Newb Cleaning Question

[wintermute2.0]

I have a Peterson #68 and I can't run a pipe cleaner from bit to bowl - it gets stuck at the start of the shank. How bad is it to pull apart my pipe after every smoke to give it a good cleaning? Will it wear down the mortisse/tenon quickly?

[Blaylock]

Not familiar with that exact pipe but here's a post that might help you...

Originally Posted by Cheeto

Many Peterson pipes are designed with a sort of reservoir, if you will, somewhere in the shank with the idea being that any unwanted moisture or grime will drop down into the reservoir and not go up the stem and into your mouth. So when you pass a pipe cleaner through the stem of a peterson, the cleaner will usually just hit the reservoir instead of going all the way to the bowl. I wouldn't consider it a bad thing. Try taking the stem off your Peterson and peering inside the shank, you might notice how the reservoir and air hole are situated.

Also, with many of my pipes, I have to bend the tip of the pipe cleaner a bit, and even twirl it around to make it pass into the bowl.

Oh and, Welcome to the forum, too!

[brianwalden]

As long as you let the pipe cool down all the way back to room temperature before taking it apart it should be OK. To be honest, I take apart all my pipes and run a pipe cleaner though the stem and shank after every smoke - maybe it's overkill but I feel better when I take them apart. As to whether or not this may wear out the joint more quickly, I haven't been smoking long enough to know. Conventional wisdom says it will, but filter pipes have to be taken apart after every smoke so it can't be too terrible. I don't own any expensive pipes and I like to be able to get in there with a pipe cleaner, so I take them apart. If I had one worth more than $100 I might only take it apart for occasional alcohol cleaning - I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

[Dedalus]

Originally Posted by brianwalden

As long as you let the pipe cool down all the way back to room temperature before taking it apart it should be OK. To be honest, I take apart all my pipes and run a pipe cleaner though the stem and shank after every smoke - maybe it's overkill but I feel better when I take them apart. As to whether or not this may wear out the joint more quickly, I haven't been smoking long enough to know. Conventional wisdom says it will, but filter pipes have to be taken apart after every smoke so it can't be too terrible. I don't own any expensive pipes and I like to be able to get in there with a pipe cleaner, so I take them apart. If I had one worth more than $100 I might only take it apart for occasional alcohol cleaning - I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

I, likewise, do the same thing. I like to take mine apart after each smoke as well. But, like Brian says, make sure the pipe has cooled down. I usually wait at least 45 minutes.

[AcworthAl]

With some bents, it is very hard to run a cleaner all the way through the pipe. As long as the pipe is at room temperature, I do not believe it hurts to disassemble. I do it all the time, there is a lot of crap in a pipe that a pipe cleaner along will not remove. Find the DublinDan cleaning videos on YouTube. They are wonderful.

[Reverie Forest]

Originally Posted by AcworthAl

...Find the DublinDan cleaning videos on YouTube. They are wonderful.

That would be Dubinthedam
Video 1: YouTube - pipe cleaning 1

Cheers

[AcworthAl]

Originally Posted by Reverie Forest

That would be Dubinthedam
Video 1: YouTube - pipe cleaning 1

Cheers

Thanks for catching my mistake, it sure is Dubinthedam

[gglen]

I have several pipes that a cleaner will not run from the bit to the bowl. What I do is bend the tip of the cleaner just a bit then run it down the bit. When it gets to the hard spot I rotate the cleaner with the bent tip until it works its way through and slides to the bowl.

At that point I take the stem off with the cleaner still in it then pull the cleaner the rest of the way through. At that point I bend the cleaner in two and run it through the bowl. I do this with every pipe after I smoke a bowl or if it is a day that I go through all of my pipes in a day I wait till I smoked the last bowl then clean all 6 at one time.

[cp478]

petes are tricky but the bent cleaner with a twist is just a bit of fun experimentation.

just dont pull apart a hot pipe, dire consequences>