boiling atomizers....aint worked for me?.

[maximus]

boiled my tank atomizer in water for 10mins as i've read this on the forums to bring them back from the dead

aint worked for me.....why?.

[ceekay27]

I did one of mine... it wasn't officially dead, it was kind of dying a slow death I think!
After the boil it was no better... So I coke bathed it    then boiled it some more...lol, Still didn't do it any good!

Needless to say it's now resting peacefully at the bottom of the bin! 
It wasn't that old either, didn't even make the 1 week mark! (it was always kind of weird compared to my other one)

But I have another that's been going for 3 weeks, and it's lovely, like an old friend...lol  (I haven't boiled that one, and don't think I would do!)

[fynger]

Ive never boiled mine...I put them in my Ultra sonic bath and they all came up like new.

[ceekay27]

Ive never boiled mine...I put them in my Ultra sonic bath and they all came up like new.

Whats the ultrasonic bath for normally? lol 

[Darth Vaper]

Whats the ultrasonic bath for normally? lol 

Shaking the money out of your wallet 

[ceekay27]

Whats the ultrasonic bath for normally? lol 

Shaking the money out of your wallet 

Lol... I always thought it was something that u put false teeth into! 

[DeeDee]

One of mine died just now dead  It also hasn't made it a week but the ones that came with the SD kit and another are still working, Is the dead one less than a week old under guarantee ?

I'm guessing its dead anyway it's doing nothing at all I changed the battery because I thought that had died which would have been strange but still nothing, I have it sitting upside down now and have blown it out but I think its dead.

 Ultrasonic cleaner, funny enough I ordered one of these today with a new electric toothbrush its made to clean the heads , reckon a atty will fit in there ?

[CraigHB]

Most people don't have access to any kind of ultra-sonic cleaner, I haven't tried one myself, but I could see where it might be highly effective.  What causes an atty to get weak is one of two things.  Either the coil has worn out (resistance has gone high) to where it doesn't make enough heat, or hard carbonized juice has built up on the heating element itself insulating fresh juice from the heat it needs to vaporize properly.  I could see where an ultra-sonic cleaner would be highly effective at removing the hard crud that builds up on the coil.

Boiling or soaking is not always going to recover a weak atty.  That kind of cleaning is most effective for getting rid of the icky taste and discolored fluid you get when too much soft crud builds up on the coil and wick.  It also keeps wicking performance at its best.  If coil resistance is okay, a dry burn is more effective than boiling or soaking.  However, if coil resistance is high, the coil is shot and there's no way to salvage the atomizer.  Dry burning gets rid of the hard carbonized crud stuck to the coil that boiling/soaking doesn't remove.  The crud interferes with juice contact on the heating element and makes the atomizer seem weak.  To dry burn a tank atomizer, you have to remove the spike plate and wick first. 

Of course, if you have a weak atomizer, you can just take advantage of the warranty if it's still in effect.  I'm actually pretty amazed they put a 28 day warranty on them.

[ceekay27]

One of mine died just now dead  It also hasn't made it a week but the ones that came with the SD kit and another are still working, Is the dead one less than a week old under guarantee ?

It would have been under guarantee if I hadn't of boiled it, lol... sometimes you learn the hard way! 

[maximus]

i've got a atomizer 7 days old and its going down hill

its getting too hot on 1-3 draws....and i aint drawing hard

don't these tank atomizers last long or are we here to spend more money all the time

[ceekay27]

Well I've read somewhere that the tank atty's can last 14 - 60 days.
But they are guaranteed for 28 days after receipt of purchase, so long as you don't boil them
run water through them etc, I think TW recommends just blowing them through.

