The Arizer Air

GetLeft said:

Anyone know how long the AA bats hold their charge while in storage?

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I wouldn't worry too much, a few weeks will give no decrease you would notice, even a few month shouldn't make that much change.

Ive had a aa battery sat at full for about two weeks now, just checked with my dmm and its still at 4.19v so a 0.01v loss, and cutoff is about 3.40v

Now if you want to get the best out of the batteries and storing anything over 2-3 month they would be best kept at around 3.7v (fully charged then have a stem or two) but the fact that they are easy to change/replace i would just use them and not think about it too much.

If you want a cheap/easy way to check, a dmm (multi meter) is all you will need, cost around £10/$15, IMO something everyone that uses these kind of batteries should have, even more so if using an external charger but that could just be my OCD coming into play, or it could just be the whole man have toy, man will play thing

People with burning issues:

I noticed the very bottom bud that touched metal heater always got charred, so now I fill the stem full loosely, then squish it pretty firm so it's all packed against the screen.

Airflow is still fine and this way it acts more like a convection vape because the metal heater doesn't directly touch any bud! I finish the sesh on red and everything comes out a nice light brown.


Also, I just got a Pax2 and it's the shit, but the Air conserves much better because the bowls in the stems are so small!

GetLeft said:

Anyone know how long the AA bats hold their charge while in storage? Don't want to be overconfident and walk out the door only to find later that my energy supply isn't there.

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This is a non issue if you have a new version Air with the battery indicator color flash at turn on. However if, like me, it just blinks blue at start, you have an older Air without that critical functionality. Basically you have to charge it everyday or it WILL die on you when you need it most... batteries lose capacity over time, so just because it lasted 3 seshs yesterday doesn't mean it will today, we NEED a battery indicator!

Unfortunately it seems Arizer expects us to sell our first run prototypes to the uninformed and purchase a new unit with the battery indicator!

We're getting the short stick, and Arizer gets to move inferior merchandise!

/rant

Ashish said:

Holy shit, @OF. I love reading your posts.

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Kindly remember your current gratitude when you get my bill.......

Thanks for the kind words. "If you can't inform 'em, at least entertain them...."

GetLeft said:

I went with three bats, too. All charged currently, which is a nice feeling. Anyone know how long the AA bats hold their charge while in storage? Don't want to be overconfident and walk out the door only to find later that my energy supply isn't there.

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UnshavenFish just gave you the straight poop on this. While they will 'hold the charge' just fine at full charge it will seriously reduce their lifespan. Did you notice they came 'partly charged'? That's why. Even a few months at full charge (which makers want as high as possible for longer run time) impacts capacity. And it can, in warmer storage areas, reduce the lifespan from 10 years to one......

So, in general, charged to about 70% they will still have about 90% of that (say 60%?) a year later. And be 'just fine' for the adventure. I store my spares at this level (fully charge, enjoy a stem, then put it in the box) and am fully confident I can grab one and still get a couple solid sessions out of them even if I don't 'top them up' although I usually do that when I 'put them back in service'. If I don't use them, I then enjoy that 'bonus stem' and back in the box they go. If I can't 'top up' (like not enough time), I just grab two partially charged ones instead of one fully charged one.

OF

I've been having problems maintaining temp on red. A second or 2 into each hit it starts blinking and I'm not getting solid hits. Do I need to send it in?

I was taking an afternoon nap. When the door bell rang.

It was the mailman with my Vapefiend Easy Flow Bubbler.

Had to sign for it. Came in a small plastic bag labeled as an Atomizer.

Immediately ripped opened the bag. They packaged it in a travel tube similar to Planet Vapes. Just not as thick of a plastic and comes with a cheap metal screw cap.

They also sent one of their 99% ISO vape wipes that I used to wipe the bubbler down.

It was love at first sight. From the way it looks down to its small size.

It's a hair shorter in length than my straight PVHES.

