The Solo vaporizer by Arizer requires only minimal maintenance.
One of the biggest pains of any vaporizer is the cleaning required, however, the Solo’s few parts are cleaned rather easily. Below I will break down how to clean the Arizer Solo piece by piece.
Glass Mouthpieces
The mouthpieces are obviously the most important piece to clean and also the piece you’ll be cleaning most often. Whether you have the older angled mouthpieces with two holes in the bowl piece or the newer angled and straight mouthpieces with 4 holes, the cleaning methods are the same. Start with taking a tooth pick and poking any material stuck in the holes out of there. You should really do this after every time you use the Solo.
The most common method is letting your mouthpieces soak overnight in Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol). Try to use 91% Isopropyl, as that is the most pure. After soaking overnight simply wash them off with warm water, but don’t just give it a quick rinse, make sure you get all of the alcohol out of there to avoid a nasty taste when you use it next.
Another method that is popular amongst the lazier Solo user is to put the mouthpieces in the dishwasher. DO NOT just throw them in there anywhere. Even though the glass is pretty thick cut on the mouthpieces they are unlikely to survive a trip through the dishwasher when left anywhere. Place them in the bin you use for cutlery and put NOTHING else in there with them.
When I do this I usually don’t even have any other dishes in there, but I’m sure you can get away with that. Just don’t put anything in the cutlery bin with the mouthpiece. Also, please don’t put the dishwasher setting on “Pots and Pans” or any other extreme setting, that’s just asking for trouble.
Note: If you feel like you are getting way too much material coming through the mouthpiece’s holes then first you want to try not pulling as hard. If you don’t think that is the problem or enjoy hard pulls then try placing a screen in the mouthpiece over the holes. Half inch screens seem to be the best fit. I actually use the butt end of my Extreme Q stir tool to insert the screen and push it down because it fits in the Solo’s mouthpiece’s bowl end absolutely perfect. This will lead to cleaning the mouthpieces less frequently.
Aromatherapy Dish
If you often use the aromatherapy dish that comes with the Solo you can use the same method of soaking it in 91% Isopropyl that is used with the mouthpieces. However, do not use the dishwasher method. The thin glass of the bowl part of the dish will almost certainly break.
Heating Plate
First off, after every use you need to use a brush to clean off the inside of the chamber. You don’t want left over material caking up in there. Any small remnants that build up after that can be cleaned easiest by taking a q-tip and dipping it lightly in 91% Isopropyl then CAREFULLY swabbing the inside of the herb chamber. Do not soak the q-tip, because if you start dripping rubbing alcohol in your Solo you can pretty much kiss it goodbye. After that take a tooth pick and lightly scrape at any material in there, the alcohol should have broken it down enough to come off easily. Then I take a paper towel and twist one corner of it to form a point and dry off the inside.
After you do this do not use your Solo right away, give it a little time so you aren’t hit with a rubbing alcohol taste next time you use it.
Outer Shell
The outer aluminum shell of the Solo doesn’t ever really get all that dirty, more scratched if anything. But if you insist on cleaning it off I would suggest just a damp rag with a little soap. You’re playing with fire here exposing the Solo to water, so do not use a really wet rag, just damp. After that use a dry towel to dry clean and anything you had built up on there should be gone.
