Firewood Vaporizer

So what size screens do I want for the firewood 3? I have one capsule and I would like replacements for the little screen that goes inside and also some of the screens that go like in the mouthpiece. If anyone can give me the sizes so I can get some I would really appreciate it.

Best vapor from mine was temp 3 boost click 1.

I had issues with even temp 3 producing well for me until I boosted the temp. I also think every unit might be a bit different so experiment.

The replacement I got does a great job on the first setting with no changing of the temp settings. Anything above that and I am trying to tap it out or get a quick hit.

I'm excited to see the FW4, but I probably will miss this version since my FW3 is still fairly new; it's still under warranty. I guess I will see how the FW5 is.

I'm just waiting for this hot weather to subside and get this little beauty in a few months.

So, I have been doing some 'heavy testing' of my fw3 and have some info i'd like to post, so apologies in advance as this is likely to be a long one.

Some background. I asked a few weeks back if anyone knew how long the heater fires for after the end of a draw. I was finding over 20 seconds (although not properly tested), which seemed overly long. I have since removed the batteries to try to 'reset' the fw3 to see if this helped.

I took the opportunity to refresh and analyse the batteries whilst i was at it. Findings from this are:-

-Changing batteries DOES NOT reset any temp changes you have made. . Mine remained on +4 with the new batteries, so it likely did not 'reset' the fw3 in any way.
-the batteries are white eneloops, rated at 1900 mah, and the capacity of the 4 refreshed batteries was between 1840 and 1870 mah, so pretty consistent and close to rated power.
-Temporarily using Imedian 2400 batteries instead of Eneloops gave a couple of extra sessions (as you'd expect) with no performance changes i could tell.

I have since more thoroughly timed the heater and have found that my unit consistently fires the heater for 15 seconds after I finish a draw (to do this i quickly whip out the mouthpiece as soon as i finish my draw and count until the heater stops glowing red).

Knowing this has really improved my fw3 experience (which was already top notch).

Since i rarely wait longer than 15 seconds between draws anyway, I can now confidently just take draw after draw without the need for a primer puff each time. This results in more consistent vapour production with less effort, and quicker sessions.

It has also resulted in markedly better battery life. I think before i was doing a primer puff and waiting 5 seconds even though the heater was already up to temp, thus wasting time and battery.

On top of this, as the chamber stays hotter from more regular draws/faster sessions, i have now reduced my temp settings from +4 back to the standard +1 setting, with similar results in vapour/effects. I expect further battery life gains from this as the heater is not heating as hot as before.

I am still testing, but with the original batteries back in, i went from around 5 sessions to around 7 sessions per charge. This was before i reduced temp settings. I will post results from the lower temp settings at a later date.

In summary, my heater keeps firing for long enough to not need primer puffs, resulting in shorter sessions, with less overall heater 'on time' and a knock on effect of lower heat settings required = better performance and battery life.

Hope this helps people.

@Vapenvy try charging the FW3 with the new batteries to see if everything is ok ?

thanks.

I love how Marc posts here and asks for feedback during development. It is really nice to see the new vape as it is coming along. So far I am enjoying FW3, mostly on 4 temp setting, stock temp. I had developed a good enough technique from FWs 1, 2, 2.1 so I can avoid combustion consistently. My tips would be a loosely packed capsule to get efficient extraction by the ample surface area and steady draws, a bit harder than sipping.

My question for the new version, is a characteristic I missed from FW 3, the ability to use a plug to override the batteries. Will the new version have such an ability? It essentially converts a fine portable machine to desktop if you are at home. Thanks.

Using a TP4056 board, I think Marc could add very easily and for a negligible cost built-in USB charging ability. But pass-through is another story!

USB ports don't deliver enough amps for our application. But over in the Milaana thread we started looking into alternatives to create power adapters (PA) There are plenty of cheap Chinese PSU's, mostly designed to drive LEDs, and we found quite some able to deliver 20A at 5V. That is a tad over the 4.2V maximum that the device can see with Li-Ion cells, but usually it's well inside the tolerance range (otherwise Marc could ensure all components can operate at 5V)

The "hardest" part would then be to design an adapter having the size of a 18650 to plug inside the device in place of a regular cell. The PSU is about $20 shipping included, the hardware for the adapter would add say $10 extra at most.

If the FW4 has some kind of internal regulation (I think it will) then a fixed output PSU will be enough. Otherwise, we can use a 12V PSU and use a DC/DC buck converter to get a lower and variable voltage.

It might sound quite involved but really it's not. The wiring is very simple, the trick is just that battery-sized plug...

About the battery replacement time, I'd also say everything in the 30-45 secs is totally fine - as long as the act itself is convenient and easy. No extra tools, of course and no sharp fingernails only
It's not a race nor a pit stop, so it should be all cool!

