For the past 3 months, my attys stops working right after 1 or 2 days

[telsie]

I've always been cursed with short-lived atties, but that short life cycle used to be about 7-10 days. They wouldn't die on me, they'd just clog up to the point that they became useless (and various cleaning methods I've tried have helped very little). The Johnson Creek liquid I use must be the culprit. Anyway...

Lately (past two months or so), I've only been getting 3-4 days out of an atty. Sometimes it's that they clog up exceedingly fast and sometimes it's that they start running hot and producing very little vapor. And in either case, it's very sudden. My normal atty clogging problems would at least be gradual over the course of a few days. Now, it's like one puff is fine, next is clogged. And the same thing with the hot-no-vapor problem — one puff it's fine, next it's awful.

I usually buy from Cignot, but thinking they'd gotten a mediocre batch, I got my last order from LiteCigUSA. I've had the same problem with theirs too, though, so I think the quality of the atomizers in general has simply gone downhill. Nothing's changed about what I vape or how I vape it, so it's got to be a problem with the atties. These things only lasting a couple days is getting too costly and too damn frustrating!

 

[Switched]

Have you changed liquids? or are you vaping the same liquid all along. The biggest culprit after vaping style for killing atties is the liquid we use.

 

[chuckie]

I used to get about 1-2 weeks out of my atties, which is exactly what Trog told me to expect when I bought my first screwdriver 3 years ago. Since I switched to Genesis atties, I get about 10-20 days out of each wrap and each new wrap costs about a nickel.If you get a chance pick one up.

 

[JustaGuy]

All Joye SR attys I got from Cignot in May are still going. The EM 510 attys shorted out after a month, could be soaking in hot water that did it.

 

[Switched]

I used to get about 1-2 weeks out of my atties, which is exactly what Trog told me to expect when I bought my first screwdriver 3 years ago. Since I switched to Genesis atties, I get about 10-20 days out of each wrap and each new wrap costs about a nickel.If you get a chance pick one up.

... that's because Trog is a vendor I will not deny that the "freshness" of a new atty will last 1-3 weeks but an atty can last and does last longer than a couple of weeks. The biggest myth out there is cleaning and especially dry burning - dry burning leads to shorter life.

Blow out your atty periodically e.g every day or so (get rid of the spent juice that accumulates and will not vaporise) and all will be fine.

 

[Switched]

All Joye SR attys I got from Cignot in May are still going. The EM 510 attys shorted out after a month, could be soaking in hot water that did it.

Good atties = good life. Cheap atties = POed customers Ya get what ya pay for.

 

[JustaGuy]

Good atties = good life. Cheap atties = POed customers Ya get what ya pay for.

Yep. The EMs came with the Riva kit. It's too bad they're so flimsy. I liked them. After a couple days drying, one came back to life, pretty sure water shorted it out. Joye is good stuff.

 

[tonyorion]

One would have to scratch his/her head after reading this thread to find something in common with the atty problems. Some of you clean attys with all the possible methods out there; others claim that cleaning decreases the lifespan of an atty. Some drip; some use carts. Some use Ego style and others use 510's as well as different resistance and voltages. That is only the beginning of the possible permutations and combinations!

That is also the reason why one person will say "My XYZ sucks!" and the other will say "My XYZ is the best thing since sliced bread".

To make a long story short: I stopped using carts and egos/clones and now only use a top feeder (Vapemate) with a BuzzPro and ProVari at home/office, and bottom feeders (Lord, I hate that name), Reos with 510 and 306 in combination with lots of different DIY juices and voltages. That was around March.

My atty life improved dramatically, even from the same batch of Joye's. Out of Paranoia, I ordered bulk quantities of 25 every two months like clockwork. I still have 18 left from my April order (genuine Joye 510 and 306 in LR,SR, AND HR).That is about one a month which is perfectly acceptable, especially when going from two/week!

A few things changed: I dumped all of my ego/clones due to the catastrophic failure rate and went to the auto/semi auto feeders from carts.

IMHO, I think that carts are an early death sentence for an atty. They really focus the heat, don't allow it to dissipate, and try as you will you will end up jostling the bridge a bit.

Dripping should improve that but unless you are in a position to be able to drip continuously, you will run your device until the vapor starts to really diminish at which point the atty is getting really hot. At least that is the behavior that I have seen with friends and people at the vape meets.

Heat dissipation or lack of it is the only explanation that I have for such improved atty life from the same batch of attys that were dying off so quickly before.

As much as I detest the ego style self contained battery for its wretched reliability, I don't see how a PWM battery could punch out enough voltage to fry attys. I believe the Riva styles are not regulated, but could be wrong. I was also having the same problems with my Ikon which is a straight up 14500 mechanical device. Which reminds me, I have to put some stuff up for sale.

Hope this helps!

 

[chuckie]

Good atties = good life. Cheap atties = POed customers Ya get what ya pay for.

Actually I've had better luck with the 3$ attys than the 7$ ones,which really doesn't matter anymore since I don't use China attys any longer no matter what the price.The freedom is wonderful.

 

[Switched]

Actually I've had better luck with the 3$ attys than the 7$ ones,which really doesn't matter anymore since I don't use China attys any longer no matter what the price.The freedom is wonderful.

That is an interesting observation since all atties come from China, unless you are using rebuildable atties.

