How to clean the inside of a regulated device?

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Hello everybody!

I consider myself a little advanced user, but never joined the ECF until now, but i did read a lot and used this forum as a great source of information while i was beginning vaping, almost a year ago.

Now i joined this great community and i would like ask for your help.

HOW TO PROPERLY CLEAN MY DEVICE?

Not specifically MY device, any box mod like IPVs, DNAs, Evics, Wismecs, etc, electronic devices with chips and delicate parts inside.

When i searched about this i just found out things like "how do clean you atomizer" and "how to clean your mech mod" but nothing about regulated mods with chips and electronic parts inside.

I live near the ocean and sea spray is a problem with my electronic devices so i clean everything more often than the most people normally would. I usually use Isopropyl Alcohol 90% (because it has less than 1% of water in its composition) air blower (canned or compressed air) and/or even some commercial products like Contact Spray (also known as Contact Cleaner) which is a spray made specifically to clean computer and electronic parts, theoretically it doesn't leave any residues and its non-conductive.

Even for those who don't live near the ocean, with time, juice residues can accumulate inside the mod, creating gunk on the connections, even over the chip.

If i had to clean my mod with the knowledge i have i would open it, took all the pieces apart, wash it out with Isopropyl Alcohol, use a soft toothbrush to clean all the parts, wait to dry and then apply Contact Cleaner, also waiting to dry before putting all together.

But i don't know if i can use these methods to clean my mod because an acquaintance of mine works with computer repairs and since he started vaping he also began to repair mods. He told me that i shouldn't use any of those methods because mods are different than computer parts and some pieces like the fire button have chemical compounds that the alcohol could took it off and damage it, among other things.

But i would like to confirm that because he didn't told me HOW to clean it and i think he did that on purpose to not let me share this information with others and somehow disturb his business since he is the only one who does that kind of repair and are well known in some social groups.

He appear to be a good guy, but i don't know, since there is no information about that anywhere.

Does anyone know anything about this?

Thanks!
 

djsvapour

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Oct 2, 2012
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Its a good question @Alexandro

If you can open a mod (it's possible without messing it up) you could do some housework. Personally, I only clean things (electrics, computers) if they are clearly dusty/dirty and it's going to cause trouble. Some mods are poorly (cheaply?) constructed and disturbing wires and connections could be risky. If you open a mod and find a mess of wires and glue, you might regret investigating.
 

ufosnowcat

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Oct 17, 2012
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a print board is a print board be it in a pc or in a mod dousnt make a difference wat is safe to use on a motherboard is safe for your mod (i probs dont need to tell you but in general) do take your batteries out first.

having said that, as djsvapour said, some mods are full of glue, and that can be a mess. be caefull opening up dont force it. if it is filled with glue it should be safe from the sea breeze ;)
 
I must confess i already cleaned my old IPV 2 Mini two times using this method because he was presenting some problems with the LCD and the fire button and after the cleaning the problems went away.

But also, after the last cleaning, two months ago, the fire button got a little funny afterwards, the mod was slow to build up power, not responding fast enough, cutting the power in the middle of the vape, but that also went away by itself after a couple of days.

Coincidence? The cleaning helped the first time and it was bad on the second time?

The internal structure of the most known mods are not too difficult to deal with. I also opened an IPV D2 and no surprises there. A bunch of wires, the battery housing and the chip, no science required. These are just the two mods i have so i can't say about others, but must not differ that much.

There is always soldering on the 510 connection and the chip so you will end up with some part you can't disconnect unless you know how to solder and since i don't know how to do that i leave it connected.

Reassembly is also simple enough.

The importance of the matter is that i have a site with news, guides and articles about vaping dedicated to the beginners and i did a video explaining how to clean your mod using these methods. When i asked the repair guy about it he told me doing that could damage my mods.

I didn't want to share wrong information so i searched a lot and couldn't find anything regarding the topic.

The way he told me is almost like the alcohol or the contact cleaner could damage some hidden and secret thingy behind the some dark corner of the mod that nobody knows about it (besides him), but maybe i am right and that guy just don't want me to share this kind of knowledge to people that would start extending the life of their devices by properly cleaning them.

@bwh79 the name i saw in the Internet is Isopropyl Alcohol 90% (i'm brazilian so i went looking for the proper translation for the product's name) but actually mine is 99,8% pure and max of 0.1% water, what are the other 0.1% i have no idea.

Thanks for all the answers and the help so far, i'm thinking about publishing my video.
 

daviedog

Vaping Master
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Sep 2, 2013
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Florida
Never heard of a sensitive compound on a switch. Doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
I don't use alcohol on circuits, i use deoxit or tuner cleaner. Avoid cleaners with organic compound. Tighten cotton around a swab, referred to as a tampon, instead of a toothbrush.
Why the fear of soldering? Easy enough to learn & it's usually where the trouble is..
 
Never heard of a sensitive compound on a switch. Doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
I don't use alcohol on circuits, i use deoxit or tuner cleaner. Avoid cleaners with organic compound. Tighten cotton around a swab, referred to as a tampon, instead of a toothbrush.
Why the fear of soldering? Easy enough to learn & it's usually where the trouble is..

The guy told me like it was something common to all mods not something in a particular one.

Searching for tuner cleaner i found out that is almost identical to contact cleaner and both can have organic compound depending on the manufacturer so as you stated, avoid these because it can leave some oil behind.

The cotton swab is a nice tip, i'm using a very soft toothbrush so far so good.

I have no fear of soldering, i just never had the necessity to learn it and since i also have no interest in learning about electronics (nor do i have any talent for that) i leave that be.
 

daviedog

Vaping Master
ECF Veteran
Sep 2, 2013
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Florida
Organic compounds over time create conductive bridges, as long as you clean up the excess it's okay.
Another thing to beware of in mods is the double sided tape, some are conductive as Kapton and some aren't. If your not sure leave them be. You'll need a DMM to be sure.
I love opening devices,, after all if you can't open it, you don't own it..
 

mauricem00

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Feb 18, 2015
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carson city nevada
a print board is a print board be it in a pc or in a mod dousnt make a difference wat is safe to use on a motherboard is safe for your mod (i probs dont need to tell you but in general) do take your batteries out first.

having said that, as djsvapour said, some mods are full of glue, and that can be a mess. be caefull opening up dont force it. if it is filled with glue it should be safe from the sea breeze ;)
I agree with you completely. they do make a spray for cleaning PC boards that is Freon based that might work a little better than alcohol. also don't use any kind of brush except a very soft paint brush and q tips work well too
 
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