Haha you’re telling me! This is literally after maybe a week of VAPING only, with my mighty and water pipe adapter. No smoke has been in this piece. I really am stumped. I can’t tell what kind of “resin” this is! It’s clear, transparent, seemingly has bumps to it and I don’t know what it’s like in terms of feel (I.e. goopy vs hard dried tar res). It’s only where the water is at the bottom and while vaping a buildup appears similar to a mold right above the water on the back of it inside after a few days. So far, a magnet with some sponge hot glued to it, dropped in and dragged around with another magnet has worked somewhat; but not to any extend deeming an actual solution. It’s still impossible to get it off the sides and diffuser. I may have caused a scratch or two with the magnet but no worries there. There must be some kind of soaking solution to make this go away?!
You are awesomely thorough! I like it, and very much appreciate! Citrasolv might be next on the bucket list because acetone and salt turned out to FAIL. It was about a ten minute wash that I did and yeah acetone has fumes lol, but still I am stumped! Should an overnight soak be tried on with acetone or should I skip right to buying citrasolv? I had some industrial grade pure acetone around the house so decided to go that route first obviously for cost. Here’s a pic to reference, I’d really like to post saying this is solved sometime soon!
I should also add, I don’t know if this is dirt that was on the glass before and is now worse from being used, or if it’s even classified as res from the vape...when I clean the normal cooling unit for the mighty, it’s covered in amber oil that comes off the weed rather than black burnt tar. Not this clear stuff; I guess my point is I don’t know if this is actually res or something else? Either way, whatever it is, is anybody else shocked that neither iso, vinegar or acetone could take it off? How can I get the bottom half of my bubbler to shine clean like the rest of it?
LOL you know sometimes I wish I was that stupid so I could be like oh look, it’s gone now! Sadly not the case lmfao....I had to scrape it with a sponge and it sounded rough to come off when that happened but it was nevertheless coming off. It’s something really stuck on the glass and it’s not pretty.
When I looked at the first pic it looked like bubbles in the glass. But that wouldn't make sense that you could rub them off with a sponge. Now I see a clear film that I'm not necessarily familiar with. If it's rubbing clean with a sponge but then re-appearing with use, I'm curious what the material that you're smokimg looks like? It's not water soluable, or poorly water soluble, otherwise it'd be pouring out when you changed your water. It almost looks like the clear sticky back part that's left when you peel off stickers? Acetone should dissolve that though and I'm not sure how you'd get that on the inside of the glass? There could be some sort of finishing oil on some of the glass pieces and as your applying heat to the bowl the hot air rushes by the remaining oil decreasing its viscosity and then flows with the air and is being deposited on the flask bottom as it cools from the water and larger chamber being at a cooler temperature? Idk. Grasping here lol. Have you soaked all your pieces, not just your main bong chamber? Acetone is pretty strong stuff, you can soak it overnight but it shouldn't need more than a few minutes if shook and agitated. If you all your stuff is clean, and then after your bongs "virgin" smoke the film appears, then it has to be something your pulling through your piece, ie your material. It could be plant waxes, but that's another grasp? You could try the citrasolv, but TBH not sure itll pick up much more than acetone, it could though, idk. If it's plant waxes I'd think the citrasolv would get it?