Oogendoogan said:

So what size screens do I want for the firewood 3?

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You want 1/2 inch coarse wire screens. Some pipe screens are made of thin wire and they are noticeably flimsy compared to the ones with thicker wire. These ones work great: https://www.rollingpaperdepot.com/0.5-Inch-Stainless-Steel-Pipe-Screens

djchexxx said:

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Development is on track for a release late next month, early Oct. at latest. I have made a few units that are very close to the final design and will probably be able to send a test unit to Payton Penn later this week. At this point there is still a little more development and testing, but most of the remaining work is to improve the manufacturing process for higher output.

Aristosseur said:

the ability to use a plug to override the batteries. Will the new version have such an ability?

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The new fw4 will not have this ability, at least not at first. As kerozen mentioned (below) a solution could be developed that would use a "dummy" battery to plug into the device to provide wall power, but I honestly thing the battery swapping will be easy enough that people won't need this so much. Essentially it is easier to just buy an extra battery so that you can swap when you are out of power. If people use the fw4 for a bit and still are asking for a wall adapter, then i may revisit it.

KeroZen said:

Using a TP4056 board, I think Marc could add very easily and for a negligible cost built-in USB charging ability.

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Even though this board is pretty small, it would add a bit of bulk to the design. There are no open spaces for it in the current design so the unit would have to get bigger in some dimension which I don't want to do. Probably the best solution for usb charging would be to integrate it into the current circuit board, but that is beyond the scope of fw4. Early on, i struggled with whether or not there should be a charging plug and decided to try and make the swapping as quick and easy as possible instead. I did some swapping tests recently with the new design and if i really try hard i can swap in about 5 seconds, and if i do it casually it is about 10. Point being, i think it will be easy enough that people won't be clamoring for a usb charger.

KeroZen said:

If the FW4 has some kind of internal regulation (I think it will) then a fixed output PSU will be enough. Otherwise, we can use a 12V PSU and use a DC/DC buck converter to get a lower and variable voltage.

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It does have some internal regulation, but it might not be totally straightforward to just plug in a 4V or 5V PSU, the reason being that the voltage drop for a PSU under load may differ siginificantly from a battery under load. Also the ability to react to sudden changes in power will be different. I have been using a pretty nice bench top power supply for some of the development, and even that power supply has siginificantly different performance than batteries. As mentioned above though, i think the swapping will be easy enough that people will be happy to just swap for a new battery instead.

Great news, can't wait for the FW4 preview! Really curious about the aesthetics of the new device.

Last night, I was enjoying the FW3 on the deck. Since everyone else was asleep, it was a nice relaxed session. I continue to be amazed with the quality of the flavor. Nothing I have can touch it, either in terms of how long there is flavor or how tasty that flavor is.

The GH has a nice flavor for a few pulls but at its best, it doesn't have the depth of flavor of the FW3. The Crafty has decent flavor but not fabulous. The Prima still imparts a slight plastic taste. The Vapman has pretty good flavor but it doesn't last long.

I'm surprised that FW3 is king of flavor for me. Wish I had access to compare it to the FF2 but I'm not ready to spring for another expensive vape.

Hi guys, so I have a question about flavour. As mentioned, there's a lot of it with the fw3. Unfortunately, as time has gone on, I realize that i either have really bad tasting herb, or I just can't stand the taste in general (the quality of what I have though is bad, so I'm hoping it's the former and I can enjoy so called tasty strains in the future).

So does anyone know how to minimize the flavour you're getting, in those first few puffs? It's pretty manageable after a few good draws, but that first minute or so always make me shudder. It's like I'm sucking on grass stained clothing or something (fresh cut grass isn't a bad scent but I don't like it on my tongue)

Also, I'm having a bit of an issue trying to make my sessions a bit quicker. Basically, I vape until I confirm there's no vapour even with several very long draws (also when the manageable taste completely disappears and all I'm getting is hot air with no throat tickling). This can end up being quite a while (20-30 minutes). Is the solution to both these problems just throwing the temp up? I think I'm on step 2, but I haven't gone hotter than level 3 on that step.

perennialflare said:

Hi guys, so I have a question about flavour. As mentioned, there's a lot of it with the fw3. Unfortunately, as time has gone on, I realize that i either have really bad tasting herb, or I just can't stand the taste in general (the quality of what I have though is bad, so I'm hoping it's the former and I can enjoy so called tasty strains in the future).

So does anyone know how to minimize the flavour you're getting, in those first few puffs? It's pretty manageable after a few good draws, but that first minute or so always make me shudder. It's like I'm sucking on grass stained clothing or something (fresh cut grass isn't a bad scent but I don't like it on my tongue)

Also, I'm having a bit of an issue trying to make my sessions a bit quicker. Basically, I vape until I confirm there's no vapour even with several very long draws (also when the manageable taste completely disappears and all I'm getting is hot air with no throat tickling). This can end up being quite a while (20-30 minutes). Is the solution to both these problems just throwing the temp up? I think I'm on step 2, but I haven't gone hotter than level 3 on that step.

