New atomizer cleaning method (Contrex). worked AWESOME!

[vaporize me]

Hey Pete.. What is that cold heat dohicky thingy there you have on your sig? Is that from a soldering pen?

 

[kinabaloo]

Those are exactly the same thoughts I am having.

Hi Pete - Perhaps you can add a link to your device in the signature? Might not be enough allowed characters though

 

[ShMiGgY]

It's great that you achieved good results. Sounds like you used the high-power utrasonic meachine again (which obviously makes sense if you have one). But it doesn't tell us if the Contrex can work without the ultrasonics - or if the utrasonics would work with just water and no Contrex. Remember that this is a powerful laboratory ultrasonic bath, not one of the home-use ones. Can you say what power it is (power consumption would give a ballpark idea).

Absolutely right, and i completely understand. I have another fouled atty (wonder how it is my wife can foul them so much quicker than I,, i guess technique?? hmmm.., wonder if that could be it, hmmmmm..

sorry for the rant, anyways, i have two that i could do some baselines. I'll try just a contrex bath (i'll give it an overnight for starters), and i'll do another in just DI water but using the sonicator... I'm not sure if the jewelry cleaners can hit this level, i'll check up on it's power output at work, it just always sits there and we never really give it two thoughts (until now that is,, evil grin)...

I'll keep you guys posted. I'm thouroughly impressed with how well its working for me. I had one that was stone cold, and now it has good flavor and a good gargle prime hit too... Thought it was toast... It's very easy to tell which ones i haven't cleaned b/c after the process, the things shine like they were polished...

I'll see if i can get a home version working...

 

[Idahojo]

If your home brew method doesn't work you could make a killing cleaning other people's attys. Maybe quit your day job. LOL

 

[surbitonPete]

Hey Pete.. What is that cold heat dohicky thingy there you have on your sig? Is that from a soldering pen?

Yes it's a modded cold heat soldering iron.....it's a brilliant thing to convert into an e-cig.

 

[kinabaloo]

Yes it's a modded cold heat soldering iron.....it's a brilliant thing to convert into an e-cig.

But that name, 'Cold Heat', just doesn't do it for me

 

[vaporize me]

Would this be the stuff?

https://www1.fishersci.com/wps/port...ut=true&brCategoryId=55331&hlpi=y&fromSearch=

Also found this contact lens cleaner. Good size for attys? What does the hz mean, the higher the better?

Sharpertek Ultrasonic Cleaners & Ultrasonic and Steam Jewelry Cleaners

Is this the Contrex that you are referring to?

Does anybody know anything about ultrasonic cleaners?

I found this ultrasonic contact lens cleaner that is rated at 120000-150000 hz while the others I've seen are rated at 42000 hz. Does the higher hz make a difference?

 

[kinabaloo]

Is this the Contrex that you are referring to?

Does anybody know anything about ultrasonic cleaners?

I found this ultrasonic contact lens cleaner that is rated at 120000-150000 hz while the others I've seen are rated at 42000 hz. Does the higher hz make a difference?

Hz means cycles per second. 20,000 is the highest frequency a human can ear. 42,000 is a common digital sampling frequency (CDs).

Amplitude might suffer at higher frequencies. Not sure what would work best; probably depends on the surface to clean and what's on it.

I have seen very cheap usb models but may be too weak to do much with an atty (especially with the coil inside a tube (so care re orientation).

 

[ShMiGgY]

If your home brew method doesn't work you could make a killing cleaning other people's attys. Maybe quit your day job. LOL

my pricing will be very fair . Just have to explain to my boss what that box full of 1000 little metal thingy's are. He'd be cool with it, if i cut him in,

 

[ShMiGgY]

Sorry vaporize me

didn't mean to pass over your post. the contrex i used (i checked it today), was Contrex CA.. I'd love to know if the other varities would work better..

If i were you i'd hold off til i can see if it's more the contrex, or the ultrasonic cleaner.. i promise i'll post back very soon.. I'd hate for someone to spend any money and it not work out...

 

[Paradiso]

Thank you for this info. It seems that atomizers are the Achilles heel of e-cigs right now. A good method of prolonging their lives would be a real boon for us.

 

[kinabaloo]

Thank you for this info. It seems that atomizers are the Achilles heel of e-cigs right now. A good method of prolonging their lives would be a real boon for us.

The Archilles Heel is actually the juices leaving deposits in the atomizer.

 

[walkstheplanes]

Ha! Where did you get the red tea?

I haven't checked the thread to see if anyone else has answered you yet, but bestecig.com sells Red Tea.

 

[ShMiGgY]

i gotta add that at the time, i was really liking the red tea.

Now however, my atomizer rotation has overlapped my flavor rotation, and now everything i smoke out of that atty is red tea, even if i flood it with a thick, dark juice like chocolate.

be prepared to dedicate an atomizer to it... tired of tasting it when i want to taste something else (although its a great flavor, just... weird b/c it's light but man does it linger).... I think i need to clean that one., lol.

 

[kinabaloo]

i gotta add that at the time, i was really liking the red tea.

Now however, my atomizer rotation has overlapped my flavor rotation, and now everything i smoke out of that atty is red tea, even if i flood it with a thick, dark juice like chocolate.

be prepared to dedicate an atomizer to it... tired of tasting it when i want to taste something else (although its a great flavor, just... weird b/c it's light but man does it linger).... I think i need to clean that one., lol.

The tannin in tea is a resin which is why tea stains are hard to remove; it is the tannin that gives tea it's bitter taste and so I'm not surprised it sticks around.

Good tip.

 

[ShMiGgY]

would they use real tea flavor for the juice??, i was always under the impression these were artificial flavors, but, hell, i guess you never know and i'm sure some can't be reproduced.

You must be right, b/c the red tea stays around a while. It's not my favorite. That would be 555 (the nutty version) followed by coffee,,, it would still be at the bottom somewhere on my list, but excellent for a change and it is a very true flavor (tastes like sweet tea).

I brought some of the goods home for experimentation, will report back. Happy to report all atomizers are still behaving quite nice (all working like new with that gargle/prime hit i love, and hate when it stops)... haven't needed to order any new ones since discovering this method... actually have only been using the first two of the cleaned batch, all the other us/contrex cleaned attys are stored away b/c i haven't needed to break out any as backups yet. So this method does seem to be long lasting..

 

[ShMiGgY]

well,,

i just found the ultrasonic bath i use at work and come to find that it costs $2,000.. So, that's the bad news.. :-(

BUT, the good news is that i also see that it runs at 40kHZ. So the home versions that run at 40,000 hz should be similar at least in their frequency.. I'm not sure about the rest of the equation though.

I would think that a 40,000 would clean better than a, say 120,000, b/c I imagine it would be a bigger jump from peak to trough. basically it would be a bit more agitating than something with a higher frequency. From what i've seen, 40k would be the sweet spot.

just wanted to put it out there. I found a jewelry cleaner online for 35 bucks. i can't swear it would work as well, but it was the same frequency!