Any experience with 'dry material tanks'?

MartyBigPlume

New Member
Hello,

This week I received a Flowermate Aura unit with a dry material tank. As I'm coming from a Titan II clone I am interested in the tanks as they should mean greatly reduced cleaning, or at least the option to leave the tanks submerged in ISO overnight vs. swabbing within the vape's chamber with ISO-wetted Q-Tips for limited effect.

Does anyone have experience with using dry material tanks, in this vape or any other device?

I got a bit excited and ordered the specialized grinder-loader plus extra tanks from Puffitup, but my initial pair of tests with the dry tanks at the Aura's max temp have given poor results. 3 5-minute cycles were done each time, with a loosely-packed tank. I'm curious of I should be packing tight for better conduction, if the tanks are not truly useful for full vape effect, or if my suspicions of this unit from Fasttech dot com being a low-quality knockoff are correct & to blame.

Thanks!
 
MartyBigPlume,

herbivore21

Well-Known Member
Hello,

This week I received a Flowermate Aura unit with a dry material tank. As I'm coming from a Titan II clone I am interested in the tanks as they should mean greatly reduced cleaning, or at least the option to leave the tanks submerged in ISO overnight vs. swabbing within the vape's chamber with ISO-wetted Q-Tips for limited effect.

Does anyone have experience with using dry material tanks, in this vape or any other device?

I got a bit excited and ordered the specialized grinder-loader plus extra tanks from Puffitup, but my initial pair of tests with the dry tanks at the Aura's max temp have given poor results. 3 5-minute cycles were done each time, with a loosely-packed tank. I'm curious of I should be packing tight for better conduction, if the tanks are not truly useful for full vape effect, or if my suspicions of this unit from Fasttech dot com being a low-quality knockoff are correct & to blame.

Thanks!
Those 'dry material tanks' look at lot like the Vapexhale ELB's (Easy load bowl), the pinnacle pro 'bullets' (this vaporizer was absolute garbage - don't buy one), Haze dry herb cannisters etc. This will let you keep the chamber cleaner and be quicker to load and reload on the go if you take multiple pre-loaded tanks.

BUT (and this is a big but that cannot lie!), before you buy a bunch of dry herb tanks to reload easily on the go, you need to find out if that vape is actually any good for your needs first. Try packing the tank more tightly and fully with a fine grind. Don't stuff if right down so tight that you can't draw air through it, but pack it as full as you can without tamping it down much and try.

If this doesn't give you good effects/vapor, then try tamping a very full load down so it packs very tight and see how you go. This is a vape that has AFAIK not been reviewed around these parts and shitty vapes are a dime a dozen, so it is important to be sure that the vaporizer is good before you buy a bunch of accessories etc. Many of us find the first few vapes we try are sub-par and couldn't take us away from combustion. It is definitely worth looking for tried and true products in this industry!
 

MartyBigPlume

New Member
Well, too late on not making the purchase, but I've made far costlier mistakes. =)

My prior vapes, Titan I & Titan II clones, couldn't be described as 'great' vapes but did what I wanted them to do.

Any reference of a unit known to use dry tanks well?

Thanks!
 

Little Bill

Oldest stoner on FC
I just bought a CFX at PIU for a great price. I bought 4 Flowermate dry herb tanks to go with it.

These little tanks hold less than .1 gram each. I have also ordered 4 ELB easy load baskets. The ELBs are supposed to hold up to .3 gram. I will use the small tanks when I just need a refresher and the ELBs when I need heavier medication.

The best feature of the CFX is the bowl size is big enough for these tanks. It may take a few tries to get the temperatures and my draw techniques optimized. I used the CFX without tanks exactly one time. Too messy to clean without the tanks. I also changed the mouthpiece screen out for better airflow.

Anybody else using the ELBs and any suggestions or experiences?
 
Little Bill,

OF

Well-Known Member
Yes, played with them a fair bit. Not really good in their intended use IMO. They reduce an already small load and worse still goof up the thermodynamics (way heat flows). That is they put insulation in the way of making vapor. The SS metal itself is not really very good at conducting heat (hence copper and iron being favored on the stove.....) but it adds air gaps, and air is a poor conductor as well.

This means 'the hits are shallow'? You can partially compensate by kicking up the heat, but that has drawbacks and can only go so far. It is cleaner on the vape, however you have to work a lot harder to finish the session.

That said, they really shine with bubble hash, if you have access to it. Around here it's a common Dispensary offering. It's screened from wash water (often including ice) that has collected broken trichomes and other goodies from bulk herb. A mechanical refining process if you will.

The wash is strained through a series of finer and finer meshes. Along the way, after the rocks, stems and stuff are screened out of the way this process selects particles of given sizes much like you screen gravel. There's a 'magic size range' that runs several times higher than the premium bud off the same plants, in the 50 to 75% THC range at about the same per gram cost. The bud is much sweeter, of course but in 'bang for the buck' it has serious MMJ advantages?

Anyway, instead of say 1/8 gram of serious bud, load that same two dollars as 1/8 of bubble hash and now yer talkin! Much thicker hits (you've got more good stuff in the game, offsetting the heat issues with herb) and you're in tall cotton. The pods are easy to clean too if you time it right. The spent hash gets soft and gooey (sorry for the technical term....) as it cools and can be easily scooped out on a toothpick if timed right. It 'doesn't want to stick' to the warm SS. If they get really gummed up, you can also 'flame' them. Hang them on a bent paperclip and torch them with your torch type lighter until they glow. Then brush/wipe the ash away when cool again. But you shouldn't need to do that if you scoop the pod out while still warm (or reheat it a bit).

BTW, the automatic loader is fun, but by no means necessary.

Regards to all.

OF
 
OF,

Little Bill

Oldest stoner on FC
Yes, played with them a fair bit. Not really good in their intended use IMO. They reduce an already small load and worse still goof up the thermodynamics (way heat flows). That is they put insulation in the way of making vapor. The SS metal itself is not really very good at conducting heat (hence copper and iron being favored on the stove.....) but it adds air gaps, and air is a poor conductor as well.

This means 'the hits are shallow'? You can partially compensate by kicking up the heat, but that has drawbacks and can only go so far. It is cleaner on the vape, however you have to work a lot harder to finish the session.

BTW, the automatic loader is fun, but by no means necessary.

Regards to all.

OF

Thanks OF. I don't have access to bubble hash.

I agree with you that the baskets are not great for vapor. I will try a session with just the top ELB screen installed. I know that keeping a vaporizer clean affects flavor and vapor quality too.
 
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Little Bill,
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