Hey all! I'm seriously out of commission lately with chronic pain and facing some surgeries in the future, but I wanted to pop in to share some info, and a solution, regarding a common problem that appears to come up often with the Pax, one I decided to tackle:
The Dreaded Sticking/Frozen Temp Button!!
Background: So, I have owned my Pax now for about 8 months. In that time Ive read this entire thread, contributed a few PicTutorial posts, met some new friends, learned a lot, and hopefully helped and inspired others.
During that time the frozen and sticking temp button has been a fairly common issue for some. As you know from previous posts, I'm a bit geeky and anal about my device with regard to function and maintenance. There are really only 2 mechanical systems on the Pax; the mouthpiece system, and the temp button.
I clean meticulously, and because of the common button issue I kept reading about, I would check mine for function every few cleanings (I leave mine on medium all the time).
I noticed that the button was getting stickier over time. Didn't have as much travel as when new, and most recently noticed that to get the temp to change, pushing the button had no travel at all, just pressure. In other words, it was getting worse and on the verge of becoming stuck. Seriously.
In my reading here particularly, I noted that people were attributing the sticky button to getting Isopropyl Alcohol in the button opening. Some even indicated that Ploom had told them this was the cause of their frozen temp button. I don't dispute people were told this, no reason to...I will address this later.
However, my button was nearly useless/frozen, and as stated, I am meticulous about my cleaning routine and have never gotten even a speck of IA in that temp button.
After freaking out a bit, I decided to study the sitch and it was clear to me that the button is becoming frozen due to resin, the only other logical explanation.
Also, if you consider the construction itself, the material between the outside diameter of the mouthpiece stem and the temp button hole is EXTREMELY thin! THIS means that as the unit gets dirty with normal use and lubrication, a film of light resin does build up on the exterior diameter of the mouthpiece. This can then easily, over time, as the mouthpiece is pushed in and out, transfer slight amounts of resin from the mouthpiece tube exterior directly into the button hole via that VERY thin wall between mouthpiece tube and button. Go look, right now, no kidding!! Since the button is out of any direct vapor path, this all seems logical to me, so I set out to resolve the issue.
I chose not to disassemble the unit (I really want to because that's how I roll, but wont for warranty reasons), but I REALLY needed to fix this button or it would DEFINITELY have to go back as it was a use or two away from being frozen. I'm a geek. I can't let it go. I had to think it out, and try something. Fortunately, it worked!
Here is how I restored my button to BRAND NEW condition. (I make NO warranty as to your results, but I CAN tell you that this fixed my unit as if it were brand new from being as good as frozen and useless, and suggest that if you follow my directions, no harm will come to your unit:
You will need:
- 99% Isopropyl Alcohol
- A dropper, or other method of delivering a small amt of alcohol accurately
- Compressed air (standard canned "duster" spray with the small tube attachment)
- Paper towel or small clean absorbent rag
- 10-15 minutes of your time
Directions:
1. Start with a clean unit.
2. Remove the mouthpiece and then place/remove the Pax on the charger for a second to turn the unit off. NO EXCEPTIONS, make SURE the unit is off before you begin!!
3. USE 99% ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL, NO EXCEPTIONS!!! I cant stress this enough!! I said I'd address this issue earlier, so here we go. There are generally 2 flavors of IPA at your pharmacy; 70% and 99%. The 70% is 30% water. Water is NOT good for electronics, and it MAY be that getting 70% IPA in there WILL damage the button, as in during a normal cleaning routine, and as some others have suggested. 70% will work fine for general cleaning, but I STRONGLY recommend that you spring for a bit extra and get the 99% for cleaning the Pax all the time.
...onto the fix...take a breath, it's just wordy to describe clearly what I'm doing, not because it's complicated. Promise.
4. Tilt the Pax at a 45 degree away from the temp button
5. Using a dropper or other method, place 6-7 drops of IPA in oval top of the Pax so it is away from the feed tube and temp button. You want a little pool sitting in there in the mouthpiece well, away from the tube and button.
6. Slowly rotate the Pax so the IPA is settled along the long side of the wall, near the temp button. Again, small pool, now sitting close to the temp button
7. Now slowly level off the top of the Pax carefully so that a bit of the pooled IPA drips into the temp button hole, down the side furthest from the mouthpiece tube, then tilt it back away. You don't want IPA going everywhere, near, or down the mouthpiece hole.
8. Rotate back to the 45 degree to bring the IPA back to the starting position and mop out any pooled IPA with the toweling.
(the idea here is to put a bit of IPA in there and allow a bit to get down into the button. You don't want to soak it, you don't want it to get into the mouthpiece tube, you don't want to drip it down into the button directly with a dropper, just rotating it enough to get a bit into the side of the button furthest from the mouthpiece hole. A dropper MAY work to deliver a drop directly in, but I did not take that route and opted for a more gentle approach. going slowly. Keep in mind this was all experimental, I didn't want to further destroy the thing...but I had a STRONG hunch.)
9. Slowly manipulate the temp button in a circular fashion under your thumb. Use your thumbnail to gently pull/rock the button from one side to the other. You want to work the IPA in and around gently but thoroughly. Do.this for about 15-20 seconds.
10. Mop any remaining IPA from around the temp button and the mouthpiece area
Repeat steps 4-10, and from this time forth, use the compressed air to deliver a few short blasts into the temp button hole, down the sides, when you're done manipulating the button. I don't think drying out the first run is a good idea, hence not using compressed air on the first run. We're trying to do 2 things here; push any resin dissolved in the IPA (and the IPA) away from the button mechanism, and to dry it up. Again, we are talking VERY small amounts of IPA here that you've carefully let drip into the button hole, working it around to dissolve any resin, and then displace the resin/IPA away from the button mechanism inside using compressed air.
You will notice the button beginning to free up after the first dose. It took me 5-6 runs of the steps above, and now my temp button is EXACTLY like brand new. The button moves freely in the hole, it has a distinct click feel to it when selecting a temp. I'm telling you, it was one use away from being completely stuck.
The compressed air is critical and NOT optional! After I'd done 2 runs initially, I felt the button was freed up and working fine. However, going back about 30 mins later, the button wasn't as free, sticking again. To me, this meant that the IPA had dried out and left the resin right there where it had dissolved it, which is NOT what we want! So, I ran the steps again, only this time I used compressed air down the temp button hole after each run just after I'd manipulated the button around, ensuring that the blasts of air would displace any IPA containing dissolved resin from the button mechanism. This was KEY in making sure the button got freed up and STAYED freed up. Just use the long skinny tube included with compressed air, place it right on the button hole edge, and blast a few quick blasts of air down in there.
I know this was another really long post, and I hope it helps those with this issue. I was so elated that this worked, DESPITE what apparently Ploom had said to others, and DESPITE what has sort of become "matter-of-fact" regarding getting IPA down into the temp button and causing it to freeze, that I wanted to share and hope it saves some of you some headache and anxiety about your Pax. I know it completely goes against everything we know about the temp button so far, but this really worked and saved my otherwise meticulously maintained Pax.
I absolutely LOVE this thing, and my spare still remains brand new in the box, unused!! W00T!!!
Keep it clean, use some common sense, and happy Paxing brothers and sisters!!
GraffiX
