E-Nano from Epickai

[EveryDayAmnesiac]

HaHA! Yes, like only last year. Even though I think we all knew we were on to something, I had no idea how great this vape would be, how much I would continue to enjoy it, or how popular it would become. All great things!!

I noticed the same thing about @Caligula 's new one! That is WAYYYYYY cool. Glad you mentioned it. I keep forgetting.

Kind of pissed at him for posting the beautiful pics of it, and more pissed at Andy for being so slick with the design like that. I had my desire to pick up an exotic in check until I saw that. Now? Not so much!

Squelched my VAS on the cheap tho... getting a new-to-me portable from a fellow FC'er. Hopefully, that will tide me over for a bit.

Aren't you missing your nano, yet? The HI looks way sweet (my number's a comin!), but will probably keep my nano forever. If for no other reasons... foolproof, efficient, portable enough (just need to find a plug), and oh so effective!

I'm more pissed @ @Caligula for not posting pics of that wonderful wood in my pathetically fledgling wood thread. Does anyone need a better excuse than that to sport their wood?

I do miss my Nano. Absolutely. Would love to be able to do a true side-by-side comparison of the two, instead of having to rely on memory. Believe it or not, this Amnesiac's memory ain't what it used to be... or what it ever was, really.

I think I'd prefer a v1 though...

 

[Caligula]

I'm more pissed @ @Caligula for not posting pics of that wonderful wood in my pathetically fledgling wood thread. Does anyone need a better excuse than that to sport their wood?

I do miss my Nano. Absolutely. Would love to be able to do a true side-by-side comparison of the two, instead of having to rely on memory. Believe it or not, this Amnesiac's memory ain't what it used to be... or what it ever was, really.

I think I'd prefer a v1 though...

A link would be helpful. Now if you pardon me, Im going to go put my ball sack all over your old Nano.

 

[EveryDayAmnesiac]

Check the Vapor Lounge, Dingus. There are all sorts of threads that need your attention.

Oh, and one more thing:

 

[Caligula]

I didnt see it.

 

[fregglepops]

Ordered Wednesday shipped Friday. Still in bloody California!!!!!

 

[MuushuPork]

Initial tests have been successful, but I have one issue. When take the nano away from the gong, and take my lips from the d020w, i get a blow-out. Is there any way around this or do i have to pull the gong before i pull my lips?

 

[stephenpowns]

Initial tests have been successful, but I have one issue. When take the nano away from the gong, and take my lips from the d020w, i get a blow-out. Is there any way around this or do i have to pull the gong before i pull my lips?

if you pull the gong first it shouldn't happen bro

 

[Reflections]

what a drum roll lol.........................

 

[snackmaster]

if you pull the gong first it shouldn't happen bro

I take it a claisen would also alleviate this?

 

[Tweak]

I take it a claisen would also alleviate this?

Yup, or a another screen on top of the GonG

 

[jimbob]

Comparing it to my Lotus. When I get my lotus going, I can white-wall my D020 with no problem. I can't even get half as much vapor produced by the Nano in the same glass with the same load of herb without chugging like a freight train.

Like I said, I find it odd that when I pull HARDER the vapor production increases. Unlike both other vapes I use (Ascent and Lotus), which the harder you pull the less vapor they produce (because you're dropping the temperature too fast). But the Nano is a different story.

I'm not ready to declare it defective yet, I'm going to keep playing around tonight changing 1 variable at a time to see what happens to the performance. (much to my wife's chagrin, I'm sure)

Yeah I find that quite odd, I get better hits when drawing super slow from the direct draw stem. It's the only way I'll get a dark and mostly even ABV using that (with stirs). Even then, it still regularly focuses heat to one side of the load (frustrating).

