Currently, my VB2 has functioned daily for approximately a year.
I take precautions that some may feel excessive, but they seem to work!
These are my personal precautions:
Heatup-
I rarely walk away during heatup, lest I forget and come back to a red light. OR.. I use my cell phone's timer set at 4 minutes and come back to get medicated. This avoids me having to repeatedly re-heat the unit. The units when reheated over and over gets hot, so users may leave the top off more often, as it gets hot to the touch... leading to my next habit..
The top-
I use the porcelain top a great deal, but not for vaping. I most often leave it on during heatup, but on occasion I do not. I do ALWAYS place it on there for cool-down. If I am walking away and leaving unit on to burn off residues and shut itself off.... or if I hit the switch and shut-down. The element was just glowing hot, and I do not need cold air contacting my element as it was just shut down. I place the porcelain top on and then I shut-down. I believe this extends the potential life of your element... the lack of repeated super-rapid cooldowns.
The unit's cleanup-
I do not ever make contact with my element during cleaning. I do not place anything against it, or pressure upon it. I only tilt unit slightly, during the tidying of the walls with a razor blade.. or a piece of steel wool dipped in Iso. Not enough Iso to drip or even run from the steel wool. If flakes from residue fall on element I do not brush them off.. I blow with a puff of air... nothing ever remains but if it did I would leave it for burn off... I have not yet concerned myself with particles that fall into the netherworld of the underbelly of the VB2
My precautions summary:
- Don't constantly reheat your unit, keeping it at top temperature for great extended periods.
- Keep top on during cool-down, and when possible during heatup.
- tilt unit as infrequently as possible.
I am not saying my way is the only way... I am not even saying it is the right way.
What I am saying is that I take these precautions, and have had consistent, uninterrupted, daily use for a year.