Regular Atty Drippers (A Dying Breed?)

[tvBilly]

... thanks for the reminder to get these--I had forgotten.

("these" = SmartVapes Bridgeless 510 Dripping Atomizers)

I'm interested to hear your take on them once you get one. It's the only dripping atty I have, so I have no way to compare it to anything else (yet). So far (a week or so of vaping), I haven't had it die, or start tasting crappy, or clog up, or leak (hard for a five drop item to leak, but I have a drip shield on that also makes it look nicer, just in case). It's been pretty easy (at least predictable) to figure out how to use it. When first filled, it gurgles for a few hits. Then you get a half dozen hits with no gurgle, but still great taste and vapor. Then you get a hit or two with less taste and less vapor, so you put another 3-5 drops in. Looking at the ceramic cup while you're dripping lets you know when you've put enough in. The one time I overfilled it, nothing leaked out of the air holes into the drip shield, but the amount of juice overpowered the coil enough that it wasn't producing any vapor. I think I took a twisted up tissue and soaked up the juice submerging the coil to fix it. Oh, and thanks to whoever mentioned that the holes in the drip shield go on the mouthpiece end, not the battery end. I had it the wrong way because I figured that having the shield's air holes closer to the atty's air holes made sense. Didn't occur to me that if the atty leaked and the shield holes were at the bottom, juice would leak out of them much sooner. Didn't make any difference in the draw in this case anyway.

And if you don't mind another question, or a link to a thread here if I missed it: I've been changing flavors with the same atty, but since the (mostly light un-sweet fruit) flavors I use mix well, the "overlap" period when you get the taste of both turns out to be a nice thing. Do you clean the atty if it gets clogged or starts tasting bad, or just toss it (only $5). And what's the best way to clean a bridgeless atty like the SmartVapes? I read the cleaning instructions for the HH357, but that seems to be specific to the HH357, and I don't know if it's the right method for this atty.

Thanks for the thread (and the help).

 

[Jerms]

Since you vape light, unsweet juice, you should be able to go a while without cleaning. I'd suggest blowing it out well once a day into a paper towel. If the flavor starts becoming off, an alcohol soak helps, just setting it in some Everclear, high-proof vodka, or 91% Isopropyl.

Or you can do regular alcohol soaks every few days, it's up to you. If the coil is caked in gunk a dry-burn works to restore it, and some do just dry-burns and skip any cleaning. As long as flavor and vapor are fine though, I would stick to just blowing it out to see how long your juice and vaping style can go between maintainance.

Sent from my LGL55C using Tapatalk 2

 

[e-pipeman]

Since you vape light, unsweet juice, you should be able to go a while without cleaning. I'd suggest blowing it out well once a day into a paper towel. If the flavor starts becoming off, an alcohol soak helps, just setting it in some Everclear, high-proof vodka, or 91% Isopropyl.

Or you can do regular alcohol soaks every few days, it's up to you. If the coil is caked in gunk a dry-burn works to restore it, and some do just dry-burns and skip any cleaning. As long as flavor and vapor are fine though, I would stick to just blowing it out to see how long your juice and vaping style can go between maintainance.

Sent from my LGL55C using Tapatalk 2

+1 on blowing out. It is the single most useful technique for keeping atomisers happy imho..

 

[DC2]

+2 on blowing out and +1 on dry burning as needed

 

[tvBilly]

Blowing it out, I presume, means with my mouth, not some rig. Should I always blow from the battery end toward the mouthpiece end (something I read somewhere, maybe the HH357 cleaning instructions), or does direction not really matter with a bridgeless atty? I've been using the same atty for a week or so, without doing anything except dripping more juice into it when it needs it, and all seems fine, but it's easy enough to blow out once a day when it's almost empty before redripping if it will help in the long run. I never leave it "dry" overnight. I have a bottle of 95% ethanol (190 proof Everclear) on hand, so if the inner tube gets sticky and smells on its own, I'll use that.

The coil/wick is definitely getting dark, but it's not gunked and the taste is fine. Is dry burn "on time" just long enough for the coil to reach full brightness, but no longer? Should I do this every now and then "prophylactically", to prevent so much gunk that I have to toss the atty or perform surgery?

Thanks for the tips.