So if you've only had it 7 days and it's not seeming right, why not send TW an email
just get their thoughts on it. They may even be able to tell you some things to try
with it to get it running again. It's worth a try and you've got nothing to lose, and if
it won't work properly after that they will probably replace it for you

[trog100]

its more a question of how long a user is prepared to put up with a fading atomizer than how long it lasts..

they can be made to struggle on for a long time or they can be chucked and replaced with a new one.. they rarely die but they all fade away... he he

i have always said for good results they last around two weeks.. that is for a medium to heavy user.using the same one all the time..

they are semi disposable items.. a wee bit like razor blades.. how long a razor blade lasts depends on how tough the users whiskers are and how tight they are... he he

its generally considered that cleaning them is a waste of time.. that dosnt stop new users doing it though.. a long long time ago i did..

without fail some one will always pop up and say they have been using one for six months.. i know how long mine last me..

trog

[ceekay27]

Hi trog

The one I'm using now has been going for around 3 weeks, maybe just over. It still vapes perfect! and still measures 2.2 on the meter.
I'm going to cry when this one gives out on me, lol.
I did have to wash it through yesterday as I had some really strong flavoured juice in it and couldn't get rid of the taste! horrible stuff lol!

Kept my fingers crossed all the time I was flushing it through, let it dry overnight, put 4 drops of juice straight into it, added the cart and it took a couple of draws for the
vapour to come through, but now it's just the same as ever! I love my atty! 

[RichJr]

eBay has sonic cleaners for $10 and they clean teeth and metals (coins & jeweler) and almost anything else even electronics. (depending). They would be perfect for cleaning atomizers because they use sonic vibrations to break apart the gunk in the smallest of crevasses.

[HillBill]

I've never had to resort to anything more than hot water so far but I read a couple of threads when I first started out here and decided that drastic gunk removal might be quicker and cheaper with my steam cleaner or coffee-maker rather than shelling out for an untrasonic cleaner.     I think that was a Darth suggestion lol and I have enough hardly-used gadgets in my house already! 
http://www.totallywicked-eliquid.com/forum/tips-tricks/ultrasonic-jewelry-cleaners-for-atomizers/
http://www.totallywicked-eliquid.com/forum/general-discussions/steam-cleaner/

[Darth Vaper]

Depending on what ails your atty....  some remedies work some don't.

Ultrasonic...... don't really see it doing much to warrant buying one..... the solution you soak it in while in the unit makes more of a difference.

Steam cleaner...... hot water and pressurized air coming out of the nozzle seems to help a bit.

In the end it comes down to what is ailing it .... weather its water misible... solvent misible..... flooded....... baked on gunge.... hard water deposits.(scaling)

[Darth Vaper]

Other times just blowing the atomizer out helps. I do this daily to keep the dark non vapable stuff from building up and choking the coil.

sometimes a dry burn does wonders as well with thick gunge clinging to the coil.

[RichJr]

Depending on what ails your atty....  some remedies work some don't.

Ultrasonic...... don't really see it doing much to warrant buying one..... the solution you soak it in while in the unit makes more of a difference.

Steam cleaner...... hot water and pressurized air coming out of the nozzle seems to help a bit.

In the end it comes down to what is ailing it .... weather its water misible... solvent misible..... flooded....... baked on gunge.... hard water deposits.(scaling)

I used the ultra sonic to clean many things that couldn't easily be clean normally. Even when I run out of solution, water works well because ultra sonic waves are strong sound waves and move the water molecules very fast causing weak microscopic structures to collapse and wash away. It may be a waste of money if $10 to keep tour atties sparkling and anything else you can fit in is to much. Keeps my diamond cut chains perfectly clean without touching them with tools. That said there are other ways to clean them. I just prefer the easy most effective way. I have a few bucks to waste. O btw my house keys have been sparkling since I moved in   yea it's a ritual 

(edit) you all making me crazy, with knowledge 

[Killjoy]

(edit) you all making me crazy, with knowledge 

Lol, all I can think of now is this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IlHgbOWj4o

 

[Darth Vaper]

I tried a bunch of different liquids in the ultrasonic cleaner ....... grain alcohol took the paint off my atomizers  wasn't what I was intending to do.
Coke, water, denture tabs as well...  .... water seemed to work as good as any of em.... Didn't care for all the bits of wick floating around in the water though.... not good at all if its a tank atomizer.... No wick .... No liquid feeding the coil.


My preferred methods these days are the steam cleaner ....... and as a last resort a dry burn....  but mostly as I stated before..... Just blow em out regular and get that dark non volatile liquid out..... You curb the coil choking gunge/klinker buildup a bit by doing this and reduce the need for more in depth maintenance methods.

