I am in need of some help.  I need to see if my attys are screwed up.  I am looking for the best method to clean my attys, but I need something more heavy duty than simply blowing on them.  I think I melted some fibers onto the bridge and need something strong to clean them.  Ive heard of using coke/pepsi, everclear, boiling water, steam, etc.  What has been good for you?

I've read about several ways to clean atomizers. One of the most popular is soak it in coca cola for a while then rinse in hot water blow it out then let dry. Personally what I do is run it under the hottest tap water I can get from my kitchen sink then blow it out with canned air. The stuff to blow computers out with. This seems to dry it too so I can use my e-cig right away. I've also heard of isopropyl alcohol too but haven't tried that one myself. Hot water seems to do as good as anything and it's cheap. You will hear many different ways I suppose so you'll get it. Read and ask questions and you'll learn fast. I also do things that I wouldn't recomend others to do such as blow on the battery end in front of the mirror with the light off and if your atomizer is working you can see it turn red............honest it works. This can be slightly dangerious so like I say I don't recomend it.

I use the hot water. I take the atomizer and blow it out to get most of the bulk juice out then with tweesers I put it in very hot water.. Then let cool off and blow the excess out and let dry on a paper towel over nite. Then prime it with juice and good for go.. Allways works for me.

I prefer steam over boiling. It's faster and less likely to leave trace mineral deposits. Then I add 3-5 drops of liquid after it dries. I used to boil, but too many people gave me reports of cheap atomizers falling apart. If you do have a cheap atomizer, soak it in vinegar, it's less likely to fall apart.

Nothing will clean fibers that have actually *melted* into the bridge.  Nothing.  When people talk about cleaning using products like Coke and whatnot, they are trying to get rid of the encrusted goo on the heater underneath the bridge, or old flavoring.

The best way to find and remove stray fibers from an atomizer is with a UV blacklight and a tweezer or such.  The best blacklight I've found for this the Streamlight Stylus UV Penlight.  I've tried cheap keychain UV lights but they have been barely tolerable.

I will try steaming. Thanks for sharing!

2 hour soak in Crest Pro Health mouthwash, followed by a nice hot water bath, allow to dry over night. I've had success removing the burnt wick taste with this method, but only if its not too badly melted.

If my atomizer does not heat up is it shot or would cleaning make it work again?

If it doesn't heat up at all, it is probably shot, but I have seen them come back to life after an alcohol soak on occassion.

Cool, I will give it a shot!  It doesn't work at all now, so I don't think I could break it any more.

One of the things that kill atomizers is home made liquid. There are ingredients in commercially produced liquids, that these "home-brews" just don't use. Also, they tend to use more flavor than is neccesary, which just burns you out, or clogs you even faster. Then many of them sell you a new atomizer...great profit center, but not good business...
Some flavors, like pineapple, leave a white coating, that even steaming, soaking, and all the caustic cleaners in the world don't remove. Always a good practice to steam one a week...It's not as nasty as cleaning ashtray's...LOL

When you say soak, does that mean in rubbing alcohol?  How do you steam the atomizer?

Never mind, I just read down through the forum and saw the post on how to clean the atomizer.