If you’re looking for the best, and safest, ways to clean and maintain a Puffco Peak One or Peak Pro, you came to the right place. The kind people at Puffco walked us through the basics of cleaning and maintaining their devices without causing damage or voiding the warranty. They also provided some excellent tips and tricks to keep your Puffco working great.
Learn everything you need to know to keep your Puffco device in top shape in this handy explainer.
Video courtesy of Puffco
The Chamber
How frequently should we be cleaning out the bowl?
Always clean the bowl between uses, which would be common practice with a traditional rig. I always use the analogy, if you were smoking flower, you would dump out the ash before loading the next bowl.
Do you need to use alcohol on the swab when cleaning between uses?
Cleaning the bowl between uses does not have to be done with ISO. If you swab it while the bowl is still relatively warm, the swab should just soak up whatever reclaimed material is in there.
If you are going to go in there with an ISO swab, let it cool down before you do so. If the ISO is cool and the chamber is hot, you could potentially cause thermal shock and crack the bowl. The same goes for soaking the chamber or atomizer in ISO. Always let them cool down first to avoid damage.
Tip: If you let the device cool down completely before you get a chance to swab it out, warm it up briefly on the lowest temperature setting. This will cause the oil to liquify, allowing you to soak it up easily without the need for any ISO. Do not attempt to swab out cold, sticky oil. And don’t use ISO after warming the device because the temperature differential could crack the bowl.
How frequently should you soak the chamber or bowl in ISO for a deep cleaning?
A good rule of thumb is, every time you charge the battery, take the chamber off and check for leakage. If there’s any oil flooding out into the connection pin area, or around there, it’s time to give it a deep clean.
Soak the chamber in a jar of ISO for about 20 to 30 minutes, then take it out and let it fully dry, for another 20 to 30 minutes. ISO is flammable, so do not try to heat up the chamber until it’s completely air-dried.
Tip: If there’s any hint of raw alcohol odor left, the chamber is not fully dried. If there’s any crackling sound when you heat it up, turn the device off immediately.
The Base
Can the silicone area beneath the chamber and the glass be cleaned with ISO?
Yes. However, you want to avoid getting ISO around the charging port. That is important to remember. You should just wipe around the silicone areas and the air path port (between the bowl and the glass).
Tip: With the tip of the swab, wipe all of the little ridges in the silicone that holds the chamber. Some oil build-up will happen in there, and it could seep down into the pin area.
And you should only use the soft cotton swab, not any other tools?
Yes, exactly. You could try to carefully use the metal loading tool, for instance, but I would be scared that it would cause a little tear in the silicone and then future flooding is going to get into the base.
The Glass
What about cleaning the glass?
The glass is easy. You just soak it in ISO. You do want to rinse it thoroughly with water after soaking (this is important). And after you rinse it, dry the glass by patting it down, making sure there’s not any water dripping down [to the bottom section of the glass].
The manual says not to get any water in that bottom section. Is there something you recommend to prevent that?
Absolutely. So water is only really going to get in there if you overfill. Inside of this glass, there’s an inner cone. And then inside of that, there’s a straw or a stem. If the water gets into that stem, it’s ultimately going to go right into the bottom pocket. So that’s usually a sign that you overfilled. I’d probably dump all of the water out, and then start again. Cause you’re not going to be able to get it out of there without dumping the top water out.
Got it. And how should you go about drying it out?
I would just air-dry it honestly. [If you try to use a swab] you’d have to jam it in. You might be doing more harm than good.
Bottom line: Don’t let any water get in that bottom pocket of the glass. If you do, there is a likelihood that it will get into the electronics and damage the device. And again, water damage is not covered by the warranty.
If someone hasn’t been maintaining their device well and oil has leaked into the base and solidified, what can they do?
One thing that I would recommend is heating the device for one cycle on the coolest setting, just to get any of that sticky material to loosen up a little bit. Otherwise, when you go to pull it off, you’re probably going to have to put your elbow into it a little bit, and you’re risking pulling one of the connection pins out, either on the base’s end or on the atomizer’s end.
Then, from there, if you are able to get it out and the connection pan is just flooded, I would just go in there with a cotton swab and get it all out. Don’t pour ISO into that connection pan. You’re going to have to just be patient with it. Generally if it’s messier, with the first swab or so, you probably can go in without ISO and get a nice chunk out, and then do the detail work with the ISO.