It came with a coarse screen already inserted in the stem. That I immediately removed and replaced with a finer Solo screen. Which wouldn't sit flat and needed to be worked in with a toothpick. Creating a little lip all around.

I'm going to try the @Sinclue domed screens next. Which IMO look like they will fit fine. Just didn't have the chance to try them out yet.

Unfortunately you can't really vacuum suction the stem full. It gets around half full then stops. Have to hand pack the rest.

I filled barely a cap full of water. Poured straight from a water bottle. Just a hair under the white fill line. No worries about the water coming out. I turned it upside down and nothing leaked out.

When the time comes. Cleaning the stem might be challenging.

Just to be safe. I preheated my Air on red until the blue light was steady. The stem slid in like butter and has a little wiggle just like my other PVHES stems/gongs when fully inserted.

Started on green which tasted great but was a little too wispy for me.

But once set to yellow it started producing the amount of vapor I like. It was still making me cough but only because I was pulling longer than usual.

Finishing on red as I always do. The vapor was as smooth as it was on yellow.

Have to remember to make my draws shorter. So as not to have a coughing fit.

Lots more testing to be done.

JoeKickass said:

Unfortunately it seems Arizer expects us to sell our first run prototypes to the uninformed and purchase a new unit with the battery indicator!

We're getting the short stick, and Arizer gets to move inferior merchandise!

/rant

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When you bought your Arizer Air, I assume it did exactly what it said on the tin. If I recall correctly, when the Air was first released, a battery indicator was not included in the feature list of the unit. It sounds to me like you were a relatively early adopter: if this is indeed the case, then I'm not sure you can really refer to your unit as "inferior merchandise", nor is it a "first run prototype". It's just an earlier model, that's all.

Please don't try to offload your unit on an unsuspecting and uninformed buyer. If you feel the lack of battery indication is a shortcoming of your device, then you owe it to whomever you sell it to to make them aware of both this issue, and that your unit is indeed the earlier (earliest?) model.

PlanetVape has Vortex and Vortex shorty stems in stock!!

Ashish said:

If I recall correctly, when the Air was first released, a battery indicator was not included in the feature list of the unit.

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Arizer avoided the issue of misrepresentation by leaving the battery indicator out of the feature list even today... can't complain about what's not supposed to exist right?
http://arizer.com/store/en/hand-held/94-arizer-air-portable-diffuser.html

Ashish said:

It sounds to me like you were a relatively early adopter: if this is indeed the case, then I'm not sure you can really refer to your unit as "inferior merchandise", nor is it a "first run prototype". It's just an earlier model, that's all.

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Oh how silly of me! Of course I should have been able to telepathically read the minds of Arizer and realize that... Do you really claim Arizer informed us there was an inferior "earlier model" to watch out for? Because they don't:
http://arizer.com/store/en/hand-held/94-arizer-air-portable-diffuser.html

Ashish said:

Please don't try to offload your unit on an unsuspecting and uninformed buyer. If you feel the lack of battery indication is a shortcoming of your device, then you owe it to whomever you sell it to to make them aware of both this issue, and that your unit is indeed the earlier (earliest?) model.

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And finally you judge me for selling a single Air without a battery indicator immediately after defending Arizer... Why does that company get a free pass?

Arizer is the manufacturer, they knew what they were selling, and in your own words:

"you owe it to whomever you sell it to to make them aware of both this issue, and that your unit is indeed the earlier (earliest?) model."

I agree! They really should have informed everyone!

But since you don't seem to mind the missing functionality, if yours does have a battery indicator how about a trade? lol

Shit @JoeKickass, I didn't mean to piss you off that bad.
You seem awfully bent out of shape over this. My apologies.

lets all just relax and pass the vape around. Too early in the morning to get angry over battery indicators.

sickmanfraud said:

PlanetVape has Vortex and Vortex shorty stems in stock!!

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Man i wish they had the stubbies.

Might just grab an 18mm turbo gong for now... Id really like to place a single order though. Shipping and all... By the time the vortex stubby comes back the gong will prolly be gone though too...

