Best coil cleaning method. (Takes a little time)

[Sass]

Hi

I use two different mouthpieces, one type with a removable coil and one type that's sealed.

Here's how I clean my coils.

1. Rinse coils with hot water
2. Soak the coils in white vinegar for 48 hours
3. Boil coils in a container for 5 minutes,
4. Dry coils with compressed air
5. Soak dry coils in a Peroxide solution for 12 hours.
6. Rinse with hot water.
7. allow to dry completely

Note that I prime these cleaned coils with juice and place them in a reasonably warm place overnight before re-using them again.

If this works for you, please give me some feedback.

Thanks!

 

[ej1024]

Heat
Wash
Done


VAPE ON

 

[triakis]

I had a .2Ω coil in the cuboid mini atty that started tasting funky (somewhat burned?) and thought I'd try something before swapping it out.

I rinsed everything well with deionized water. Then I filled the tank three quarters full, put in the coil, set up to TC with 80W (mod max), set temp to 210 and fired. It appeared nothing was happening at all but the coil was getting 80W continuous.

Upped temp higher and at 230 I was getting boiling. Went up to 260 and steam was shooting out and the box was getting HOT. After a few more trials the box shut down with "TOO HOT" and the tank was too hot to touch.

I poured out all the DI water, rinsed with fresh DI and allowed everything to dry.

Added some juice and tried it and it was like a new coil!

I've pulled these coils apart when they get funky tasting and the cotton doesn't look too bad but the wire itself often is gunked up.
Perhaps this boiling sort of "steam cleaned" the wire?
I would never use anything but distilled or deionized water, however. The cleaner the better.

 

[pulsevape]

1)remove coil from atty
2) throw in garbage
3) wrap new coil.

 

[nightshard]

I try to convince myself that I dry burn and re-wick but not really.

 

[BlowinSmoke]

1) Remove old wick
2) Dryburn
3) scare it with some cold water
4) repeat 2+3 twice
5) rewick

 

[robot zombie]

I like the idea of coming up with cleaning methods that don't involve heating the coils. I feel like that just makes sense. Dry-burning is a damaging method and should be avoided, if possible.

The best way would probably be to soak em in a solvent, take a stiff brush to them, rinse, and drop em into an ultrasonic cleaner, maybe after a few solvent dip n' rinses. Wouldn't take all that long, especially once you get into the habit of doing it and have a running rotation. Your coils will be cleaner and should last much longer.

1)remove coil from atty
2) throw in garbage
3) wrap new coil.

Haha, yes... ...this. Maybe I'm just picky but old coils really don't appeal to me at all. It bugs me.

It seems like dry burning really takes a toll on coils. I can tell a huge difference after one or two dry-burns. Generally, I will dry burn once after a full day. By the end of the second day, it's time for a new set. At that point, it starts gunking-up within two hours of cleaning, flavor is noticeably muted, TH ain't right... ...I drop new ones in and I'm like "THERE it is!" It's not a minor difference to me. It's always baffled me how people can stand to not re-wick for days, let alone use the same coils for weeks at a time.

But then, I generally stick with claptons with nothing thicker than 36g on the outside. That outer wire doesn't hold-up too well when it starts getting red hot. Hell, a few times, I dulled out coils to the point of not wanting to use them just from pulsing too much trying to work out stubborn shorts. They were already past their peak by the time I juiced em up.

It's mostly just a matter of there being nothing better than the hit on a pair of freshly-primed coils, but I often wonder about how safe it is to repeatedly get those things red hot. How much can you oxidize those outer layers before they get brittle enough to start leaching out? Rusty coils have always seemed pretty sketchy to me. Some degree of oxidation is needed for even heating, but the bear minimum amount is probably better.

With all of the talks of safety over the years, it's always been surprising to me that dry-burning never comes up.

