My opinion is the cleaning is manageable. But there was a learning curve. I was thinking about making videos of my usage, mainly the loading and cleaning. Maybe people have and they get buried but I couldn't find any. But in the meantime, some suggestions:
- Use a rolling tray with magnetic lid to keep mess and tools contained.
- Get a refillable needle tip dropper bottle for isopropyl. They can be a pain to fill. I roll a piece of paper so there is a small hole at one end to put into the dropper bottle. Sometimes I use the wrapper for an iso pad and cut the corners.
- Use two small glass jars with lids. Empty the cap of used material (AVB) into the small one. When needed, empty the small jar one into a large one.
- I tear strips of 1-2" wide paper towel and place 2-3 drops of isopropyl on it. I place the cap lid onto it, lightly move it, then flip it and repeat, sometimes using a fingernail to get into the edge. Then I clean the inside of the cap, I don't normally bother with the outside.
- I lay a clean part of paper towel onto the airpath disc, then 2-3 drops of isopropyl onto the towel, then press onto the disc. I consider this step semi-optional. The disc clogs so easily and I question it's usefulness for airflow. I also do not know if perhaps the holes clear themselves when heated and the user inhales through the device. The airpath disc seems to clog the holes progressively over 2-4 sessions.
That is my light cleaning routine. I do it now between every use. When I first started, I didn't clean it until I was using the little metal poker to scrape some heavy resin in the caps. Paper towel, isopropyl, and a quick wipe works much better.
- To clean the glass airpath, I use a RAW loader wooden poker tool because the diameter is perfect, tear a piece of paper towel from the end of the 1-2" strip, wrap it on the stick, then partially insert, dribble some iso on it, then push it through and out the dirtier end.
- I don't think cleaning under the airpath filter is often needed. I will just gently wipe it and the area around the oven with iso. If I do want to clean it, I carefully pry it with the poker. Drop it onto paper towel and clean.
- To clean the hard to reach area under the airpath filter to the gasket at the glass airpath, I remove the glass airpath, take a q-tip with iso and break the shaft, and insert it through the gasket until it reaches the bottom, twist a bit, then remove. This can be dicey because bits of cotton have gotten stuck before. In which case I've used 'specialty' pointy tweezers to remove. I think the q-tips that came in the cleaning kit are lint-free q-tips, which I would prefer, but I also have the tweezers.
- To clean the mouthpiece, I shove paper towel folded a couple times with iso in with the 'packing tool'.
- To clean the area under the mouthpiece, I might push a piece of paper towel lightly wrapped around the cleaning part of the dosing tool. Or, drip some iso from the top and catch it at the rubber seal (with the glass airpath removed).
- To thoroughly clean the airpath disc, I unscrew to remove it. Place it on a paper towel flat side down, place 5 or so drops of iso through the holes. Then wipe the flat side. Next I'll shove a bit of paper towel into the hole area, wet with iso, then drag it 360 degrees around the hole. Then I turn the disc on it's side and clean the outside edge. At this point there is still some clogged holes usually. I take the bristle tool and poke it through all the holes from the flat side. Finally I may do another wipe of iso to remove disloged material.
- Lasty, I wipe the rubber gasket with towel dampened with iso. Finally, I clean the chamber bowl with a clean area of towel dampened with iso.
Cleaning the airpath disc/oven lid... Some people suggest removing the airpath disc entirely. I don't necessarily agree but there are pros and cons and the device still works. However, I will reiterate, that when you inhale, the dosing capsule moves in the direction of the airpath disc, in other words it lifts off the bottom of the oven and impacts the disc. Allowing it to move further, and removing the restrictions of the disc, cause unknown changes. Like does less air flow through the cap? Also, the disc forms the top of the oven chamber, allowing heat to build up between inhales. I tried to learn a little airflow engineering but came up short. For instance, under the mouthpiece is a tiny hole about the size of the glass airpath, which opens up into a large volume around the mouthpiece filter, then is smaller at the mouthpiece tip. It seems strange to me, where flow area is larger, density would go down, flow rate would decrease. Because I don't notice much difference with or without the disc as far as draw strength, this could indicate how little of a function it performs for airflow.
I think that with the correct absorbent material, like a spongy material wetted with iso, if you placed the disc flat side onto it, and pressed a few times, that iso would dissolve and pull the condensate out. A paper towel sorta works for this and it's the idea I have when I lay it onto the disc without removal and place 2-3 drops of iso on it. It's a dabbing action instead of wiping.
Another option would be a small dish that could hold the airpath disc in a shallow bath of iso, maybe it would clean the holes.