Randy Savage said:

I've been having problems maintaining temp on red. A second or 2 into each hit it starts blinking and I'm not getting solid hits. Do I need to send it in?

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That red light blinks when the battery is dying, no?

I've had my Air for a few months now (since the BF Sale) & it's been great. But lately it seems to not taste quite as good as when it was new(er). I haven't been able to completely clean the bottom of the oven. Tried Iso on a damp q-tip, Magic Eraser, a wooden chopstick, nothing seems to remove the little black stains. Occasionally bits of stuff have fallen into the oven but I've been pretty quick to remove them, as the burning smell is quite, ah, distinctive.

Anyway, does anyone have any other suggestions how to clean the oven, & has anyone else experienced a bit of deterioration in flavor quality with their Air?

I have never really cleaned the oven of mine... I mean well, i do blow it out with a Giotto's rocket blaster after my sessions but thats been it since i have owned it.

I just looked in it and it does/did have a little bit of resin/residue on the bottom... I just took a paper towel and moistened it with a very very little bit of water and that took out 99% of what was on the bottom.

For me so far though just making sure to blow it out while still hot in between uses has kept it pretty clean.

Are you using concentrates in yours or something?

OyVape said:

Anyway, does anyone have any other suggestions how to clean the oven, & has anyone else experienced a bit of deterioration in flavor quality with their Air?

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Trying to clean every bit of the 'dark stains' is likely to be near impossible. It's almost certainly fine Carbon deposits (what you get from Hydrocarbons after you 'burn of the Hydro parts'....), the very sort of stuff that 'seasons' a cast iron skillet. Like in the Iron pan it's filling in the pores and therefore hard to remove abrasively and definitely not something that dissolves in ISO.

You might be able to chemically attack it, strong bases (like in over cleaners) might get at them, but at the risk of the finish on the cup.

However, just like the fry pan case, I strongly doubt it's going to effect taste. And no, I haven't noticed any such degradation in taste, not in my two Airs or any of my several Solos (basically the same deal). Each of those was automatically compared with the used units I already had.

Your call, but I'd suggest living with what remains, which is what I'm doing.

Good luck.

OF

OyVape said:

Anyway, does anyone have any other suggestions how to clean the oven, & has anyone else experienced a bit of deterioration in flavor quality with their Air?

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I turn mine upside down and use a little 000 or 0000 steel wool balled up on the end of a toothpick.

I've been moving around some with my Air and decided to put on the silicone sleeve that came with it. I've noticed significant increase in temp where the sleeve covers the heater ventilation slots. Will the longer cool down time due to the insulation of the sleeve have adverse effects on the unit, other than making it "warm" to the touch? I'm leaning toward taking it off. Thanks in advance!

GetLeft said:

I've been moving around some with my Air and decided to put on the silicone sleeve that came with it. I've noticed significant increase in temp where the sleeve covers the heater ventilation slots. Will the longer cool down time due to the insulation of the sleeve have adverse effects on the unit, other than making it "warm" to the touch? I'm leaning toward taking it off. Thanks in advance!

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I'm no physicist, but I would have thought that the sleeve's effect of slowing the cooling of the unit post-use would prolong the life of the heating unit and heater cover if anything. This theory is based purely on what I think I know about metals: the faster they warm or cool, the more "stressful" it is on the metal. The same may go for the ceramic heating element, too.

The only concern I have regarding the silicon sleeve is that it may keep the unit hotter between back-to-back sessions, which I assume may cause the unit to automatically turn off if it gets too hot, cutting your session short and leaving you high and dry.

If you feel like some DIY fun, you could always mark where the vents are and then cut some ventilation holes into the cover itself. You wouldn't need to match every ventilation slot, just a few of them. Worst case scenario here is that you make a total hash of it and have to buy a new silicon sleeve which is around US$10, as far as I know. As a bonus, you could choose a better colour when ordering the new sleeve.

