The “Cola” Method Taken to Another Level That Works

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exogenesis

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Yes I realise that, but I thought I'd take it as far as that just for that single test.

tbh, I don't fancy boiling strong phos.acid in-place (as a regular method)
not necessarily from the safety point of view,
but because of the likelyhood of metal components/joints dissolving.

Maybe citric would be kinder as a in-place-boil, perhaps I'll go get some.
 

parapo

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Exogenesis - even if piranha worked and didn't eat the coil, it's not something anyone else would dare do ;)

How about heating phosphorc acid in-place? Or a concentrated citric acid solution?

i'll try it ones i get a suitable atomizer.

exogenesis,
i'm surprised,i really thought you would stick to the phosphoric acid method.
 

Sun Vaporer

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Can you tell if it's actually removing the build up? I know a lot of people report atomizers "working like new" even with boiling in plain water.

Lu

Lu is right--there is no way to tell if any of these methods actually is working unless there is a before and after look at the actual coil--otherwise it is just speculation. Verification needs to be done by actual inspection of that coil with any method tried----Sun
 

exogenesis

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Nuck said:
Is the 3% citric acid in the nickel safe acid not enough to be useful?
it's 3% citric, but also 15 to 40 % phosphoric, which almost certainly outweighs the citric
http://www.nucalgon.com/assets/MSDS/English/4287.pdf

parapo, I'll go with a cold soak strong phos.acid, but not boiling/spitting & dissolving the metal parts

frogbmth, you said the liquid darkened,
did you rinse the atomizer before using the cleaning fluid, was the e-liquid you were using dark coloured?
I mean did the colour come from lifting some carbon-gunk,
or could it have been from left over e-liquid in the meshes
 

surbitonPete

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I was looking up the ingredients and found this little bit which seemed interesting in something to do with alkaline builders

Wetting agents (surfactants and synthetic detergents) aid in removing contaminants by lowering the surface tension of the solution, allowing the cleaner to get under the contaminant and displace it from the metal surface. Once the contaminant is in solution, the wetting agent creates an emulsion, preventing redeposition onto the part being cleaned. Surfactants have one end that is soluble in water (hydrophilic) and one end that is soluble in oil (hydrophobic). This allows the surfactant molecule to create an oil-water emulsion that is easily rinsed away. Cleaning principles. Soil is defined as matter out of place. Regardless of the type or category, all cleaners remove contaminants from a substrate by one or more of the following principles:



* solvent action - enables the cleaner to dissolve oils present on the metal surface;
* saponification - chemically converts drawing compounds (organic oils and fatty acids) into water-soluble soaps that can add to cleaning efficiency;
* detergency - surface active agents, or surfactants, reduce the interfacial tension between solution and contaminant, enabling cleaning solutions to better penetrate and displace contaminants from the metal surface;
* emulsification - surfactants in the cleaning solution suspend contaminants in the aqueous phase for easy rinsing; and
* deflocculation - disperses contaminants into very fine particles that are suspended in the cleaning solution. Materials to be removed are classified into two general


I wish I hadn't forgotten tim told me about this stuff
 

Sun Vaporer

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So I want to get this right. So far, is the nu-calgon treatment the only one where we have seen the actual results of the gunk being removed? I know there's been other things mentioned here but I'm sure I missed some posts.

Lu

I think there was a post with the use of heat and Hydrogen Peroxide that showed a clean coil, but I do not remember which thread it was in---Sun
 

exogenesis

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So I want to get this right. So far, is the nu-calgon treatment the only one where we have seen the actual results of the gunk being removed? I know there's been other things mentioned here but I'm sure I missed some posts.

Lu

Boiling-in-place H2O2 seems to work well (as well),
i.e. dripping onto a hot coil - see the H2O2 thread (in this tricks & tips section)
SunV got there before me :)
 

frogbmth

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www.jantyclub.com
frogbmth, you said the liquid darkened,
did you rinse the atomizer before using the cleaning fluid, was the e-liquid you were using dark coloured?
I mean did the colour come from lifting some carbon-gunk,
or could it have been from left over e-liquid in the meshes

I had previously cleaned the atomizer in cola and rinsed, dried, and flushed with pure PG, then vaped with pure PG and didnt find it improved performance. I blew all the PG out with a can of air and tried the Dr Green today as I had it out anyway, now it could be that the previous clean could have loosened some gunk, its hard to say. One use with one atomizer isnt that scientific, but I just wanted to share the experience. Andy
 

ZambucaLu

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The solution dakened so it did something, I also used some to clean my I-Inhale which had got some gunky used shisha stuck hard in it, and it took it right off and made it sparkly clean. If I had a dead atomiser I would pull it apart and try it. If anybody has one they want to send me I can try it out.

Well if you get your hands on a dead one and try it, let us know Frog.

Lu
 

exogenesis

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frgbmth, OK, that sounds quite hopeful then.


Lu is right--there is no way to tell if any of these methods actually is working unless there is a before and after look at the actual coil--otherwise it is just speculation. Verification needs to be done by actual inspection of that coil with any method tried----Sun

But with most models you can't see the coil except by destroying the atomizer,
but there's a model that has the bridge poking right out of the end & you can see
the coil easily, wish I could remember the name of it.
 

Sun Vaporer

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frgbmth, OK, that sounds quite hopeful then.




But with most models you can't see the coil except by destroying the atomizer,
but there's a model that has the bridge poking right out of the end & you can see
the coil easily, wish I could remember the name of it.

Exogenesis--Very true--that is why it costs some cash to do these tests as you have to take many apart to actually see the coil--with the 801, I can many times get them back together --but not with a RN4072 as it is too tight a fit back in the tube and the wires used in the RN4072 are very thin compared to an 801 which is a much better built unit with larger gauge wires and stonger contact points.---Sun
 
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