Arizer Solo II

[WildChild]

Hi All. Been lurking for a little bit and decided to become an active poster of this awesome forum.
'lil bit 'bout myself, been vaping for 8 years. Started smoking something like 40 years ago (i think) and killed quite a few brain cells along the way.

Started vaping with a Vapolution 2 which was an awesome vape that was a glass on glass which was
really tasty and meager with the flower. when I decided to go portable it was a no brainer to go with the Solo line; they both had glass stems and knew the taste would be there. I currently own both the OG and II and waiting on opening up my NLE come Christmas (wifey wont let me open it). I love my Solo's. to me they are the best tasting, easy to use and to clean vape I could ask for at the moment. I also own a FF2 thinking the taste would be better, I couldn't tell the difference and the FF2 is a PIA to clean so now all I use are my Solo's.

I want to thank everyone in advance for all the great tips and info I'm sure i will learn and hopefully add a bit of my own knowledge to the mix.

Thanks,
Da Yooper

Welcome @Da Yooper. And you are correct: this forum is pretty awesome. I got into vaping after discovering fuckcombustion.com. There are some VERY knowledgeable folks here.

Yup, I don't think you can go wrong with an OG Solo or Solo II. Both are great vapes.

 

[I'm Ron Burgundy?]

Well I had a few sessions with my new Solo II and my impression so far is not great.

I dont seem to be getting much vapor, even at the highest temp setting. The bud is a coarse grind.
One thing, I'm not filling the stem full. I would say half full is what I have been using. Do I need to
use more weed in the stem? Can't think that would make much of a difference but who knows??

I would fill it about 80-90% full but don’t pack it tight.
Heat soak is key to getting big vapor production.
Allowing a good 30+ seconds between hits really helps.

The other night I accidentally left it at 428° after packing a new bowl....that first hit rocked me! I was like “why is there so much vapor!” and realized I left it at the Max temp

 

[OF]

I dont seem to be getting much vapor, even at the highest temp setting. The bud is a coarse grind.
One thing, I'm not filling the stem full. I would say half full is what I have been using. Do I need to
use more weed in the stem? Can't think that would make much of a difference but who knows??

First off, logically twice as much herb will give twice as much vapor?

Perhaps a missing understanding is time? It takes time for heat to be conducted into the load, that heat can only get in so fast, trying to push that means temperatures (and therefore production) is going to drop. Unlike combustion, no additional heat comes from hitting harder, in fact the opposite.

"Heat soaks" are important for the same basic reason(s). Pauses between hits to allow replacement heat to 'soak' in means more heat in the load to make vapor in the upcoming hit. Try half a minute, more is not unreasonable while you're sorting technique out.

Don't get 'set up' by expectations. You need to explore and find a technique that works for you. Guys showing off blowing dense clouds aren't a good guide, really. Typically that's done under ideal conditions and guys 'milking their glass' are drawing very slowly to do so when you watch carefully.

If you put good herb in green and it comes out brown all the THC you put in was delivered to you.....you can't ask more of any vape? Full extraction. There's no magic here, only more or less effective techniques.

Experiment, the same results the rest of us enjoy are awaiting you too.

Regards to all.

OF

 

[Gigsabits53]

First off, logically twice as much herb will give twice as much vapor?

Perhaps a missing understanding is time? It takes time for heat to be conducted into the load, that heat can only get in so fast, trying to push that means temperatures (and therefore production) is going to drop. Unlike combustion, no additional heat comes from hitting harder, in fact the opposite.

"Heat soaks" are important for the same basic reason(s). Pauses between hits to allow replacement heat to 'soak' in means more heat in the load to make vapor in the upcoming hit. Try half a minute, more is not unreasonable while you're sorting technique out.

Don't get 'set up' by expectations. You need to explore and find a technique that works for you. Guys showing off blowing dense clouds aren't a good guide, really. Typically that's done under ideal conditions and guys 'milking their glass' are drawing very slowly to do so when you watch carefully.

