I've been vaping for about 10 months now, and about 4 months ago I decided I preferred dripping with a 306 atomizer. I tried both Joye and Cisco atties, and while I've had reasonable success with both, I couldn't help but pick up some Ikenvape attys due to the amazing amount of praise they receive on these forums. So I stocked up and bought a bunch of both LR and HV 306 atties to use on my Pro-vari. However, here I am 3 months later and I've already gone through a dozen of them. The reasons they are no longer work vary, so I'm hoping that someone can set me on the right track again so I can stop wasting money on atomizers.
Of the dozen I've gone through, 3 have died while dewicking. I've tried keeping the wick in them, and I've found that it effects the draw and flavor in ways that I don't really care for. The first one to die this way had the entire wick come out as one piece. I actually still have it sitting on my desk because I was in completely disbelief that it came out perfectly. I had never fired this atty prior to removing the wick, and it never worked afterwards. It looked like one end of the coils was turned almost 90 degrees compares to the other, and I can't imagine I did that damage removing the wick as it came out very very easily.
The second one to die after dewicking, didn't really die at all. On this particular atty I was very careful to remove the entire wick, and I was actually quite successful. So much so, that now the juice won't stay on the coil at all. I have to nearly flood the atty to get even a poor hit, and as soon as the juice level is below the coil, I see it start glowing orange. The mesh is still completely saturated, and I can almost dump juice out of the atty at this point, yet it's completely unvapable.
The best I've been able to figure, you actually want a small amount of the wick to remain. I'm not really sure how much I like vaping the wick after it becomes completely charred (and it does seem like it becomes charred, I've torn apart a few after they die and in the middle of the coil I always find the blackened remains of the center of the wick). So now I try to not be so meticulous about removing the wick so that some remains, and I also make sure to use them a bit first with the wick in hopes that it will weaken and break the ends off easier. Unfortunately, even after doing this, I still managed to have the same thing happen with one other atty and the results have been pretty much identical.
The rest have all died while trying to clean them. Usually I go several days before my first cleaning, just making sure I blow it out very well each night. After anywhere from 2-5 days I usually notice it starting to taste bad, so this is when I clean. I've tried running hot water through them for several minutes and also using an ultrasonic cleaner with either vodka or water. Typically this makes them taste good again for a day or two, but then it's back to nastiness. At this point the coil is pretty gummed up so I try to dry burn them. I turn the voltage down .3-.5 from where I vape them, and pulse them until I get a nice quick glow and can see defined coils. I then stick them back in the ultrasonic cleaner for a cycle or two and then dry them out. I end up with one of three results: an atty that works like new again, a popped atty that shows as an open circuit on my Pro-vari, or an atty that reads as 'LO' (lower than the Pro-vari can measure, I think this is <1.3 ohms) and only makes short pops before throwing a error. I've taken one of the 'LO' atties and removed the bridge and pulled the coil out to where it's almost straight and the thing actually fires! Unfortunately, I haven't figured out a way to fix them without ruining them completely.
So I ask you all, the faithful Ikenvape users, what can I do to lower the number of atomizers I'm going through and increase their longevity? Obviously dry burning is not working out well, but I have no other way to clean the gunk off the coil and it eventually needs to be done. The juice I vape 95% of the time is Ms. T's Kickin' Strawberry, which is a mix of cinnamon and strawberry. I've read that the cinnamon oil can do funky things to equipment, and Ms. T heavily favors VG in her mixes, so maybe the only option is to change juice. I'd really like to avoid having to do that though, as it's been my go-to vape for the last 6 months or so.
Sorry for the huge posts but I felt it was important to detail my experiences to help pinpoint the issue. Thanks in advance for any suggestions or comments.
Of the dozen I've gone through, 3 have died while dewicking. I've tried keeping the wick in them, and I've found that it effects the draw and flavor in ways that I don't really care for. The first one to die this way had the entire wick come out as one piece. I actually still have it sitting on my desk because I was in completely disbelief that it came out perfectly. I had never fired this atty prior to removing the wick, and it never worked afterwards. It looked like one end of the coils was turned almost 90 degrees compares to the other, and I can't imagine I did that damage removing the wick as it came out very very easily.
The second one to die after dewicking, didn't really die at all. On this particular atty I was very careful to remove the entire wick, and I was actually quite successful. So much so, that now the juice won't stay on the coil at all. I have to nearly flood the atty to get even a poor hit, and as soon as the juice level is below the coil, I see it start glowing orange. The mesh is still completely saturated, and I can almost dump juice out of the atty at this point, yet it's completely unvapable.
The best I've been able to figure, you actually want a small amount of the wick to remain. I'm not really sure how much I like vaping the wick after it becomes completely charred (and it does seem like it becomes charred, I've torn apart a few after they die and in the middle of the coil I always find the blackened remains of the center of the wick). So now I try to not be so meticulous about removing the wick so that some remains, and I also make sure to use them a bit first with the wick in hopes that it will weaken and break the ends off easier. Unfortunately, even after doing this, I still managed to have the same thing happen with one other atty and the results have been pretty much identical.
The rest have all died while trying to clean them. Usually I go several days before my first cleaning, just making sure I blow it out very well each night. After anywhere from 2-5 days I usually notice it starting to taste bad, so this is when I clean. I've tried running hot water through them for several minutes and also using an ultrasonic cleaner with either vodka or water. Typically this makes them taste good again for a day or two, but then it's back to nastiness. At this point the coil is pretty gummed up so I try to dry burn them. I turn the voltage down .3-.5 from where I vape them, and pulse them until I get a nice quick glow and can see defined coils. I then stick them back in the ultrasonic cleaner for a cycle or two and then dry them out. I end up with one of three results: an atty that works like new again, a popped atty that shows as an open circuit on my Pro-vari, or an atty that reads as 'LO' (lower than the Pro-vari can measure, I think this is <1.3 ohms) and only makes short pops before throwing a error. I've taken one of the 'LO' atties and removed the bridge and pulled the coil out to where it's almost straight and the thing actually fires! Unfortunately, I haven't figured out a way to fix them without ruining them completely.
So I ask you all, the faithful Ikenvape users, what can I do to lower the number of atomizers I'm going through and increase their longevity? Obviously dry burning is not working out well, but I have no other way to clean the gunk off the coil and it eventually needs to be done. The juice I vape 95% of the time is Ms. T's Kickin' Strawberry, which is a mix of cinnamon and strawberry. I've read that the cinnamon oil can do funky things to equipment, and Ms. T heavily favors VG in her mixes, so maybe the only option is to change juice. I'd really like to avoid having to do that though, as it's been my go-to vape for the last 6 months or so.
Sorry for the huge posts but I felt it was important to detail my experiences to help pinpoint the issue. Thanks in advance for any suggestions or comments.
Love you too man! Haha...
yea yea I'm going maybe a round of COD then done 