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If you want to cut down flavor, then your best bet is to run it through a water piece with a lot of percolation. It would also make your sessions quicker as you can go through a pack in one or two steady draws instead of several puffs.

Just realized this advice may not be applicable if you need to be on the go. In that case I'm not really sure. Improving the quality of your materials will help a lot. Turning up the heat will just make things uncomfortable, but also will speed things along.

perennialflare said:

Is the solution to both these problems just throwing the temp up? I think I'm on step 2, but I haven't gone hotter than level 3 on that step.

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The taste will change much quicker with higher heat, try on 4 with the set temp overdriven to 5 or 6. This way you get shorter sessions with the herb browning much quicker which changes the taste of your flower.

throwawaytre3s said:

If you want to cut down flavor, then your best bet is to run it through a water piece with a lot of percolation. It would also make your sessions quicker as you can go through a pack in one or two steady draws instead of several puffs.

Just realized this advice may not be applicable if you need to be on the go. In that case I'm not really sure. Improving the quality of your materials will help a lot. Turning up the heat will just make things uncomfortable, but also will speed things along.

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Yea I can definitely look into that. I actually do mostly vape indoors, but I have a portable because it's so easy to take on visits to friends (also why I want a desktop log sometime, could stick those in my purse no problem) A big glass piece isn't nearly as portable, but if I can only solve the problem at home, it's still a useful solution

RUDE BOY said:

The taste will change much quicker with higher heat, try on 4 with the set temp overdriven to 5 or 6. This way you get shorter sessions with the herb browning much quicker which changes the taste of your flower.

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I sometimes have trouble with harshness. When I was first experimenting on the default setting I'd go to 4, get too irritated after a little while, then go back to 3 to recover for a bit. Do you think on step 5 or 6, level 1 might be on par with step 2-ish levels 3/4? If so, I could start at 4 to lose the taste, then dial back and forth as the throat demands

@perennialflare I can't answer your question about the temp settings that might be something you could play around with. In my experience low temp hits will always give me that big fresh green taste so maybe doing what @throwawaytre3s suggests would help along with bumping up the temp using the water to mellow out both the harshness and taste.

RUDE BOY said:

@perennialflare I can't answer your question about the temp settings that might be something you could play around with. In my experience low temp hits will always give me that big fresh green taste so maybe doing what @throwawaytre3s suggests would help along with bumping up the temp using the water to mellow out both the harshness and taste.

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Thanks, those solutions probably do go best together. Honestly, it's a little silly that I don't have any kind of glass yet anyways. I'll have to start looking around then!

firewood said:

Even though this board is pretty small, it would add a bit of bulk to the design. There are no open spaces for it in the current design so the unit would have to get bigger in some dimension which I don't want to do.

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Oh I'm by no means suggesting that you change your design. If it's not planned for FW4, maybe that's something to consider for FW5? Anyways, we all have plenty of 18650 chargers and as of today you can get a fully functional USB single cell charger shipped for well under $1 (you could on the other hand consider offering one of those gadgets as a "freebie" with your package? I posted a link in the DIY section if you want)

So to me it's absolutely not a big deal if your device has no internal charging capability.

firewood said:

It does have some internal regulation, but it might not be totally straightforward to just plug in a 4V or 5V PSU, the reason being that the voltage drop for a PSU under load may differ siginificantly from a battery under load.

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This is more disappointing because it would be really useful. I got the PA with my FW2.1 and it's a completely different beast with it, it got way more power and it's stable. Why would it be a problem if the FW4 also behaves differently when plugged into a PA? If it runs hotter the user could just select a lower setting and/or take shorter hits no?

Sorry if my questions sound naive, I have no insight into your internals and you surely have constraints that I'm not aware of.

perennialflare said:

Hi guys, so I have a question about flavour. As mentioned, there's a lot of it with the fw3. Unfortunately, as time has gone on, I realize that i either have really bad tasting herb, or I just can't stand the taste in general (the quality of what I have though is bad, so I'm hoping it's the former and I can enjoy so called tasty strains in the future).

So does anyone know how to minimize the flavour you're getting, in those first few puffs? It's pretty manageable after a few good draws, but that first minute or so always make me shudder. It's like I'm sucking on grass stained clothing or something (fresh cut grass isn't a bad scent but I don't like it on my tongue)

Also, I'm having a bit of an issue trying to make my sessions a bit quicker. Basically, I vape until I confirm there's no vapour even with several very long draws (also when the manageable taste completely disappears and all I'm getting is hot air with no throat tickling). This can end up being quite a while (20-30 minutes). Is the solution to both these problems just throwing the temp up? I think I'm on step 2, but I haven't gone hotter than level 3 on that step.