Again, really appreciating the activity on here! I should add some more detail and I’ll try to be as in order as possible.... - No, it’s not bubbles in the glass, it does come off by scraping action but actually being able to scrape that area perfectly is super difficult. I’m using a mighty vaporizer with water pipe glass adapter, essentially like a bowl but with a screen that stops any material from coming through. Oil from the material does build up and drip into the bong from the adapter sitting upside down on the bong. There is no downstem that moves, just the diffuser in the bong with the opening for a bowl. - It does visually appear like a sticky residue yes, but when i was scraping it sounded hard. It does resemble salt now that I think of it. But how does salt get thaaaaaat stuck on there?! - The only oil I’m thinking of is the cannabis oil that drips into the bowl holder and then inevitably into the water then maybe creating an oil layer on the glass where there’s water? The thing is, oil mainly drips on the glass where the adapter sits; and that spot is spotless from regular cleaning. It shouldn’t take this much to clean that cannabis oil. So if that’s not it, what is? Also for heat, piece barely gets warm. The adapter absorbs it all, I usually can grab it by the tip after using and not worry about burning myself when taking the adapter off (vape goes to 210 Celsius). - This stuff is only on the bong itself. I’ve yet to even try cleaning the adapter tbh I haven’t had to, it just has some oil in it which has been fine for now. This seems to be from a combination of water and potentially the cannabis oil or somehow something else? I’m thinking I need to go for a more abrasive route but one that wouldn’t scratch...seeing how scrubbing a magnet sponge worked remarkably the best out of everything so far but not that great still lol. I’m thinking any of these solvents should take away the oils no problem?? Wouldn’t acetone, iso and citrasolv all be great at degreasing plant oils? I’m not sure if degrease is the answer for this one.
Something I’m reading too now that I feel very noob about is I’ve been using spring water which has minerals...could this be a culprit? But vinegar would have cleaned that? I can use distilled going forward but would that really have caused this?
Well tbh they should have quite a different effect on plant parrafins. D-limo is non-polar while the others are slightly polar to various degrees. Degreasers are not soluble in water and are good at dissolving waxes. Your film isn't soluble in water either, so perhaps a non polar solvent would have a higher chance at dissolving it? I'm not sure if D-Limo will work or help, but it does have different chemical properties than either ISO, Ethanol, or Acetone (<--which all are similar in nature to each other). Lol you'd think I was a dam salesman haha, but imo if it's loose enough to be deposited under the temperatures and pressure of the bong operation, then we should be able to find a solvent to clean it up fairly easily. The nice thing about glass is that you can use some pretty harsh chemicals to clean it, but then once you wash it a few times (with normal soap and hot water), after the harsh chemical were used to get the tough stuff off, it's perfectly ready to use. In fact you could use your acetone to clean the D-Limo residue off after you washed with it. It should help cut any oily film or residue.
Well ya, it could be minerals from your water, that's what @GroBro420 was saying about the Ca buildup. If that's the case, then every time you rinse from cleaning, you're probably just leaving more on there.
If you've got any pH down, pour some in your empty bong next time it's got a buildup. Use nitric, phosphoric or sulphuric for a good reaction. Anyways, don't add any baking soda. Just pour in the acid and look to see if you see a reaction, ie bubbles rising from the filmy area. If you do then it's probably some sort of mineral deposit like CaCO3 or MgCO3, so just let the acid run its course and dissolve the mineral away. Then pour into water and clean. If you're ever mixing an acid with water, you always add the acid to the water, not the other way around. The pH down you're using is already diluted like crazy so no worries because someone already added the acid to water to dilute before pumping into the pH down bottles for sale. But if you're using car battery acid, ie sulphuric, you need to make sure you're adding the acid into water during your dilution step. So first add water to your dilution jar, then top it off with a portion of the acid you bought. Don't add the acid first, acid last.
Do you dabble in science? Lmao that’s all amazing information thank you! I’m really hoping that’s the issue here, I’ll have to find myself some ph down and give it a shot. I do agree glass is awesome for its properties of what it can withstand and be cleaned with and go perfectly back to normal. I just hate the idea of not doing a perfect clean and then cleaner sticking onto the parts not fully clean...I’m always trying to get a foolproof method to clean easily, effectively and efficiently so it’s quick and easy. My question at this point, will ph down work as a soaking solution on its own? Or are you saying for me to vape with it in the water? Cause I’d be more comfortable at this point getting it all entirely off before use again.
