Why am I an Atty Killer?

[starfi5ve]

I have been vaping for almost 2 months now, and am so glad to be away from analogs. I want it to stay that way, but I am afraid I will kill "All" my attys before I can get replacements. I use a Joye 510 and in 2 Months have gone through 4 of them. I have to figure out why before I get brought up on charges.. I think it may be because of me using DIY E-juice? I have a few various bottles from a couple places, but I like lots of variety. So I have been trying my hand at the DIY methods. I have a bottle of VG ( I have had this from previously making soaps and bath and Body products and such), and a bottle of 36 mg PG ( purch. from DIY), I have many flavors of the Lorann flavorings, our local pharmacy sells them for .89. My VG is much thicker than the PG. But I take small 10 ml or 6 Ml bottles, and usually will add equal drops of the VG &PG, then just add drops of the flavorings until I get a taste I want. I generally will just add 3 or 4 drops to carts that have lost their oomph. I then found I wasn't getting much more than 2 or 3 good draws. So then starting pulling the fiber out a little, adding some on it, then pushing down and adding a couple more drops. Im scared to really drip much right into the atty to much as I am afraid of killing another atty. I occasionally will pour a small amount of Isoprophl Alcohol into the atty making sure it drips out the battery end, or will blow into it making sure the bottom hole or the two little holes on the sides are open. There is no pattern that my atty dies after I have done this or not. Usually one will dies, I try reviving it by cleaning it and then the other one I had. The broken ones have never come back.
I have a pass thru, but only use it plugged into my laptop, not an electrical charger. I also have ones with manual batteries.
Im sorry for the long post, but Im hoping some vetran vapor may be able to figure out what I am doing wrong??
Thank you so much!!
Cherie

 

[CBB]

Your flavors may be your problem. Check out this chart of Lorann flavors, any listed in red contain oil which is bad for your atty and your lungs. http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/28975-lorann-flavors-color-coded-complete-ingredients-list.html

 

[AttyPops]

Some of the LorAnn flavors are particularly hard on atties. Some may even contain sugars... some have coloring. Like the caramel for instance. One of the best caramel flavors out there... but an atty clogger. It has caramel color too If I use it at all, it's very dilute. Like CBB said... there are some that are to be avoided per that post.

What brand/ohm atty did you say you were using on what voltage/device? (Oh, and if you press [Enter] you get paragraphs.......I can read those. wink wink.) Sorry if you said it.

Blow out the atty once or twice a day. You can also run warm water through it. Keeping it clean avoids overheating it. Heat = wire breakage. There are many threads and methods about cleaning atties. Try just blowing them out 1st, water, or 90%+isopropyl alcohol at least once per day. That'll help avoid clogging issues.

Atties only last a month for many. Some last forever, but performance degrades. I plan on one per month, and have spares.

I also drip 100% of the time, right into the atty. Once you get used to that, it is easy to keep the coil wet and flavor clean. No carts to let it get dry and overheat.

 

[dormouse]

And are you sure your VG is pure vegetable VG? Not all glycerin is 100% vegetable. Some have glycerin from animal fat.

Also what brand and ohms are you attys? And do you actually clean your attys periodically? And I don't mean one drop of alcohol makes it through the atty

 

[JonB]

Dark liquids clog mine up, so I stick to light colored liquid. I don't blow mine out everyday, but every other day anyway. Then once a week or so they go through a 90%alcohol bath for 15 minutes then dry over night. Then dry burn which gets all the burnt on crud off.

I am still using my original atomizers from early Feb. I have 3 in rotation, usually 2 on a battery most of the time.

I have 4 new ones ready to go if I need them.

 

[DC2]

If the atomizer heats up at all, even just a tiny bit, then it isn't really dead.

If that is the case you might want to try using this method to revive them...
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/tips-tricks/69834-my-atty-resurrection-method.html

Just make sure to follow all the steps, as each is important.

 

[starfi5ve]

OK, CBB - Yes, I had seen that chart before and knew not to use flavors that ended with the word OIL, but this one is really informative, thank you

AttyPops - I am using the Joye 510s.. not sure what OHM means (sorry) but i use the manual battery that comes with it,, and the PT has a little blue battery in a little box, then it plugs into my laptop..

(Now, I just came home, took the atty & cart from my battery, put it on the PT, and now IT quit working.. further testing is now the PT isnt working because it works when I put back on the manual Btty. ) It looks like a tiny little peice of wire is sticking out (fray) of the bottom on the PT? very tiny, so hard to tell?

Doormouse - no, I am not sure it is 100%, I will have to check.. As far as cleaning, I have only been vaping a total of just under 2 months. But I have a little cup that has IA and I dunk it hold it up as it runs out the bottom, and repeat a couple times. Then blow it out, both ends, then let it sit for couple hours.

JonB - I did not know that about the dark liquids, although I dont use very much. But I am not clear on how much is too much?

DC2-- So I have one that doesnt get hot at all, I might be able to do this and bring it back? Or should all this be done before they go out?

They last one that quit, I took it off the PT (working fine), screwed it onto manual Btty, and it did nothing.. Tried two diff batteries and nothing..

Thank you all for your advice, I really feel like a goofball here..