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How long have you had your FW for? I don't think it's the wood taste tho.
Yours got worse with time, so it could be something contaminating the heater. Also give your mouthpieces and screens a good cleaning
I also have another wooden vape with all glass for the hot air path. It's one of the cleanest tasting vaporizers I have used and the quality isn't much different than the FW.

Your comment on how it tastes like sucking grass strained clothing gives me the clue that it's the quality of what you are using. I remember the cheap stuff tasting more like I had stale tea leaves or something.

Edric al-Fali said:

How long have you had your FW for? I don't think it's the wood taste tho.
Yours got worse with time, so it could be something contaminating the heater. Also give your mouthpieces and screens a good cleaning
I also have another wooden vape with all glass for the hot air path. It's one of the cleanest tasting vaporizers I have used and the quality isn't much different than the FW.

Your comment on how it tastes like sucking grass strained clothing gives me the clue that it's the quality of what you are using. I remember the cheap stuff tasting more like I had stale tea leaves or something.

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Thanks for replying! I'm 99.9% certain it's the low quality of what I have, so the goal is to find work-arounds until that changes. I think I got my firewood around early-ish February- I posted in this thread somewhere about it. The vape hasn't degraded with time or anything, and it doesn't taste like wood at all. Just very bitter and very grassy. I kind of wonder if my stuff is even cured tbh. I have absolutely no insight on how my material was made- I have bad anxiety so I just split with my brother so I don't have to talk to strangers, he has a buddy I've never met in person (played ffxiv with him though haha)

In fact, I suspect the only reason the taste has gotten almost unbearable in the past couple months is that I finally have material of my own. Before, my brother would just share a bit with me, and it would have been ground up a day or two in advance, sometimes I'd take it pre-grinded home and save it for like a week. I ordered a chromium crusher recently, so I'm also going to try grinding capsules a couple days before I use them.

The capsules are a little dirty, so I think I will try to clean them sometime to see if it helps anyways. Also considering finding a cheap stem of some sort like I see people use, so I can jack the temperature in a way that won't be painful while maintaining portability- and getting a nice glass piece for at home comfort. People often mention using the crafty CU but I wish it didn't look so silly jammed onto the end of a firewood

Worst comes to worst though, looks like availability in Canada will be pretty great pretty soon. And though the flavour right now is terrible, the Firewood is very good at bringing it out, which means I think I will be quite happy once I have some decent stuff. Thanks much for the suggestions guys, I keep forgetting how helpful this forum is even for relatively stupid problems like mine.

KeroZen said:

maybe that's something to consider for FW5? ...
So to me it's absolutely not a big deal if your device has no internal charging capability.

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Now that I am accustomed to swapping batteries when they run out of charge (been using only fw4 the last few weeks) I realize that I would rarely use a usb charger. You just charge the dead battery when you put the new one in, so you are never out of power. On the other hand, there is one instance where a usb charger would be nice - if away for the weekend and you remember a phone charger but forget the 18650 charger you would be able to use the phone charger (android only). Not the most critical use case, but still relevant I think.

KeroZen said:

This is more disappointing because it would be really useful. I got the PA with my FW2.1 and it's a completely different beast with it, it got way more power and it's stable. Why would it be a problem if the FW4 also behaves differently when plugged into a PA? If it runs hotter the user could just select a lower setting and/or take shorter hits no?

Sorry if my questions sound naive, I have no insight into your internals and you surely have constraints that I'm not aware of.

Click to expand...

I can't go into a lot of details concerning the internals, but I'll say this - the reason fw4 is different is because the heat regulation and draw sense can be affected by voltage fluctuations. The fw2 was manual so that voltage fluctuations didn't matter. The high power 18650 cells give remarkably smooth power compared to anything cheap coming from the wall (or even a moderately priced bench power supply). I'm not saying it isn't possible - it probably is. It would just require more work, and I really don't think it will matter anyway. The fw4 heats up sooo much faster, even on low battery. And when the battery runs out, you don't have the problem of having to wait for a charge because you can swap.

I think the best approach will be to see how people react to fw4 swappability and see if people are still asking for usb charging and/or wall power ability, and if so maybe do a fw 4.1 (Can't skip to fw5 without getting in a fw 4.20 at some point

firewood said:

I think the best approach will be to see how people react to fw4 swappability and see if people are still asking for usb charging and/or wall power ability, and if so maybe do a fw 4.1 (Can't skip to fw5 without getting in a fw 4.20 at some point

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Yep, sounds like the best approach, I think!


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Hot Swapping FTW.