If you put good herb in green and it comes out brown all the THC you put in was delivered to you.....you can't ask more of any vape? Full extraction. There's no magic here, only more or less effective techniques.

Experiment, the same results the rest of us enjoy are awaiting you too.

Regards to all.

OF

Thank you OF! I think you are correct. I was expecting more than I should have been. The weed comes out brown, actually a very nice lighter brown color, so the AVB looks fine. I was trying several draw techniques and figured slower was better. I will work with it some and I'm sure everything will be fine. I'm not all that worried about it.

I bought this because it's easy to use, easy to clean, no fuss, etc. I think it will work fine for that purpose. I have other vapes if I want something different.

 

[OF]

Thank you OF!

I bought this because it's easy to use, easy to clean, no fuss, etc. I think it will work fine for that purpose. I have other vapes if I want something different.

Yer welcome, of course. Thanks for saying so.

FWIW I think you'll be very happy, even @ataxian is after all. You just need to experiment some and follow the results you want. There's no right way with Solo, more so than most. It works well for individual owners with a wide variety of ways. Some guys jamming it full, cranking the fire to the wall and wishing for even hotter settings and honking away. Others sip at tiny loads at low temperatures. Same machine.

Pretty cool, eighwhat?

OF

 

[ataxian]

Yer welcome, of course. Thanks for saying so.

FWIW I think you'll be very happy, even @ataxian is after all. You just need to experiment some and follow the results you want. There's no right way with Solo, more so than most. It works well for individual owners with a wide variety of ways. Some guys jamming it full, cranking the fire to the wall and wishing for even hotter settings and honking away. Others sip at tiny loads at low temperatures. Same machine.

Pretty cool, eighwhat?

OF

The SOLO if you want FUNCTION?
If BLING is what your after I can’t help U!
@OF you know best!

 

[StringTheorista]

Turns out this huniguide bubbler is a perfect match to the solo straight tube.

 

[macbill]

I am on a Snowbird Adventure, and while I have many vapes from which to choose, this year I chose the Solo II as my flower vape. Out and about I have a couple PAX Eras and other oil solutions.

 

[sickmanfraud]

@macbill what is the name of the glass piece? do you have a link?

@StringTheorista link to the bubbler?

Thanks

 

[Mr.Kite]

Are you folks worried about the fact that there are no spare replacement batteries for the SOLO2 yet ?

the battery connection on the mainboard looks like the one on the SOLO OG.
Should not be hard to replace it once it dies.

The unit has been around this 2016, I think.
Why no spares yet ?

 

[OF]

Are you folks worried about the fact that there are no spare replacement batteries for the SOLO2 yet ?

The unit has been around this 2016, I think.
Why no spares yet ?

Nope, not worried. Any that die early are under warranty anyway, and we've not really heard of that? IMO it's too early to wear any out, and if you do and can find nothing better then use a Solo I pack?

In finest capitalist fashion I expect the supply will come when demand is 'right'? When it does I expect Solo I pack popularity to tank in favor of the longer run time?

OF

 

[StringTheorista]

It’s a huniguide bubbler
https://www.hunibadger.com/Nectar-Collector-Huniguide-Bird-Water-Bubbler
I found it at a LHS for half off a while back, intended to use it with dynavap, but it didn’t quite work for that. It’s perfect with the solo II
Edit: also doesn’t leak when laid down

 

[macbill]

what is the name of the glass piece? do you have a link?

