You can take apart the heating element from the battery unit (screw it off the top), and the bucket comes out separately as well. Use Isopropyl alcohol to clean out the heating element and buckets. If the residue build up is not too bad, you may dip the q-tip and clean them out that way. If it needs a more deep clean, you may soak the atomizer in the alcohol for about 20 minutes - the atomizer must be COMPLETELY DRY before used again. Please email support@dabtechvaporizers.com for more help.