(I found the enter button)
Cherie

 

[DynamiteShikoku]

dirty air, dragging long hits is what i learned from vaping (my awesome LR mega atomiser cashed out in 2 months from incorrect vaping). You smoke it like a cigarette not a one hitter bat, an atomiser should last 4-6 months without maintenance. well over 6 months with maintenance.

Get an auto battery. If you have a eGo a 510 auto battery works. My vaping is completely different from a manual to an auto. with a manual i noticed i intake long huge hits, but with the auto i smoke it like a normal cigarette (tiny mouthful).

Use VG in your mix as well as it will give off more vapor. Some smokers who vape told me if they see little vapor (even if it's a PG base), They'll take huge hits until they see more vapor. It's all mindset etc when vaping. Smoke it like a cig, not a bat.

 

[Michael Mano]

i just keep them wet.(not with water of coarse but juice all the time)

 

[AttyPops]

Ahhhh... much better (the enter button thing.... it really does help.... hope it didn't come off nasty or anyting). As far as dead atties go, if the wire breaks it's dead. It will give off ZERO heat. It's a tosser then. Some get a "multi-meter" and test them. Others try them out on several devices and if they don't work, they toss em.

Now, SOMETIMES/RARELY the little connector in the center of the atty gets pushed in a bit and won't connect. This acts like a dead atty, since there is no electrical connection. You can try to pry it out a bit with a bent paperclip. Nothing to lose. Also, wipe the threads. If it still doesn't work, toss it (or get a meter to check for sure). This can happen on the battery side too. There's a post somewhere about "if your atty works on one device, but not another...". I'll append a post if I happen to find it.

If it heats a little, dry burn it or clean it with water, then the IA.

The PT with a frayed wire worries me.... not a good thing if that's what it is. It might just be shielding, but there's no way for me to tell. So, I'd have someone check it out, or contact the vendor to be sure about it. I assume it used to work but doesn't now, so IDK.

Are you using the PT on your computer??? (EDIT: yeah, you said laptop). You may want to check that your USB port is working on the computer. Plug a usb thumb drive into that port, or something... mouse, whatever. See if it is working. If not, and if it used to work, check the BIOS setting on the computer. Also restart the computer, powering it off/on. If you think you are having port problems, like it used to work and now doesn't, don't plug that PT into another port right away (just to be safe)! Get an external USB power supply (that plugs into a wall outlet) to recharge the PT battery and test it. Might be better to just get another one, or an eGo style PT with a connector on the end. Frayed wire doesn't sound good!

The cleaning that you're doing sounds spot-on. So.. IDK about that either. Usually people that don't clean the atty some way, get it clogged, overvape/overheat it and "pop" -- busted coil. You're cleaning it. Hmmmm.

The ohms thing is the resistance rating of the atty. Usually they say something like "standard", or LR, or 1.5 ohms, 2.0 ohms, 2.5 ohms, 3.1 ohms. The LR atties don't last as long as the standard atties, but they get hotter and have a "better hit".

BTW, I suggest using 2.0 ohm or higher atties. Others will disagree. But the 1.5 ohm LR atties die quickly and they have been rumored to be hard on some devices, like the eGo type units.

P.S. You're not a goofball.

 

[AttyPops]

Found the post.
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...have-atty-works-1-device-but-not-another.html

 

[DC2]

DC2-- So I have one that doesnt get hot at all, I might be able to do this and bring it back? Or should all this be done before they go out?

If it doesn't get hot AT ALL then it is probably dead.
But the only way to know for sure is to check it with a multimeter.

If it's not dead, that resurrection method might very well work.
Although it is a long and tedious procedure with a basic 510 standard battery.

You can get more information, and find out why I say that, by reading that thread.
But yeah, it's pretty long, because the method is so successful.

Found the post.
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...have-atty-works-1-device-but-not-another.html

After reading your last post, this was something I was also going to recommend that you check out.
It could be a part of your problem.

 

[starfi5ve]

I never realized that before but it is so true.. I have one auto btty, and the other is manual.. And I do, I take in that big deep draw. Yes, I also want to see and feel that big vapor.. The atty's do get quite hot on me. Could that be what happened? I killed them , by getting them too hot?

dirty air, dragging long hits is what i learned from vaping (my awesome LR mega atomiser cashed out in 2 months from incorrect vaping). You smoke it like a cigarette not a one hitter bat, an atomiser should last 4-6 months without maintenance. well over 6 months with maintenance.

Get an auto battery. If you have a eGo a 510 auto battery works. My vaping is completely different from a manual to an auto. with a manual i noticed i intake long huge hits, but with the auto i smoke it like a normal cigarette (tiny mouthful).

Use VG in your mix as well as it will give off more vapor. Some smokers who vape told me if they see little vapor (even if it's a PG base), They'll take huge hits until they see more vapor. It's all mindset etc when vaping. Smoke it like a cig, not a bat.

 

[starfi5ve]

wow, how awesome to know this... I am going to check this out!!!

 

[AttyPops]

That's one reason why many prefer higher voltages... 5 volts, for example. I vape at 5 volts using box mods. It's more like a cig hit. None of that long-drag stuff.

As stated above, overheating can cause the coil to pop. LR atties have a shorter life span. Auto batteries tend to die due to juice leakage (they are not sealed). Many also activate in wind or loud noises. Generally not recommended unless you absolutely need to simulate that cig draw. There is a delayed activation with them too.

FYI - 5 volts requires higher ohm atties (like 3.0).