Discontinued The RBT Milaana (unregulated single 18650)

beiberhole69 said:

I appreciate all the technique tips. I've been doing a pretty fine grind, tamped pretty tight and larger bowls for the most part.

My GF and her lil bro both combusted this weekend :/ As did I.

It always seems to happen after you get a hit that was okay but small and so you go for another holding longer and maybe pulling a little harder and it's already a little heat soaked and bam!

Gonna try a coarser, more loose pack in the stems and maybe abandon the basket screen in the gong as that forces a tight pack and puts the load right up against the screen and maybe even adds a little conduction.

I feel like I'm able to pretty well regulate the heat fairly well, but then I'm not getting very gratifying hits. They happen occasionally though so I know they're possible, I'm just not sure what I'm not doing consistently correct.

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I've had my Milaana a few weeks and you are describing exactly where I'm at as well.

Here's to figuring it out ASAP.

Screen placement is a big factor too btw.

Bravesst said:

I combusted early on too.
What Leads to Combustion
1. Too much button
2. Pulling too long
3. Packing too thick or tight

BRAVESST's Top 10 Ways to Prevent Combustion
1. Learn to Feather, that is, realease and tap the button vs full throttle
2. Release Button at just the right moment, keep pulling with no button depression
3. Slow Pull, let heat hover in stem, tune into what is going on temp wise (feel heat in mouth) and adjust pull to prevent combustion, increase pull after release
4. Be Careful on a Full Battery, more power
5. Short Stem = better feedback, save water for after you master short stem
6. Grind Medium Fine, lightly tamp, dry out before grinding (get water out), way less chance of fouling vape up. I get much more precise control with dry herb.
7. At first sign of Char Release Button and stop drawing
8. Stirring helps keep things even
9. Stay Present, no mindless hits until you master technique
10. Keep Screen Clean

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@waxdab23 @beiberhole69
Sounds like you are packing too tight, grinding too fine, and I'm wondering where you have the screen placed and amount of material you are packing.

My recommendation here is the short stem with the screen in set 2/3 back the joint, basically about where a screen starts to grab when inserted screen first from mouthpiece end. Load material so the joint is full but not tightly packed, then use your pinky finger to tamp the material into the joint to create an empty gap where it is just glass at the tip without material (1-1.5mm probably).

Once this heater gets going, it doesn't need a lot of button time unless the battery is low. Tip here is to run a battery for at most two stem loads as described above and recharge until you get your technique down. Fighting a 65-75% battery capacity should be factored out of the equation.

Airflow is essential and a tightly packed bowl will trap heat that should be moving across material. Too much airflow also can lead to a mouthful of hot air, so finding the proper tamp/pack compression/density will synergize vapor production.
What @Bravesst has in his tips are spot-on

I like to break a nug up by hand. If my hands had a grind rating, it would be ultra-coarse.

Yep, never used any grinder... Some folks tried to offer me some but I like tearing flowers apart with my fingers, feels closer to the Plant.

So coarse but fairly tamped for me. No falling bits but no blocked airflow either.

Yeah, I like a medium grind and a loose pack (screen basket style, a cm or two deep, so you have a little glass rim) that lets the heat tamp in my first hit (which I started inverted) and I do micro doses or full bowls this way, any amount really and it can extract very evenly. Finer and chunkier ginds can work too, but technique could be different. @cannabis.pro & @Bravesst got you, they're experts now

Oh I'm just going to be contrary here and relate that my own early fire events came from loose or medium packs. Once I started packing hard, I was fine. Hell I don't really grind at all. I do a hand tear away from any wood, but then it's just "stuff a bud". The hard pack gives some draw resistance so I end up taking it into my mouth and "chewing" on my pull a little before it hits the lungs. Different strokes...

beiberhole69 said:

I've been doing a pretty fine grind, tamped pretty tight and larger bowls for the most part.

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That is exactly what to do for a conduction vape, and (yeah, exceptions, hello) exactly the opposite recommended for a convection vape. W/ conduction you're baking your herb in a (less powerful) oven, and a fine grind/tight pack means better heat transfer/more vapor. W/ convection you're drawing air from a (more powerful) heating element through your herb, so greater surface-to-air w/ a course grind and light pack means more vapor.

