Arizer Solo

My first thought was drooling too but he is using a bent stem which would make it way harder for the drool to make it inside but it depends on how he has his solo oriented. Ken, you said you researched the solo so you know what you are experiencing is not normal whatever the cause. Try to figure this out and you will be fine. I don't like to do magic tricks with vapes so I get what you are saying. I find the solo to be one of the most reliable vapes.

stickstones said:

Last night I was using the Solo with my little cheap Chinese bubbler for a nightcap. I was using Ed's wooden stem so that the Solo was inverted. Since the stem was upside down and working like a bowl I decided to just cover the screen with herb and see how light I load I could effectively vape. It was quite nice. I was getting surprisingly thick clouds off what amounts to a fraction of a bowl. Turns out I may like smaller loads like this.

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I have been using my Solo with the same bubbler for the last month in a similar manner. I load a stock straight stem from between 1/3 to 1/2 full, take my first hit on 6, switch to 7 and get 2 more solid great tasting hits, then shut the Solo off, repeating as necessary.

I find if I vape full bowls through the bubbler the flavor degrades 1/2 way through.

Woohoo! Solo replacement got here from PIU. New Solo (M1D2 for anyone who cares) and new charger. No glass. Burning off ATM. Will report later.

Thanks to hd_rider, Caligula and Dreamerr for all of your input. After not changing anything other than the stem as I'm still waiting for the ISO alcohol, I've just got some real good hits on my first session. I've responded to your points below.

@ dilligaf_ken - Don't take this the wrong way, but could it be that your drooling into the stem resulting in saliva contacting the bowl or the heating crucible? Yes, I've made that mistake and heard similar sounds to what you describe. Yes, I know, gross, but it was a mistake I made and I am now much more cognizant of how I use the device.

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I had honestly never been mindful of this before. I've been using the curved stem with the Solo held upright (battery/charging port at the bottom, facing downwards). I had held myself back a couple of times in the past, especially right after starting to vape, because of the saliva I was producing, so you could be right.

As an aside, using the Solo held upside down while drawing on the straight stem is a slightly bizarre experience.

You might consider cleaning out the stem with some 90% ISO solution and use a cotton swap to clean the crucible.

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Yup. Once the ISO alcohol gets here (probably tomorrow or Thursday), I plan on cleaning it the best I can. I just don't want to get too much alcohol in the crucible.

Does it matter that the ISO be a specific strength, or is stronger always better?

Thanks again.

Ken, forget the iso for now cause your issue has nothing to do with cleaning. If your solo is now dry, load it with ground herb not a nug, make sure it isn't beyond the edge of the glass, tilt your solo enough that if you do drool over the goodies it won't go anywhere and don't blow into the stem.

You will be able to use a full nug once we figure this out. If you don't have a grinder break it up. Another issue we didn't mention is your herb DRY, if not break it up and let it sit and dry cause that can be an issue also.

dilligaf_ken said:

As an aside, using the Solo held upside down while drawing on the straight stem is a slightly bizarre experience.

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Feel like a hamster?

dilligaf_ken said:

Does it matter that the ISO be a specific strength, or is stronger always better?

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The purer the better.
I use to go to the pharmacy and ask for the 99.9 iso. (which they keep hidden)
They will ask what for and I would say that I do electronic repair and clean video heads and PC board components. Need over 99% to leave no residue. If they don't have they can order. Get by the gallon and way cheaper then the shelf stuff.

Dreamerr said:

Ken, forget the iso for now cause your issue has nothing to do with cleaning. If your solo is now dry, load it with ground herb not a nug, make sure it isn't beyond the edge of the glass, tilt your solo enough that if you do drool over the goodies it won't go anywhere and don't blow into the stem.

You will be able to use a full nug once we figure this out. If you don't have a grinder break it up. Another issue we didn't mention is your herb DRY, if not break it up and let it sit and dry cause that can be an issue also.

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Thanks for the suggestions. As I said in my last post, the Solo was running great tonight, for both sessions. But I'll keep them in mind if I have these issues again.

You got it spot on when you said "don't blow into the stem." I think I may foolishly have done this whilst under some misconception that the holes in the bowl were clogged or some such.

Pipes said:

The purer the better.
I use to go to the pharmacy and ask for the 99.9 iso. (which they keep hidden)
They will ask what for and I would say that I do electronic repair and clean video heads and PC board components. Need over 99% to leave no residue. If they don't have they can order. Get by the gallon and way cheaper then the shelf stuff.

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I bought some on Amazon which claims to be "99.9% pure". I'm not sure I really believe it if I'm honest but we'll see what the results are.

First impressions are positive! Heats up faster than my old unit and the draw is (I think) less restrictive. Clouds were achievable easily at level 4 (my norm).

I'll keep you up to date as I get to play with it more.

Oh also my old style @Pipes stand is too tight to fit this model for some reason. I spoke with him and he says the new version of his stand should have a looser fit so I'll be good. Ordered one to test out. Should be here next year. Heh.

I finally got to order a PVHES with tube

I had a couple of minor water intrusion incidents while getting used to the PNWT and the sound was a combo of popping and spitting similar to putting a wet pan on a glass cooktop.

I ordered a PVHES turbo bent mouthpiece from PV, I don't think it cooks the herb as well as the regular PVHES mouthpiece. The herb didn't look dark enough and there wasn't any more vapor left.

I also ordered the shorty gong PVHES and I liked the reg. PVHES gong better, the session with the shorty is too short, go figure. Their shipping is so expensive, probably because its Canada. I've heard you guys complaining about the Canadian Postal Service and the fees.

Has anyone checked out the Firefly threads? The draw and the taste has been compared to the Solo. Some say the taste could be better. I'm holding off for now.

