iClear30 - lost flavour and vapour

[sebt]

Hi

I got my first clearo - the Innokin iClear30 - about 3 weeks ago. Blown away by the clouds of vapour and the intense flavour. It sucked the electricity out of my batteries at a huge rate, but it's worth it. (I'm only using a 3.7v Innokin Leo Pro battery - can't afford a VV thing yet).

Anyway, the flavour and vapour are now dismal. What I've done three times so far (so, about once a week) is this:

1. Unscrew everything, including separating the atty housing from the base.
2. Pour some boiling water into a bowl, let it cool a bit, and then drop the bits in and let them soak.
3. Jiggle the atomizer around a bit in the water, and squeeze the wicks to get the old juice/crap out and the water in.
4. Let all the bits dry.
5. Reassemble. Do some dry burns, blowing the smoke out as much as I can.
6. Fill with juice and let it soak in for an hour or so.

This made a difference the first time, but doesn't seem to now. The wicks are soaking up a brown substance (burnt crap) near the atomiser, and wicking this into the main body of juice.

Is there a better way I can get rid of this problem?

thanks!

 

[Navy4life]

Not a expert by any means, but when you say dry burn are you doing this with the wick? I only ask because when I have tried dry burning in the past, I removed wick and or rebuilt the coil. In other words, I didn't dry burn with the wick, but without. What kind of juice are you using? You could let it soak in some cheap vodka; I hear it works sometimes. Better yet, didn't it come with a extra coil? If nothing else, this would surly take care of the flavor.

 

[elscorcho]

As Navy suggested, I would try changing the coil......Also dark juices can gunk up the coil prematurely.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Yup, the wicks have had it. Three weeks is more than enough -- you must be an expert at cleaning to get that much life out of them

 

[sebt]

Thanks for your helpful replies!

I didn't know if these are rebuildable. And I'm not sure I have the patience! It would involve pulling various bits out of a very narrow tube (the atty housing). So removing or replacing the coil/wicks is not something I can do: my rebuild-fu is not that strong (grasshopper).

MadScientist, it's helpful to read that 3 weeks is pretty normal. The replacement attys (the whole atty assembly) are only GBP2.50 each here, so I'm fine just getting more replacements (I have a spare one which I'm using right now).

One thing I always wonder with replacing attys is what is "normal". Am I getting an average kind of life out of them, or

a. Is there something (in terms of maintenance) that I'm doing wrong; or
b. Is there something very clever that I could do to extend their life?

I guess we're all experimenting with this fiddly, imperfect, but fantastic new technology. So reading that 3 weeks is pretty normal is helpful. But I'll try the cheap-vodka thing with this atty after a week, see if that gets rid of the gunk better.

 

[Talyon]

I own 3 iclear30's and this is how I clean and how often.

1. Every 2 fills they get cleaned.
2. Take apart, rinse under tap using warm water.
3. Soak in Vodka for at least an hour.
4. Rinse again under warm water.
5. While this is being done I've switched out to a cleaned coil.
6. Let dry over night, or blow dry with hair dryer for a quicker result.

Works every time, I've been doing this with 2 coils for almost 3 months now. I've not done in a coil yet and they Vape great.
If I use a magnifying glass to inspect the coil wire and wick, there is no build up at all and the wick is slightly brown the wire is blackish but no sediment on either. I Vape 3ml a day every day on these.

My procedure works for me, and I hope it works for others to.

One of these days I may even use my other 2 iclears, lol.

 

[Mad Scientist]

One thing I always wonder with replacing attys is what is "normal". Am I getting an average kind of life out of them, ....

Really depends on the juice, your vaping style, and what level of performance you demand before you break down and just replace them. High wattage vaping on high vg juices with dark and sweet flavoring might zap a wick in a week or less even with lots of cleaning. PG juices with light, clear favors might allow a month or more. If you don't want to fuss with making wicks (and replacing dual wicks increases the complication factor a lot because the coil resistance of each has to match the other very closely), just always keep several spares on hand. Compared to cigarettes, they are super cheap.

 

[sebt]

Thanks again!

I stopped using the vodka method a while back - ran out of the cheap vodka - but I'll try doing that again.

Compared to cigarettes, they are super cheap.

Absolutely. But not for long, if our all-wise governments get their way about "regulating" them...

[heads over to the Legislation forum]