I’m still trying to get new coils and cotton into my old Crown1 atomizer heads. When I remove the cotton pads and coils I noticed that the “gunk” on the coils is not really reacting to any of the solvents I have at home (mainly alcohol).
Has anybody played around with different solvents to clean coils? I’m aware that it needs to be something that can be completely removed after cleaning to make sure we don’t inhale the solvents.
Even more aggressive solvents could be fine as long as there’s another solvent to wash out the aggressive one. This is just an idea though, perhaps a bad one but it may be worth exploring.
I think the more you try to chemically clean a prebuilt the worse it will get. Beyond that time is money. The time you spend trying to fiddle with a prebuilt you could probably rebuild two or three rta’s
But sometimes fiddeling with something is fun when it works.
Why not redo the coil. People remake the Nautilus ones, I can’t imagine any others being more complicated than that.
edit:
(I meant Nautilus X, video below with nearly cute German narration and ‘club’* music)
*like normal music but you remove the crust and cut it in half across the diagonal
I’ve tried the Crown 1 coils. It does work but it’s very fiddly. I’m looking for an alternative to normal cotton. The originals have little cotton pads and not normal cotton.
I’ve just bought a Crown 3 but I’m still on the first coil so I can’t comment on that one. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather rebuild a coil before i start experimenting with solvents. But if there is an easy way to clean them with a solvent… why not?
I just cleaned a Crown 3 & tfv Prince .4 ohm
Simply submerged both coils( only using these because they came with RTA’s) in Vodka for 24 hrs, immediatly saw gunk coming off the coils themselves. After 24 hrs ran as hot water as I could get out of the water faucet on full force and totally saturated cotton and coils till I could no longer smell Alcohol and water was coming out of coils and cotton clear. Then I kinda blew thru the coils including juice slots on the sides of the coils. Then put them on a paper towel for 24 more hrs. Until coils and cotton we’re completely dried. Then filled cotton on juice slots and around cotton of coils inside, full of juice and let it really soak in( this is before re attaching coils) once they sat I re-soaked once again just to make sure they where Saturated and once they were I reinstalled them filled tanks with juice and Vaped away. Tasted brand new and 4 days later still tasting great.
Personally imo pre-made coils are a waste of $$ I much rather get or use the RTA Decks and install coils myself. They last as long as you take care of them and dry burn, keep hot spots out and change cotton as often as you deem necessary. Always clean the whole tank all pieces before reinstalling and they’ll last months and long term cost you pennies on the dollar.
Back in the day I used too clean my smok coils lol. Don’t ask!
I found placing them in a bowl filled with “hot” tap water and distilled vinegar does an excellent job. 2:1 ratio. Close the lid and leave them in there to 2-6 hrs, depending how dirty they are, rinse very well and let dry.
If you have a ultrasonic cleaner you can do the same in there, but it will need only 5-20 minutes.
All the time, vodka, solvents, electricity and whatevs… it’s not worth it.
Get a decent RTA, reduce your time and costs and get a more flavorsome vape as a bonus.
Have a look in the hardware reviews section, there are some awesome recommendations.
There is a small but loyal Crown v1 group here. Quality coils for them are getting harder and harder to find and the RBA is finicky. To some, the extra effort to keep the tank alive is worth it because it is a quite flavorful piece.
It’s hardened carbon. This is an oven cleaning problem, translation:alkali removes “baked on” carbon (Oven cleaner). Baking soda should work and not attack the metal as much as say vinegar. Maybe some way to just dry fire them out of the coil housing (alligator clips/wire/and a coil tester) would be fastest. Hmm, hot water baking soda in an ultrasonic cleaner? Was it @therabidweasel that mentioned in passing that AP was a great coil cleaner (Acetyl Pyrazine?)
Good to hear your opinions! I have about 20 old Crown1 coils and I think I’ll fire up the old USC with a few different liquids at both ends of the ph scale and see what happens. It’s hard to throw them out since the wire is just dirty and not burnt out or something. Unfortunately, the Crown1 RTA deck doesn’t do it for me because of the limited airflow.
How’s the Crown3 RTA?
Forget the negative nellies, you asked how I and not should I. I have heard of the simple rinses w/ vodka but mainly in attempting to clear cotton which is short term solution but since u are replacing that i see no reason why not. I have seen the usc method work containing a hemp wick and still installed. I would take @BoDarc advice and try the baking soda in the usc and rinsing w/ vodka after. Gl to u and please share results!
Oh I agree. I just replaced a coil tonight (Kangertech ceramic), but I have also disassembled multiple types of these coils and reused them. Honestly it’s just not cost saving. Looking around (China or eBay) you can even find clones (coils) for dirt cheap …it can really get down to $1 a coil for some of these older 2016 model subohm tanks. I bought a box of (5) Ni200 coils for $5 because people were afraid to vape Ni and the Vape shop couldn’t give em away.
I know that anything put together also comes apart …even when it doesn’t appear so, and I’m a tinkerer. I take everything apart. Coils are pretty basic manufacture, but I avoid telling people how to do it because reverse engineering a dumb little coil actually requires some expertise and electrical knowledge …super easy to short out if not perfect, and shorting out LiIon is a bad thing.
This just seemed like a Tinkers discussion, and rebuilding your coils isn’t saving you any money and has some risk, so just replacing them is smart, and like I said I’m wary about making recommendations to the general populace because anybody could read this and mistakenly think it’s the best plan… it’s fun though. Safety First~! …and the baking soda thing was in response to “what’s this hard black stuff that doesn’t come off?”
I have 4 Ultimo tanks and I’ve tried all the coils and the RTA decks. One is the MGS and it’s made to rebuild but they (Joytech) don’t show you how. Oh yeah there’s a YouTube and it’s simple (requires that precision I mentioned), and while fun (for me) it’s not a best use of my time ($$). Still cool, Joytech made it to repack with cotton, but the Notch coil must be gently dry fired at a super low wattage (15-20 watts) or it burns up …a weird coil. Too much to pack into a manual
I tried rebuilding the Atlantis coil. Worked about 2 days then went bad. Decided it was too much effort for the return. I thought a usc would remove the carbon but that idea bombed as well. Used vinegar then baking soda then both together. Even used peroxide and vinegar. 50/50 mix. That mix works fantastic in removing lead from a pistol barrel and also removes copper. It did not remove carbon baked on a coil. Tough stuff.
