Inner wick sticking out from under atomizer bridge

[testerjtester]

Wondered if anyone else was seeing the inner wick material (normally clear, may take on color of e-liquid or get burnt after a while) sticking out from under the side of the 510 (or variants) mesh atomizer bridge, as noted in this thread:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/electronic-cigarette-company/13081-titan-510-problems.html

Trying to help confirm whether it's normal, and whether it causes any problems by sticking out, normal or otherwise. I'd be interested in reports from new atomizers as well as those that have already been broken in. It will look kind of clear, may be juice-colored if it's in use, and might be dark brown or almost blackened if in moderate to heavy use without a cleaning.

I've recently had a lot of trouble with a very nasty chemical/electrical fire smell and taste that comes on very suddenly, I suspect only when enough liquid isn't getting to the atomizer so it overheats, and this is a suspect in that scenario.

Thanks,
Tim

 

[rsngfrce]

REPEATING MY POST FROM THE OTHER THREAD BECAUSE I THOUGHT I WAS POSTING IT HERE...

Not positive I know what you are talking about, but pretty sure. On an unused atomizer, it kind of looks like maybe a propane lantern wick or a piece of stretched plastic sticking out from under the bridge? I first checked one of my used atomizers and thought an insect wing had got under the bridge.

Not sure of this, but I think it always sticks out on one side of the bridge and on the opposite side, I see what looks like a silver ball under the bridge near the outside of the atomizer?

I have checked 2 used atomizers and 7 unused atomizers and they all have this, most sticking out from under the bridge and a couple under the bridge. It is sticking out on both the used atomizers and a different color than on the unused atomizers.

I played around with it with a paper clip in one of my used atomizers and my first draw after doing so had a burnt taste, but it quickly went away.

 

[Momof3]

Mine all have a bit sticking out as well. 10 out of 10. Thought it was stuffing stuck to it the first time I saw it, but after checking my others decided it was normal. Some of my metal meshes also lean off to the side. Haven't noticed anything different performance wise between 1 or the other.

 

[olderthandirt]

I just got a total of 11 501 attys today. One had the ?wick? like stuff sticking out and 2 of 'em had the bridge off-center.

The bridges re-centered with very slight pressure, no harm done, and that white fluff burned off almost instantly.

Will be interesting to see what the life span is on these.

 

[testerjtester]

Thanks guys, sounds like this is 100% normal, and I'll assume there's no connection to the uber-burnt taste for now.

It's weird, I'll be toking away without any problems when - BAM - a ton of really foul vapor sears my lungs. I top off the cartridge and it goes away, so I have to assume it's a low liquid/overheating condition of some kind, right?

I've also seen tilted bridges and what looks like globs of extra mesh material, but also haven't seen any differences... so while these may technically be factory excursions of some kind, they don't seem to be a problem.

Thanks again for the replies!

Tim

 

[rsngfrce]

I'm very glad you pointed this wick out, because I think it means we need to be careful what we use to clean our atomizers... will an acid based cleaner eat the wick away or stay in the wick? Probably better to stay away from the harsh stuff...

 

[Anonomo]

Thanks guys, sounds like this is 100% normal, and I'll assume there's no connection to the uber-burnt taste for now.

It's weird, I'll be toking away without any problems when - BAM - a ton of really foul vapor sears my lungs. I top off the cartridge and it goes away, so I have to assume it's a low liquid/overheating condition of some kind, right?

I was having the same thing happening (occasional burnt nasty taste) and like you found that topping off the cart resolved the issue. I top off before every use now.

 

[Nicfits]

Ya, All of my 510 attys have this wicking sticking down like this. I have hypothesised that this was done on purpose to soak up/ wick any juice that is in the cup up to the coil.
Also, I have noticed the coil is slightly off center and the wicking is on the side furthest away from the atty's tube wall. I wonder if this too is done on purpose. They seem to work ok the way they are. I am afraid to try and re-center them. If this was a design characteristic, then it surely was intended to have a purpose.

 

[Quixotic7]

I have 4 510 atomizers, 2 are Janty Brand, The other two are Joye. The Janty ones are perfectly on center, and have a wider bridge than the Joye ones, they also vape a lot better. On one of my Janty atomizers, the wick is now completely sticking out from under the bridge and touching the atomizer walls, after rinsing it out with hot water. I haven't used any method to try cleaning these, only blowing and rinsing. It still vapes very nicely, but it does have me slightly concerned.

 

[Apatel]

I pulled my inner wick out. I thought it was cart material at first. I never saw it on my 901 atomizers. Will the atomizer work fine without this inner wink?

Thanks.

 

[Fox3]

Looked at the two I am actively using last night after I cleaned them and, yes, both of them have a tiny bit of wick sticking out one side of the coil.

Have noticed no adverse effects from this, been using these two atomizers for well over a month now (alternating daily).

Haven't seen this on either the 801 or 901.

 

[bugeater]

I've taken these out as well with a pair of tweezers. Maybe its just me but vapor production seems BETTER with them on.

These cloth wicks are showing up on the 510 and 306 atomizers. When I took it off of the 510 atty, I discovered that I need to do a forcefully hard dry primer puff to get liquid into the coil. After that, I get a pretty good hit.

I took these off of the 306 as well. The differences are more significant as performance seems a lot worse with them off.

So I pretty much think that they aid in the wicking, but after a week of use or so, a lot of it burns off.

Curious to see what everyone else thinks.

 

[rsngfrce]

I tried to pull mine out when I first read this thread, glad I didn't get it out! Don't know what the wick does, but as far as I'm concerned, the atomizer is the most important element of the 510 performance by far, so it must be doing something important that nobody else has figured out yet!