What you've been doing sounds like a recipe for hot spots and combustion, and you must be experiencing a pretty restricted draw.

One other adjustment, if you try the course route: add a bit of cotton to your air intake on top (my settup is a metal mesh-cotton-metal mesh sandwich) for a bit more feedback and easier slow draws.

As much as I like a fine to medium grind, if u go too far tamping, you get bad draw resistance, and sometimes charring. The finer the grind, the looser the tamp.

Tonight I'm going to experiment with some dry nugs...

So just went ahead and ordered a couple VTC5's for when my Mi arrives and already have a couple 25r.

I know that at some point if I like this vape (prety sure that's gonna happen) I'm gonna want to buy one of those PNWT water tools, any links to a decent one in DHGate? Really appreciated!

Just make sure you have charged batteries when it arrives. Waiting can be pretty tough when you have it in your hand...

cybrguy said:

Just make sure you have charged batteries when it arrives. Waiting can be pretty tough when you have it in your hand...

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25r charged and ready for duty!!

Ok, I think I understand the reason why I've been combusting (especially compounding the issue by stirring and tamping an already fine grind), I appreciate all the tips and comments.

I haven't combusted yesterday or yet today, so maybe improving, however, I'm also finding it hard to fully extract a bowl right now too (out of fear of combusting perhaps?) ABV is looking pretty light green. Gonna get some good bong rips with my log vape and some added stem reclaim. But I'm hoping to improve my technique to get the rest of that into my lungs in my earlier hits with the Mi that are not that big.

Yeah trigger and draw, trigger and draw, with practice it should become more intuitive, honestly if you want to really master and are struggling I'd recommend making sure to use only it and nothing else if you aren't already...

In other news those Chinese eBay male to male adapters from a few pages back are indeed US and fit Milaana perfectly. I got an 18-18 and a 18-14 for $4 and shipping didn't even take that long either, like a week maybe?

Again recommend sticking to dry if you really want to get the most optimal performance to master it for you. I can fully extract bowls without them being harsh in a natural temp step session of spaces out on demand hits based on my pack, draw, and trigger useage. Some people water helps though, either way it can take time and effort potentially apparently

Shit Snacks said:

Yeah trigger and draw, trigger and draw, with practice it should become more intuitive, honestly if you want to really master and are struggling I'd recommend making sure to use only it and nothing else if you aren't already...

In other news those Chinese eBay male to male adapters from a few pages back are indeed US and fit Milaana perfectly. I got an 18-18 and a 18-14 for $4 and shipping didn't even take that long either, like a week maybe?

Again recommend sticking to dry if you really want to get the most optimal performance to master it for you. I can fully extract bowls without them being harsh in a natural temp step session of spaces out on demand hits based on my pack, draw, and trigger useage. Some people water helps though, either way it can take time and effort potentially apparently

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What depth is your heater's protective screen at inside the female glass? Is yours just under an inch (0.94inches, 23.8mm), like mine? I ask because mine is too short for @DDave's current 18mm pieces and other eBay recommendations have been a mm or 2 too long for my Mi and Zi.

To all the tech guys in here:

I'd like to measure the resistance of my mi's and compare them - just to get to know about the differently tuned heaters.
Ryan told me to get a high sensitivity multimeter and set it to resistance. Then touch one lead to the copper screw and one to the contact.

I tried but didn't succeed. Either my MM isn't sensitive enough (up to 2000k ohm) or I am too stupid to touch the correct parts? If anyone could shed some light on this, I'd be happy to post my results for comparison.

Thanks guys and happy vaping on

Don't forget to preas the button, otherwise you dont have a complete circuit to measure.

I learned a technique for making extraction easier - use the finishing grinder. I like it, especially for use with the short stem - maybe I'm getting a slight bit more vapor quicker.

Where is the best place to get a green shorty stem? Is it direct from RBT? Also, where did people get the silicone whip piece to attach to a shorty stem so it fits in a 18mm joint? What size whip do you need to fit the shorty stem? Do I just need to measure the diameter of the shorty stem?

ragnorokk said:

What depth is your heater's protective screen at inside the female glass? Is yours just under an inch (0.94inches, 23.8mm), like mine? I ask because mine is too short for @DDave's current 18mm pieces and other eBay recommendations have been a mm or 2 too long for my Mi and Zi.

