Kaywoodie Ambera Stems and Alcohol. Bad Combo?

[captainsousie]

I was cleaning up and old Kaywoodie that had a stem that is not original but I'm pretty sure is a Yello-Bole ambera stem due to the black circle on the top. I hooked it up to the retort and things went well...that is until I unhooked it for the initial stem cleaning. The stem seemed to be overly soft and it was easy to scratch some of it off. Also, after handling a bit of alcohol, my fingers stuck to the stem anywhere I touched it.
So, Does that mean that the ambera stems should not be cleaned with alcohol? If not, how the heck should I clean this thing? I would normally not care but this is an older 4-digit Kaywoodie Drinkless and I'd actually like to smoke it.
Thanks,

Sou

 

[captainsousie]

Bump. Any ideas?

 

[irishsmoker]

Hmm sounds like a material that is dissolved by a solvent. I would use a low proof liquor like jack Daniels to clean it!

 

[thebadkitty]

It may not have been the alcohol itself, because I noticed you said you used a retort. Check the melting temperature of the stem material as it might simply have been the heat of the boiling alcohol. If it were my experiment, I would try some room temperature alcohol on it and see if it softens then.

 

[ejames]

I think your Yellobole stem may be nylon like what is used in a lot of Medico pipes. I've noticed that while it is fine to clean a nylon stem inside with alcohol you don't want to soak it in any way and that if it gets on the outer surface it will soften it and you'll leave finger prints in it. I'd recommend you clean those stems with warm water and soap.

 

[captainsousie]

Thanks for the help. I think Ed is right on this one as I did try room temp alcohol on a room temp stem last night and it still got sticky and left prints. Warm water and soap it is. After the stem dried, it seems to not be having any more problems.
Thanks again.

 

[lyle]

This happened to me once when I tried to clean some estate Grabows (not sure how old they were). I was not prepared for the stems to start "melting" from the alcohol! It scared me away from estate pipes for a long time.
In hindsight, I'm surprised this topic doesn't come up more often...

 

[ejames]

This happened to me once when I tried to clean some estate Grabows (not sure how old they were). I was not prepared for the stems to start "melting" from the alcohol! It scared me away from estate pipes for a long time.
In hindsight, I'm surprised this topic doesn't come up more often...

Most Grabows since the early 80's--IIRC- are made of ABS plastic and a lot of those early stems just don't get along with alcohol. I haven't noticed any problems on the newer pipes that I've bought--only on SOME early ABS stem. I use warm water and soap on those also.