 

[YKruss]

That is an interesting observation since all atties come from China, unless you are using rebuildable atties.

Yeah, Chukie cut the cord and got himself/herself a Genesis(mentioned previously)

 

[JustaGuy]

Good atties = good life. Cheap atties = POed customers Ya get what ya pay for.

On Wednesday, it's even worse than that. The EM 510 atty fried 2 of my batts, a Riva and a 510 mini. There's a strong smell of plastic/chemicals out of batts, think circuit boards were shorted. The Riva LED stays on all the time unless I put an atty on it. The 510 is completely dead. Both into trash.

I just bought a 10-pack from Vapor Kings, suposed to be Joyes. Hope they last.

 

[Rocketfish]

I follow a lazy mans version of the cleaning method posted in the newbie section.

Basically throw any dirty atomizer in a plastic water bottle. Once I have 5 or so, I fill it with hot water, shake it a bit while I'm watching TV etc. pour out the hot water, pour in clean hot water. Drop in a denture tablet, then have dinner. After dinner, drain the bottle off, rinse each atomizer under the tap, and then do a dry burn. I know the denture cleaner works fantastically, because the side by side test of dry burning a rinsed with water atty and one with the denture cleaner makes it perfectly clear. My wicks come out white again! I've yet to have an atomizer fail due to use. I am having the same problem with burnt tastes after only a little use, I find using a slightly thicker liquid helps. I'm a dripper, and I've started to find that after several cleanings liquid tends to run right through the atty instead of sitting there to be vaped. However I should also note that I have 8 atomizers on the go, all of which are around 3 months old. I typically use one for a day or too, then I find that they become harsh on the inhale and hurt my throat. No amount of dripping, liquid changing or fussing about will fix that, I used to just put up with it for a few more days, try dry burning and rinsing etc. Nothing did the job, they still sucked except when new. Denture cleaner was magic for that. While I am sad that most of my LR306s are now producing minimal vapor, and some are doing the slight burnt taste right away thing(fixed by using a slightly thicker liquid after cleaning them so it doesn't run through) I have enough sense to know that 2 months ago I would have been head over heels to see that kind of vapor coming out of an EGO+LR306, with so much flavor after using the atty for 3 months. I've just gotten fussier as I've gotten better at using the equipment.
I will cut some of them open if I ever get around to getting new atties.


Cisco LR306s ROCK. They actually take a while to break in(a day at least) but after that, .
Looking inside, they are clearly more consistently made, superior coils etc. So far they're doing great, but it could be that having been used only a few weeks, the two I have are just much less worn than my cisco ones.


Either way, cleaning correctly is key. a 100 pack of denture cleaner from london drugs is 5$. It takes all the effort out of cleaning, removes off tastes, sediment etc, and makes the dry burn part of the process much faster and easier. I don't even bother rinsing and drying the atomizers after a dry burn anymore, because so little smoke is produced(I also enjoy not breathing that).
I've vaped Geoffs blend on one of the atomizers for 2 months, the wick still comes out white after cleaning.


On the topic of dry burning, I find with the denture tablets doing such a good job you can skip the traditional dry burn totally, if you are worried about damaging the atty with a dry burn. For me a dry burn is mostly about drying the atomizer out(getting rid of water) I do it at the lowest power setting, in short bursts with my fingers on the atomizer, if it gets warm, I switch to the next one in line and work my way through them all. This way they aren't getting overheated. Once the coils are dry, they get no more than a few seconds of run time. A little bit of smoke comes out and I'm ready to vape again.


For those who say blowing cleans your atomizers enough and cleaning them/dry burning reduces the lifespan, how can you use an atty for more than a day. After 3 days, the taste gets awful, and it makes my throat hurt to use I used to bear it because it was better than smoking, but I'll trade off having atomizers only last me a few weeks to a month each for good flavor and vapor production. Is there some trick to avoiding this? I blow mine out ever few hours, but I never use an atty for more than a couple days before it goes in the cleaning bin.

What is it specifically about dry burns that damage the atomizer?

 

[chuckie]

That is an interesting observation since all atties come from China, unless you are using rebuildable atties.

Yes I use a Hybrid and a G-tank.Both are genesis rebuildable attys.

 

[JW50]

...

What is it specifically about dry burns that damage the atomizer?

I think it is specifically the temperature that the atty gets exposed to with a dry burn. There is no liquid to moderate that temperature. (i.e. it is dry). The higher the temperature the greater the risk of failure of nearly any component - heater wire included. An extract from Power & Heat

Why should I care?
You care because you can calculate if something will get too hot and burn out in advance of it happening. The key to this is the thermal resistance, it’s units are in “Degrees Centigrade per Watt” (0C / watt). If one end of you thermal resistance is anchored at the ambient temperature the other end gets hotter, the temperature it get to is dependent on the power dissipated and the thermal resistance. In an electronic system there are two key thermal resistances, the resistance between the actual thing getting hot and the component’s case, and the thermal resistance between the case and the ambient. You can reduce the latter by applying a heat sink but no amount of heat sink is going to affect the former. In fact manufacturers of devices often use the concept of an infinite heat sink in getting their headline figures. That means a heat sink so big that the case temperature and the ambient temperature are the same thing.
Another reason to care is that the average life time of a component is dependent upon it’s temperature. As a rule of thumb:-

Every 10 0C reduction in temperature doubles the expected life of a component