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I actually have no idea... Really they should all be the same, and if one is off it is more unique individual case no? Mines a rough unit even so it could be unique itself like my earlier beta could likely be as well (haven't tried em in there) They do seem not to be an exact match for the RBT stems but they do fit.

The real issue is getting a screen in there, like cutdown iso joints they have a wider ID than the RBT stems for some reason, finally got one of my older wider screens to stay in place just barely in the 18-14, it's nice (love the look and feel) but draw is trickier with the narrow opening maybe I dont know. Haven't tried to get a screen in the 18-18 but I'm sure I'll struggle. At least the screen that's in has a little glass rim, with my cutdown iso stems from JoDa the screen only fits at the very edge so the bowl is tiny and too close to the edge like EQ basket

We definitely still need RBT to sell some sort of official male to male that are just like his stems but with a 14 or 18mm joint on the end... I guess the silicone mods let you do that, but not as convenient in anyway in my experience. Oh well guess I'll be mostly sticking to dry as per usual, but they could still be useful

bounce5 said:

I learned a technique for making extraction easier - use the finishing grinder. I like it, especially for use with the short stem - maybe I'm getting a slight bit more vapor quicker.

Where is the best place to get a green shorty stem? Is it direct from RBT? Also, where did people get the silicone whip piece to attach to a shorty stem so it fits in a 18mm joint? What size whip do you need to fit the shorty stem? Do I just need to measure the diameter of the shorty stem?

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Only RBT has green shorty stems as far as I know, unless you go custom. Also @Ratchett makes SonGs if that's what you mean? Those can connect essentially any vape to water, don't need a whip... I guess others just folded tubing?

How far down are you guys running your batteries? Like 3.9?

I usually pull my battery around 3.7 or 3.8. Any lower and I'd have to significantly alter my technique to get decent hits. Mine does run cool, though.

I've got no readings to go off of but I normally just recharge when I have to press down for quite a while, to get decent production. If it's like 8-9 seconds that I'm waiting I'm putting them on the charger.

@waxdab23
I run batts to when vapor wanes... I rotate more batts, and run more chargers than I'm willing to admit, so swapping out when in doubt is easy.

@ragnorokk
I measured all 4 Mi s, about 58 to 59 / 64ths

@All
I went with some dry nugs last night, not good results. I broke into a strain from early April, and was reminded how much herb quality impacts everything. I'll be selling off that z.

With a finer grind, screen needs to stay cleaner, therefore closer, reducing the draw restriction inherent with a finer grind.

Many variables interact before you take your first hit, which can throw off even an experienced mi user, as i found out.

1. Screen distance
2. Herb quality
3. Grind
4. Tamp

Hey all , been on the fence on ordering 1 of these since @Bravesst lmk how great they are and on the plus side i have a bunch of Panasonic & Samsung cell's floating around. I see it is around $200 Shipped for just the Milaana and there is a august special that includes a bunch of extra stems. I am not in a rush as i have so many vapes but i am mostly a impulse buyer. So i am wondering are there any coupon codes for Fc members ? as i see there is a spot on the site to enter 1 and that just may make me pull the trigger.

DocGonzo said:

I usually pull my battery around 3.7 or 3.8. Any lower and I'd have to significantly alter my technique to get decent hits. Mine does run cool, though.

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I like to go to about 3.6, but if they are 3.8 or under when I pull them I will swap them anyway as close enough. 3.9 and they go back in.

Justpassedu said:

Hey all , been on the fence on ordering 1 of these since @Bravesst lmk how great they are and on the plus side i have a bunch of Panasonic & Samsung cell's floating around. I see it is around $200 Shipped for just the Milaana and there is a august special that includes a bunch of extra stems. I am not in a rush as i have so many vapes but i am mostly a impulse buyer. So i am wondering are there any coupon codes for Fc members ? as i see there is a spot on the site to enter 1 and that just may make me pull the trigger.

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I can give u a lesson in person!