The Peak One Atomizer
Are there any specific recommendations for maintaining the Peak One?
When it comes to the Peak One, the most common issue is the atomizer. And the reason is because it’s an open system, so customers can swap out their bowls and what-not. But the more you take it apart, the more you’re prone to breaking it.
Essentially, concentrates work like glue. So it floods through the chamber and atomizer, and it’s sitting between the bowl and the heating plate. If you let it dry, it solidifies. Then, when you go to take it apart, if you pull the bowl out, it pulls all the guts out with it. At that point, it’s done for. So, my best piece of advice with the Peak One atomizer is, don’t disassemble it. If you have to, because you want to swap out the bowl, clean it first. And the cleaning solution for this is just like the Peak Pro chamber method–soak it in ISO, fully assembled, and let it dry completely before using it.
What do you think of those quartz inserts that people use in their Peak devices?
I don’t really have an opinion about them per se. In theory, it’s not going to do any damage to the device. Everything that we design in the device, all of the hardware and software, is around that ceramic. So, I always say for the most consistent experience, and for the experience that we intend, stick to the ceramic. But, to each their own! I understand wanting to fiddle with it.
Getting Support from Puffco
What if somebody buys a device from you guys and it’s not working the way they expect? What should they do?
So, the first step, if you run into an issue, the support section of our website is going to be the key. One of the things that my customer service reps are always surprised by, when I go through training, is that we put almost all of the troubleshooting that any of them would have access to on the website, available to the public. There is also a bot tool on our website. If you click the chat bubble on the bottom, you can ask it a question. It will search our knowledge-base for the most relevant answer and direct you to it.
And if that’s not helpful, you can just click “no.” It’ll direct you to a customer service rep. You can send an email and get in touch with them about your issue. If possible, try to have your proof of purchase on hand. That’s always super helpful, but we try to be lenient about that as well. Because I know not everybody holds onto their receipts.
From there, we’re going to try any last ditch troubleshooting efforts. And then if it’s a battery or a base issue, that’s totally covered under warranty, as long as it’s not one of those water damage cases. At that point we would get them swapped out. The chambers themselves are not covered under warranty because it’s intended to be a replaceable part. But, if you have an out-of-the-box issue, or an issue within the first couple of uses that seems out of the norm, reach out to support. We understand that things happen and we’ll get them taken care of.
We also understand there are new users, not just new to Puffco, but also new to concentrates. There’s going to be a learning curve. We always try, within reason, to give customers the benefit of the doubt.
The Battery
Tips on charging and keeping the battery working, for Peak One and Peak Pro:
- Try not to let the battery fully drain, it can do long-term damage
- Let it get to red/low battery signal before putting it on the charger
Tips on the battery for Peak One:
- Avoid leaving it on the charger for many hours after it’s fully charged
- Only use the charging brick that comes with the device. If you use a 3rd party charging brick, you can damage the battery
Things to Watch Out For
What kind of ISO should we use? And how should it be used to avoid causing any damage?
We do mention this in the videos and in the instructions, but we’re really trying to emphasize that ISO specifically should be 90% or higher. Anything lower than that will have higher water content. And that can lead to some long-term water damage. We saw a big spike in water damage, during the early months of COVID-19, because ISO was much harder to get. People were getting 70%, and we were getting a lot of water damage returns when doing warranties. So 90% or higher is ideal to not run into issues.
That’s the same for the chamber as well–water and ceramic don’t mix. Even if it doesn’t crack right away, you’re probably going to run into a cracked heating plate or a cracked bowl somewhere down the line if the chamber gets exposed to water.
Since electronics and water don’t mix, what advice do you have for filling the glass in a way that won’t risk damaging the base?
Anytime you are filling the glass with water, make sure that you do it off the base. This is in the instructions too, but sometimes customers do it right under the faucet [without removing the glass from the base], which puts the base right under running water. That’s begging for an issue. Always pat down the glass after cleaning, make sure that there’s no water dripping because it’s going to drip right into that charging port. And that will eventually lead to charging issues, and maybe some water damage there as well.
Puffco Support
Do you need more information, or want to reach out to Puffco for support? Thankfully, help is a click away. Puffco maintains a thorough knowledge base on their website, as mentioned above, where you can find more information. If all else fails, you can reach out to them on their Contact page. They’re responsive and respectful, and they’ll do everything they can to make sure you’re happy with your purchase.
