Cleaning machine oil out of RDA

[Robert B]

Anyone have any suggestions how to clean the imbedded machine oil out of an all stainless RDA?

I recently bought a new one, took it apart, washed each part with soap and hot water. Did a .4 ohm build on it, and have what I think is a machine oil taste. This has actually happened on two RDA's...

**edit**
I have heard plenty of people complain about machine oil residue, but nobody mentions a method to clean it out.

 

[Lefty]

When dish soap and hot water don't do it I usually use alcohol. Everclear if I've remembered to pick some up or 91% isopropyl if that's all I have handy. Then a good rinse. Some of that stuff is tenacious and takes more than one cleaning.

 

[CaFF]

I do the hot and soapy water, but also add some white vinegar. Seems to help.

Swish it all around well in a small bowl, then I let the item soak for about an hour to allow the detergent to dissolve the oils before swishing it around again and rinsing thoroughly. Then, just air-dry on a paper towel...ya don't want to apply power to an RDA that has water.

 

[Seanchai]

I don't mess around with washing with soap and water. Instead, I take it to bits as far as it'll go, and throw all the individual bits in a pot of boiling water.I've found that the combination of taking them *all* the way apart - post screws, posts if applicable, 510 if adjustable etc- and the agitation of the water does a much better job of breaking any oil loose, and it also gets to any oil that's hiding underneath the smaller bits (which is usually the culprit of that continued machine oil taste). After the boil, I do a second round of boiling with fresh water, then a final good rinse.The only thing this method hasn't worked on so far is a kayfun style driptip, and I'm sure that's because there's nothing to take apart. Had to break out the alcohol for that one.

 

[Robert B]

Cool, thanks for the suggestions. One of these is an authentic Mephisto. I'm leery about removing the O-ring since it didn't come with spares, and have no clue where to find some. I've been on El Diablo's FB page, but they don't seem to answer individual questions.

Would it kill Gilbert from El Diablo to include 2 or 3 spare O rings? I mean shit, forget the fancy box, and include a bag of O-rings and a spare insulator

 

[CaFF]

Cool, thanks for the suggestions. One of these is an authentic Mephisto. I'm leery about removing the O-ring since it didn't come with spares, and have no clue where to find some. I've been on El Diablo's FB page, but they don't seem to answer individual questions.

Would it kill Gilbert from El Diablo to include 2 or 3 spare O rings? I mean shit, forget the fancy box, and include a bag of O-rings and a spare insulator

If you have the V1, some parts can be found here: http://bamavapor.com/Rebuildable-Atomizers-Accessories-&-Parts/

If ya measure them, can find cheaper at a hardware store or here: http://www.theoringstore.com/

The PEEK insulator, not sure about...perhaps a cheap clone would have compatible parts?

 

[Seanchai]

If I were you, I'd try taking it apart as far as you're comfortable with (i.e. leave the o-ring in place, but disassemble everything else, as long as you're sure you can get it back together again) and boiling it that way, first. If that doesn't do the trick, seek spares as caff suggests, and disassemble further with spares on hand. You can use any of the methods suggested here, any of them should work... the cause of the continued taste is likely that some oil is trapped underneath something, which is why disassembly is the ticket. I've just found that once I disassemble, boiling is much easier than trying to keep tiny soapy parts from bouncing down the drain.

 

[Zamazam]

I've got a cheap ultrasonic cleaner, I just take the atty to bits, put in some very hot water and a tsb of dish soap and set the cleaner for 10 minute cycle. I use this cleaner for all my attys and mechanical mods. A quick rinse with hot water to get the soap residue off and you are ready to go..

 

[Robert B]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Boiling for a minute or so, then rinsing with alcohol seemed to do the trick. That machine oil is some nasty tasting shit.

 

[Giraut]

I dip it in trichloroethylene for a minute or two, then I rince it, dry it, and let it sit overnight in Everclear. Or if I'm in a hurry, I skip the Everclear.

 

[Kenneth98]

How about Detergent . The detergent can clear the oil ,like cooking oil . Soak it in .

 

[Robert B]

How about Detergent . The detergent can clear the oil ,like cooking oil . Soak it in .

I washed mine with water and detergent and it didn't help too much. (didnt try soaking) Maybe the machine oil is a bit too penetrating unlike cooking oil,, I don't know. After boiling the parts for a minute and rinsing with rubbing alcohol, seemed to do the trick. That ultrasonic cleaner sounds like it would work well too. I googled trichloroethylene, and it was originally developed back in the 20's to clean metal machined parts. It is also known to dissolve things like paint and plastics too, and would be leery about vaping any trichloroethylene residue. Definitely wouldn't skip the alcohol rinsing part of that !!

 

[Giraut]

Trichloroethylene is fine on plastics if you don't leave the stuff in it for more than a minute or two. The real problem is getting it, as it's been banned for ordinary workshop use because it's carcinogenic. But it's still available as stains remover for clothes.

Industrial degeasers that replace trichloroethylene in metal workshops nowadays do a fine job too, but I find they tend to leave residues behind. Trichloroethylene does not.

 

[Robert B]

Unfortunately back in the day, they didn't know a whole lot about it and the recommendation to dispose of it was to dump it on the ground to evaporate. Here's a good article on it. Carcinogen Trichloroethylene

 

[DirtyGoat]

This post took me back to when I was really new to rda's and didnt know about clones and this B&M sold me a Plume Veil that was FAKE and couldnt for the life of me get that taste off. The owner let me trade it in and get juice in place cause I wasnt told it was a clone by new employee. Man that taste is horrible! Great Post

 

[whambalam88]

I found that an ultrasonic cleaner works really well. Usually, I put just a drop of dish detergent in some warm water, run it a couple times and thoroughly rinse it. The things are like, $20 and they last forever. There's a decent video here:

 

[Whiskey]

I found that an ultrasonic cleaner works really well. Usually, I put just a drop of dish detergent in some warm water, run it a couple times and thoroughly rinse it. The things are like, $20 and they last forever. There's a decent video here:

Check dates of threads you post in???

 

[r055co]

No matter the device I always run it through the Ultrasonic for at least 5 min's. Before that I soaked them in Dish soap and hot water for a 1/2 hour.

 

[Stringplucker]

After years of different techniques, I just soak it in a pint jar with a few inches of Everclear or 'shine. A good rinse after the alcohol bath rinses away anything left.

When the jar of booze gets too colored for me to feel safe using it to clean atty's, it goes in a jug in the basement for use in cleaning gun parts.