It's called The Assassin's Necktie and it is at Glassblower's Direct from SoCal. I use it with all my vapes (with a rubber accessory from @Rachett : see above photo). The neat thing about this glass piece, is you can lay it down on a table and it will not leak. Goes great with VapeExhale's EVO, Holds more water than VapeWorld's hydrotubes, and is cheaper @ $100. Easy to travel.

http://glassblowersdirect.com/assassin-line/
https://delta3dstudios.com/nearly-universal-vape-to-waterpipe-adapter-medium/ for rubber accessory

 

[SaturnIII]

It’s nice to have water conditioning when you vape frequently. I started with the newer long stem bubbler from PIU, and it was pretty good for the price. Wanting more someone here directed me to a larger different style bubbler from DHgate. It worked well, very well, but I couldn’t get comfortable with it. But the third bowl of porage was JUST RIGHT..

Let me tell you what works fantastic for me. The Magic Flight Orbiter! I use it dry (yes dry) to 370F for max flavor and up to 428F with water to medicate later in the day.

Important notes. Consider the Sneaky Pete Globe. It features a flat bottom so it’s free standing and I hear quite stable. Your gonna want the optional 14mm glass stem from Pete no matter which you buy. It will drop right in the Orbiter.

The Orbiter - Well the glass is nice quality I think, but the glorified clothes hanger contraption that holds the glass to the base ain’t worth two squirts of owl poop. Mine arrived bent to Hell where it acts as a collar. Wasn’t damaged in shipping, QC all the way.

I tried to fix the wire, it ended 20 minutes later when I dropped HEAVY pliers on our glass top kitchen table D’oh!! I had paid extra for the cherry wood base because that’s all they had in stock. $90 + a table top. Funny now, but it wasnt at the time!

The good news, i found out 4 rubber bands will not only hold the Orbiter to the wood base, but it acts as a multi-positionable deal. SWEET! I mean, it’s a little ghetto but works incredibly well. IM GLAD I BROKE THAT WIRE!

So basically it’s kinda cool in the room where I vape so I like to turn my Solo2 to 428 for like 4-5 minutes unloaded. Then I turn it off/on right fast to reset the 15min session timer. Then I’ll set it to whatever lower temp I want and she’s fully warmed up. I take full slow pulls to 15-20 seconds. Within by the 3rd hit I’m loose as a goose and ready for 3-4 more pulls. By #6 or 7 it’s usually wispy. I pack a med. grind loose and about 1-2mm from the top. After 3-4 pulls I stir. It does make a difference. Though you do not have to. Love this Solo2 inverted, both bent stem and GonG.

IMPORTANT NOTE- first I bought a GonG directly from Arizer. Even at medium temps the darn thing would fall out of the solo2 when I went to pull the Solo2 to clear the Orbiter. It just fit the unit too loose. HOWEVER my Chinese GonG that came with the DHgate bubbler worked like a charm. It doesn’t even fall out at 428F when I go to pull the Solo2 from the Orbit.

You may be ok with the Arizer GonG. I think my PIU bubbler stretched out my solo2’s opening. The Chinese one is exactly the same to the naked eye. However, the fit is different.

Anyway, I can’t say enough about what a sweet combo the Orbiter and Solo2 is! I can get as medicated as I want/need to. With NO throat irritation and I vape all day every day.

I have no affiliation with anyone in the business, just wanted to hopefully help someone.

 

[hans solo]

Good post nice piece gotta try dry!

 

[StringTheorista]

Important notes. Consider the Sneaky Pete Globe. It features a flat bottom so it’s free standing and I hear quite stable.

I’m a big fan of the sneaky Pete’s globe, though it can be a bit tippy when used with the whip—don’t put It at he edge of the table. I haven’t tried it with the solo yet, but works a charm with e-nano and dynavap. I’m less a fan of he optional trumpet mouthpiece, just not shaped quite right for me, though it does look great. Ymmv, some love that style mouthpiece. I prefer using a @DDave waterwand (for dynavap) as a mouthpiece.