 

[DC2]

Blowing it out, I presume, means with my mouth, not some rig. Should I always blow from the battery end toward the mouthpiece end (something I read somewhere, maybe the HH357 cleaning instructions), or does direction not really matter with a bridgeless atty?

Yes, with your mouth.

You will get different opinions on which end to blow through.
Conventional wisdom is that you should blow through the battery connector end.

I don't do that though, since I just blow it out using the drip tip.
I'm all about making things as simple as possible.

The coil/wick is definitely getting dark, but it's not gunked and the taste is fine. Is dry burn "on time" just long enough for the coil to reach full brightness, but no longer?

This is the method I've been using for the last three plus years...
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/tips-tricks/69834-my-atty-resurrection-method.html

 

[Jerms]

The HH should be blown out from the connector, because there's a seal that could rip and ruin the vaccuum effect for that atty. Every other atty I blow out from the tip end, mainly because it's easier, but either end is fine. Blowing out the atty on a regular basis will help slow down any gunking up of the coil. Dry burning is really only needed when the carbon builds up (which you'll be able to see). As long as you keep the coil wet and don't vape on a dry coil, you may never have to dry burn while vaping clean juices. I preferred the alcohol soaks to dry burns personally, but once carbon is built up, burning is about the only thing to get it off.

The build up on the coil happens when dark, sweet, or otherwise dirty juices are vaped, or when the coil gets hot enough to burn juice on, as what happens if you don't drip early enough. If none of these comes into play, you may be able to vape on an atty for months with nothing more than blowing it out daily.

Sent from my LGL55C using Tapatalk 2

 

[DC2]

The HH should be blown out from the connector, because there's a seal that could rip and ruin the vaccuum effect for that atty.

Other than the HH357 the only reason I can see for NOT blowing from the tip end is because you could blow something down into the mesh.
Maybe blow enough of this (whatever) down into the mesh and eventually the atomizer can start getting clogged.

Whether any of that is possible or not, I still blow through the tip end anyway.
I don't generally notice my atomizers getting more and more clogged, but sometimes I wonder.

 

[billherbst]

This may be a silly question, but you're not saying that you have 80 mods but just use one atty at a time and blow it out when you change juices every ten minutes are you? If so, why?

I don't own 80 mods, but I have enough of them that I can keep ten or twelve flavors available at once without cleaning my atties to switch. I like 510's too, and I'd like to suggest that there are a bunch that are just as trouble-free as those Joyes (more, actually -- no cleaning out the primer before dripping). Joye atomizers are not unique in their ease of use. And, to my buds, Joye 510's are 20% less flavorful than lots of other 510's, including the $6 Empire.

Now to what REALLY caught my eye in your post: seven Vamos. Seven Vamos?!

ycy,

Actually, I have 100 PVs. I keep only about 80 of them loaded and ready to vape. And yes, I am indeed saying that I sometimes use one atty and blow it out when I change juices every ten minutes. Why? Well, one reason is that dripping often tastes better than cartos, clearos, and tanks. As I wrote, I still spend about 3/4 of my vape time reaching for whichever PV-loaded juice I want next. My dripping tends to be reserved for new retail or DIY juices that I haven't yet or don't want to take the time and effort to load into cartos/clearos, label (I'm a stickler about P-Touch labeling everything), and screw onto a dedicated PV. The bottom-line reason, however, is that dripping is currently pleasing me. I don't care why. When dripping stops pleasing me (as it may), I'll stop and do something else.

I'm not sure that the 50 atties I have are Joye or some other brand. Some are, but not all. And not every atty I have performs identically. I used 306s for a long time, but over the past six months I've begun test-vaping some of my stored 510s. If I try one and it isn't great, I toss it back into the stash and grab another. When I find one I like, I use it for months on end until some impulse sends me back to the parts cabinet. Heck, I don't even use 510s on my bottom feeders. On those I use Kanger XL horizontal coil cartos with the filler and center tube pulled out (easy to do) to turn them into de facto atties.

Seven VAMOs? Yeah, I like variable power APVs, and I prefer VAMOs because of the user interface. No multi-clicking of a single button to scroll through a menu list. The last five were purchased for less than $30 each. Vaping is my hobby, and it's about the only thing I spend money on. Heck, it's cheaper than collecting luthier-built guitars, which I did earlier in my life.

