I have one atty dedicated to TV's AC. I think it's getting gummed up, but I'm baffled as to how to clean it. I've used the Crest mouthwash on other atty's in the past but quit when Jules mentioned that she doesn't clean atty's. I haven't had one die on me yet...but this one really needs to be cleaned. I don't want to use the mouthwash because it leaves behind a minty flavor. Any ideas?
I'm an atty abuser
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a good soak in pure grain alcohol always does the trick just leave them in there to soak for a while also I have a 2 litter bottle that the hubby drilled a hole in the cap so that the thread of the atty can fit snug in the cap. when you screw the atty on the cap you want the atty inside the bottle not on top. fill the bottle with really hot water and you can blow them out this way .. we have been doing both methods for a while now and they both seem to work great and if you combine them ... all the better my attys are just as good or better then the day i got them .. i saw this bottle trick on a thread in the atty cleaning i think but cant seem to find it now .. hope it helps!!
id go with the alcohol or like 90 percent iso propyl becuase it evaporates off complelty or both i mean... i never clean my addy just a really good blow out and thats it
I just ressurected like 5 dead atomizers back to full health by boiling a pot of water, and using tweezers to hold them in there for about 3 - 4 minutes, thread end up. Then blow them out, and dry burn until it starts to glow. Then prime them.. should be like new.
I prefer the Bottle method... Put some scalding hot water in it and then give the bottle a little squeeze upside down and watch the water pass through the atty once water is gone turn the bottle upright and give another few squeezes to blow what water is still in the atty out then either let it sit and dry or take a blow dryer to speed the process up, a few good dry burns and always like new.
I take ALL my vaping supplies.. diy stuff, attys, etc... make sure there is no juice or cotton in them, put them all in a special pot for cleaning my vaping stuff.. fill with a little water.. some vodka.. some lemon juice.. then pour boiling water over it all. I repeat the adding of the boiling water a couple times during the day.. then rinse and drain and dry.
(after I realized that 901 atties need to drain longer)... I've only lost a couple attys in the 11 months I've been vaping.. and THAT was because I yanked too hard when removing them from a drip tip and pulled them apart! I had ONE atty die from mysterious causes. The rest have been pifed along to new homes.
So.. I don't think boiling them hurts them... but I don't actually boil.. I add boiling water.
(on another note: I've tried the burn method, and didn't like it.. tasted foul to me)
(after I realized that 901 atties need to drain longer)... I've only lost a couple attys in the 11 months I've been vaping.. and THAT was because I yanked too hard when removing them from a drip tip and pulled them apart! I had ONE atty die from mysterious causes. The rest have been pifed along to new homes.
So.. I don't think boiling them hurts them... but I don't actually boil.. I add boiling water.
(on another note: I've tried the burn method, and didn't like it.. tasted foul to me)
For goodness sake, don't use isopropyl alcohol to clean your attys or cartomizers. For one thing, contrary to what I've read here and based on my limited experience, you never completely get the isopropyl taste out of the atty. Secondly, if you accidentally vape any remaining iso alcohol, your body will regret it.
Boiling is only good if you don't overdo it. Five or six minutes is fine, longer is not. I don't know if there's glue in there that melts or what, but bad things can happen. I had the coil/wick of three cartomizers sort of unwind themselves after boiling too long.
Here's what I do:
* Changing flavors: Drip some pure PG into the atty and burn it off. It's okay to vape it (unless you're allergic to PG). When the old flavor is gone, you're ready to try the next flavor.
* Rinse your atty in lots of hot water tap water) and gently blow dry using your lips/breath on the threaded side, blowing out the atty **gently**. Then, place the atty in grain alcohol. Here in Minnesota, the closest thing I can find to PGA is a 151 proof/75.5% Everclear brand alcohol. It seems to work fine. After a long soak (depending upon how dirty they are), I let them gently air dry overnight. Works great.
I am suspicious of cleaning with vinegar, lemon juice, isopropyl alcohol and/or mouthwash, because I don't think you ever get the flavor out of the atty. PGA evaporates completely, it doesn't hurt to vape a bit of it, it doesnt affect flavors you drip after cleaning with it, and it's cheap enough to use at least once a week to keep your attys in top shape.
