The Mighty+ CU cleaning methods and alcohols

[Falafel]

I am a total beginner.
So, the manual (and many others) suggests cleaning the CU with isopropyl alcohol by soaking it for no more than 30mins.

So my questions are :

1. Why specifically Isopropyl and is it OK (safe) if I use Ethanol instead of Isopropyl alcohol ?
2. What exactly happens if I soak the CU for more than 30 mins in Isopropyl or Ethanol ?
3. Ethanol is safer and cheaper than Isopropyl so why just not use Ethanol ?

So I read in the manual that the CU in fact the whole mighty is made from PEEK plastic, tried searching for what happens if it's soaked in Isopropyl or Ethanol for 30mins or more couldn't find anything that is from a reliable or trusted source, the only thing that I found was not related to PEEK but to plastic in general and it's that Alcohol could cause material deformation cracks or discoloration.

My whole point of these question is knowing which materials are safe to use and which are not because like everyone I'm trying not to get poisoned, So I soaked my CU in Ethanol for about 3 hours it looks totally fine (by the look) should I use it or just get a new CU ?

 

[Siebter]

The 30 minute recommendation might refer to the o rings on the cooling unit. Or that more than 30 minutes won't change the result much anyway.

Isopropyl alcohol is very efficient and evaporates quickly, it's also safe when you rinse thoroughly. I don't think ethanol is much different from that and if your cooling unit looks fine, it should be fine.

 

[ChooChooCharlie]

Do not worry about using ethanol instead of isopropyl

S&B advised using ethanol in manuals until a year or so ago
Not sure why they changed to recommending isopropyl -- perhaps iso is more common in the States, or because iso evaporates quicker? Anyway, you can use either one

Do not worry that you soaked the PEEK CU for three hours

If you google "PEEK chemical resistance" there are charts showing it resists most, including alcohol. Tests were done over 48 hour exposure period. Only a couple chemicals hurt PEEK, like concentrated nitric and sulfuric acids

Also, until recently, Mighty manual advised no more than one hour soak. Now they have shortened time to 30 minutes. Not sure why ... perhaps household flammable safety issue unrelated to CU plastic integrity, the user is less likely to forget and leave iso out if forced to watch clock

I don't soak for more than 10 minutes, but I suspend the iso bag with cu parts in a bowl of very hot water, and slosh bag occasionally. Some suspend bag in an ultrasonic cleaner, but I found that hot iso sloshed manually works great. I separate two halves of CU and mouthpiece, but I don't bother removing o-rings

Worst negative effects of cleaning is on the holographic-like locking tab. Alcohol fades the image a bit, and also degrades the adhesive keeping that pretty sticker attached, and over time will show edge peeling. But, I don't care about fading, and I don't remove these tabs before cleaning -- the tiny locking rail/tabs snap off easily when removing them, grrr, then they don't hold on tight anymore, sonofabitch

Troy doesn't soak at all. He removes upper half of CU while hot and still attached to Mighty. Then uses cotton swabs (Q-Tips)

 

[Nahojii]

Whatever anyone does, do NOT use acetone. Will melt the whole unit...

 

[badbee]

Drinkable ethanol (like high proof EverClear available in some US states) is the safest cleaner you can use. The challenge is that in the US and many countries ethanol intended for drinking is heavily taxed and expensive and ethanol not intended for drinking has bitterants or other additives to prevent drinking. No NOT use any alcohol with additives in it ( no rubbing alcohol, hand santizer, etc). When using ISO try to get the 91% or 99%, they work much better than 70%.

Note that things clean much easier when warm, I set my jar of ISO in a sink of hottest tap water and let it fully warm up. The only soaking things get is while they wait their turn for scrubbing.

 

[RustyOldNail]

Do not worry about using ethanol instead of isopropyl

S&B advised using ethanol in manuals until a year or so ago
Not sure why they changed to recommending isopropyl -- perhaps iso is more common in the States, or because iso evaporates quicker? Anyway, you can use either one

Do not worry that you soaked the PEEK CU for three hours

If you google "PEEK chemical resistance" there are charts showing it resists most, including alcohol. Tests were done over 48 hour exposure period. Only a couple chemicals hurt PEEK, like concentrated nitric and sulfuric acids

Also, until recently, Mighty manual advised no more than one hour soak. Now they have shortened time to 30 minutes. Not sure why ... perhaps household flammable safety issue unrelated to CU plastic integrity, the user is less likely to forget and leave iso out if forced to watch clock

I don't soak for more than 10 minutes, but I suspend the iso bag with cu parts in a bowl of very hot water, and slosh bag occasionally. Some suspend bag in an ultrasonic cleaner, but I found that hot iso sloshed manually works great. I separate two halves of CU and mouthpiece, but I don't bother removing o-rings

Worst negative effects of cleaning is on the holographic-like locking tab. Alcohol fades the image a bit, and also degrades the adhesive keeping that pretty sticker attached, and over time will show edge peeling. But, I don't care about fading, and I don't remove these tabs before cleaning -- the tiny locking rail/tabs snap off easily when removing them, grrr, then they don't hold on tight anymore, sonofabitch

Troy doesn't soak at all. He removes upper half of CU while hot and still attached to Mighty. Then uses cotton swabs (Q-Tips)

ALL good advice.

Ethanol is more $$$ in USA then ISO, because of the added SIN TAX & hazmat fees. I recently found a gallon of 190 ethanol for $40.00, but FedEx “hazmat”, delivery added another $27.00. I bought it to do QWET, but then realized since unlike my 99% ISO, the ethanol is not DENATURED, it won’t leave any BITTER residue behind on all the things I clean, like DV and other mouthpieces. Bought a special “Mendo”, dispenser resistant to ethanol. I’ll use the cheaper ISO on things that don’t end up in my mouth.

It’s very smart to constantly check the materials we use with SOLVENT compatibility !

I use the Troy technique on my Mighty CU, just clean it with qtips. That works best if you clean often, as I tend to do, rarely have to soak anything anymore. But if it’s gunked up, sometimes a soaking can make it a little easier.