First atomizer failure

[Shadoza]

Well. I have been regularly cleaning my atomizers and swapping them out. Yesterday, I decided I would try dripping for the first time. I took a freshly cleaned (with IPA) and dried atomizer (two days dry) along with an empty cartridge (no filler) and dropped in three drops of my favorite juice. Waited a minute and dropped in another two (because I heard that "fresh" atomizers need a little more).

Then I wanted to see how the dripping was. Either it was time for my atomizer to go, or I burned it too dry and killed it. I was trying to see how long the juice would last. Before it quit working, I was still getting plenty of vapor then all of a sudden nothing.

The question I have is...

When I push the battery button, the atomizer still fizzles a bit (not like my working ones, just a little bit) but produces no vapor. So I figure it is still semi-functional. Is there anything I can do to revive this atomizer? I am not good with working with small things so disassembling and rebuilding it is out of the question (shaky hands).

 

[Liv2Ski]

It may be flooded. Blow it out and try it again. If not maybe the juice is thick and you could try cleaning it again. Remember atty's do not last forever and it could be that this ones number may have just been up. Best of luck

 

[Scorched]

From all my time vaping I have expierenced this several times as well. You are correct to say that a dry atomizer does need more drops than usual to "prime" it, and possibly a moment to soak in the juice. Depending on how old the atomizer was, it may have been it's time to die. Although, in my opinion, I find that cleaning and rinsing atomizers with water or anything else has done nothing for me but result in atomizer failure. I have several atomizers from my early days that sizzle but produce no vapor when I thought cleaning atomizers regularly was necessary. I am sure there will be several people who beg to differ, but that is the conclusion I have come to from my vaping expierence.

As far as getting the atomizer to work again there are a couple things you might want to try before tossing it in the trash:
Try de-wicking the atomizer then giving it another bath in PGA, or a good flush with pure PG might be enough to bring it back to life.

 

[Shadoza]

I don't have any pure PG, but I do have pure VG. Will that work or is it too thick?

 

[BonnyC]

As a previous poster said, you might have flooded it. I find that when I'm dripping if I flood it it will produce little vapor and be hard to draw on. Have you tried blowing it out yet? Clean off the open end and, while holding a paper towel to catch the juice, blow through it with the juice coming out the threaded end.

If I'm dripping on a fresh atty I'll put on 3 drops then take a few experimental puffs. The first 2 or 3 are short and I blow it out without inhaling, then I'll take a small one and inhale. If there's little flavor or if it still has that nasty dry atty taste, I'll drop 2 more on and do it again. Then just one drop at a time until it seems right to me.

 

[DaveP]

If it sizzles, it's working. The atty heater coil is similar to a light bulb. At some point it will blow and the atty is toast. It's just a fact of life that they are expendable unless you are one of those people who are into installing a new coil.

Gurgling is a sign of flooding. Blow it out and vape directly from the atty opening to use up the rest. View the coil (in a dark room) while pushing the button. If you see a dull red glow, the coil is working.

If you have access to an ohm meter, you can check the coil by placing one probe on the threads and the other on the center contact. A standard atty should read somewhere in the 2.5 ohm range.

 

[Shadoza]

I will mess with it tonight when I get home and let you guys know how it turns out.

 

[Shadoza]

Well... after a good cleaning with IPA (rubbing alcohol 91%) it works just fine. I guess it was just flooded.

 

[Liv2Ski]

Well... after a good cleaning with IPA (rubbing alcohol 91%) it works just fine. I guess it was just flooded.

Good news then, vape away.