I've done lots and lots of reading about cleaning attys, checking resistance and so on. I've tried so many methods a cleaning and I've found that the Crest Pro Health blue really does a good job of atty maintenance.
However, I haven't found any threads or posts specifically about a question I have which is about the condition of the wick under the bridge of my 510 attys. Without regular maintenance and even with some, these wicks continue to turn darker and darker in color until eventually they turn black. No matter what I try and now matter how long I try different liquids to clean the wicks, they still retain the black color and also appear to be like a thick solid mass.
At the same time, I can only assume that the coil itself located under the wick, which has the appearance of a very tiny spring more than likely is also pretty blackened and perhaps clogged with this black gunk, thereby reducing its ability to work at all. These attys produce almost no vapor at all any more.
I have tested the resistance and they are between 2.1 and 2.3 ohms each which tells me that they are still good, or at least that they are not completely dead (measured with a recently calibrated Fluke multimeter). Now I know that carburetor cleaner or "Gunk' would probably remove this black substance quite easily but before anyone responds in horror, I know that this will definitely destroy parts of the atty and therefore I would never use such chemicals.
So my question is, what exactly can I use or what method has anyone found that will remove the encrusted black build-up on the wick and coil in my 510 attys? At the same time, the right chemical would cause no harm to the atty itself (or any of its parts) and clean out all the air passages as well. I just don't want to give up on these attys if their resistance is still in an acceptable range. If there was an exact method and the right material known to replace the wick itself, this would be one option. Once removed, access to the coil itself for cleaning would be greatly enhanced.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
However, I haven't found any threads or posts specifically about a question I have which is about the condition of the wick under the bridge of my 510 attys. Without regular maintenance and even with some, these wicks continue to turn darker and darker in color until eventually they turn black. No matter what I try and now matter how long I try different liquids to clean the wicks, they still retain the black color and also appear to be like a thick solid mass.
At the same time, I can only assume that the coil itself located under the wick, which has the appearance of a very tiny spring more than likely is also pretty blackened and perhaps clogged with this black gunk, thereby reducing its ability to work at all. These attys produce almost no vapor at all any more.
I have tested the resistance and they are between 2.1 and 2.3 ohms each which tells me that they are still good, or at least that they are not completely dead (measured with a recently calibrated Fluke multimeter). Now I know that carburetor cleaner or "Gunk' would probably remove this black substance quite easily but before anyone responds in horror, I know that this will definitely destroy parts of the atty and therefore I would never use such chemicals.
So my question is, what exactly can I use or what method has anyone found that will remove the encrusted black build-up on the wick and coil in my 510 attys? At the same time, the right chemical would cause no harm to the atty itself (or any of its parts) and clean out all the air passages as well. I just don't want to give up on these attys if their resistance is still in an acceptable range. If there was an exact method and the right material known to replace the wick itself, this would be one option. Once removed, access to the coil itself for cleaning would be greatly enhanced.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
