Ultrasonic Jewelry Cleaner for cleaning an atty?

[Satyr]

Has anyone tried this yet? I found some online for around $20. I'm thinking this would be a good investment and probably save a lot of money on attys in the future. The reason I say this is that I've had my M401 for a little over 4 weeks now and have recently had one atty die on me. Since I was sure it was dead, I tore it apart to check out the design. The heating element is simply a small peice of porcelain with a thin wire wrapped around it. I soon discovered why it stopped producing vapor. It had a heavy layer of charred, black carbon that had built up on the thing. It came off fairly easily. I even cleaned it in alcohol and shook it up good before I tore it apart. If that wasn't good enough, I'm wondering if something like an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner would have broken that stuff loose and saved it.

Seems like this could be a cheap investment that could save a lot of money over the long haul.

Thoughts?

 

[Randyrtx]

I've been considering this myself, can you post a link?

I've had my eye out for one locally, but no luck yet.

 

[Satyr]

Here's one place: Ultrasonic Watch Jewelry Diamond cleaner US$22.58

 

[pbusardo]

I think my wife has one already. Another question; what liquid would be the best to put in it with your atty?

 

[Satyr]

I think my wife has one already. Another question; what liquid would be the best to put in it with your atty?

I'd use some really cheap vodka. It's not like you'd need a harsh solvent. I would think the ultrasonic waves would do their job on an atty fairly well. Hell, perhaps warm water alone would work.

 

[Randyrtx]

I use Everclear currently for soaking. It's relatively cheap, 95% alcohol, and leaves no residue. No need for a rinse afterwards, just let it dry out. Alchohol (not necessarily grain alcohol) is commonly used as a cleaner for electronics assembly work to remove flux and other contamination from the assembly process. With the additional agitation of a sonic cleaner, it should do a good job of removing built up gunk from an atty.

 

[Darkest]

I was going to try this months ago, then life got in the way and I forgot all about it. I would really love to know how well that works...

 

[Satyr]

OK, I stopped by K-Mart on my way to the grocery store to see what they had. They only had one El Cheapo ultrasonic jewelry cleaner that runs on 4 AAA batteries and is rather small. I bought it anyway just to try it out.

For the solution, I used 1 part 91% pure isopropyl alcohol and 3 parts seltzer water. I blew as much e-juice out of my addy as possible before I dropped it in. I let it run for about 10 minutes or so. I pulled the atty out and let the solution sit for about a minute. I noticed quite a few black particulates had settled to the bottom. I rinsed the atty off (I have an instant 190 degree hot water tap on my sink) to make sure there was nothing left behind from the alcohol. I blew the water out and let the atty sit for about 30 minutes on a paper towel. Next, I connected the atty to the battery and gave it a dry run to make sure everything had evaporated, primed it, and started puffing away. It took a few puffs to get the e-liquid worked in, but it is working as good as new now.

Again, I did this with my M40* atty. Now that I know this works, I'll probably invest in a slightly better ultrasonic cleaner.

 

[Webby]

OK, I stopped by K-Mart on my way to the grocery store to see what they had. They only had one El Cheapo ultrasonic jewelry cleaner that runs on 4 AAA batteries and is rather small. I bought it anyway just to try it out.

I asked my next door neighbor (a jeweler) and he's going to take a few returned attys (I have jars of the daggum things) and try them on his professional machine. I also asked him what he might charge someone who came in with a pocket full and wanted them cleaned (think - dropping off shirts at a dry cleaner) and he said it would probably be free or about $5 regardless of how many you had.

Assuming his gear does a better job, and you had a half dozen or more, it might be worth it to visit your local jeweler every now and then. I'll let you know how the testing goes.

NOW - if we can just find an electrician with a cheap way to recondition batts we might be able to become the Sanford and Son of refurbished PVs!

 

[solonguniverse]

I asked my next door neighbor (a jeweler) and he's going to take a few returned attys (I have jars of the daggum things) and try them on his professional machine. I also asked him what he might charge someone who came in with a pocket full and wanted them cleaned (think - dropping off shirts at a dry cleaner) and he said it would probably be free or about $5 regardless of how many you had.

Assuming his gear does a better job, and you had a half dozen or more, it might be worth it to visit your local jeweler every now and then. I'll let you know how the testing goes.

NOW - if we can just find an electrician with a cheap way to recondition batts we might be able to become the Sanford and Son of refurbished PVs!

I would love to hear how this works out.

 

[Satyr]

I asked my next door neighbor (a jeweler) and he's going to take a few returned attys (I have jars of the daggum things) and try them on his professional machine. I also asked him what he might charge someone who came in with a pocket full and wanted them cleaned (think - dropping off shirts at a dry cleaner) and he said it would probably be free or about $5 regardless of how many you had.

Assuming his gear does a better job, and you had a half dozen or more, it might be worth it to visit your local jeweler every now and then. I'll let you know how the testing goes.

NOW - if we can just find an electrician with a cheap way to recondition batts we might be able to become the Sanford and Son of refurbished PVs!