 

[sickmanfraud]

It's called The Assassin's Necktie and it is at Glassblower's Direct from SoCal. I use it with all my vapes (with a rubber accessory from @Rachett : see above photo). The neat thing about this glass piece, is you can lay it down on a table and it will not leak. Goes great with VapeExhale's EVO, Holds more water than VapeWorld's hydrotubes, and is cheaper @ $100. Easy to travel.

http://glassblowersdirect.com/assassin-line/
https://delta3dstudios.com/nearly-universal-vape-to-waterpipe-adapter-medium/ for rubber accessory

Thanks

 

[Gigsabits53]

Ok so I am giving my Solo II another go right now. Loaded my stem (using the long straight stem), set temp to 370F , and began with shorter, slow draws, just sipping, and wala!! I have visible vapor at 370F!! Very tasty too, all I needed to do was sip the straw. Very enjoyable

So thank you guys again!! The community always comes through for me!!

 

[OF]

Ok so I am giving my Solo II another go right now. Loaded my stem (using the long straight stem), set temp to 370F , and began with shorter, slow draws, just sipping, and wala!! I have visible vapor at 370F!! Very tasty too, all I needed to do was sip the straw. Very enjoyable

So thank you guys again!! The community always comes through for me!!

Good show you gave it another chance. Like the old joke about eating chickens, 10,000 coyotes can't be wrong.......

In this small world of ours we were just discussing this same thing, how often Solo/Air/ArGo disappoints at first only to become a winner with different techniques or goals. Quoting myself there summing it up:

I agree. This includes the Solo/Air/ArGo line. They have so much to offer if you give them a chance. Yet too many times we read about our fellows who try it a couple of times, decide it won't do for them and so 'move on'.......missing all the fun and good results.

Pity, that?

OF

Thanks for the good word.

Regards to all.

OF

 

[ataxian]

I'm old. Remember Hendrix well.

Solo is timeless just like rock music. Solo II @ 205c. I'm going surfing this weekend. Family holiday. Cannabis and Surfing use to rule my life. Joints and bongs back then. Now days it's family and vapes. A lot more civilised.

U R someone 2 get MEDICATED/STONED with!

MUSIC I !
‍ is greatly missed!
Music is my release ATM.
CANNABIS helps us?
Yes sir!
@macbill how do U like the SOLO 2?

 

[SaturnIII]

Ok so I am giving my Solo II another go right now. Loaded my stem (using the long straight stem), set temp to 370F , and began with shorter, slow draws, just sipping, and wala!! I have visible vapor at 370F!! Very tasty too, all I needed to do was sip the straw. Very enjoyable

So thank you guys again!! The community always comes through for me!!

Congrats, I love my solo2! Just wanted to say, I’ve gotten light visible vapor at 340F... if my unit is completely warmed up before I start the session.

Lately the norm is I turn it on at max 428 and if I give it 3-5min till even the exterior is well warm. Then I do a quick on/off to reset the 15min timer. Turn back on and select the lower starting temp and start.

It seems like the only time the temp display is truly accurate is when unit is fully warmed up. Seems that way to me.

Now whether my preheating thing I do is a good thing or recommended, you’d have to ask the guys here with more experience...

 

[OF]

It seems like the only time the temp display is truly accurate is when unit is fully warmed up. Seems that way to me.

I think that statement is correct, mostly, but the perspective is 'backwards'?

The display no doubt very accurately shows the sensor temperature, it's just that the sensor and load temperatures are not the same early on. The sensor is much closer to the heater temperature than the load temperature until 'heat soak' conducts enough heat into the load to match (or nearly so) the sensor temperature.

Subtle difference, but the implication is wrong. The display is doing just what it's designed to do, the error is in the (current) temperature of the load relative to that.

The key is time. It takes time for equilibrium to set in and the reading to be meaningful. This is why I think most if not all of the claims of 'fast heat up times' are bogus. How fast the heater can heat the sensor is not useful. The important time is from cold start to full, normal vapor production (the load itself, not the heater/sensor being 'at temperature').

From a user POV the indications are the same, of course. Vapor production only matches what you asked for once it's had time to soak some (say 2 minutes???).

