After some expert tips for vape maintenance? I’m Matt and I’m the resident vape doctor here at VapeFuse. There’s nothing worse than a vaporizer that’s not been well maintained. It can result in inferior vapor and greatly reduce the life of your device.
In order to keep your herb or concentrate vaporizer up and running for as long as possible, I’ve compiled a 7-step guide for cleaning and maintaining your device. Check it out below and drop me a comment if you think I’ve missed anything!
7 Expert Tips for Vape Maintenance
1. Broken Heating Element
The heating element can be the first thing to go on some vaporizers. It’s only natural that an element would burn out after hours and hours of consecutive use, however, there are a few precautions you can take to ensure your device lasts as long as it should.
The Arizer V-Tower pictured below, for example, has a ceramic-rod heating element housed inside a glass casing. This is a durable device, but due care must be taken to ensure the glass casing remains working and intact. Keeping the element clean is also an extremely important factor in maintaining longevity.
Chamber maintenance is crucial in maintaining the heating element on portable devices, with the chamber forming the bridge between the element and your herb or concentrate.
The filter screen included with your portable device, either inbuilt or removable, needs to remain clean to ensure that your herbs are being vaporized evenly and effectively. Build-up on the screen can affect both vapor production and quality.
2. General Cleaning & Maintenance
When it comes to the general upkeep of your vaporizer, the cleaning kit included in your set is usually all you’ll need for short-term device maintenance. This kit usually includes tweezers and a brush, which can be used to pick away excess residue and clean out the chamber and mouthpiece respectively.
If you’re looking to get the highest quality vapor from your device you should ensure that you clean out the device with the included maintenance gear after each use. This is as simple as giving the chamber a quick brush and picking the residue out of your screen.
When it comes to concentrate vaporizers like the CloudV Platinum, pictured below with an additional glass globe, cleaning get a little more tricky. The coil can become saturated in residue and requires constant cleaning.
Burning your chamber off and releasing any excess resin from the atomizer is good to do every now and again when airflow becomes restricted, just make sure you’re not burning off quality dabs!
3. Cleaning Glass Parts
Like the glass globe mouthpiece pictured above, glass parts on vaporizers are a bit trickier to clean than their plastic or metal counterparts. Fragility obviously comes into question when dealing with glass, however, the superior vapor produced by all-glass systems is well worth the additional caution that must be taken.
Devices like the Arizer Solo, Haze V2, and CloudV ElectroMini come with glass aroma tubes and mouthpieces that require regular maintenance to ensure for top quality vapor. The residual herb that clings to these parts alters the taste of your vapor, so best to keep them clean.
Cleaning is relatively straightforward and is assisted greatly by an initial degree of care and maintenance like brushing your mouthpiece out after each use.
For best results, the parts should be placed in a closed jar with a small amount of isopropyl alcohol to help wash off any excess residue. Take care not to shake the glass too vigorously as it could damage the glass pieces inside.
4. How to Clean your Glass Aqua-Bubbler
Some ultra-premium vaporizers even come equipped with a glass aqua-bubbler that helps cool down your vapor and delivers a crisp, clean vapor experience. These are useful accessories for someone that used to smoking from a water pipe.
These aqua-bubblers, although practical, can be a bitch to clean properly. The various percolators and notches fashioned inside the glass art can be difficult to access, even with something as small as a toothpick. Again, isopropyl and a coarse substance such as rice or salt must be used to dislodge any residual herbs.
The video below shows you how to clean your glass aqua-bubbler quickly and effectively.
5. Cleaning Mouthpiece, Screens & O-Ring’s
The vapor path is the section of the vaporizer which comes between the baking chamber and your mouth. So, for example, on the Arizer ArGo the vapor path is purely glass and consists of only the aroma tube.
On the Crafty Portable Vaporizer from Storz & Bickel, which is pictured below, the vapor path consists of the inbuilt stainless steel screen as well as the food-grade plastic cooling unit and mouthpiece.
These O-rings need to remain clean to ensure a proper seal is maintained, and the mouthpiece and the cooling unit must be regularly disassembled to ensure for maximum vapor quality.
Most devices these days come with replaceable screen sets and mouthpieces that are capable of being disassembled to simplify the cleaning process. Simply take the included brush and give all the pieces a good scrub after every few uses.
6. Battery Issues
Battery issues can become a common trend among all portable vapes if proper care isn’t maintained. Most device user guides tell you to charge your device for up to five hours for the initial charge, this is a great way to instill good battery life into your device.
Removable and rechargeable batteries are common features of many of the portable vaporizers being manufactured these days. This simplifies the bad battery problem and gives you the opportunity to increase your device’s portability by purchasing additional batteries.
A potential issue with some devices is that buying an additional battery isn’t always an option. Some devices, like the Arizer Solo I’m taking apart below, come with an inbuilt battery that is a lot more difficult to replace.
By maintaining a proper charging schedule and giving the device a decent first charge, you can greatly increase the life of your battery and save yourself a lot of cash in the long run.
7. Taking your Device Apart
Pulling apart your device and conducting some DIY vape maintenance may seem beneficial, however, in most cases, it will completely void your device of warranty and could result in doing more harm than good. If the device is still under warranty the chance of getting a replacement unit is generally high.
If your device is out of warranty though, and you think it could do with a new battery or a detail clean, always remember to take extreme caution and switch the device off or make sure it’s not plugged in.
At VapeFuse.com we are absolutely jam-packed with accessories to clean and maintain your vaporizer. Check them out at the online store and get vaping better!
1 thought on “Expert Tips for Maintaining your Vape”
Thanks for mentioning that it’s important to keep your battery charged when vaping. I would love to get a new vape stick this week so can start vaping more often. I’ll have to pick up some flavor sticks this week as well.