[RichJr]

I'd use the steam method first too because it most gentle but I dont have one like he don't have an ultra sonic lol. So I just run hot water through it then blow out water dry and prime. Ultrasonic only when it's too badly gummed and won't clear with water an blowing. So many ways but like you said I don't like the wick breaking up either so ultra second, first is hot water and blow it. If that works nothing else is nessecery.

(edit) I won't dry burn because when a metal burns red it starts to change chemically and it becomes brittle. I'm not sure what metal is used in the atty tho but I won't chance it. You won't know the damage cause it's not visible it will just decrease it's life dramatically.

[Killjoy]

I'm not sure what metal is used in the atty tho but I won't chance it

Nickel chromium, I believe

[Darth Vaper]

I won't dry burn because when a metal burns red it starts to change chemically and it becomes brittle. I'm not sure what metal is used in the atty tho but I won't chance it. You won't know the damage cause it's not visible it will just decrease it's life dramatically.

Yeah it's why it's a last resort for me ..... very possible to pop the atomizer like a blown fuse doing it. Your on borrowed time with this method.

[HillBill]

(edit) you all making me crazy, with knowledge 

Lol, all I can think of now is this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IlHgbOWj4o
 

ROFL its years since I've seen that.   Fantastic to see ol' Magus Pyke, the man who worked out how rationing could keep us Brits alive during the war, yay! 

[Jon Frosty]

Hello and welcome to the Forum!

Any who, I decided to boil mine sunday as well and it only cracked and made the paint peel on my atty's
So I am going to go back to boiling water in a tea kettle and pouring it down the atty with a funnel.
it has worked in the past for me without causing to much drama, and it is quicker.
I blow em out after and use the same funnel to help direct air from my blow dryer to dry them out.
works better than all other cleaning methods I have tried.

Cheers

[CraigHB]

I agree, just pouring hot water through them seems to clean them pretty well for the interim.  When that stops working, I go through a whole process of removing the spike plate, boiling, and dry burning.  When they start tasting burnt, it can be hard to get rid of that taste.  An extensive cleaning is required to get them back in shape after that.  Definitely want to avoid letting them run dry.

The paint job is shoddy on these atomizers.  Odd because the paint on the batteries is really tough.  The atties I ordered recently seem to be better, but the first ones I bought would peel without even messing with them.  Not that big of a deal for me though.  If the paint gets bad, I just remove it altogether.

I don't think I'd worry about voiding the warranty simply by running water through an atty or even boiling.  I just don't see where the justification is for that.  I'd be pretty amazed if I could actually get one to run for a month with nothing but blowing through it.  If I didn't do something to keep these atties working well, I'd probably have to return every one I buy at least once and I'm not going to do that.

[wickedmama]

I tried the whole boiling thing and I have tried blowing them out with compressed air (read that somewhere on here) and I honestly have found that the best option is just to blow it out from the battery end with your mouth. I think that boiling just heats it up and burns the gunk to it even worse and I think the compressed air is so cold that it freezes the gunk in there.

Just a little bit I have learned after going through 6 attys

[RichJr]

I think that boiling just heats it up and burns the gunk to it even worse

On the contrary,  Hot water breaks down gunk but if it's not gunk making it innoperable hot water won't work. Blowing through it clears the thickened liquid that could possibly be blocking it but won't move the hardened gunk from the atty coil. That's were more drastic measures come in.

[wickedmama]

I think that boiling just heats it up and burns the gunk to it even worse

On the contrary,  Hot water breaks down gunk but if it's not gunk making it innoperable hot water won't work. Blowing through it clears the thickened liquid that could possibly be blocking it but won't move the hardened gunk from the atty coil. That's were more drastic measures come in.

That may be but I just know it has never helped for me. And I have read alot of people posting that it hasnt helped. It would make sense that it would brake up the gunk but Im no expert on the matter. Just giving my opinion on what has happened with me.

[RichJr]

It won't help if the atty is just dying. That method only helps extreme gunk and bad taste. I rinse my first one on a regular basis with plain hot water from the tap then blow through from atty end and it's yet to get gunked up. Almost 2 weeks old. Never let the atty burn dry! No reversing that damage. Hope some of this helps.