Hi, I tried searching for "carbon" on FC but didn't find much. Was hoping to start a thread to incite discussion on carbon filters. I have never used one, so I was really hoping for a lot of feedback. What are pros/cons? What are the main differences between having one/not (taste, aesthetics, etc.)? Was it worth the price paid? Favorite manufacturer (if any)? Science-related articles? Does it remove any of the potency of the product?
I'm actually a huge fan of carbon filters for combustion. They keep your glass clean and although they do reduce the flavour slightly, I find carbon filtered smoke less harsh. The best carbon filter I've used is from Oregon Glass Blower on ioffer: http://www.ioffer.com/users/oregonglassblower. It's priced around $20-30 and has built in glass pinches to hold the carbon - no screen needed. He also included a ton of activated carbon. I've heard suggestion that potency is reduced from filtering through activated carbon, but I can't say I've really noticed in my tests. I found this on rollitup a while ago: http://www.lenntech.com/library/adsorption/adsorption.htm#ixzz0iEA0nCB3 but I think it's a pretty big jump to assume that a noticeable amount of actives are filtered out. I can't think of any reason you'd want to use a carbon filter for vaporization.
Not worth it for vaping only, IMO. But if you are still combusting, Kingofnull pretty much covered it. The only filter I preferred using when combusting, was water.
i got the reference and laughed!!!! Is there a problem with the earth's gravitational pull in 1985???
As mentioned, I too don't see any advantage to using one with traditional vaping EXCEPT when 'flash vaping' dabs of concentrates on an oil rig/bub. And in that case its to reduce the waxes/resins that irritate my bronchs/throat.