I don't really white wall my bubbler if I go the filtered route either, but still exhale some not bad clouds. At about 7.4 I get a nice dark even ABV. (I assumed my bubbler was a D020 going by the shape, but this little thing isn't all that much bigger than my nano)

How's the herb colour? You might have actually had the heater fall slightly out of position. You can carefully by hand remove the 2 pads of cork that are either side of the epicvape logo on the bottom of your nano. Remove the 2 screws and look inside. What you're looking for is the white circle with 2 wires attached to it, that's the base of your heating element.
Using the end of a pencil (mine had an eraser) gently push the heater up from the bottom and flush into its proper position. Be careful and try not to touch the 2 wires connected to the element.
Close it back up and test.

Note: This will void the warranty so maybe contact Andy first.

Anyway I'm still digging it, I am just concerned about the heat distribution and wondering if it is normal. Considering grabbing a 2nd unit for testing that, just to put my mind at ease

 

[herbivore21]

Jimbob, aside from the obvious getting in contact with Andy part, I suggest you or a friend who knows a little about electronics test the voltage you are getting from the solder joints on the circuit board inside the dimmer (specifically, test from the solder joints where the wire going to the e-nano itself comes out of the dimmer).

It sounds to me like you are not getting enough power to the heater, I am wondering if another part is faulty in your unit. Not to worry if this is the case, Andy's service is great

7.4 gives me black partly combusted AVB. I find this to be a bad heat to be vaping flowers at, I don't do flowers past 6.5. I know there is small variation between the nanos in terms of heat generated, but if you are not absolutely white-walling of your piece at 7, let alone 7.4, I think this indicates a deeper problem!

Let us know what voltage readings you are getting at various heat levels, make sure to carefully write down the setting on the dimmer as well as the voltage at that moment.

DO NOT ATTEMPT ANY OF THIS WITHOUT WEARING RUBBER GLOVES AND RUBBER SOLED SHOES. THIS IS AC POWER! YOU CAN GET ELECTROCUTED!

 

[slvelocity]

Tracking number dispersed.

Me: Face to monitor.

Thank you Andy!

 

[jimbob]

Jimbob, aside from the obvious getting in contact with Andy part, I suggest you or a friend who knows a little about electronics test the voltage you are getting from the solder joints on the circuit board inside the dimmer (specifically, test from the solder joints where the wire going to the e-nano itself comes out of the dimmer).

It sounds to me like you are not getting enough power to the heater, I am wondering if another part is faulty in your unit. Not to worry if this is the case, Andy's service is great

7.4 gives me black partly combusted AVB. I find this to be a bad heat to be vaping flowers at, I don't do flowers past 6.5. I know there is small variation between the nanos in terms of heat generated, but if you are not absolutely white-walling of your piece at 7, let alone 7.4, I think this indicates a deeper problem!

Let us know what voltage readings you are getting at various heat levels, make sure to carefully write down the setting on the dimmer as well as the voltage at that moment.

DO NOT ATTEMPT ANY OF THIS WITHOUT WEARING RUBBER GLOVES AND RUBBER SOLED SHOES. THIS IS AC POWER! YOU CAN GET ELECTROCUTED!

Hi herbi, my nano gets pretty darn hot to touch at setting 8, and I am getting very dark ABV when doing super slow draws (with the glass stem). From first use though, the heat has always been focused to one side of the load. Of course with stirs this evens out.

I use anywhere from:
7.75-8 dry
7.25-7.4 through the bubbler

Normal/faster draws don't work very well using the direct draw stem. This exacerbates the uneven heating. I'm talking a green to brown ratio of 50/50 on the top layer of herb after one hit. I think through the bubbler it heats loads more evenly, perhaps due to gravity. I haven't used the bubbler much though.

I have no experience with electricals but I'm sure I could find someone who does to test it for me. I feel it's probably a non issue though. I certainly can char the ABV at my heating temps, but again it shows up first on one side

I know the heating element is crooked, so even when it's seated properly inside the SS chamber, the tip of the element looks like it's basically touching one side of the chamber. This happens to be the side that my herb cops a majority of the heat on. Andy got back to me about it and said this is how it's supposed to be. Maybe the element touches the SS chamber so the entire chamber gets to a hotter temp

Edit: Thought I'd better add a pic..

