Discontinued herbalAire

Your upset stomach may have been caused by coughing so much.
Try starting at a lower temperature (325~), taking smaller pulls, or using a smaller amount.
If you are grinding: don't. -- Also, keep water or tea around to sip between pulls.

It sounds like your lungs are just sensitive to high concentrations of vapor without much fresh air.
Keep in mind this isn't smoking; you will need to adjust your variables until you find your comfort zone.

If you are in a non friendly state and you are getting your herb on the street it is also possible that you have something that has been adulterated, either for potency or for eradication. That is less common than it used to be, but still a possibility. As MG23 said, herb is often used to reduce nausea. Herb creating nausea is relatively uncommon.
If you have someone else that you smoke with see if they experience something similar. Or, if you ARE in a MJ friendly place, try changing strains. I have smoked some nasty tasting herb on occasion, but thankfully not in the short time I have been vaping.

For pull strength should I do small but hard quick hits?
And for bags is 20 hits a full bag normal?

Slow, deep hits are ideal. Similar to a yawn. You want the vapor deep in your lungs.
Amount of hits are dependent on too many variables to assume a "normal" amount.

Well whats been the amount of hits you usually get in a bag?
Also I say small quick hits so the vapor isn't in contact with my throat as much which might be causing it.

And in general along with how big your hits are how many do you Guys get from 1 bag?

jkwarrior200 said:

Well whats been the amount of hits you usually get in a bag?
Also I say small quick hits so the vapor isn't in contact with my throat as much which might be causing it.

Click to expand...

When I do a bag I usually get 4 or 5 good hits from a full HA bag. Big hits as deep as I can get them. And I hold them, just like any other hit, 10 seconds or so.

When I combusted, I often couldn't hit as deep or hold as long due to harshness that is mostly absent with vaping. Not that you can't cough, you certainly can especially at higher temps, but it is way less than combusted smoke, at least for me.

What temperature do you usually do?
Also are you using the newer herbal aire bags?
Also do you think letting the bag sit for awhile would work well?

HerbalAire + TonG + D020-D = $200 hands-free convection glory:


Sorry for lack of focus at the start, I have no tripod and my hand is shaky.

I was never a big fan of the original D020, but this bub is amazing.
Much more stable overall thanks to the added width and thickness of the can and base.
Also much lower likelihood of splashback when given a powerful clear.
Makes me laugh that the mouthpiece is clearly the same one from the original D020 minus reinforcement.
The thin glass of the mouthpiece looks a bit odd next to the thicker body and much thicker base.

jkwarrior200 said:

And in general along with how big your hits are how many do you Guys get from 1 bag?

Click to expand...

So what temperature was this at? And was it on the newer HA bags

Anyone have recommendations for a minium temperature that they got thc at?

If you want to minimize irritation I recommend starting at 325 and working your way up in increments of 25 until no more vapor is being produced at 400. You could even try starting at 300 if 325 still upsets your throat/lungs. (unlikely if you control your hit size)

I think a smaller bowl helps to not cough, the HA crucibles are bigs if you fill it full it's difficult for your lungs and the taste is quickly deteriorate.

I fill it it with small pieces of whole nugs without packing it

I find if I don't pack the crucible the air travels around rather than through the load leading to less complete exhaustion of the load. HA themselves suggest your need to completely obstruct the air path with goods. Not sure how to do that without packing. I, however, am still a padawan and am still in training...
To clarify, I often (usually) do small loads, but I make sure the bottom is completely covered.

That is my method for stock crucible use as well, Cybrguy.
HA themselves suggest packing it down securely; achieving the "espresso" effect for optimal extraction.
Unlike most other vapes HA extracts just as thoroughly regardless of amount when given a tight pack.
For small loads I find a screen pressed down over an even pack in the cruc can help secure it quite a bit.

This video is probably the best demo of the functionality, ruggedness and versatility of the HA, that I have seen so far. It is taken from the HA booth at the 2013 Heal Yourself Exposition in Toronto. Olivianewtonjohn beat me to it and posted this in another thread, but I feel it can be beneficial here for those who are currently looking at the HA, or those newcomers who have just purchased one:

MG23 said:

For small loads I find a screen pressed down over an even pack in the cruc can help secure it quite a bit.

Click to expand...

Yep. I am putting a screen on top of all of my crucible loads now to prevent spilling when I dump the crucible to a tray when I am done with it. I have also gotten in the habit of dumping crucibles after lower temp use if I intend to finish them later. Dumping them reduces the chance that conduction will waste un vaped goods that remain. They cool pretty fast when removed from the oven.

How safe are aquarium pumps, anyone open one to see the air path? I tried searching but saw discussion on safety of the tubing, Teflon, and dimmer switches.

Thinking about doing a custom project details later

olivianewtonjohn said:

How safe are aquarium pumps, anyone open one to see the air path? I tried searching but saw discussion on safety of the tubing, Teflon, and dimmer switches.

Thinking about doing a custom project details later

Click to expand...

Do you need that in addition to the factory pump that comes with the Herbalaire?

Vicki said:

Do you need that in addition to the factory pump that comes with the Herbalaire?

Click to expand...