Haha no, don't pull through any of the cleaners. They are just used to deal with the tough stuff during the cleaning process, then you have to wash the cleaners away after. Cleaners wash tough stuff away, some cleaners wash other cleaners away, and water washes the rest of the cleaners away. By the time you've washed and rinsed with water there shouldn't be any fear of toxicity. If the oils or films aren't coming up with solvents, cleaners, and hot water, then they surely aren't coming up/off or contaminating with just cool water. The acid needs to be poured out and the bong needs to be washed after. If it does happen to be mineral buildup from the water, then you're probably going to have to live with it (not a big deal imo) or use different water to pull through, but also to clean with too. Don't pull through the cleaners because they can volitize and then you'd be inhaling fumes. Not the best lol. Just plug holes with thumbs/fingers/palms and shake with your hands if trying to agitate.
Alright, for thread purposes I’ll note the acetone overnight near 24 hour soak FAILED and did nothing! I guess now I am left down to these options: - Citrasolv - Ph down - any others? My thoughts here though are how come vinegar and baking soda wouldn’t take it off if it’s just mineral deposits from water? Would there be any other kind of mineral removers that might work?
If it's carbonate minerals then vinegar should have reacted, albeit acetic acid is not as reactive as sulphuric, nitric, or phosphoric acid so the reaction may have been hard to notice. CLR is a mixture of weaker acids, some of the acids in the CLR mixture are stronger than acetic acid or vinegar, and an array of different acids may be more successful at dissolving a mystery film if it happens to be basic in nature or reactive to acid. I'd try the pH down, then Citrasolv, then maybe CLR, then maybe bleach after that? Bleach is close to an 11 pH so it's pretty basic, if the acid and degreaser doesn't work maybe a decently strong base is worth a shot (Na hypochlorite, bleach)? In not sure how you were doing the Vinegar / baking soda procedure. If you added baking soda to the vinegar then your baking soda would neutralize the acid and there'd not be much of a reaction taking place at the film acid interface. Though if you made a basic solution using baking soda and water, and tried to wash the piece with say the vinegar first, then checking for reaction, pouring out, then pouring baking soda solution in and checking for reaction, then pouring out ect, then I can understand, but I think the pH down should react better than vinegar, and bleach should react stronger then baking soda water (I'd think).
My method for baking soda and vinegar was soda first then vinegar, no water. Reactions were definitely happening with the bubbling but I didn’t notice much change. I was shaking it and then left it in for an overnight soak. I did a few changes of the vinegar and soda but not much. Are other stronger acids good to use? Are they safe for inhalation after the fact? Or would residue be left over on these? Assume an iso wash at the end of it all? I thought bleach would be like a big no-no? Would higher ph levels like 11 take off mineral deposits or more on the low end like a level 1-3ph? Or combo to make reaction? These are all questions I’m asking myself and would be nice if you have any input! I need to look into more on how to safely remove mineral deposits beyond just calcium (If this even is mineral deposits). I’m assuming it has to be minerals at this point, as it seems hard and needs abrasive, there’s definitely no resin and the rest of my glass is shiny. It’s just this cloudy bottom and on the diffuser that is driving me nuts. I should be able to keep a piece of glass clean easily and efficiently this really puts a dampening on how excited I get when using glass lol...
After a little searching I found a very similar photo on reddit! See link: Alconox is recommended here, it’s a medical device cleaning powder that can clean any residue and impurities on glass, metal, etc. Wondering general thoughts on this?
For the next 24 hours or so I’m doing a lemon juice soak. I squeezed 2 lemons and it might be doing the trick it looks like it after 2 hours but I’m gonna do it overnight and pour it out after work tomorrow. We’ll see if it does the trick!
No shit it FAILED, vinegar is acidic and baking soda is alkaline. Therefore, it’s now Ph neutral... vinegar alone would’ve been the best natural starting point. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
You’re probably right didn’t think of that lol. Just went off suggestion from the thread. The lemon juice did the job thankfully. Vinegar alone probably would have given a similar effect I imagine with the acidity. The lemon worked since the grime was on the bottom the juice could easily sit where it needed to for an extended period of time. Good to know another natural option that works Thanks for the acetone suggestion as well I did find that it seems to do a better job over the iso, just didn’t like handling it as much with the smell and ability to rub off paint on nearby things lol.
