My method to clean the heating coil of any atomizer.

[rlorange]

Hello everyone. I have sacrificed an 801 atomizer to determine how it works and the best way to clean the coil.

Well this atomizer was far from dead but definately not producing as much vapour. After inspection the coil was found to be encrusted with black carbon residue. I decided to see how long the coil could be heated before it burnt out so I used a usb cord (connected to a power pack) with its lead stripped and the power sub-leads exposed and ready (The black and red ones). This provides 5 volts, more than the 3.6 volts delivered by the battery. I then stuffed one into the central hole of the4 atomizer. I was careful not to let it poke in too far by twisting the copper threads into a compact ball which fit in snugly. The second one I touched onto the outer thread of the atomizer thus completing the circuit.

The atomizer smoked to life and before my very eyes ALL of the encrusted black residue began to burn off! Within 30 seconds I was looking at a bright red hot coil free, clean as a whistle! Surprisingly the coil did not burn out with 5 volts even after a few minutes mind you 30 seconds is all it took to clean and the ash left over just rinsed off in hot water.

So the dreaded 'cleaning cycle' of some batteries has merit. Mind you I doubt the batteries could deliver enough current to do the job properly.

So this is will be my new cleaning regime. I will probably clean them in boiling water, then heat the coils up with my USB cord to burn off the resdiue and then clean again to get rid of the ash. No chemicals no fuss.

So there you have it, I'm sure others know about this but I can tell it is easy to do and not just for the techsperts. just be carefull not to short the leads out when you do.

BTW I only sacrificed the atomizer because I could not resist pulling the whole thing apart.

 

[Sun Vaporer]

rlorange-- Interesting result. I apply 6 volts via battery back all the time and can not get the residue to break off at all---are you using VG or PG?? Thanks--Sun

PS--if you do enough of these, you can in fact reassemble them and use them again--it is all about how you take them apart that allows you to re-assemble them. As for an RN4072, I have had no luck in putting them back into service once dismantled-----Thanks for the report and I agree that the dreaded battery cycle was indeed intended for this purpose but does not have the power and right timing intervals to be effective---Sun

 

[kinabaloo]

I remember discussing this just a few days ago and thought it had merit. But it doesn't seem to work for everyone - damn! Might be the catching it early issue again. After some time perhaps the residue is so hard it cannot be touched by any scheme

It's just like health problems of the body - they creep up unnoticed and when get to far can not be effectively reversed. We need purer juices and a regime for routine cleaning that is effective.

Sun - I agree with your comments but noticed you said you use 6v all the time - so might need to use 8 or 9v to achieve a result. Or perhaps it's just can't work in your case

ps: what is the pH of a typical juice?

Homework: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4670233.html

 

[Sun Vaporer]

I remember discussing this just a few days ago and thought it had merit. But it doesn't seem to work for everyone - damn! Might be the catching it early issue again. After some time perhaps the residue is so hard it cannot be touched by any scheme

This is worth more investigation.

I will not have any atomizers left to vape with--LOL---Sun

 

[kinabaloo]

I think this testing is creating the worldwide shortage ... shhhh

 

[kinabaloo]

BTW, heating the atomizer with H2O2 dripped on is a way of accelerating the burn off as it readily provides the oxygen needed ?

 

[revdrlon]

i think the 6v method is the best so far

 

[surbitonPete]

I have experimented with burning it off with a variable voltage 0-12 v dc power supply that I have and all I managed to do was turn it a grey colour and bake it on even harder.

 

[exogenesis]

The way you said that, made me chuckle,
I think it was your air of fatalism.

Damn atomiser just wont get clean, scrub..scrub...scrub, aaaargh

 

[surbitonPete]

The way you said that, made me chuckle,
I think it was your air of fatalism.

Damn atomiser just wont get clean, scrub..scrub...scrub, aaaargh

Lol Exo....I haven't given up but I certainly am running out of ideas!