One hit through direct draw stem on 8

 

[flotntoke]

Initial tests have been successful, but I have one issue. When take the nano away from the gong, and take my lips from the d020w, i get a blow-out. Is there any way around this or do i have to pull the gong before i pull my lips?

I usually pull the whole GonG when clearing, so don't run into this much. But, I'm familiar with the problem. I have a pretty large stemless bubb that will do it every time. It has a good deal more water in it and the back-pressure is strong.

Surprised you're running into this with the D020-W, though. IME this seldom happens with Dewar joints and never with D020's when I leave the GonG on. How high is your water level? Dropping it down to just covering the slits might be another fix. More water = more back pressure. Never know though, no two Chinese pieces are alike!

@jimbob that doesn't look too good. A twist or two while hitting would probably help. Know it sounds counter-intuitive, but have you tried moving the load closer to the heater and dropping the heat a little? Not sure if this will work and may even make the problem worse, but could be worth a try. You might want to check out Caligula's 2x hit extraction vid if you haven't yet. Best nano tutorial out there IMO, and promise there aren't any balls or drums in it!

 

[Tweak]

I know the heating element is crooked, so even when it's seated properly inside the SS chamber, the tip of the element looks like it's basically touching one side of the chamber. This happens to be the side that my herb cops a majority of the heat on. Andy got back to me about it and said this is how it's supposed to be. Maybe the element touches the SS chamber so the entire chamber gets to a hotter temp

So is mine. Glad to know it is supposed to be.

I was getting the uneven charring too. So I was curious to why and took a look inside the heat port. There is a screen and a clip that holds the screen located at the top of the heat port. So I removed both, no more uneven charring. But now my element is exposed. No biggie, just use a screen in the stem or naked when using a GonG.

 

[Delta3DStudios]

I agree with @EveryDayAmnesiac that the solid, constant heat output of the nano is why harder pulls produce more vapor (instead of less as with many vapes). Seems like temp can keep up with much more airflow. Haven't used another vape that can do that as well - except maybe the cloud. And have only had the opportunity to try one a few times over about an hour, so not much experience there. But, IME no way the EQ, DBV, solo and least of all the MFLB can stay up to temp while hitting it hard.

If you were combusting at 10, sounds like the heater is up to temp. Know you said you've been trying everything, but have you tried pushing the heat up some? Go to like 8, 8 1/2?

Also... clouds mean different things to different people. When you're getting clouds out of the Lotus, are you on the verge of combustion? I've never used one, but have seen more than a few vids where it looks like people are using it a lot hotter than I would. IMO, thick vapor (that evaporates to nothing within seconds of exhale) is better than nearly smoke. Not all agree. For me, if I want smoke on occasion - I just smoke. Not saying you do this Ratchett, but seems many on here push their vapes up to just about combusting. To each their own and all that happy shit - but, that's not really my thing. When I vape I want vapor - and for me that's not even close to smoke. So a nice vapor cloud in my D020 (or W) is certainly visible in the glass, but you can easily see the downpiece that goes down the center through the vapor. On the glass I smoke through (like the D020's), when I put a flame to it there's no way you could see anything inside - least of all the downpiece in the center.

So... maybe you just need some more heat to get up to temp to produce the clouds you're looking for - and extract more of the components you're trying to squeeze out. I'd try using very small loads (2 hit size) and bumping it up 1/2 dial notch on each new one.

And definitely get that cotton out of there - at least until you get used to the nano. The learning curve isn't nearly as much as most vapes, but still takes a little practice to get her to behave as you like on demand. You also may want to try hitting it straight from the GonG (super short stem - or Vitolo method) or running it through glass with no water until you get a feel for getting her to produce as you like. It's a shame your stem didn't make the box, though I'm sure Andy will make it right. I find it's a lot easier to get a feel for things when going dry, whether from the nano or anything else.