Hey Getleft, The issue re. temps, sleeves etc was covered here already and may have been moved to it's own thread. I am a sleever too and I have noticed same as you and also now notice the sleeves are no longer tightly hugging the Air - really doesn't matter but just noticed...

P77

Ashish said:

I'm no physicist, but I would have thought that the sleeve's effect of slowing the cooling of the unit post-use would prolong the life of the heating unit and heater cover if anything. This theory is based purely on what I think I know about metals: the faster they warm or cool, the more "stressful" it is on the metal. The same may go for the ceramic heating element, too.

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I disagree, I see no advantage WRT longer component life, we should not to block the vents. Blocking the vents raises the temperatures in the oven and cover, while included in the design, raising the temperature of oven parts even more won't help them last longer. That design would have included temperature cycling no doubt, standard Engineering drill, the cooling rate should be plenty safe.

It will survive, of course, I just see no advantage (aside from burn protection?) to the top being covered so I cut the sleeve off shortly after I got it. I now use the cut off part still with some opaque tape to make a shutter to block the lights, I think I posted about it?


I managed to forget I'd done that so when I grabbed the disused sleeve (actually part of it) out of the box I screwed up and thought it was the way the factory sent it. Clear mistake there, the factory sleeve covers the vents too, but I still think the vents serve a real purpose. I think raising the temperature of the oven (not to mention the electronics and battery) more than needed isn't wise. Which is why I don't use (most of) the sleeve.

If blocking the vents was a good idea I suspect the vents would not have been put there in the first place?

You can use a towel over your radiator to get faster heat up in your winter bound car......and also to destroy the engine if you're not careful.

OF

I'm a bit lost here @OF when you say "the cover should be used as designed and not to block the vents" doesn't using the cover (silicone sleeve) block the vents? or is it designed to be used while not in use as protection?

I agree with everything you said about temp and this i why i don't use mine, i tried it but didnt like the temp increase in the unit (not vapour), i don't know enough about the metal side of it but my concerns were with the battery/electronics.

Edit: i could be reading this wrong, been up over 24hrs and the wheels turning but the hamster is dead

Well I am officially an owner of an Arizer Air as well now. The VAS got me and I took advantage of the 420 sale from puffitup.com Plus my Crafty has started to die so it gave me a good excuse for a replacement while I go through the warranty process.

Initial impressions are very good. I know others have said the same but it really is quite a lot smaller than the Solo. I seem to be getting reasonably fast extractions and nice clouds. I guess the flavour could be compared to a Solo too. This is definitely going to be my go to portable this summer and I'm looking forward to getting to know my Air more intimately

GetLeft said:

That red light blinks when the battery is dying, no?

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I'm talking about the blue light blinking and I just put the rubber case on it and fixed the problem. Still worried it might be getting a weaker heat and maybe dying

UnshavenFish said:

I'm a bit lost here @OF when you say "the cover should be used as designed and not to block the vents" doesn't using the cover (silicone sleeve) block the vents? or is it designed to be used while not in use as protection?

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Yes it does, my mistake, thanks for catching it. The normal sleeve does cover the vents, I had forgotten I'd cut mine off to 'improve' the grip without blocking them on the sleeve I grabbed (I've got a couple, randomly I got the short one....). Since then I cut the top section down a bit to make a 'wide rubber band' that serves to filter or (when twisted, there's a piece of tape on the inside) completely block the lights when in use in the dark.

I hope I corrected my original post to reflect all this.

Bottom line is while it's allowed I don't think blocking vents is a good idea on general principles. I need caution and a solid reason to do it.

You, of course, can do whatever you darn well please........ For your own good reasons, or none at all.

Thanks again.

OF

Reading all this stuff about heat retention I think I'm gonna start rockin' mine sleeveless to make it easier on the little guy.

We're already getting 90°+ weather here....

MarsellusWallace said:

Reading all this stuff about heat retention I think I'm gonna start rockin' mine sleeveless to make it easier on the little guy.

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I'm with you there, given all the joy the Air delivers it seems so little to ask in return.......

OF