I saw the video on the Firefly, the VAPE critic didn't give it that great a review. I just ordered another Solo, the new one that can be used while charging. Can't beat the quality and efficiency and ease of and use/clean.

Ya , I'm still waiting for a user review vid for the FF .
Please report back on the new version solo when you get it .

tia

Happy New Year everyone .

I'm very happy with my Solo. I have an adapter where I can use it while plugged in. After I find out more about the new Solo, like poonman says, I'm waiting for more FC reviews. Also I'm curious about the battery and heater, how they hold up.

Have a wonderful New Year! Think positive and wonderful thoughts for the upcoming year.

Just wondering if anyone has had the draw stem retaining ring on top of the oven degrade or fall apart and do you remove this if you get the silicone o ring.

delta 9 said:

Just wondering if anyone has had the draw stem retaining ring on top of the oven degrade or fall apart and do you remove this if you get the silicone o ring.

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A couple of guys have posted about broken (as opposed to loose) seals, but I think most if not all of those were cases where guys had removed it or otherwise messed with it. I don't recall any out and out failures (which would be under the lifetime oven warranty I'd think?).

Yes, you leave the seal in place and put the o-ring above it (between it and the cover).

OF

Mine fell apart, I sent it back.

michaelstone said:

Mine fell apart, I sent it back.

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What do you mean ?
fell apart ?

I have a Plenty for my bands rehearsal space, a PAX for my car, and an aging Vapir No2 at home.

I need stealth at home - so no smell! from the vape between hits where possible as I'm in a locked home office with windows.

- The Plenty is overkill at home. (such an awesome vape!)
- I couldn't use my PAX as it reaks/leaks vape out the bottom each hit. Not a lot, but it smells.
- My No2 is pretty smell-less, but is getting to be a pain to load and store each use. Thinking about a Solo to replace the No2 for home use only.

How much does the Solo smell (or not) between hits?

Am also tracking the Ascent (too many goofy problems), Firefly (jury still out due to issues being uncovered daily), and my No2 still works - its just a pain and not quick to use or hide away.

Thx in advance for any info.

To my nose the ascent stinks and does leak vapor. I stopped following the thread but there is no way it isn't leaking although you can't see it. If I vape all day long and I can smell it that strong you can imagine what others smell. All vapes smell while heating but I find the solo to be in the low range of odor. I don't smell much between hits unless I forget about it and it is normally the smell that reminds me I was vaping. That doesn't happen often. Good luck.

monkeyrider said:

I have a Plenty for my bands rehearsal space, a PAX for my car, and an aging Vapir No2 at home.

I need stealth at home - so no smell! from the vape between hits where possible as I'm in a locked home office with windows.

- The Plenty is overkill at home. (such an awesome vape!)
- I couldn't use my PAX as it reaks/leaks vape out the bottom each hit. Not a lot, but it smells.
- My No2 is pretty smell-less, but is getting to be a pain to load and store each use. Thinking about a Solo to replace the No2 for home use only.

How much does the Solo smell (or not) between hits?

Am also tracking the Ascent (too many goofy problems), Firefly (jury still out due to issues being uncovered daily), and my No2 still works - its just a pain and not quick to use or hide away.

Thx in advance for any info.

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Solo is good, however it'll still smell a bit since you need to leave the stem in the unit while completing your session. While the bowl is cooking, its going to smell even if you dont hit it.

Anyway, it's also funny you mention this, since I did an experiment with the wife the other day. Now, she doesn't mind if I vape... but she gives me static if I'm vaping away at all hours of the day (and rightfully so since I get lazy as shit)... so I tried something with my EpicVape E-Nano.

Now, my office has a balcony attached to it. What I did was to leave the Nano heating up on my desk (no smell and you can leave it on 24/7). Whenever I wanted to medicate, I'd put a small, unground nug into the stem, and hit it. Id then walk outside and exhale. Repeat as necessary, however this is usually only a 1 to 2 trip session since it only takes 1 to 2 hits to properly extract from a small nug with the Nano.

Anyway, I basically did this all damn day with the woman coming in and out and she didn't say a word. Since she has a pretty good noise, I'd call that a success.

Because the bowl on the Nano is so small, and the unit is so effective at extracting vapor, and the extraction is almost instant (compared to a Solo anyway), it is relative easy to vape with little to no smell other than that of the weed itself and whatever you exhale.

Sorry I'm pretty vaped and all over the place. Let me see if I can make this more concise.

The EpicVape E-Nano is good for this purpose because:

• No need to heat the bowl over a long period of time. You hit the stem as soon as you put it on the heating element, and a properly loaded bowl should be done in 2-3 hits.
• No leaking of vapor while heating
• Full sessions can be had in under a minute
• Can leave the vape on 24/7 with no smell
• Unit looks very inconspicuous and is actually smaller than a Solo
• Still get amazing flavor, conserves herb like no other, extracts essential oils very well from whore OR ground herb, does concentrates extremely well, etc...

About smell. I have the hypothesis that higher temp vaping is the more smelling kind. Just an hypothesis.

I vaped at temp 5 a few times in nonsmoking friend's places and they confirmed me the odor dissapears, in minutes. And they smelled nothing while i was blowing they other way. I have no other vaping exp to compare to though.

Happy New Year fellow fc'ers. Plenty of health, success, and sex

I have the No. 2 vaporizer, it was my first portable and it doesn't extract the goodies from the herb as well as the Solo.

I have the Pinnacle Pro, the Solo and the Ascent. The Solo smells the least.

The Ascent smells the most. You loose vaper from the bottom through the grill with the Ascent.

All portable vapes smell when you're heating up the herb, but the good thing, it doesn't linger.

Have fun and stay safe in the new year.

I agree that the solo, in terms of smell, will be the best replacement for your needs...if you don't need quick sessions.