Reason behind high resistance on a dead atomizer?

[Majestic]

Has anyone figured out why the resistance jumps on a dead atomizer? I've dissected a few dead attys and can't figure out the reason for the huge jump in resistance. On the ones I have taken apart, the coil is covered in crud, but the wire is completely intact with no breaks. Is it possible that age causes the wire to lose conductivity or do the solder joints with-in the atty weaken resulting in a corrosion build up in the joint.

 

[jim420]

Has anyone figured out why the resistance jumps on a dead atomizer? I've dissected a few dead attys and can't figure out the reason for the huge jump in resistance. On the ones I have taken apart, the coil is covered in crud, but the wire is completely intact with no breaks. Is it possible that age causes the wire to lose conductivity or do the solder joints with-in the atty weaken resulting in a corrosion build up in the joint.

I doubt that the solder joints would weaken, I would certainly hope they would use silver solder which is more corrosion resistant than even the NiCr of the element. If they are using lead/tin solder, I sure don't want to be heating it up and inhaling it.

 

[wanderlust]

Could it be heat buildup causing the resistance since the crud won't let the heat escape?

 

[Majestic]

I doubt that the solder joints would weaken, I would certainly hope they would use silver solder which is more corrosion resistant than even the NiCr of the element. If they are using lead/tin solder, I sure don't want to be heating it up and inhaling it.

I've had a previous problem with an atty dying due to a cold solder joint so that made me wonder.

The atty I am currently playing around with tested high for resistance. I let in soak for a day in hot water with detergent and then air dried over night. This morning the resistance dropped to 3 ohms so I primed it and gave it a try. It produced some weak vapor so I added another couple of drops of juice and she went cold again. When tested, the resistance went high to 1k+. I've re-washed it and will try an Ohms test again tomorrow morning.

 

[Majestic]

Could it be heat buildup causing the resistance since the crud won't let the heat escape?

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm getting the same results on attys that just died or have been dead for a while. Be nice if they made these things with a coil the consumer could plug in.

 

[surbitonPete]

When you say high resistance ..how many ohms are you talking about?

 

[Majestic]

When you say high resistance ..how many ohms are you talking about?

Over 1k or 1000+

 

[surbitonPete]

The only reason I can possibly imagine for a higher resistance but still having a circuit is if the coil has broken but the gunk build up is completing the circuit but I might be wrong.

 

[Sun Vaporer]

The only reason I can possibly imagine for a higher resistance but still having a circuit is if the coil has broken but the gunk build up is completing the circuit but I might be wrong.

Pete --that is exactly what I have found--Sun

 

[surbitonPete]

Pete --that is exactly what I have found--Sun

Hi Sun.....thanks for the confirmation.. it was the only thing I could think of that made any sense.

 

[Jim Davis]

The only reason I can possibly imagine for a higher resistance but still having a circuit is if the coil has broken but the gunk build up is completing the circuit but I might be wrong.

That's accurate. The coil breaks, but the crud is still covering the coil. You're reading the resistance of the juice soaked crud.

 

[Majestic]

The only reason I can possibly imagine for a higher resistance but still having a circuit is if the coil has broken but the gunk build up is completing the circuit but I might be wrong.

You're probably correct. Upon dissection I was finding the coil wire intact, but that doesn't rule out the possibility of the coil wire breaking off the terminal end which I may have missed.

 

[kinabaloo]

Could somebody measure the resistance of 5mm of a typcal juice (with the tip of the measuring electrode tips just dipping in) and also of 5mm of dried gunk?

 

[four2109]

I'm reading about 1000 Ohms being crud. Does 35 mean that I have a break and just a little crud? Or might there be hope?

 

[openthewell]

Question is: What DVOM are you using to make these measurements? I don't see how some "gunk" would have a such a low resistance. I realize that 1kohm sounds like a lot, buts really not in the grand scheme of resistance.

The accuracy of your measuring device really matters when it comes to resistance. Electrical resistance can be a useless test if proper equipment and procedures aren't used.

 

[breakfastchef]

A typical penstyle atomizer run about 3.5 ohms. I currently have a dying penstyle atomizer with a resistance reading of 75 ohms. It produces little vapor yet can burn cherry red if I give it a good high-voltage blast. I have tried various cleaning methods to no avail. I can only conclude that the increasing resistance is, in fact, a physical problem that cannot be corrected. This atty has been retired and dedicated to lab experiements.

 

[four2109]

The accuracy of your measuring device really matters when it comes to resistance.

HA, Accuracy of eyeballs has more to do with it. Checked again, it's 37K, duh. Thanks for your trouble. Guess I have threads for a 510 atty now. Now off to buy stronger reading glasses!