I resurrected the Immortal, a 510 atty that I thought I had killed with J.C. juice, followed by some really strong flavors including my now-patented, horrible mix of menthol/regular/blueberry waffle. No, I didn't mix the juice together deliberately; I was just dripping, grabbed the wrong bottle and pow! Nastiness Forever. The atty was also dead b/c of the connector having worked its way up inside the atty housing.
Loxsmythe instructed me on how to fix that, but the larger problem was that the dang thing was gummed up with heavy, nasty juice and strong flavors. Grain alcohol saved the day!
Boiling is only good if you don't overdo it. Five or six minutes is fine, longer is not. I don't know if there's glue in there that melts or what, but bad things can happen. I had the coil/wick of three cartomizers sort of unwind themselves after boiling too long.
Here's what I do:
* Changing flavors: Drip some pure PG into the atty and burn it off. It's okay to vape it (unless you're allergic to PG). When the old flavor is gone, you're ready to try the next flavor.
* Rinse your atty in lots of hot water tap water) and gently blow dry using your lips/breath on the threaded side, blowing out the atty **gently**. Then, place the atty in grain alcohol. Here in Minnesota, the closest thing I can find to PGA is a 151 proof/75.5% Everclear brand alcohol. It seems to work fine. After a long soak (depending upon how dirty they are), I let them gently air dry overnight. Works great.
I am suspicious of cleaning with vinegar, lemon juice, isopropyl alcohol and/or mouthwash, because I don't think you ever get the flavor out of the atty. PGA evaporates completely, it doesn't hurt to vape a bit of it, it doesnt affect flavors you drip after cleaning with it, and it's cheap enough to use at least once a week to keep your attys in top shape.
I resurrected the Immortal, a 510 atty that I thought I had killed with J.C. juice, followed by some really strong flavors including my now-patented, horrible mix of menthol/regular/blueberry waffle. No, I didn't mix the juice together deliberately; I was just dripping, grabbed the wrong bottle and pow! Nastiness Forever. The atty was also dead b/c of the connector having worked its way up inside the atty housing.
Loxsmythe instructed me on how to fix that, but the larger problem was that the dang thing was gummed up with heavy, nasty juice and strong flavors. Grain alcohol saved the day!
I'm a fan of the boiling threads up for a few minutes, the bubbls working through the coil and threads are like magic. Ciego makes a good point on that that hadn't occurred to me, there is glue. From dissecting attys it seems more that the knurl holds the barrel on the threads though. For changing strong flavors on the fly I use PG/PGA mixed 50/50 and vape it without inhaling and blow out when done. boB
BoB, be careful even taking PGA fumes into your mouth. PGA *will* absorb through the mucosa (mucus membrane) in your mouth. You might even catch a wee bit of a buzz.... LOL
Kids, I'm tellin' ya.... I just flooded my atty with BoB's OMG. I got so involved in deliciousness that I got overly exuberant with the bottle. The thing is gurgling like my Aunt Esmerelda's bowels on Chili Night.... not a pretty thing, believe it.
Kids, I'm tellin' ya.... I just flooded my atty with BoB's OMG. I got so involved in deliciousness that I got overly exuberant with the bottle. The thing is gurgling like my Aunt Esmerelda's bowels on Chili Night.... not a pretty thing, believe it.
Its nice to see athread about cleaning that does't turn into heated debate (one reason the stick around PIF!)
There are many methods to clean, basically it comes down to what works for you.
I use the same method as Sallana above but with one exception.
I heat up a small amount of water in the mocrowave and hold the atty with tweezers, scooping up the water and letting it run out the battery end.
From all I've read and such it seems to me soaking isn't what really cleans things out too uch, the main thing is the dry burn. The burn helps to remove alot of the gunk that builds up on the coil. The vaious soaks/rinses will soften up the gunk and help remove "flavor".
But without the dry burn the atty is destined to poor performance.
When done with the burn, on a bridgeless atty, the coil should look "white".
Just my personal experience, ymmv.
There are many methods to clean, basically it comes down to what works for you.
I use the same method as Sallana above but with one exception.