OF

 

[SaturnIII]

Exactly. I just can’t articulate my thoughts as nicely as you! Mary Jane doesn’t help... Like you, the claims of fast start up times I think is bogus. It can go from room temp, to 350f in like 30 seconds but it take 2-3 minutes if you expect much output. Still, it’s fast/powerful once soaked. I’ve blown clouds with it that make lesser portables blush.

This thing has served me well doing portable and desktop duty. I mostly use it at home, with the Orbiter dry at 370 and any higher than that I use the Orbiter with water. I let it sit 60-90 seconds between pulls and it produces very nice visible vapor and tasty vapor at that.

It’s one helluva powerful portable if you give it time. I love it inverted either in “hamster mode” with that bent stem, or GonG on the Orbiter. So you can pack it loose and nothing ever falls into the oven (inverted). I do long high temp sessions and I do stir it a time or two with a pointy round toothpick and that seems to help it go further.

One question... when I use it home with the orbiter late into the day/night with higher temps, I tend to run it off the wall adapter so I don’t have to charge it so often It’s a killer battery but people who get a week out of it must not use it like I do (high temps/long sessions). So it can be used like that off the wall adapter, correct? Seems to work as well or better than the battery at high temps.

I did just buy a Volcano Classic on a BF special. So I have a desktop now. Plus a Cloud Evo I ordered Saturday. My Solo may take on a more portable role. I needed it to be a desktop till Black Friday, and it got me there no sweat.

While I would never compare the Solo2 to a desktop (kinda unfair), I feel like when my pain is at its worst late in the day, the solo needs to be in the 370-410 range to manage my pain. The Volcano however, seems to melt my face at 350 with the same herb. It has a different feel to it for sure.

I’m glad I have a vape with a digital display and single digit control, but I’m starting to be in the camp that thinks digital display vs just a knob is not a must-have feature and can be just a distraction...

A bad day vaping is better than a good day combusting. I truly believe that. If I combusted right now I’d probably yak.

 

[OF]

One question... when I use it home with the orbiter late into the day/night with higher temps, I tend to run it off the wall adapter so I don’t have to charge it so often It’s a killer battery but people who get a week out of it must not use it like I do (high temps/long sessions). So it can be used like that off the wall adapter, correct? Seems to work as well or better than the battery at high temps.

Yes, you can 'use while charging', it's a feature Arizer changed to part way through Solo I, AT CUSTOMER INSISTENCE.

Is it a good idea? No, I think it's about as tough on the battery as you can do 'from the outside'. The truth is it always runs on the battery, either completely or with the charger supplying part of the power to the heater when 'on' and the battery supplying the rest or doing so completely. Think about it, unlike the 'PA' of the original Solo (which was several amps at 9 Volts), the charger can't run the unit alone.

When you 'charge while using' the battery is charged then discharged a few seconds later. Thus heating even more than if it was discharging normally or changing only. Some vapes battery pack isn't up to it and the makers either 'lock it out' or advise against it in the manual (should you happen to read it.....).

My advice remains use it or charge it, but not at the same time. Heat is an enemy of the battery, spreading it out keeps it cooler.

There were sound engineering reasons not to allow this with the OG Solo, it costs more to include the PA function, but we 'demanded' the 'improvement' in our ignorance? We used 'cell phone logic' where you typically run it into the mud but THE CHARGER HAS ENOUGH POWER to run it. The clue is 'does it take longer to recharge than to discharge'.

With a dead Solo you need to recharge something like 15 minutes before heating, unlike a cell phone or laptop?

Your call, of course.

OF

 

[dodgy_b]

Been trying to find a new, non water, option for a stem. Already have the long and bent ones. Anyone tried this:

https://www.puffitup.com/Arizer-Air-Solo-3D-Flow-Stem-p/qctq.airsol2-3d_flo.htm

Have a similar style one with divots for the Milaana and it works really well at cooling. Curious if this will also.

Thx!