Vaporbrothers VB1

Almost nothing on the VB1 gets dirty except the whip. The ceramic heater only warms passing air, so every trace of residue condenses inside the glass or ceramic whip tip, on the screen behind it, and along the hose. The wooden box collects only loose plant matter that drops past the screen.

1. Read the residue first: Vaporbrothers treats colour as a diagnostic. Honey coloured residue in the whip washes out easily. A blackened whip with a clogged screen means the dial has been sitting too high, and that deposit is far harder to shift, so drop the temperature next time.

2. Clear the screen without stripping the whip: the manual's own tip is to draw a breath through the vaporizer with the whip empty every so often. Flushing boiling water or 91 percent isopropyl through the assembled whip works too, and often saves a screen change.

3. Let the glass cool, then take it apart: never disassemble a hot whip. On an EZ Change whip, bend the glass out of the silicone grip rather than pulling it straight, and never tap the handpiece against a hard surface.

4. Soak the silicone whip grip on its own: its surface is slightly porous, so Vaporbrothers has it soak first and alone, or it takes on oil from the other pieces.

5. Soak glass, ceramic and screens: alcohol or boiling water both work. Vaporbrothers specifies 91 percent isopropyl and notes drugstore 70 percent is nearly a third water. Clear blocked holes with a straightened paper clip, since the metal pick tool will crack a screen.

6. Boil out an All-Glass whip: dip the tip into a pot of boiling water, draw water a few inches up the glass, then blow it back out. This residue behaves more like honey oil than hard resin and mostly melts free. Wipe the oily pot with vegetable oil before washing it.

7. Wash the hose in warm water and mild soap: keep it out of the alcohol. Slide it off the whip, cutting it if it has bonded on, and replace it once it stops coming clear.

Screens are consumables: 0.625 inch ceramic or stainless for EZ Change and Mini whips, 0.75 inch stainless for All-Glass whips, never brass. Keep liquid away from the ceramic heater and the cord, both of which Vaporbrothers asks you to inspect periodically, and do not let waste build up inside the wooden body. The top of the temperature dial is marked as a self cleaning setting: run the VB1 there and pull air through an empty whip to burn off what stayed behind. For heater life, leave the box on a low setting between uses rather than cycling it, and keep the bottom vents clear.