White residue on vape glass

A

albert88

New Member
Hi all. Even after fully cleaning my stem, I get these weird white dots and residue that show up after the first bowl is loaded up and heated up (no pull required). The stem was fully clean, and no cleaning salts/liquid/residue was left in there. Can this be some kind of chemical that is vaporizing?

de4kci.jpg
 
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SlinginPaint

SlinginPaint

As Above ∞ So Below
whaaaaaa???

on a freshly clean stem?

:hmm:

You sure you just don't have some SUUUUPER dank stickyicky that is somehow building up really fast on the stem? And you are positive you did not draw through it at all?
 
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A

albert88

New Member
Yup 100% clean. This was the first time I cleaned the stem, but before that I remember those spots also occurring when I had just purchased the vape. Can this be from some kind of additive or spray on the greens? You never know what these mass producers would do to maximize profits.


SlinginPaint said:
whaaaaaa???

on a freshly clean stem?

:hmm:

You sure you just don't have some SUUUUPER dank stickyicky that is somehow building up really fast on the stem? And you are positive you did not draw through it at all?
Click to expand...
 
albert88,
RUDE BOY

RUDE BOY

Space is the Place
What did you clean the stem with? It couldn't come from the herb if the stem is clean and you haven't drawn any vapor through the stem.

I would say soak in iso, scrub with a brush then rinse with distilled water. Looks like residue from minerals in water or left over detergent to me.
 
Tweak

Tweak

T\/\/34|<
albert88 said:
Hi all. Even after fully cleaning my stem, I get these weird white dots and residue that show up after the first bowl is loaded up and heated up (no pull required).
Click to expand...

How do you clean it? Soak in ISO? No physical scrubbing?

I believe what you are seeing in the waxy leftover of vapor resin. I get them all the time on my really dirty screens that I let soak.

When you heat the Solo up, it starts evaping the water in your material, causing condensation on the colder glass, but not where the waxes are.

Just a guess though.
 
A

albert88

New Member
I'm baffled just like most of you. I have a feeling my flowers are sprayed or coated with something. The smell of the vapor at first doesn't smell like flowers, it's smells more of a foul type instead. After that is cleared out, the normal flower taste comes. So what I do now is heat up the bowl for a few minutes, take it out and blow the vapor out, then start to inhale.

I will try again with yet another source, and see if this happens as well.

BTW, due to lack of items I had to use table salt and drinking vodka to soak/clean the stem.
 
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clouded vision

clouded vision

Well-Known Member
albert88 said:
BTW, due to lack of items I had to use table salt and drinking vodka to soak/clean the stem.
Click to expand...
You should have started with that, this is your problem. Vodka is no where near strong enough to really clean the stem. That is left over vapor condensate that doesn't fully dissolve in vodka. Not to mention vodka has a lot of sugars (relatively speaking) & other contaminants. Go out & get some 91% or higher (99 if you can find it), it's like $2-4/qt & will last you a long time. Also no need to use salt in a solo stem, plus you can evaporate the iso out & are left with reclaim oil that you can revape.
 
A

albert88

New Member
Thanks for the input. You don't think the somewhat foul smell means anything on the first draw?

clouded vision said:
You should have started with that, this is your problem. Vodka is no where near strong enough to really clean the stem. That is left over vapor condensate that doesn't fully dissolve in vodka. Not to mention vodka has a lot of sugars (relatively speaking) & other contaminants. Go out & get some 91% or higher (99 if you can find it), it's like $2-4/qt & will last you a long time. Also no need to use salt in a solo stem, plus you can evaporate the iso out & are left with reclaim oil that you can revape.
Click to expand...
 
albert88,
luchiano

luchiano

Well-Known Member
albert88 said:
Thanks for the input. You don't think the somewhat foul smell means anything on the first draw?
Click to expand...
Do you rinse the stem in clean water after your vodka rinse and wipe it clean?. If you do, I don't know why it looks like that. I doubt its from the vodka since vodka has no minerals or sugar at least that amount on your stem. It might be minerals from the tap water, use distilled water next time and see what happens.

Another good way to clean the stem is to wet some paper towl in vodka and just wipe the stem until clean. I think that white stuff is just sticky residue that you never cleaned off.
 
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biohacker

biohacker

H.R.E.A.M
Looks exactly like after I run hot water through a stem, but not quite long enough. I do that, ISO, rinse and sparkling. You really need to get ISO, problem solved. Otherwise a long and hot enough rinse might do the trick.
 
Tweak

Tweak

T\/\/34|<
If ISO isn't available, OP could use a phosphate or some type of soduium carbonate.
 