Dr. F seems to think it's best not to dry-burn at all. I probably wouldn't take it that far, but generally, if it's time for cleaning and I have time for a build, I'll just do a new build. Helps keep my skills up and gets me experimenting. It's not that difficult/time-consuming to change a coil. I just figure I might as well change it and have a more enjoyable vape. Besides, it's liable to be much faster/simpler than any cleaning technique that would do better than dry-burning ever could be. *shrugs*

 

[NGAHaze]

it's always been surprising to me that dry-burning never comes up.

It's been discussed on another forum and Dr. F pretty much took it on the chin for his 'advice' on the subject. I have a lot of respect for him but a metallurgist he's not.

 

[pulsevape]

by the time you go through all the cluster fuck to clean a coil it's just about the same amount of time to build a new set up....my concession is

take my ss mesh wick out of my atty.
pull off the coil'
rinse mesh wick in hot water good
unroll the wick and retorch the mesh
roll the wick back up'
wrap an new coil on the wick.
works for three or four changes.

 

[robot zombie]

It's been discussed on another forum and Dr. F pretty much took it on the chin for his 'advice' on the subject. I have a lot of respect for him but a metallurgist he's not.

I just found it funny that of all of the hokey things people have been set aflame by, dry-burning wasn't one of them. The general consensus is typically that it's okay to dry burn for weeks.

That really wasn't my main point, though. I brought him up because I remembered a comment he made on his research back when he first started looking closely at the composition of the aerosol. Based on what he had thus far (granted this was a ways back,) he asserted that while the levels of general nasties from dry-burning were likely to be inconsequential, it was best to avoid dry-burning, as they weren't nonexistent.

I didn't know he went far enough to warrant a debate (I can see him losing that one, heh.) To me, there's no real argument to be had. It was more the common-sense logic behind it that stuck for me. He was pretty clear about what he was implying, and it wasn't that people absolutely shouldn't dry-burn. It really all boiled down to the simple idea that it wasn't ideal.

Ahh, found the article.

Seems perfectly reasonable to me. It makes sense that you would want to avoid stressing the coils to the point where they break down. Quickly getting them really hot and then bringing them back to room temperature several times is bound to weaken them. That there isn't likely any significant risk under typical conditions doesn't take away from the fact that you are unnecessarily introducing unfavorable elements into the equation, as well as losing performance.

I mean, there is the question of how much use/dry-burning it takes before we're looking at some real potential for harm. It's a given that this threshold exists. It's not "if" but rather "when." But I suppose that's meaningless without any facts to discuss. It's neither here nor there. We don't have any reason to think that it's bad for us, but we do know that it's bad for the coils.


To me, it's less a case of "OMG everyone must stop this... ...NOW!" and more "There has to be a better way." You could argue that it's an overly cautious way of looking at things, but if it can be avoided easily, then why not? It's not like you have to go to extreme measures, here.

What if there were better ways to clean a coil than dry-burning and they were about as easy? Wouldn't it make sense to do that instead?

If you plan to use the same set for a long time, then the highly destructive dry-burn method wouldn't be the best way to go. You can probably get better performance and a longer lifespan using less destructive and potentially more effective techniques. Might as well do what you can to make the most of em.

Personally, it's not that I think it is unsafe, but rather that simply replacing the coils yields a significantly better result for not a whole lot more time/effort.

 

[cloudking666]

1)remove coil from atty
2) throw in garbage
3) wrap new coil.

lmao

 

[cloudking666]

Heat
Wash
Done


VAPE ON

this is exacly what you do, simple. i get the coils glowing hot next to running water the stop firing, and while its still hot just rinse them. repeat as necessary

 

[BoomStick]

I just found it funny that of all of the hokey things people have been set aflame by, dry-burning wasn't one of them. The general consensus is typically that it's okay to dry burn for weeks.

That really wasn't my main point, though. I brought him up because I remembered a comment he made on his research back when he first started looking closely at the composition of the aerosol. Based on what he had thus far (granted this was a ways back,) he asserted that while the levels of general nasties from dry-burning were likely to be inconsequential, it was best to avoid dry-burning, as they weren't nonexistent.

