaporized less than 1 ml. of e-liquid. In most cases, it's much less than 1 ml. Occasionally I'll see a slight discoloration before I clean them, but most of the time they look and test much like a new atty before cleaning. After cleaning, of course, they're squeaky clean. If you let the gradoo build up, then the cleaning task is much more difficult and fraught with failure, in my experience. If the glop is on so thick that you need a jackhammer to dislodge it, and you need the lips of a trumpeter to take a drag, then the atty is beyond salvation.

I've pretty much switched to cartos now and usually only use a cart/atty combo to evaluate new e-liquids. But before I switched to cartos for daily vaping, I passed 50 ml. or more through many of my attys. A couple of them had to deal exclusively with fairly goopy VG "tobacco" flavors. I have yet to lose an atty -- they all still function perfectly.

 

[Caffusss]

Ugh! Mostly...I vape at least 6mls everyday...there is no way I'm gonna clean my atty after 1ml of vaping...thats a lot of time spent cleaning atties...the one a week thing as skeet does...I think I can deal with. But I have to use rubbing alcohol....I'd drink the vodka!

 

[arkador]

I clean my attys every 20ml or so, or at the first sign of clogging or burnt taste. takes about 3 min labor.

 

[SkeetS]

My newest method will be with a ultrasonic cleaner.
Some rubbing alcohol there...3-5 minutes waiting and done (at least that's what they clame)

 

[Rottwyler]

I have 2 attys that all I did was blow them out with my mouth to clear the gunk out...I put them on the battery and it's like the battery is dead.

Take battery off put it back on...push da button..works one time then blam, acts like battery is dead again.

An I doing something wrong?

 

[mostlyclassics]

Ugh! Mostly...I vape at least 6mls everyday...there is no way I'm gonna clean my atty after 1ml of vaping...thats a lot of time spent cleaning atties...the one a week thing as skeet does...I think I can deal with. But I have to use rubbing alcohol....I'd drink the vodka!

I use attys mainly for tasting new eliquids now, so I want the attys squeaky-clean and functioning perfectly for this. I just throw the used attys in a short Mason jar, then clean them in my ultrasonic cleaner in one batch when I have enough to make the job worthwhile. I'll clean maybe 20-25 at a time. No big deal.

 

[mostlyclassics]

My newest method will be with a ultrasonic cleaner.
Some rubbing alcohol there...3-5 minutes waiting and done (at least that's what they clame)

SkeetS, my ultrasonic cleaner has a three-minute timer. Using isopropyl alcohol, it usually takes five or six zaps in the ultrasonic to clean the attys.

 

[Caffusss]

Thats cool Mostly.....but I don't have a cleaner machine. Do you clean your cartos?

 

[Ever1ast]

I usually clean mine out with 91% isopropyl about twice a week. If they feel sluggish or I don't like the flavor I'm getting through them, I drop them in a tupperware container of alcohol and let them soak till the next day. Blow them out and let them dry completely under my desk lamp. Wick looks white again, no sluggish draw...six weeks and they're all still going strong.

 

[BardicDruid]

Once a week I toss mine in a glass with a Polident tablet, fill with water and let soak about an hour. So far my attys work great until they permanently die, some where between 1 to 2 months.

 

[xirokx]

When I used attys, yes I cleaned them

To clean them I would simply boil a kettle, fill a small sink and put them in there for 10 - 15mins and then after taking them out blow on the excess water out

I would them allow them to dry out naturally i.e. a couple of hours and then reuse

I never lost an atty either in my 2 months of using them

 

[Justinking]

I clean Cartos and atomizers about once a week or maybe a little more, the less just that builds up in em, The easier they are to clean. I use a little bit of Alcohol, and a ton of hot water. I've still not had an atomizer die on me unless it was a cheap ol 808 Carto from V4L. I main an eGo, and all 510 connection Attys and cartos, they keep runnin strong for me.

 

[Justice]

Toss em in isopropyl alcohol overnight very week or so blow them out and let sit for an hour or so and use no messing about no labor faster than cleaning an ashtray. Yes they work like new after it's totally illogical to think they don't unless one has a wild imagination.

 

[Caffusss]

Rott...no your not doing anything wrong...maybe your battery is dieing or....there is something wrong with your atties or your battery.

 

[Rottwyler]

Rott...no your not doing anything wrong...maybe your battery is dieing or....there is something wrong with your atties or your battery.

Well I checked the atty's suppose to be about 1.7 Ohms but I'm reading 22 ohms. I could understand reading infinity (an open) if I messed up the atty but what could cause the resistance to increase so dramatically? Kinda stumped here.

T

edit: It's a 306LR atty by the way. Actually the other was a 510 L/R and it had about 70 Ohms...strange.