Hi i have two clogged vapourisers that are very resisstant to all i have tried so far. I am now going to try and clean them using heat and quench. ive never done this before and have a couple of questions. 1. Do i heat the whole length of the vapouriser or should i keep away from the threaded end. 2. How can i avoid overheating. What colour should it have would be very grateful for any advice Dave
I'm no expert, but did one of mine a couple of weeks ago... Just removed the pricker rod/spring, heated the top two or thre inches of the vap' with a small butane torch (not until it glowed) - quenched by a quick dunk in cold water - repeat three or four times. You can see the carbon splitting off the outside when its quenched. Then tap the base of the vap' hard on a piece of dense hardwood (not metal or you will mess up the thread). I heated and quenched the pricker too but don't let the tip get red hot or it will burn brittle and fail - go careful if you do this bit... I also needed to peen the jet smaller as it had become enlarged but you probably won't need to do this. It was a completely sucessful fettle and the refurbished vap' has done at least 30 hours service since and is still going strong...
If they are the threaded type at the base I would just unscrew and mechanically clean out with a stiff bit of thin wire. If the tip is clogged I have drilled out the spring retaining lug and hooked out the spring and cleaned the tip. After I bent the spring to slightly increase the diameter and shoved it back in where it holds quite well. If you have to heat/quench I have got the metal a dull red and had no issues.