As for Empire atties or anything else, I'm not challenging what you like or prefer. My post wasn't meant to defend anything, just to share what I do, however odd the reasons might seem to someone else. That's one of the great things about vaping---the only person we have to please is ourselves.

 

[tvBilly]

This is the method I've been using for the last three plus years...
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/tips-tricks/69834-my-atty-resurrection-method.html

Thanks for the pointer. So I decided to try.

Atty was working just fine, but I was curious, so I followed highping's instructions, though I added one more step by soaking it in Everclear for 10 minutes after the initial hot water step, because I could still smell old e-juice. Though the Everclear took on a little color, this step was probably un-needed, as the smell was still there. One of my "fruity" e-juices is very aromatic, and I use it rarely, adding only one or two drops to the "mix". So I followed the rest of highping's instructions, and the dry burns and rewashing got rid of the lingering smell.

Well, the atty doesn't work significantly better (maybe a little faster to vape now), but I realized that the one very aromatic e-juice had been "contaminating" the taste. When I first refilled the atty after the cleaning I used my daily juice, which is not terribly aromatic, and I realized I hadn't been able to "taste" it properly in a while. So thank you very much for the pointer, as I now know that a quick wash/burn when I want to change flavors is a very worthwhile thing, even if the atty is working just fine.

I took a look at the coil/wick with a microscope before and after, and though the wick is still a bit discolored, there was a very thin layer of goop/carbon/whatever on the coil/wick before the clean, and none at all after. The "before" reminded me of a frozen custard cone after it had been dipped into chocolate; now I can see the individual threads in the wick.

 

[RPadTV]

Actually, I have 100 PVs. I keep only about 80 of them loaded and ready to vape.

The question is, Bill, how many arms do you have? I now suspect that your real last name is Octavius and you have multiple doctorates in numerous sciences. That would explain your excellent RY4 DIY efforts.

Heck, it's cheaper than collecting luthier-built guitars, which I did earlier in my life.

Dang that's awesome. I love guitars too. You get cooler every day man!

 

[billherbst]

The question is, Bill, how many arms do you have? I now suspect that your real last name is Octavius and you have multiple doctorates in numerous sciences. That would explain your excellent RY4 DIY efforts. I love guitars too. You get cooler every day man!

Two arms. Zero doctorates. In fact, six years of college produced no degrees at all (I seem to do better as an auto-didact), although the first three years did keep me out of Vietnam. I was 1A in the lottery, though---down to my last CO appeal and getting ready to go to Canada when a clerical screw-up at my draft board let me off the hook.

What I get every day is older, but I'm glad to enjoy your friendship!

 

[y cherry y]

As for Empire atties or anything else, I'm not challenging what you like or prefer. My post wasn't meant to defend anything, just to share what I do, however odd the reasons might seem to someone else. That's one of the great things about vaping---the only person we have to please is ourselves.

Chacun a son gout. I agree, and I wasn't challenging you -- just suggesting to all the new drippers reading this that there are other atties, and that they might want to have several going at once instead of cleaning the same one between each flavor. But there is no right way to vape, just ones that work for you and ones that don't. I hope everyone finds the ones that do.

 

[billherbst]

Chacun a son gout. I agree, and I wasn't challenging you -- just suggesting to all the new drippers reading this that there are other atties, and that they might want to have several going at once instead of cleaning the same one between each flavor. But there is no right way to vape, just ones that work for you and ones that don't. I hope everyone finds the ones that do.

y cherry y,

Your point is well-taken.

ECF contains threads discussing, often at great length, every kind of vaporizing device in all their pros and cons. This thread is an ideal place for those of us who enjoy dripping, either exclusively or just from time to time, to discuss and highlight all the different pre-made atomizers available in the marketplace. We can sing their praises and sometimes curse their failings, although I think realistically that we'll probably do more of the former than the latter, since the mere act of dripping---with its dutiful devotion to the ritual of feeding the coils---has already seen its share of scorn at the altar of convenience.

 

[tvBilly]

This thread has been a huge help to me, not only for learning the art of the drip atty, but also for getting the most enjoyment from vaping.

 

[Tripster]

After using Super Shorty Cartos for a couple months, I have went back to SV's 34mm Drippin Atties.