 

[Sun Vaporer]

I have experimented with burning it off with a variable voltage 0-12 v dc power supply that I have and all I managed to do was turn it a grey colour and bake it on even harder.

Pete--that is exactly what I got as well--nothing but a grey and more hardened build up--so burning off for me just does not work for me---Sun

 

[surbitonPete]

Pete--that is exactly what I got as well--nothing but a grey and more hardened build up--so burning off for me just does not work for me---Sun

When people report that this or that idea has worked I get all excited .....but the black gunk on MY atomizers defies everything sun......lol. .......but at least you cheer me up when you tell me it's the same for you.......It would be horrible to be the only one.....lol.

 

[rlorange]

Mine was not too encrusted and was still getting hot and making vapour which may have helped. Once glowing red hot could watch the crust start to glow also and then burn away. After several cycles of heating the black crust was now a grey-white ash. This would not blow away but washed away after 20min in Boiling water with 50% vinegar.

I think you have to use catch them early for this method to work as well as I have found, I didn't realise that long before atomizers are obviously dying crust is building up, mine was after three weeks and was only just starting to make less/inconsistent vapour.

I opted for the 5volts to be on the safe side and a power pack is best because a battery pack is not well catered for the sort of current drain that the heating coil has. Unless that is you used a beefy battery.

I will be using my method every three weeks and will report how well it does over time and repeated cycles.

 

[kinabaloo]

You might in fact find as rlorange said, and i have noted before, that in fact the deposit is weakened when turned grey and will wash in a vinegar bath (no need to boil but hot ok) or by simply starting to vape on it again.

 

[rlorange]

That's exactly what I found Kinabaloo, my ash washed out with 50/50 vinegar and water.

I am going to try caustic soda when it needs another clean. Before everyone freaks out with such a strong chemical remember that Caustic soda in water is very strong but 'clean' alkaline solution of ions meaning that it will rinse off very well as there are no oil residues or surfactants AND more importantly you can 100% neutralise any traces remaining from a thorough rinse using harmless white vinegar, this will react to produce another harmless salt, sodium acetate which will dissolve away.

The worry is glues and insulation and the paint but not the metal (acids attack metal not alkali). Not to worry if it strips the paint as a shiny stainless steal atomizer will look better!

 

[exogenesis]

I've tried hot strong caustic & found it gives a hard draw after,
I'm fairly sure it leaves lots of mineral deposits in the metal mesh,
pehaps washing out with distilled/deionised (rather than tap) water would prevent that?

 

[kinabaloo]

Thinking about this, the color change indicates that something has happened. It could in theory be a hardening but evidence suggests a weakening. Strong heating could burn off any carbon as CO2 leavng the rest; this can be seen by passing a high current through a graphite pencil lead. It explains the color change nicely. But the same color change is seen with acids, where the likely action would be on inorganic minerals and not on carbon - strange. But some oxides are black and would account for both cases, so that is my suggestion to what the acids and heating atomiser to red-hot remove - some kind of oxide.

 

[iam0z]

folks PLEASE as i have been following this for quite some time i keep asking myself the same thing why haven't they tried to identify what they are trying to dissolve and go forward from there? Is it carbon if not what else could it be? .............. I am a machinist and i can identify certain metals from each other by the color their sparks make when you use a grinder on them and seems to me i also remember a chemistry teacher telling me in high school chemicals can be identified by the color the flame turns when the substance is immersed in a flame ya know? like sulfur will turn the flame yellow and so on. So identify what you want to disolve and then find a safe chemical that reacts with it if at all possible ok? then we go from there

 

[iam0z]

now i wouldn't mind helping you folks with this but i have two atomizers and they work and they better at least a year cause that's the warranty on them. when they give up on me they'll go back for replacement if the warranty is not expired. oh and they only cost 6 dollars a piece not to bad a deal eh? even though i have been reading alot and i have ordered spares and they are on their way

 

[surbitonPete]

I know what the black gunk is on the coils.......it's going to be the new radiation sheilding for then next mars probe.