True, but I'd be leary of the jewelry cleaning solution on an atty. As it is, even with the process I described above, I could still smell a tad of the previous e-juice lingering on the atty. Maybe with a better machine, longer run time, and better rinsing it would be ok. But, deffinitely let me know how it works out for you.

 

[Webby]

True, but I'd be leary of the jewelry cleaning solution on an atty.

Good point - He's a good friend and fellow vaper so I'll ask about the solution. I like your alcohol cleaning recipe and have noticed that his machine is more like a paint mixer that seems to vibrate a little petri dish looking container at a rate that probably makes dogs howl. I would guess for our experiment, he'd use a fresh clean "dish" but I'll voice that concern.

I've offered to bring by the beer if he'd let me play with all the equipment so we should have some interesting results tomorrow night

 

[dawghouse]

I have a quality ultrasonic cleaner. I've been using it with quality vodka (keeps me from consuming it.) Everclear is probably a better choice than rubbing alcohol, just in case you fail to get 100% of it rinsed out of it. Not good stuff to ingest. If Everclear is unavailable to you (it's not available in my state...so I'd have to drive out of state to get it,) and you choose to use vodka, a cheap vodka usually contains various particulates which may, or may not, collect on your atomizer (pure supposition on my part.)

I'd say the ultrasonic cleaner works well if the atomizer is not deep like the penstyles...it doesn't seem...in my experience to work all that great. It does seem to work quite well on my 501.

Some say vinegar works well...or a mix. Some have very good luck with a dry burn and some say that's a recipe for a dead atomizer. On my pipe that was the only solution and I now have no working pipe atomizers. Worked great for a while...a short while in my case.

Seems everyone has different experiences. If you want to get rid of taste, you may just need to soak it in a mix of water and some baking soda and rinse well.

 

[stevo_tdo]

I asked my next door neighbor (a jeweler) and he's going to take a few returned attys (I have jars of the daggum things) and try them on his professional machine. I also asked him what he might charge someone who came in with a pocket full and wanted them cleaned (think - dropping off shirts at a dry cleaner) and he said it would probably be free or about $5 regardless of how many you had.

Assuming his gear does a better job, and you had a half dozen or more, it might be worth it to visit your local jeweler every now and then. I'll let you know how the testing goes.

NOW - if we can just find an electrician with a cheap way to recondition batts we might be able to become the Sanford and Son of refurbished PVs!

Wouldn't that be the day, huh? A day when a supplier could start selling refurbished e-cig kits. Hell, they sell everything else refurbished. That would be a good day. It would also mean that the new e-cigs would be of better quality and be able to be reliably fixed. You can't fix crap, they would have to be better quality to start out with.

 

[Webby]

Wouldn't that be the day, huh? A day when a supplier could start selling refurbished e-cig kits. Hell, they sell everything else refurbished. That would be a good day. It would also mean that the new e-cigs would be of better quality and be able to be reliably fixed. You can't fix crap, they would have to be better quality to start out with.

Hey Stevo - per a recent post we were both on, I'd just be happy to breathe life back into some of the returned batts I have lying around. Most are burned up manuals (let GO of the button, people!)

Attys are temperamental when they're new, much less after they've had a few bad nights on the town. Most are like taking a hamster to the vet.

 

[stevo_tdo]

They have those battery checkers at the local auto parts stores. You know the ones that actually put them under a load and run diagnostics. One of those would be nice for ecigs, various battery adapters and a setting for auto and manual batteries. Basically a simple readout saying whats messed up and if it's fixable.

 

[dawghouse]

I'll bet people would spend 3 times as much for an atty if it was built to last and you could get local warranty service or at least without having to ship it to the orient.

 

[solonguniverse]

They have those battery checkers at the local auto parts stores. You know the ones that actually put them under a load and run diagnostics. One of those would be nice for ecigs, various battery adapters and a setting for auto and manual batteries. Basically a simple readout saying whats messed up and if it's fixable.

Just use a voltmeter. You can tell whether or not a battery/atomizer are working as well as they were new and whether they're beyond repair.

 

[stevo_tdo]

Yes but there is a difference between a battery under load versus not loaded. I was a small engine mechanic by trade. Many times a customer would bring in a product and tell me that the starter was bad (don't you love that, the consumer telling you what is wrong with no formal training) anyways, it kind of stumped me at first. The battery would read at 12 volts across the post with a volt meter. But the starter would just click when you turned the ignition. You would jump the starter solenoid and same problem. Change the starter and same problem. The battery would read good but when under load the battery fault would become apparent and drop down to around 3 volts or so. Definitely not enough to start a 12 vdc starter. Usually from degradation of the battery acid, rust, or being at a low level of acid for an extended period of time. I know i'm talking lead/acid versus lithium ion, but there has to be some similarities

 

[pcore]

This is very interesting, especially as I have been reading that most atty failures are due to deposit buildup on the element. Please let us know the results of your experiment Webby, although maybe once an atty stops working it is too late to save?