 

[testerjtester]

I pulled my inner wick out. I thought it was cart material at first. I never saw it on my 901 atomizers. Will the atomizer work fine without this inner wink?

Thanks.

I think if the inner wick is removed completely, the atomizer will not be kept as moist, and will burn hotter... my guess is that it would then die completely more quickly. But that's just a guess.

My further guess as to its function is that it holds a larger amount of liquid closer to the coil, and may be responsible for the better vapor production of the 510 - of course, nothing to base that on other than speculation.

It seems like the atomizers I have that the inner wick has pulled out and burned off the most do run a bit hotter, but provide better throat hit. I had received one atomizer that had almost all of it sticking out when it was new and got the awful electrical fire taste with every vaping attempt, and returned it for another.

 

[Zmoker]

I was getting plasticky burnt smell on one of mine and up on investigation it was coming from the coil under the bridge which was burning off the lanyard materials. Primary Heating coil is wrap around the lanyard which pick up the juice and get transfer onto.

I tried to do everything to get rid of the smell and no sucess.

I'm very curious guy so I decided to take it all apart and see how its tick. Look like, metal wick from the Bridge pull the liquid up and lanyard meterials take over and coil heat the liquid and pass throught the Atomizer meterials. that that's how the fine Atomized Vapor is created. I think.

Mine was smelling because the metal Mash Materials were not picking up enough juice to heat and it was burning up the lanyard materials that heater coil wrap around in instead.

I took the materials out and burn it with my lighter and smell is confirmed.

 

[testerjtester]

Thanks, Zmoker - that's really great information, and confirms what I had pretty much suspected.

What do you suppose causes the metal mesh to not pick up juice effectively? Do you think it's a defect in the atomizer, or something else?

All 5 that are in my rotation have had the smell/taste at one point or another... but if I keep them moist, I don't have any problems, although I know it's always there, lurking...

 

[kLAcK]

I am getting this burnt taste as well. After I top off It goes away. But I sure do get a great throat hit and tons of vapor burning that lanyard! By great I mean head-poundingly awful!

I think it might be because my atomizer is clogged. The draw is really hard only after about 3 or 4 days of use. I did a coke bath overnight and it didn't help. After that I tried to burn off any excess crap in 15 second intervals. I think the liquid I'm using (MVS) is the culprit.

I have a separate atomizer that I only use TW and PureSmoker menthol and it is still performing great.

I need to try some other atomizer cleaning method to see if can get this e-cig right again. I'm not going to be able to quit analogs without finding a way to get my e-cig performing consistently and predictable.

 

[kLAcK]

I got some new atomizers and noticed that I do not get this horrible taste when it starts going dry. I get kind of a soapy taste. I immediately top up, and everything is fine again.

I have a new theory about this horrible taste. It simply will not go away after cleaning. I believe it is the inner wick burning, and once it has been scorched badly, wont ever go away. So when the cart goes dry the inner wick begins to burn.

I wonder if the inner wick is coated with something to resist burning (soapy taste), and if you keep abusing it, it burns through and the wick itself begins burning (burt plastic taste).

 

[testerjtester]

I have a new theory about this horrible taste. It simply will not go away after cleaning. I believe it is the inner wick burning, and once it has been scorched badly, wont ever go away.

In my case at least, they've all had it at one time or another, and they've all recovered, without even particularly strenuous cleaning.

I finally figured out how much polyfill to use to restuff my carts properly, and now I'm wondering if the original cart filler material in the cartridges might be contributing to the problem. With a new cart, no problems, but after a while, sooner or later I let the atomizer get too hot once in a while, and after a while the filler gets kind of hard because the fibers get fused together. When this happens, it won't wick juice properly, so it gets stuck in a cycle of topping off, not using all of the juice in the cart, topping off again, and the atomizer gets hotter and cooks the filler more as it runs dry, and when the atomizer runs dry it starts burning the inner wick which brings the funk.

The soapy taste you mentioned is familiar too, and like the nastier taste stays with the atomizer once it starts. But whether through mild cleaning, keeping the atomizer moist by letting it soak in liquid for a while, or just cooking off over time, all of my atomizers eventually recovered.

So far the polyfill from Michael's is holding up pretty well, I don't see it compressing like the original stuff did.

Or, maybe I'm to the point of just making stuff up because I've been trying to figure this out for so long I don't know what's going on...

 

[kinabaloo]

I was getting plasticky burnt smell on one of mine and up on investigation it was coming from the coil under the bridge which was burning off the lanyard materials. Primary Heating coil is wrap around the lanyard which pick up the juice and get transfer onto.

I tried to do everything to get rid of the smell and no sucess.

I'm very curious guy so I decided to take it all apart and see how its tick. Look like, metal wick from the Bridge pull the liquid up and lanyard meterials take over and coil heat the liquid and pass throught the Atomizer meterials. that that's how the fine Atomized Vapor is created. I think.

Mine was smelling because the metal Mash Materials were not picking up enough juice to heat and it was burning up the lanyard materials that heater coil wrap around in instead.

I took the materials out and burn it with my lighter and smell is confirmed.

Very interesting.

You are quite sure that the wick material from inside the coil can be burned and produces a bad smell?

What is the atomizer - model and make?

Seems maybe some atomizers do have this problem after all (but not all).

This is very important to follow up on. That material should be burn-proof!

This is a serious matter so have started a new thread about it: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...ome-coil-wicks-really-do-burn.html#post294955