I didn't know he went far enough to warrant a debate (I can see him losing that one, heh.) To me, there's no real argument to be had. It was more the common-sense logic behind it that stuck for me. He was pretty clear about what he was implying, and it wasn't that people absolutely shouldn't dry-burn. It really all boiled down to the simple idea that it wasn't ideal.

Ahh, found the article.

Seems perfectly reasonable to me. It makes sense that you would want to avoid stressing the coils to the point where they break down. Quickly getting them really hot and then bringing them back to room temperature several times is bound to weaken them. That there isn't likely any significant risk under typical conditions doesn't take away from the fact that you are unnecessarily introducing unfavorable elements into the equation, as well as losing performance.

I mean, there is the question of how much use/dry-burning it takes before we're looking at some real potential for harm. It's a given that this threshold exists. It's not "if" but rather "when." But I suppose that's meaningless without any facts to discuss. It's neither here nor there. We don't have any reason to think that it's bad for us, but we do know that it's bad for the coils.


To me, it's less a case of "OMG everyone must stop this... ...NOW!" and more "There has to be a better way." You could argue that it's an overly cautious way of looking at things, but if it can be avoided easily, then why not? It's not like you have to go to extreme measures, here.

What if there were better ways to clean a coil than dry-burning and they were about as easy? Wouldn't it make sense to do that instead?

If you plan to use the same set for a long time, then the highly destructive dry-burn method wouldn't be the best way to go. You can probably get better performance and a longer lifespan using less destructive and potentially more effective techniques. Might as well do what you can to make the most of em.

Personally, it's not that I think it is unsafe, but rather that simply replacing the coils yields a significantly better result for not a whole lot more time/effort.

What meds are you on? Every single post is a book. Trim some of the fat why don't ya.

 

[robot zombie]

What meds are you on? Every single post is a book. Trim some of the fat why don't ya.

I don't take anything at all. I just like to write. Gets the gears turning. If that's weird, then I'm weird.

A post takes maybe 20-30 minutes for me to write and hopefully only 2 minutes for you to read. All in all, not a huge endeavor. Besides, it's not like this is a chatroom or a real-life conversation and I'm just talking nonsense over everyone like a crazy person.

I get it, though. I do get carried away.

 

[BoomStick]

You have good stuf to say, but I don't read half your posts cause they're just way too long and rambling. Forget the fluff and make your point. You kill your own message. Seriously just trying to help.

 

[robot zombie]

You have good stuf to say, but I don't read half your posts cause they're just way too long and rambling. Forget the fluff and make your point. You kill your own message. Seriously just trying to help.

Point taken. You came off of a tad more abrasive the first time around. I had considered maybe the intent wasn't just to insult me, but it's hard to tell over text. Sall good over here.

A lot of times, in trying to pack-in as much information as possible, I wind up including details that aren't relevant or I get caught in recursive cycles because I can't settle on any one way to say something. It's a weird OCD thing that I only have spotty awareness of.

Honestly though, sometimes I have come up with posts that I think are about as comprehensive and information-dense as they can possibly be. Because of that they tend to be long. They're not for everyone, but there is an audience for them. The people who appreciate that style seem to really appreciate it, too. They seem to like how I bring things to their attention that they haven't considered and get them thinking about things in new ways... ...and I like to give people sort of a broader picture of things, so I make it a point to go the meticulous and exhaustive route when it seems appropriate, for the people who value that.

I do understand that there are times when it really is overkill, though. Some things are best kept simple to avoid dissolving what are actually very fundamental ideas. I'm not so good at drawing that line.

Believe it or not, I trim every post! Sometimes I even discard 5-6 full-paragraph posts because I feel I've lost the core focus. It's a work in progress. But I appreciate the criticism and the fact that you took the time to explain yourself a bit better.

 

[BoomStick]

I hear you. It's just my nature and was actually taught to me in military career leadership training to keep written communications short, sweet and to the point. If your style is different, well that's your style. I just get lost in your posts sometimes and have to tldr them joints. If you're getting good feedback on what you put up then ignore me I guess.