Thinking of incorporating a pump/bag with my cloud. I dont have a HA (at least not yet) but figured this was the best thread for my question. I know the pump is in the air path before heat is applied but its always good to be-careful with what we are inhaling.

Salutations OliviaNewtonJohn,

olivianewtonjohn said:

Thinking of incorporating a pump/bag... ...the pump is in the air path before heat is applied but its always good to be-careful with what we are inhaling.

Click to expand...

In my early days with the HerbalAire i demonstrated a method intended to remove the aquarium pump and associated PVC tubing from its cannabic path. This was the solution:


Negative pression, the same simple principle as in a vacuum machine...

Though i also recall that Troi, manufacturer of the VapeXhale Cloud, has expressed himself against bags exactly:

Egzoset said:

Salutations OliviaNewtonJohn,



In my early days with the HerbalAire i demonstrated a method intended to remove the aquarium pump and associated PVC tubing from its cannabic path. This was the solution:

FC: herbalAire - page 11 (2011-Mar-14)​

Negative pression, the same simple principle as in a vacuum machine...

Though i also recall that Troi, manufacturer of the VapeXhale Cloud, has expressed himself against bags exactly:

FC: VapeXhaleLabs Presents: The Cloud (2012-Feb-29)

« ...Bags are a thing of the past, and not our preference as they do not deliver vapor in the quality or freshness that we desire. We are not sold on the safety involved in inhaling vapors through a plastic bag... »​

Click to expand...

That is a rather ingenious way of eliminating the pump from airpath. Im still interested in learning more about aquarium pumps though since one of the HA employees specifically said we can use AQ pumps (video a few posts above). I felt like this topic had to have come up before? But I was having a hard time finding the answer by searching.

Troi might have said that but I dont see why that would affect me? Everyone has their own preferences after all.

Hi again OliviaNewtonJohn,

olivianewtonjohn said:

Im still interested in learning more about aquarium pumps though since one of the HA employees specifically said we can use AQ pumps (video a few posts above).

Click to expand...

There's a proper set of place and time for everything and it turns out i can offer to testify myself, since my (previously-linked) vacuum experiment was specifically meant to eliminate a rubbery scent that i later associated to new PVC plastic, as i recall: once exposed to the elements for a while its odor is easily forgotten... So, i guess condensed cannabic vapor serves as an intenally protective coating, e.g. inside the PVC tube. The odor and taste of golden resin would be much less shocking than that of a synthetic plastic anyway!

There were no concerns other than speed when i was still using my HA pump, those were the "bag" days.

At the risk of starting a flame war, I have a question for some of you pro Herbalaire modders on here.

I've been using my Herbalaire for over a year now as my daily driver, and while I absolutely love it, I have some frustrations stemming from its usage, and have decided to move on to a Da Buddha. I haven't received Da Buddha yet, and this isn't meant to be a comparison, so bear with me .

This decision was made based on the fact that it has virtually no restriction in the air path, which is actually one of my biggest problems with the Herbalaire. No matter what I have tried: boring out the Teflon to make it more open, using the Solo stem without a screen, using larger diameter silicone slid over the Teflon, using my beautiful piece of African Blackwood from Ed, et cetera. I have narrowed it down to the problem being with the "tiny jet holes" that the manufacturer is so proud of.

Please do not slap me merely for suggesting this, but has anyone tried, or even considered boring out the holes in the bottom of the chamber to make them larger ? I rarely use my Herbalaire in bag mode (only when buddies are over, and they insist upon it) so I am not worried too much about compromising that operation, but rather in maximizing the airflow through the unit for whip usage. If I venture into this territory, I am well aware that it would void any and all warranties, but if I completely screw the unit up, is there anywhere one could order the entire chamber (not crucible) from ?

Any and all suggestions are welcome, but please try to keep it positive. This is a legitimate question, and I am seriously considering endeavouring to do this .

I'm quite certain you are correct that the jets are the source of the restricted flow. You could have saved the effort of boring the mp and changing screens and chamber by just picking up the device cold and blowing as hard as you can into the air hole in the back. The restricted flow is immediately obvious without anything attached. I think, tho, that this is a necessary evil for getting the results they were after. The complete exhausting of the goods without stirring, the ability to use whole nugs with no shredding or grinding, the different consumption methods (Whip, Direct Draw or Bags) probably depend at least partially on slow very hot air traveling through a fully obstructed air path. Increase the speed and volume of that air cools it and potentially allows the force to create paths through the goods which might reduce the complete exhaustion. Does that make any sense?

At least that is what I think medicated at this moment. Ask again in an hour or two...

Just about the fully obstructed airpath, I disagree I can put some loosely pieces of flower (not packed) in my crucible without any efficiency difference...the HA is so powerfull, it's not an issue, with TonG I must to pack it (gravity issue cause I use it most part of time upright)

I got my elite TonG some days ago, the taste difference is subtle but I like it (especially to the end of the bowl!) too cause I loaded too much my crucibles and with TonG it's not possible to overload!

The TonG fit perfectly all my water tools but I prefer now to use it with my Cloud dry mp (with the stock mp it don't fit without a reducer and was still not stable) since I prefer the HA dry (and I have others cloudier devices to milk my glasses) for long and tasty sessions!