What are your thoughts on an aluminum vaporizer core?

underdog

underdog

shade-tree vapor engineer
Manufacturer
Someone has commissioned me to build them a custom vape and requested the core be made of aluminum instead of the stainless steel that I normally use.

I feel comfortable with this request and don't think there is necessarily anything wrong with an aluminum air-path at the temperatures we vape at but I want the FC communities opinion too.

So, what do you think, aluminum air-path/core.. yay or nea? Why?
 
underdog,
akwardsauce

akwardsauce

gold all in my chains...dont believe me just watch
if its safe & someone requested it & will pay you for it, then yay-as-a-mothafucka...

sounds like an opportunity to make money as long as its not too much work for you...
 
akwardsauce,
weedemon

weedemon

enthusiast
i don't think there will be any issues with it off gassing anything. but personally why the hell would they want this?? haha Stainless steel over aluminum any day!!
 
weedemon,
underdog

underdog

shade-tree vapor engineer
Manufacturer
Thanks guys.. yeah I have no doubts about it's safety but always good to ask around in my opinion.

Not sure of the motivations but I've had several people inquire about aluminum cores over the last 6 months, maybe it's a new trend or something.. lol.
 
underdog,
Seek

Seek

Apprentice Daydreamer
Maybe they just want their vape to be more lightweight. Aluminium shouldn't be producing any fumes at vaporization temp.
 
Seek,
Abysmal Vapor

Abysmal Vapor

Supersniffer 2000 - robot fart detection device
I always imagined aluminium as soft material .. That can be bent or damaged easily.. This summer was so hot that one of my windows broke (aluminium profile window) because of brightening of the window profile... . Would it be as durable as SS core ?
 
Abysmal Vapor,
akwardsauce

akwardsauce

gold all in my chains...dont believe me just watch
a few select metals from: http://www.muggyweld.com/melting.html

Elements Symbol Melting Point Celsius Melting Point Fahrenheit
Aluminum Al 659 1218
Stainless Steel Cr+Ni+Mn+C 1363 2550
Steel-High Carbon Cr+Ni+Mn+C 1353 2500
Medium Carbon Cr+Ni+Mn+C 1427 2600
Low Carbon Cr+Ni+Mn+C 1464 2700
Tin Sn 232 450
Titanium Ti 1795 3263

so do people use "tin foil" & "aluminum foil" interchangeably or do they actually make tin foil? theres a huge diff in melting points & im even thinking you can melt "tin" foil sheets in the oven at an actual cooking temp...

or is it some mixture of Al + Sn to cheapen the cost or something...?
 
akwardsauce,
charliedontsurf

charliedontsurf

Medical
My question is, why the hell do they want aluminum over stainless? Isn't stainless more inert at higher temperatures, doesn't it have alot of advantages? I know aluminum is less expensive and much lighter but an end-user shouldn't prefer it for those reasons. Those are considerations a cheap, lousy producer (NOT Purpledays) would prioritize over the advantages of a stainless steel core.

If anything they should be asking for a crazy expensive titanium element, not aluminum..

Underdog, maybe you should ask them why they want it and give them a brief explanation of why SS is probably better for the task. Maybe they know something we don't?
 
charliedontsurf,
akwardsauce

akwardsauce

gold all in my chains...dont believe me just watch
maybe the customer wants the internals to match their macbook pro - atomically...?
 
akwardsauce,
underdog

underdog

shade-tree vapor engineer
Manufacturer
This request is for a prototype for a new model which these people would then purchase in quantity and resale through their distribution channels. Their reason for asking for aluminum is in an attempt to reduce the warmup time and the costs of stainless. They've also asked me to prototype one in titanium if it can be done at/under their target price, I'm pretty sure it can't but I'll see... titanium has gotten really expensive in recent years.
 
underdog,
Z

zenmasterofzinfandel

Well-Known Member
underdog said:
This request is for a prototype for a new model which these people would then purchase in quantity and resale through their distribution channels. Their reason for asking for aluminum is in an attempt to reduce the warmup time and the costs of stainless. They've also asked me to prototype one in titanium if it can be done at/under their target price, I'm pretty sure it can't but I'll see... titanium has gotten really expensive in recent years.
Click to expand...

Copper & Silver are both (much) better heat conductors than aluminum, both have higher melting points (less likely to 'gas' off toxic fumes, given no combustion temps):

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/thermal-conductivity-metals-d_858.html

Just how much faster warm up time would copper or silver deliver? Still too slow for me, I want it now! :D
 
zenmasterofzinfandel,
max

max

Out to lunch
max,
underdog

underdog

shade-tree vapor engineer
Manufacturer
max said:
Their reason for asking for aluminum is in an attempt to reduce the warmup time and the costs of stainless.
Click to expand...
This makes sense, but titanium? That's nuts.

zenmasterofzinfandel said:
Copper & Silver are both (much) better heat conductors than aluminum
Click to expand...
Both are also a lot more expensive. Thieves are even targeting vacant houses for the copper pipes.
http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/vir...omes-in-dale-city-and-woodbridge-areas-081111
Click to expand...

Yeah, they obviously didn't know the prices of titanium (let alone copper or silver) when asking me to qoute this job for them.. stainless is bad enough these days!
 
underdog,
Hippie Dickie

Hippie Dickie

The Herbal Cube
Manufacturer
Their reason for asking for aluminum is in an attempt to reduce the warmup time and the costs of stainless.
Click to expand...

yeah, but fast warm up means fast cool off, i.e. less thermal mass -- make it bigger, i suppose -- unless you have a temperature controlled heater.
 
Hippie Dickie,
underdog

underdog

shade-tree vapor engineer
Manufacturer
Hippie Dickie said:
Their reason for asking for aluminum is in an attempt to reduce the warmup time and the costs of stainless.
Click to expand...

yeah, but fast warm up means fast cool off, i.e. less thermal mass -- make it bigger, i suppose -- unless you have a temperature controlled heater.
Click to expand...

Quite possibly, I guess we'll all know when I finish this prototype.. sometimes you just gotta do what the customer wants and see where it leads you. :/
 
underdog,
darkrom

darkrom

Great Scott!
Dave your vapes rule. If I was in your shoes I'd strongly suggest that they just use stainless. Is the price difference that large? I've always had issues with aluminum, but I admit it is based on hearsay. It's one of those things where if there is better out there why not use it (within reason). IDK if it's what they want it's what they want, but personally for YOUR vapes, just keep stainless. Your quality is what makes the underdog so awesome.
 
darkrom,
underdog

underdog

shade-tree vapor engineer
Manufacturer
darkrom said:
Dave your vapes rule. If I was in your shoes I'd strongly suggest that they just use stainless. Is the price difference that large? I've always had issues with aluminum, but I admit it is based on hearsay. It's one of those things where if there is better out there why not use it (within reason). IDK if it's what they want it's what they want, but personally for YOUR vapes, just keep stainless. Your quality is what makes the underdog so awesome.
Click to expand...

Thanks man, it feels good to be appreciated.

Our standard cores are (and will remain) stainless steel no worries there. This was a customer funded experiment.

The aluminum was only for a specific customer request and after testing the prototype all week I've decided to tell them it's a no-go. I'm very picky about what leaves here with my name on it and this aluminum core just isn't going to cut it.

Part of being a business that does custom work though is being willing to step outside your comfort zones and try new things and not just get stuck in a rut. So while this experiment might have been a failure the custom is happy we tried and can now move on to other options without having any lingering "what-if's" about the aluminum. :D
 
underdog,
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