I heat up a small amount of water in the mocrowave and hold the atty with tweezers, scooping up the water and letting it run out the battery end.
From all I've read and such it seems to me soaking isn't what really cleans things out too uch, the main thing is the dry burn. The burn helps to remove alot of the gunk that builds up on the coil. The vaious soaks/rinses will soften up the gunk and help remove "flavor".
But without the dry burn the atty is destined to poor performance.
When done with the burn, on a bridgeless atty, the coil should look "white".
Just my personal experience, ymmv.
I'm afraid to dry burn my atomizers, because I don't want to melt the coil. I don't remove the bridges from my attys, and I can't see the coils even if I did.
Someone suggested putting a drop or two of PG or PGA/PG mix and then burning it. I'm certain this would accomplish the same thing as dry bburning. I have not been able to kill an atty yet, but I do rinse them every time I finish vaping, use the alcohol swish and boiling water method about every three days, and do a burn with PG every time I switch flavors. So far <fingers crossed> my attys continue to put out clouds of vapor.
I do think there is probably one "right way" to clean atomizers, but I'll be damned if I can figure out what that "one way" is.
Someone suggested putting a drop or two of PG or PGA/PG mix and then burning it. I'm certain this would accomplish the same thing as dry bburning. I have not been able to kill an atty yet, but I do rinse them every time I finish vaping, use the alcohol swish and boiling water method about every three days, and do a burn with PG every time I switch flavors. So far <fingers crossed> my attys continue to put out clouds of vapor.
I do think there is probably one "right way" to clean atomizers, but I'll be damned if I can figure out what that "one way" is.
Hey, what about soaking the atty overnight in CocaCola I saw it (okay, heard it) on a youtube video. The lady just soaked her atty overnight in Coke, then thoroughly rinsed it in hot water the next day and allowed it to dry. I would think the phosphoric acid in Coke would clean pretty much any gunk out of the atty, but I'd be worried about leaving residual sugar in the bridge/coil. And, as I'm allergic to aspartame (NutraSweet), I would have to use sugared Coke.
Ciego,
if it works for you then its fine but just so you know the coil cannot melt, its not heating up anymore than it does when you vape. Its all just metal and ceramic in there.
if it works for you then its fine but just so you know the coil cannot melt, its not heating up anymore than it does when you vape. Its all just metal and ceramic in there.
I am not arguing, but I've fried enough coils/resistors/capacitors to know that just because it's meant to get hot, doesn't mean that you can't overstress it.
I always thought that, because the coil is being cooled by the same liquid it's heating, that burning a dry atomizer could hurt it.
I'm too new to know better; this was simply my train of thought.
I always thought that, because the coil is being cooled by the same liquid it's heating, that burning a dry atomizer could hurt it.
I'm too new to know better; this was simply my train of thought.
Its all good, for all we know you could be right. like i said, we all find what works for us.
Yeah, KJ4, I agree. Whatever works. I'm still looking for the single best method...and a cheap place to buy DustOff/canned air.
I guarantee you... if there's a way to break an atty, I will probably find it. I have the Midas Crap Touch; most things I touch turn to crap.
Hey, to everybody... Have you ever heard of anybody breaking the atty part of a cartomizer>? I mean, I know you can singe the batting/wick and make them taste awful, that the batting (polyfill) eventually goes bad, and you can overfill them. I'm talking about the atomizer actually failing before the batting goes bad. Ever hear of that? 'Cause I think I just did it with my trusty 380 mAh KR808D-1. I refilled the carto, checked the battery etc. Still no vapor. I think I broke it. Sigh.
I guarantee you... if there's a way to break an atty, I will probably find it. I have the Midas Crap Touch; most things I touch turn to crap.
Hey, to everybody... Have you ever heard of anybody breaking the atty part of a cartomizer>? I mean, I know you can singe the batting/wick and make them taste awful, that the batting (polyfill) eventually goes bad, and you can overfill them. I'm talking about the atomizer actually failing before the batting goes bad. Ever hear of that? 'Cause I think I just did it with my trusty 380 mAh KR808D-1. I refilled the carto, checked the battery etc. Still no vapor. I think I broke it. Sigh.
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