Discontinued The Firefly Vaporizer

[mitchgo61]

As someone who has just recently asserted that my unit is cool, I feel some responsibility to jump back here and let you guys know I was wrong. Whether my unit has somehow "seasoned" or my technique has refined, I am now getting such huge clouds that I am consciously dialing things back.

Once I met my expectations which I formed using other vapes, I was satisfied and able to see that the Firefly is giving a much better experience than what I had once considered optimal.

Awesome. Nice work. This was what I hoping to clear up...if people assume their FF isn't heating properly, they won't keep refining their technique...which is 99.9% of the issue 99.9% of the time. Thanks for the update....glad things are working well for you.

 

[WildChild]

I am pleased that you guys have had success after practice, but I assure you, there were indeed 'cold' units. I know because I own one. Been through every technique, grind, etc. with fuckcombustion.com, Vape World and FF. We actually tried to combust but couldn't no matter what we did. And my ABV color is just too light...period.

FF is now convinced and they are sending me a replacement unit. ...and are also paying for the shipping to return my faulty one. Great service, I must say, considering I purchased from Vape World to begin with.

I know it is rare...but a few 'cold' units are fact. But only a few from what I understand.

 

[Vitolo]

My FF just arrived.
Blue light blinking as we speak.
Solid little bugger!
I'll be back when the blue light tells me it's "go" time.

 

[stronggside]

Hey guys I have the FireFly. I have one question though.

After using it I noticed a blue color on the glass part of the vape. Like when you take off the Lid the glass surface has Blueish color and It comes away when wiped off (with hand or wipe).

Also i noticed that my glass bowl has a chip on it. Not sure how that happened but i def has a chip.

What could this blue colorish stuff be. i was thinking it was just the condensation from the vape but id love some help.

 

[Vitolo]

yes .. vape condensation is oil.. oil against glass will appear blueish.

EDIT:
Charge complete, and unit works as expected.
I got good thick, rich vapor after 3 hits, and got a few hits of such vapor, before the load was tanned and done.
I did not use any type of basket or extra screen.. I am not sure yet of the point of that, but I will now re-read this thread and see you guys rationale.
I got in total 8 hits before my herb was spent, and I loved the flavor.
I said I would re-read this entire thread to catch up on comments, but I only got to do 2 loads....
...and on my 2nd load, toward the end I found the battery waning during each hit.. (starting out with a glow which would get dull as I pulled air.
Aside from a short battery life, The hits were good, when used exactly as described (in multiple languages) in the "user guide".
I especially loved how very fast VapeWorld was able to have this unit sitting in my mailbox..
Thanks @VapeWorld

 

[fernand]

I think Vitolo made it work ... only too well ;-).
But I've seen mine "wane" as soon as temp is held, I.e. as part of the control firmware, it's not like the battery is just wired to the heater. But it definitely does feel a bit underpowered.

Here's one approach for people who are desperate to get it hot enough. Just get the apparatus up to temp. It's a small heater, takes it a while. The herb needs to dry out too. Once the ceramic walls get hot, I can rip some volcanic clouds. Just keep pushing the button until it gets properly warmed up and draw slowly enough for temp to maintain, stopping entirely at times, shaking and tapping it to mix the load, not babying the device, it's a tough little helper, built like a 1956 Chevy, give it a chance! - then you will likely see the thicker jungle fog you crave.

 

[fernand]

Even if it were miraculously 100% convection hot air driven with no heating elements involved, mine does get hotter after a while as a whole, and that's when i see thickest vape, a smidge closer to combustion. I prefer the flavor at its natural "not pushed" level, but people can choose.

It will be interesting when we have some schematics and inside photos.

 

[CentiZen]

The Firefly is certainly a convection unit. This does not meant that there are no heating elements in the unit, rather it means that the heating element is being used to create a stream of hot air which is then pulled through the load, as opposed to surrounding the load and heating it via direct transmission.

That being said, I think it just makes sense that even convection vaporizers are going to heat saturate after repeated use, and that will affect the overall performance of the vaporizer. I don't have a FireFly, but other primarily convection based vaporizers that I do have like the Lotus and the Cloud perform "better" in my opinion once they have had a chance to build up a thermal mass.

