How do you clean YOUR atomizers?

[Catwhisperer]

Hey all, I know this is a very general topic but I'm wondering how all of you treat your atomizers. I have been going with the old school "if it isn't broke don't clean it" philosophy of atomizer cleaning, so all I do is occasionally blow it out to clean it, and if it's dead I'll try dropping it into a simmering pot of water for a few minutes as a last ditch revival mechanism. I'm noticing though, that I seem to be losing attys more frequently lately. Maybe I should be cleaning them? It almost seems like a slow degradation of vapor quality & flavor.

What works for you guys? Any recommendations? Thanks

Jenny

 

[vapeopotamus]

There are so many schools of though on this in the forms. I do the everclear soak over night with a 12 hour drying. Then I blow them out with some dust off to get those last little bits of eveclear out. Just be sure they are dry before trying to use them. I think the best thing to remember is that Atty's are meant to be disposed of and to not be too afraid to throw them out once and a while. These are just my thoughts. I am sure more experienced veterans might have another take.

 

[Pharoah]

Simply put. I don't. I don't even try to clean them. I now use 510. But when using 901. I had one atty last more than 6 months. I used to "chain vape" it every night to get the atty really hot. Too hot to touch.

 

[Digimon2k]

Hey all, I know this is a very general topic but I'm wondering how all of you treat your atomizers. I have been going with the old school "if it isn't broke don't clean it" philosophy of atomizer cleaning, so all I do is occasionally blow it out to clean it, and if it's dead I'll try dropping it into a simmering pot of water for a few minutes as a last ditch revival mechanism. I'm noticing though, that I seem to be losing attys more frequently lately. Maybe I should be cleaning them? It almost seems like a slow degradation of vapor quality & flavor.

What works for you guys? Any recommendations? Thanks

Jenny

'bout the only thing I do besides the simmer is use one of those baby nose-sucker syringes and flush the atty with the simmering water as a final cleaning step. I'll "force" the hot water through from the battery end a couple times, then "pressure" flush from the other end.

USE CAUTION of course... don't need to get scalded! Gloves and sleeves!

Afterward, I use canned air for gross drying, then (usually) air-dry overnight. Once dry, a few drops of pg (or your fav juice) to prime, and that seems to be it.

I've not had an atty go bad on me since July... so I'll keep using this method until something goes awry!

Oh... I do this about once a week... sometimes every other day if I've vaped something "heavy".

 

[pkj]

Every other day I soak them for about 3 to 5 minutes in 91% Isopropyl Alcohol.
When the alcohol runs through them they are clean. Then I let them air dry.
That's it. That's all I do.

Have been using the same atty's for 6 months and am very happy with their performance. I started doing this when I first started vaping. I am a clean freak and it seemed like the logical thing to do.

Works for me.
Paula

PS - I read to use caution when using boiling water or hot water on atty's. Some of them have a glue that can soften or release if the water gets too hot. Thought I should mention this.

 

[dshack]

Saw a great video today from AllAboutTheVapor. He recommended simply blowing out the atty each night. Think I'll give his method a try and see how it goes.

Link:
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

 

[Dr Evil Zombie]

I soak mine in 70% Isopropyl alcohol for an hour or so til the alcohol turns brown (I use darker juices typically). Then I pour out the dirty alcohol and replace with new alcohol let them soak again for about an hour. Then I blow through the battery end and you'll still see some dirty alcohol typically come out. Then I soak them again for an hour, blow through the battery end again and then let them drain on a paper towel, battery end up, overnight or at least 6 hours (those wicks really hang onto liquids). I do this about once every 1 - 1 1/2 weeks with the seven atomizers I have in rotation.

 

[Sandi Penn]

I also let them sit for about an hour in 91% isopropyl alcohol for about an hour and then let dry overnight on paper towel and i do this with every flavor change. I use a 510 and have about 10 atomizers rotating at all times.

 

[Liv2Ski]

I simply blow them out. If they start to degrade in performance I give them a hot tap water rinse followed by a careful dryburn then vape away. I have had the same 4 Cisco LR atty's in rotation now for about six weeks. Still hitting like the day I put them in service.

 

[BradSmith]

I used to do all kinds of things trying to keep them going. I don't bother anymore. I don't even blow them out. I do stay away from dark liquids though, so that might have made a difference. I know I'm not losing as many now as I used to. But I also stopped using 5 volts and went to a true 3.7 volt mod run with a 14500 battery. It seems I have gone the full circle I'm even back to using carts that I swore I would never use again.

One of the things that I read was that gunk gets built up under the coil and this burns them out faster. So the alcohol soak would seem to make sense. It just seemed that when I did that I would get that horrible burnt taste too often.

 

[pipes1]

I used to soak my attys in Vodka, for a few hours, then blow them out and do it again.
After a while I got tired of the process and decided to try another approach.

Switch to cartomizers -- toss them when they start to drop off -- drink the Vodka.

 

[Sharky]

I vape'm till they start getting weak and turn the voltage up. I keep doing this until it dies. God I love my Buzz...

 

[OgreLokon]

Hello Jenny

I just had an atty decide it was going to vape like crap, and cleaning wouldn't do anything, so I debridged and dewicked it, and it's vaping like a champ now. Since you only drip, you might want to look into it.

 

[vapeopotamus]

I love my atties debridge and dewicked.

 

[Cee_Jay]

Gotta give debridging and removing the wick a try, no "burnt taste" ? (( unless you toast the bare atty dry? ))

 

[mikespiked]

I only clean them out when I notice a flavor change or stiff draw. All I do is fill up the atty with Propylene Glycol, wait for it to drip out the battery connection side and then blow to get the rest out. I usually repeat this about 3 times, or until the liquid coming out is clear. I feel like this is better than using water, and as propylene glycol is what I vape, I know its not doing any damage to the atty.