How to Clean Your E-Cigarette
Vaping is, beyond a doubt, better than smoking cigarettes. The smell doesn’t stick to your clothes nor does it stink.
It gives a similar – if not the same – satisfaction as that of smoking, and it is by far the better habit. Oh, and it comes in various flavours too.
However, if we were to nitpick the downsides of vaping, one particular aspect pops out: maintenance.
Why clean your E-Cigarette?
Like all other gadgets, e-cigarettes require maintenance. You’ll need to charge the batteries, refill the tank/atomizers, rebuild the coils and wick (or swap out coil heads), and keep it clean.
While most of these go without saying, many vapers forget to clean their e-cigarettes regularly, resulting in misfires, short-circuits, diminished throat hit and worse comes to worst, a busted device.
If you have been vaping for some time now and haven’t once cleaned your device, now is the time to start. Fortunately, we’re here to help.
Cleaning Your E-Cigarette
Before we dive into cleaning your device, you must know that there are various types of e-cigarettes and what cleaning method works with others might not with some.
First, does your device have removable batteries? Second, is it regulated or non-regulated? (Most devices are Regulated)
Cleaning AIO (ALL-IN-ONE) Devices
If you have a device that doesn’t come with a removable battery (All-in-One), do not make it wet.
Simply get a piece of cloth, damp it with alcohol, and wipe the e-cigarette with it.
Make sure to clean the atomizer connectors as well.
A clean connection will give you optimum performance while a dirty one can result in sub-par production.
Cleaning Vape Pens
For those with removable batteries, you must ensure whether the device is regulated or unregulated.
For regulated e-cigarettes, remove the battery and wipe it down with a damp cloth.
Be sure to clean the insides of the battery compartment as well.
Never submerge the device unless you want to be left with a fancy paperweight.
Check out the video below for more instructions or see our full post on cleaning e-cigarettes here:
Cleaning Mech Mods or Unregulated Devices
Mechanical, or mech, mods are unregulated devices. However, not all unregulated devices are mech mods.
Some have built-in batteries, and while they perform much like mech mods, they aren’t considered true mech mods.
For those with built-in batteries, simply follow the same cleaning steps as with regulated devices, ensuring you don’t get the batteries wet.
For mech mod users, this is where things get a little more intense. To make it easier to follow, let me break it down into steps. But before that, prepare your cleaning materials.
You’ll need:
- Two clean pieces of cloth
- A bowl
- Alcohol or soapy water (you can also used cheap vodka if you have some)
- Metal or Wood Polish
Once you have the materials ready and on hand, let’s begin the process.
- Remove the battery and set it aside
- Unscrew the atomizer or tank (we’ll get to that later)
- Disassemble the mod ensuring each individual part is removed
- If two parts can’t be disengaged without force, better leave it be
- Prepare the parts for cleaning by wiping each part down with the first clean piece of cloth.
- Put the alcohol, soapy water, or vodka into the bowl.
- Put aside the parts made of wood, and submerge the other in the bowl for about 10-20 minutes. If everything doesn’t fit inside, do it by batches.
- After soaking, clean the parts one by one, removing the grime with the second piece of cloth. Make sure to clean the screwable parts thoroughly
- Wipe it all down with your dry piece of cloth. If you have metal polish, now is the time to make them shine with metal polish
- For wood parts, use the wood polish
- Let dry
- Once all is clean, sparkly, and dry, put it all back together.
A slightly different method of cleaning your mechanical mod is featured in the following video:
What About the Tank/Atomizer
Remember the atomizer/tank you put aside earlier? Now it’s time to make it sparkle as well.
To start, be sure you have the following:
- A bowl
- Soapy water, alcohol, or vodka
- Two clean pieces of cloth
Once you have everything set, it’s time to begin.
- Remove all eliquid from the tank or atomizer
- Disassemble the unit completely
- Remove the wick and coil (or unscrew the coil head if you use them)
- Wipe everything down with the first piece of cloth
- Put the soapy water, alcohol, or vodka in the bowl
- Soak everything in the solution and leave it for 10-20 mins
- Using the second piece of cloth, wipe each part down ensuring to remove all grime
- Let all the pieces dry
- Once dry, rebuild the wick or replace the coil head
- Reassemble, and you’re done!
Is There An Easier Way?
Looking at the steps above, it looks daunting, but it is not. However, for those who think that the above steps are too much, luckily there is an easier way. How so? Two words: Ultrasonic Cleaner.
Ultrasonic cleaners come in different shapes and sizes. The smaller ones are cheaper of course, but they might not fit all the parts you need cleaning. Prices can range from $10 to upwards of $2000. Ridiculous, I know.
When canvassing for an ultrasonic cleaner, find a size that’s just right for the parts of your mods. A nice one would set you back around $50 or so.
It’s not a cheap investment for sure, but if you want to make sure your devices are clean with minimum effort, it’s all worth it.
How to Use an Ultrasonic Cleaner
It’s really simple. If you’ve explored the cleaner, you will notice a tank inside it. Fill it up with dishwasher soap and water.
After preparing the pieces to be cleaned, put them in the tank and press the START button. Some cleaners have built-in heaters since the water needs to be heated up before cleaning.
If the cleaner you bought has no heater, you can heat the water beforehand before putting it in the tank.
Once the cleaner is up and running, leave it on for about 5-10 mins.
Remember to leave some space for the parts to move around. Filling the tank with too many pieces without room to move can result in scratching.
If you are cleaning tanks, the glass might get chipped, cracked, or worse.
Aside from the few caveats, using an ultrasonic cleaner is very easy. It’s quick and thorough, saving you time with the cleaning process. If you can afford it, it’s wise to invest in an ultrasonic cleaner.
Is It All Worth It?
At a glance, all the work, time, and effort that goes into cleaning and maintaining your e-cigarettes may seem like too much work.
But it’s not. After a few tries, you’ll find that cleaning your e-cigarette isn’t all that tedious, and can be fun even.
If you’re still not convinced, consider the benefits of proper maintenance then. Here’s what can happen if you don’t clean your device regularly:
- Your device won’t work properly
- You’ll find that you don’t get the same throat hit as you did as when it was new
- Short circuits become a very real risk
- With mech mods, you’ll feet the device get more hot, more often
- In serious cases, your device run the risk of exploding
Sounds scary right? While the most extreme results only happen rarely, they can still happen if you don’t take care of your device.
So my advice? Do the right thing and maintain your device regularly. Trust me, it will all be worth it.
