Hi.
So I got a Rockzap from Blisssville a few months ago and I'm loving it. I got two stems, one is the standard white plastic stem with a steel end piece, the other one is a walnut stem with a brass end piece. I tried the walnut stem only once and didn't like it because it adds a lot of taste/smell to the vapor, probably from the wood glazing. So I kept using the regular stem, but it got clogged more and more, even though I cleaned it out using a brush after every use.
To clean it, I dipped the tip it into cleaning alcohol for a while, which cleaned out a good deal of gunk. Then I tried scraping some more stuff out at which point I accidentally dislodged the screen. So I removed it and cleaned it in alcohol as well. Everything's nice and shiny now. Problem is, I can't seem to get the screen retaining clip to hold in place. I'm using a metal rod which is perfectly flat at the end and which fits snuggly into the plastic stem to push the retaining spring towards the screen. But no matter what I try, the screen sits somewhat loose, i.e. I can shake the stem and hear the screen move about. The problem here is really that the plastic stem is more narrow than the metal end piece, i.e. the rod I use fits snuggly into the plastic stem but the metal piece is clearly a little bit wider.
Then I had a look at the brass stem. Clearly, the mesh is thinner on the brass stem (which is nice) but unfortunaltely, the brass stem end piece (which is detachable) doesn't fit on the plastic stem metal end piece. In any case, I have a few questions:
1) Which way should the screen be facing? Should the convex face point towards the mouth end or the CRZ end? I forgot to take note of this when I dislodged the screen.
2) Is there some way to get the retaining clip to hold in place? I've seen the 'official screen replacement tool' but that's just a rod as well. It wouldn't fit any better through the narrow plastic stem and then widen once it's through to fit better inside the metal end piece.
3) Regaring the detachable brass end piece, which way should it be pointing? I was somewhat confused to find that the screen and retaining spring on the brass end piece seem to point toward the bud/CRZ, unlike with the metal end piece from the plastic stem, where the screen and retaining spring point towards the mouth. Is this correct? Of course I can turn the brass end piece around 180° but then the 'bud chamber' becomes quite large.
Okay so it might not be clear what I'm talking about, so I made a little drawing...
Please advise
Thanks!