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Enchantre

Enchantre

Oil Painter
Mineral buildup, yes. Calcium, actually. Bet your bathtub gets that, too. Take a glass out of the cupboard, and expose it to some heat (hold it over a hot burner for a few seconds - don't touch), and you'll probably see the same thing.

Never use anything but distilled to rinse your glass clean.

Edit: Oh, vodka. Yeah, sure, that would be the sugar caramelizing inside your glass stem. Looks a LOT like hard water spots.

Rinse.
 
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luchiano

luchiano

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To everyone saying its sugar from vodka, can you please explain to me how can vodka have sugar in it if vodka is a distillate, and sugar doesn't boil off with the alcohol and water?. I hear people say it all the time but it never made sense to me.
 
t-dub

t-dub

Vapor Sloth
luchiano said:
To everyone saying its sugar from vodka, can you please explain to me how can vodka have sugar in it if vodka is a distillate, and sugar doesn't boil off with the alcohol and water?. I hear people say it all the time but it never made sense to me.
Click to expand...
People say the same about grain alcohol and I'm like have you ever seen a fractional distillation tower? No sugar is getting up and outta that . . .

Everclear® alcohol
Everclear is a pure grain alcohol. The brand, produced by David Sherman Corporation, comes in two strength bands, both 95% (190 proof), and 75.5% (151 proof) bottles. Although, the 95% is undeniably the most popular and most available type.

Many of the US provinces have made it illegal to buy Everclear and it's very uncommon to see the most potent of the Everclear products sold outside of America.

Alcohol (ABV): 95.0% (190 proof)
Nutrition Facts
Calories in Everclear (alcohol)
Serving Size: 1 oz
Amount Per Serving
Calories 190.0
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Total Fat 0.0 g
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Saturated Fat 0.0 g
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Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g
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Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g
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Cholesterol 0.0 mg
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Sodium 0.0 mg
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Potassium 0.0 mg
spacer.gif

Total Carbohydrate 0.0 g
spacer.gif

Dietary Fiber 0.0 g
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Sugars 0.0 g
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Protein 0.0 g
 
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clouded vision

clouded vision

Well-Known Member
High quality vodka does not contain sugar but cheaper versions use sugars and other flavorings to mask the low quality alcohol they start with and I can't see cleaning stems with a $50 bottle of grey goose. Either way though, the answer is still get some iso. Ethanol (drinking alcohol) is a less aggressive solvent than iso is and vodka is only 40% ethanol. Stem oil is not water soluble so using a solution that is 60% water to try to clean it will never be as effective as iso, even 50% iso is a better choice than vodka is.
 
luchiano

luchiano

Well-Known Member
@clouded vision
I did more research and found vodka is allowed to have 2% additives. This guy did a test to see if some brands have glycol content. Its a good read.
http://www.artofdrink.com/mobi/post/glycerol-in-vodka-results

For cleaning you don't need something high in alcohol unless you have a thick substance to clean off since it will have more alcohol soluble substances needed to be cleaned off than a thin one will. In other words the more alcohol percentage the more it can hold.

I dont think vodka is bad if you just need to clean a small piece of glass and you have nothing else. As far as iso they defintely add additives to it to prevent people from drinking it, which is making me second guess if I should use it but, I always rinse off my cleaned pieces with pure water so it probably isn't a worry.
 
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clouded vision

clouded vision

Well-Known Member
I agree that vodka will work for small cleaning jobs and is perfectly safe even if not rinsed off, but it will take longer. As a solvent becomes more saturated the rate of dissolution slows. when you compare the same volume of 80 proof vodka vs. 91 iso, you have 51% less alcohol (also a less aggressive alcohol) so it becomes saturated more quickly.

By the way, 91 iso contains only isopropyl alcohol and distilled water, it doesn't need any additives because it is poisonous on its own (but it evaporates completely so safe for cleaning as long as you let it dry). I think what you are referring to is denatured alcohol which is mainly ethanol (drinking alcohol) with methanol (poisonous) add to discourage drinking, or rubbing alcohol which is 70% iso and some brands may contain perfumes.
wauCLUW.jpg
 
luchiano

luchiano

Well-Known Member
@clouded vision
Thanks for breaking it down for me because I was referring to rubbing alcohol. I guess I used it so much, that I forgot about high percentage isopropyl. That and a wet paper towel of vodka is all I ever needed but, I think I'm going to start with the 91% ISO. Do they sell it at rite-aid?.
 
aceskace

aceskace

Member
albert88 said:
Hi all. Even after fully cleaning my stem, I get these weird white dots and residue that show up after the first bowl is loaded up and heated up (no pull required). The stem was fully clean, and no cleaning salts/liquid/residue was left in there. Can this be some kind of chemical that is vaporizing?

de4kci.jpg
Click to expand...
exact same issue mate, still trying to figure out what it is
 
aceskace,
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