Rda insulators

[Arylcyclo]

Hey everyone! This is my first post on this forum or any forum for that matter, so if I posted in the wrong section I apologize in advance. Anyways, I have been using RDAs sub ohm for a couple months now and I am using a Patriot rda clone. Well earlier today my spring broke on my mech mod (did not realize this at the time), and it was apparently firing when I placed my mod down standing up (I fixed this problem by taking out the spring and building a custom/temporary spring out of 26g kanthal). So I placed my mod down and it had to have been firing for about 2 minutes and I did not realize this until I lifted the thing up and it was very hot. I knew this could not have been due to vaping at .5ohms, since I use sony vtcs 5s, Anyways I digress, but my main worry is if I may have melted the insulators during this "accidentally long dry fire" and if I should just toss this RDA and try another one out. I am very worried that I may be inhaling toxins if I did melt the insulators on the inside. Also, how long do you all keep your RDAs for generally before replacing or upgrading. Any information on this matter would be greatly appreciated, as my knowledge of modding only goes as far as building wicks/coils and knowing my ohms and battery combo. Once again sorry if this was off topic or posted in the wrong place, I tried to post in RDA, but I realized I can only post here. Thanks everyone any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Bjorhyn]

Can you post a few pictures of what your build deck looks like now?
May help with some visual diagnostics.

I'm imagining the wick(s) were completely torched, but I'm not sure how much heat could have been transferred into the insulator in a few minutes.

 

[Arylcyclo]

I am not sure if pictures would help being that the coil was fine, and I did replace the cotton right away, which by the way was completely torched. I just heard from some other modders that if you dry burn the coil past it lighting up really quick, that the insulators on the inside will start to melt away. Is that a myth or just something really hard to do and people just try to not dry burn much in between wicks (dry burning coil) to prevent the insulators from melting away. Sorry I am not very knowledgeable on this particular matter. I do appreciate the reply however!

 

[K_Tech]

Yes, insulators can melt and burn, but depending on the material and the temperatures produced in the atomizer, you may be fine. If you are still getting good resistance readings when you build a coil, they should still be okay enough to use.

Most materials only off-gas hazardous compounds while they are burning or in extreme temperatures. If you clean the atomizer and it doesn't smell like a burned car stereo, I would be fine with continuing to vape on it.

The only atomizers I've tossed are the ones that are broken, lol.

Another thing, you may have softened the insulator, again depending on temperature, but if it didn't get hot enough to liquefy and distort, then it's quite possible it's in like-new condition without any major deformation.

 

[Arylcyclo]

Thank you! Very happy I came across this forum. I assume that dry burning in between coils is not a problem then, as long as I dont sit there and fire the thing for minutes at a time. Also can insulators be replaced, or would it just be a better idea to buy a new rda if it came down to that?

 

[K_Tech]

Thank you! Very happy I came across this forum. I assume that dry burning in between coils is not a problem then, as long as I dont sit there and fire the thing for minutes at a time. Also can insulators be replaced, or would it just be a better idea to buy a new rda if it came down to that?

No, dry burning is not an issue. I'd be willing to bet just about everyone that rebuilds uses this method to burn the "crud" off a coil before rewicking.

Yes, insulators can be replaced, but they're not available for every one as an aftermarket/clone part, and sometimes, if you own a clone, it would be cheaper to buy a replacement atomizer as opposed to buying an original part from the manufacturer.

There are some vendors that carry repair kits and parts, Kidneypuncher.com is one that comes to mind.