XMAX Daboo

The Daboo is dipped tip first into concentrate, so almost everything that gets dirty is on the quartz coil and inside the atomizer cap that covers it. The glass bubbler collects a different kind of grime, condensate and standing water, and in our review it was the part we handled most carefully, because the Daboo cannot be used at all without it.

1. Strip it down first: XMAX asks you to take the heating element and the bubbler off before any cleaning, and to always separate the element from the battery section before you start. The bubbler slides out of the back of the body. Let the tip cool, since the manual warns against touching a heating element straight after use.

2. Soak the coil, and watch the clock: XMAX puts the element in alcohol for no longer than three minutes once a session ends, then dries it in open air or against a soft towel. Three minutes is the stated limit, so this is not a part you leave in a jar overnight. XMAX publishes no burn off cycle for the Daboo, and the timed soak stands in for one.

3. Brush the air path: run a small brush or a cotton swab through the air path to shift the condensate that settles between the 510 thread and the mouthpiece end. Do this while the tip is unscrewed, which is also the moment to wipe the exposed 510 socket that cartridges thread into.

4. Wash the glass on its own: warm water or alcohol both work on the bubbler. Empty it after each session rather than leaving water in it. Getting water out is more awkward than getting it in, so keep a syringe or squeeze bulb nearby. Refill only to the red line, and only with the glass detached, because water reaching the battery will ruin it.

5. Nothing wet on the base: XMAX rules out submerging the battery or wiping it with water or isopropyl alcohol. The housing gets a dry cloth and the USB-C port stays dry.

6. Swap the tip once soaking stops helping: pull the atomizer cap, unscrew the spent element, thread the replacement straight into the device and refit the cap. XMAX notes the new coil may need a light press as it seats. A spare quartz tip and spare gaskets ship in the box, and XMAX's six month cover applies to the electronic base, not to glass or elements.

Let it cool before it goes into storage, keep it somewhere dry and charge at 5V/1A. XMAX also warns that a Daboo left flat under two percent will refuse to take a charge again, so do not put it away empty.