 

[Stu]

I especially loved how very fast VapeWorld was able to have this unit sitting in my mailbox..
Thanks @VapeWorld

Vito, did your unit come from Florida or Seattle? I'm just curious.

 

[mitchgo61]

It is obvious that warmth helps everything along, however, the Firefly was designed to produce 'convection' vapor from a cold start. The Firefly is also the FASTEST to reach its temp of 400ºF and is the most powerful portable vaporizer on the market. Of course the Lotus is a special case (I love the damn thing).

Everybody is right! It does heat up, in terms of effective vapor production, right away, usually in one hit. It also builds up an impressive thermal mass over repeated hits in a short-ish period of time, which can affect vapor production. But because this usually happens, to me anyway, at the back half of a bowl, vapor gets harder to extract, and so the increased thermal mass at best keeps up with the waning vapor in the material.

Kind of a wash. But another brilliant thing about the FF design...the thermal buildup comes into play later, when you need it most.

 

[Stu]

Kind of a wash. But another brilliant thing about the FF design...the thermal buildup comes into play later, when you need it most.

This has been my observation as well. I also gauge how long to hold the button by how warm the unit is. The colder the unit, the longer the button press. As the unit warms up, I find that I don't need to hold the button down as long.

 

[genericandorwittyusername]

Hey all, sorry this took a bit longer than expected, but I haven't seen any other teardown pictures, so here they are. Sorry about the cell phone pictures, my real camera is out of commission at the moment.

Five T6 screws remove the top plate.

Closer view of the inside.

Glass bowl lifts right out, as does the metal plate at the bottom of the bowl. The whole bowl assembly is held together by pressure from the top plate. None of these gaskets are attached, so should be easy to replace if need be, though I don't see why you would need to. The gasket around the screen keeps material out of the inside of the device. I had a little bit of material built up there under the bottom edge of the bowl that had been stopped by the gasket, but that doesn't seem to influence functionality. Doesn't get hot enough there to worry about combustion.

Next that white plate comes out, exposing the heating coil. All the white bits here feel like ceramic, or could just be a different type of (seriously) high-temperature glass.

Since I'm not willing to bend any of the wiring for the heating coil, three T5 screws holding in the circuit board need to be removed next, then it lifts right out.

Close up of the top of the board. Judging by the version number (2.93) on the board, they went though a hell of a lot of revisions to get this right.

And the bottom of the board. You can see the battery connection in the middle there, power switch is at the bottom left, and heating button is on the top.

I can't even imagine what type of metal the heating coil is made of to be able to withstand 50 watts running through it, rapid heat cycling, and such high temperatures in ambient air. Like I said before, light bulbs flame out in seconds without an inert gas protecting them.

 

[Vitolo]

Vito, did your unit come from Florida or Seattle? I'm just curious.

Seattle
Have users in this thread all had the same experience... concerning length of battery life (number of sessions/length of usable charge)?

 

[ElPic]

Got my firefly for a week now, and it's the best portable vape I ever used.
On my unit, I modified the screen, as I said on an older post, with a Wispr screen that you can found on Vapeworld.
I think the original one is too small and some material can get stuck in the air path under the bowl and it's kind of hard to clean.
I drill some hole on the side of the wispr screen to help the air flow as you can see on my picture, but it work great without this modification. With this mod my screen is above the airpath and this one stay clean. I can now put finely grind herb in my FF with no mess!!!

[URL='http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/best-of-the-firefly-vaporizer-thread.16628/'] [/URL]

 

[grokit]

The ff is pretty hefty, and the weight of it in your hand implies that there is some thermal mass that has to be attained before full efficiency can take place. In my experience this is true in actual use, that it takes longer to get the ff going when it's cold, especially outdoors.

 

[havealight101]

Thank you @genericandorwittyusername! Very nice pics, very nice to see under the hood. Gives me a couple ideas...

Well I've really been enjoying this vape for a bit now. Here is just one way I love to use it...

edit: I agree with the talk about the thermal mass. The FF does seem work best when fully warmed up. I also feel this heater is powerful, and when utilized with a narrower chamber, thermal mass does not need to be reached to achieve large pulls from the start.
More to come

 

[CentiZen]

I can't even imagine what type of metal the heating coil is made of to be able to withstand 50 watts running through it, rapid heat cycling, and such high temperatures in ambient air. Like I said before, light bulbs flame out in seconds without an inert gas protecting them.

