My way to clean atomizers

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patkin

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I was going to take the plunge cleaning atomizers this morning. Before starting, I looked at each atomizer under strong magnification. What I found both unfavorably surprised but also delighted me. I found pretty big differences in the machining of them which was surprising so I did not want to risk doing them in bulk and mismatching on reassembly. That really threw a monkey wrench in the assembly-line process I'm used to cleaning cartos. But, what I also found was that there is space next to and under the spike bar big enough to fit a very fine gauge needle in. My hubby took insulin for a while (long story) so I happened to have some on hand. I put 91% iso alcohol in a small dish, dropped the fully assembled atty in it, filled the syringe from it and found the open space under the atty spike bar with the needle (these are short, fine, needles).. then flushed. Each time I did this, I dropped the atty back in the alcohol bowl and saw all the bits of ash/gunk settling on the bottom of it. Voila... it worked! When I saw no more, I blew through the atty a couple of time and then stove-piped, tail-piped, whatever one calls it (draw with no tank) with the eroll battery to basically dry burn and evaporate the alcohol. Then I flushed with syringe/alcohol again and did get a few flecks of ash but not a lot. Its acts like a brand new atty now. I like this method because there's no disassembling the atty and no drying time required to start using it as there is using a hot water soak/flush.

I you like the sound of this method and want to try it but you don't have or know anyone who has diabetic syringes, you can get them without a prescription at Walmart. Also, feed stores sell all sizes of syringes very cheaply and I imagine they have fine gauge for birds and other really small animals. Also, you could pull the bar up slightly on one side to accommodate a larger gauge by wedging a small (sewing machine/electronics size) screw driver under it.

Note: This atty was not very dirty. I use clear gold or pink, no more than 30% VG, juice and I cleaned it at the first sign of a tighter draw. I imagine if it was badly gunked up disassembly might be required but cannot say for sure but, frankly, this process was so quick and easy there's really no reason to let the atty go long enough for huge amounts of gunk to build up.

Well, crap, I should have put this on some other atty-cleaning thread but didn't think first.... a "normal" condition for me.:oops:
 

patkin

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I've done the soaking but that , evidently, never got the same amount off that the dry burn did as evidenced by the amount of ash flushed out with the syringe. I've dry burned after soaking before but never realized the pieces of ash were still in there until now although I had read about it. I just thought I never saw any in the bowl due to using low VG/clear juice. That's what I meant when I said I decided to take the plunge and disassemble them to get it out... but, as I said, didn't realize about the machining and since there's no glue... just a machined tight fit... I didn't want to risk mixing parts up and didn't want to use multiple containers to keep them separated. It remains to be seen, now, if this second cleaning with a burn and flush is going to last longer than just the previous soaking I did.

Sooo... the difference is... a way to get the ash/gunk out without disassembling I guess... ashes shoot out the opposite side of the spike bar from the syringe.
 
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telsie

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I've been doing something similar to what the OP describes and had pretty good success with it so far...

I soak the fully assembled atomizer in a dish of vodka for a while (until the vodka gets tinted), then use a blunt tip syringe to inject the vodka through the atty. The blunt tip syringe fits perfectly into the little hole on the battery connector end of the atty, so I inject that way, then flip it over and inject as well as I can into the spike. I end up seeing a lot of black flecks in the vodka, so I know it's doing a decent job of cleaning, even if not the best job.

After flushing it through a few times like that, I rinse/inject with water, blow out the atty, then leave it to dry for a day or so. Some of the atomizers I've done this to have been as good as new again, some not quite as good as new, but definitely improved from how they were before cleaning.
 

patkin

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Thanks... I'll have to look closer. Never noticed an opening on the other end. Sounds like you might be getting more out than I am... or maybe I've had less build up as alcohol or water doesn't change color... sure am going to try what you've said.

edit: yup... didn't look there with the magnifier... thought it was a plug... wonder why it doesn't leak on the battery.
 
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telsie

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The alcohol getting tinted is probably because I use a dark juice. If you use a light juice, I guess that wouldn't happen. As for the hole in the bottom, I do sometimes notice a smudge of liquid on the top of my battery when I pull the atomizer out, so I assume liquid can flow through if it's not wicking properly or the tank gets a little overfilled or something.
 

J_Gundy

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Too funny, I never noticed the hole in the bottom of the atty until yesterday after reading this thread. Went and got my smallest needle, which would not fit in the slots by the spike, started to see how else I might use it.... Ended up doing the same as telsie, injecting vodka through the bottom and then through the spike/wick. So cool that we can all learn from each other. Loving these tips.
 

daisyd

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Just be careful how far you stick the needle in that hole. You don't want to push on the coil with it.

I'm going to be trying this method later today. I've had a dirty atty soaking for a couple of days now. Hopefully the wick won't be stuck to the atty this time. I need to get some wick, but I was hoping to wait until I could order it with one of those new PCC holders with a slot for a spare. Is it a 2 mm wick? I think that's what I've seen posted...
 

patkin

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I guess this is as good a place as any to ask:

I'm dry burning with the eroll now because my attys will not fit into any of my ego c's. Of course, I have to leave it assembled to do that. But I can't for the life of me see how these type A attys fit on the ego c. Even if I could force them, maybe using the cone to do it, doesn't the 510 threading chew on the atty silicone? I've watched a tips youtube where its done forcing it with the cone I guess but don't want to destroy my atty from what would be a tight squeeze for sure on any of my 6 egos and looks impossible on three of them. In fact, I'm seeing, for the first time, that there really are some huge differences in sizes.
 
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