Have to take apart to make it work

Small size (roughly half the size of similar products I've seen and had previously) is perfect for my office desk; was just what I wanted. BUT….the mechanism uses a long piece of thick cotton to “suck up” the liquid/water from the base, and then the liquid contacts the vaporizer at the top of the upper half of the device. Which, which it works, is fine. But…it doesn't like to work sometimes, for reasons I don't understand. I have to take the base of and “fiddle with” the cotton swab a few times to get it going. Once it starts, it works fine until I have to refill and start the process over again. Ultimately, it's a lot of trouble for something that should be very simple.