 

[ShariR]

Okay, I am done lurking. I have read this entire thread and Mr. Mann has been kind enough to give me a few pointers. I have a 510 2.5ohm bridgeless atty from Sweet-vapes that I bought with my Spinner. I have been using it to test new juices. I am brand new at this - only vaping since this last Saturday. Have not been real successful with the dripping. I seem to get more juice running out the bottom than I am able to vape. Made the mistake of trying out a MBV Cafe Coffee in it and it turned the poor coil black. Rinsed out in hot water and tried some other juices and after a bit I was okay as long as I had my trusty paper towel by my side.

Tried some MBV Extreme Ice in it and hated it and could not get the nasty taste out. So I decided to try Highping's atty resurection burn method. Thought I was okay the first round, did the second rinse and second dry burn on a Spinner set at the 4.8 max. Got the coil orange. Started the pulse, and then nothing. Nada. Coil will no longer light up. Did I blow my only atty? I think it is dead. I tried it on another battery. Nada.

I have been trying so hard since my first vape on Saturday to learn how to drip. Please advise. I need some help. Thank you.

 

[e-pipeman]

Okay, I am done lurking. I have read this entire thread and Mr. Mann has been kind enough to give me a few pointers. I have a 510 2.5ohm bridgeless atty from Sweet-vapes that I bought with my Spinner. I have been using it to test new juices. I am brand new at this - only vaping since this last Saturday. Have not been real successful with the dripping. I seem to get more juice running out the bottom than I am able to vape. Made the mistake of trying out a MBV Cafe Coffee in it and it turned the poor coil black. Rinsed out in hot water and tried some other juices and after a bit I was okay as long as I had my trusty paper towel by my side.

Tried some MBV Extreme Ice in it and hated it and could not get the nasty taste out. So I decided to try Highping's atty resurection burn method. Thought I was okay the first round, did the second rinse and second dry burn on a Spinner set at the 4.8 max. Got the coil orange. Started the pulse, and then nothing. Nada. Coil will no longer light up. Did I blow my only atty? I think it is dead. I tried it on another battery. Nada.

I have been trying so hard since my first vape on Saturday to learn how to drip. Please advise. I need some help. Thank you.

My opinion on this is controversial, but here goes...other than blowing an atty out from the battery end I'm not a believer in cleaning or dry burns. In my experience either of these activities can render the atty useless. I'm not saying that it always will , but it definitely can.

 

[Mr.Mann]

Okay, I am done lurking. I have read this entire thread and Mr. Mann has been kind enough to give me a few pointers. I have a 510 2.5ohm bridgeless atty from Sweet-vapes that I bought with my Spinner. I have been using it to test new juices. I am brand new at this - only vaping since this last Saturday. Have not been real successful with the dripping. I seem to get more juice running out the bottom than I am able to vape. Made the mistake of trying out a MBV Cafe Coffee in it and it turned the poor coil black. Rinsed out in hot water and tried some other juices and after a bit I was okay as long as I had my trusty paper towel by my side.

Tried some MBV Extreme Ice in it and hated it and could not get the nasty taste out. So I decided to try Highping's atty resurection burn method. Thought I was okay the first round, did the second rinse and second dry burn on a Spinner set at the 4.8 max. Got the coil orange. Started the pulse, and then nothing. Nada. Coil will no longer light up. Did I blow my only atty? I think it is dead. I tried it on another battery. Nada.

I have been trying so hard since my first vape on Saturday to learn how to drip. Please advise. I need some help. Thank you.

Hey Shari, I think it may be kaput. How long did you let the coil glow for? I think the problem is that you stressed a dry coil and it popped. Did you hear anything when dry burning? I generally don't dry burn unless I've used a liquid with particulate matter (natural tobaccos), so a blow out usually works the best with the least amount of stress. Now, if using a liquid that adheres to the atty like herpes, then I'll do a soak of sorts, but I generally stay away from those type of juices. If I do dry burn, it's maybe once every blue moon, but I don't dry burn bridge free attys as those tend to be a little less able to bounce back (IME).

I think that type of atty may be best if used in conjunction with an drip shield.

So sorry, but I am going to have to pass the baton to someone else as I have to leave the house right now...

 

[DC2]

Please advise. I need some help. Thank you.

Definitely sounds like you popped the coil.


Dry burning at 4.8 volts is very risky, as you've found out.
I never dry burn any higher than 3.7 volts, and I have never popped a coil in over three years of dry burning.

Also, at 3.7 volts I don't have to worry about "pulsing" either.