I'd be willing to bet it is Fecralloy given the way the inventors have talked about it in interviews. Thanks for those awesome pictures!

 

[mitchgo61]

Seattle
Have users in this thread all had the same experience... concerning length of battery life (number of sessions/length of usable charge)?

Most people seem to get 1-2 bowls on a full charge. You should be able to get 20-25 good hits on a charge, maybe fewer if you are leaning heavy on the heat button.

What is more variable is how many hits folks get from one full bowl. I've heard as few as 6 (!) and I personally always get at least 15, usually more.

 

[EveryDayAmnesiac]

Vito, did your unit come from Florida or Seattle? I'm just curious.

Anything I've ordered from VapeWorld recently that has ANYTHING Firefly related has come from Seattle. I haven't ordered anything from VapeWorld that hasn't had anything FF related in a few months, so...

Did VapeWorld change coasts or are they like the same company as FF? I mean, no other site has them, right?

I don't really care, either way. But it is curious.

Thank you @genericandorwittyusername! Very nice pics, very nice to see under the hood. Gives me a couple ideas...

Well I've really been enjoying this vape for a bit now. Here is just one way I love to use it...

edit: I agree with the talk about the thermal mass. The FF does seem work best when fully warmed up. I also feel this heater is powerful, and when utilized with a narrower chamber, thermal mass does not need to be reached to achieve large pulls from the start.
More to come

Awesome! It's about time we got some more video action in here!

 

[fernand]

@generic, you da man! Do you think you can wipe off the chips and if it's still open, take some closeups where we can identify the chips?

It's very interesting. There is no temperature feedback sensor anywhere off the board. The system can tell a lot from how much current is being pulled, but most engineers would like a temp sensor to best regulate the heater. Another interesting detail is that there's no obvious switching transistor. Those usually have a big heat sink, since a bit of the power is dissipated there. Maybe that dark chunky block opposite the heater switch? Anyway it's an interesting design. Would love to know the part numbers on the chips.

Where exactly is there supposedly a schematic on the FF web site?

@ElPic so you don't notice any heat loss with that screen? Was yours rather hot or cool to begin with?

 

[Vitolo]

Did VapeWorld change coasts

They have expanded.

 

[genericandorwittyusername]

@generic, you da man! Do you think you can wipe off the chips and if it's still open, take some closeups where we can identify the chips?

Writing on the chips is very faint, iphone camera just doesn't cut it. I'll see if I can get my real camera up and running tonight, I think I have an old lens somewhere that will do the job (main lens needs repair for focus issues).

 

[fernand]

Thanks! I love the way this thing is built, like a 1956 Chevy, there's lots of room under the hood. You could install cute mods in the free space.

Oh, I see, that block is the charger jack. There are test points temptingly labeled Red, Green Blu. The chip with many leads is likely a microprocessor/controller, once we have the part number we can tell how easily it can be tweaked. There are usually connections for checking and reprogramming a controller. Like changing the heating curves ;-)

The way the heating coil is made, it's not certain how consistent the length is. Maybe some are cut a little longer/shorter than others, resulting in "cool" or "hot" units. Without a sensor in the airpath, it's not likely the 400 deg F can be very precisely set. Another reason some might be hotter/cooler.

@havealight, what is that insane tune with your clip? Boy, I don't think I could make clouds that thick w/ mine.

 

[ElPic]

@ElPic so you don't notice any heat loss with that screen? Was yours rather hot or cool to begin with?

No, I don't notice any heat loss with the wispr screen. It work the same way that it work with the OEM screen, i just can put finely grind material in the bowl with less mess in the airpath under the bowl.
I don't know if my unit is kind of hot, but if I hold the power botton for more then 10sec when I draw in the FF my herb is darker than in my volcano after my session, and even if i put my volcano at 8(417F).
I think my unit can go above the 400F, but I prefer that. I just hold the power bouton for 10 sec on my first draw, and for the other one close to 6sec seem Perfect.

 

[2 Paces]

I just hold the power bouton for 10 sec on my first draw, and for the other one close to 6sec seem Perfect.

Do you mean that's the total time you hold the button down?

That's about how long I preheat before I even start drawing. The first hit I always hold the button until the light stops flashing green.