Ha ha ha, everyone can rest easy. I'm an idiot.

Having a new vape and new glass (larger volume to fill), I wasn't paying much attention in the beginning when I first received the Nano (and I was using a lot of ABV to start). By the time I started to get the hang of the Nano, I noticed something wrong with it's performance while using fresh herb.

First thing I did when I got home last night was to use my new unused 14mm GONG with a fresh screen on a j-hook direct (no water) and no cotton. HOLY SHIT! It performed amazing! Nice long session, huge clouds with minimal effort.

Next up, I decided to inspect my 19mm GONG. The screen was pretty clogged, and the cotton ball was extremely saturated in reclaim! Holy crap that cotton soaked up the reclaim fast (3 days!) - with my Lotus I can chug away with the same cotton for over a week no problem (but the cotton is farther away from the heat source, maybe that has some impact on how fast it clogs up). Once I replaced my cotton and the screen, the Nano really came back to life. I think my problem was simply an extremely restricted air-flow. Once fixed, I was able to nearly white-wall my D020 as I wanted (I'm sure with the right size load, and proper temperatures and practice, I could completely milk the D020).

@flotntoke - The Lotus is a completely different beast. There's no comparison between an electronic vape with a dial to adjust the temperature, and using a torch to heat a hot plate. Someone on the Lotus thread a while back compared electronic vapes to Automatic cars. Easy to learn and easy to use with minimal effort. But a Lotus is like a manual car - it takes a bit of finesse to work the 'clutch', but the results are so rewarding.

I control how hot I want by how I handle the torch. If I want to vape an entire load in one hit, I can (damn that vapor is so dense, you can almost chew it!). In the time it takes me to set up my Nano and bring it to temperature, I could already finish 4+ sessions with the Lotus, and my ABV would be no darker than the ABV I get from my Nano at 7.5. (Though as mentioned many times, the Nano is much more efficient at vaping the entire load).

I though the Nano was going to dethrone my Lotus as king of my vapes. But I think not. I think they both have a role in my needs for portability and home use.

Don't get me wrong, I am loving the Nano (and really enjoying it with a J-hook surprisingly!). But sessions certainly do last longer with the Nano than with the Lotus! Sometimes that's a good thing - I like my sessions to last long enough to toss something on the TV and watch most of the episode.

Initial tests have been successful, but I have one issue. When take the nano away from the gong, and take my lips from the d020w, i get a blow-out. Is there any way around this or do i have to pull the gong before i pull my lips?

Blowback is an issue with most vapes when used with water (from what I've seen anyway). As @snackmaster stated - the proper way to prevent this is to buy a claisen for your bubbler. This would give you a carburetor for your bubbler (You also need a stopper for one of the two female joints). Currently I only have a 14mm version, so I'm not using it. Instead I carefully lift the nano+GONG before I stop my draw. I'll hopefully get around to buying an 18mm claisen soon (I hate using 18mm to 14mm reducers)

 

[dos equis]

Mine arrived today, just have to go pick it up. Can't wait to finally try this sweet thing out!

 

[fregglepops]

and still I wait........

I just spent an hour at the post office to find out that it was an error and that its actually out for delivery today. But if it doesnt show up today im back to knowing nothing.

 

[dos equis]

and still I wait........

You're waiting for something nice!

I've even seen pictures showing how small this unit is, but it still caught me by surprise. In fear of sounding extremely girly, it's just a cute little unit!

Letting it heat some at max temp now, will try it out properly a bit later. Should I try ground herb or nugs first?

 

[MuushuPork]

You're waiting for something nice!

I've even seen pictures showing how small this unit is, but it still caught me by surprise. In fear of sounding extremely girly, it's just a cute little unit!

Letting it heat some at max temp now, will try it out properly a bit later. Should I try ground herb or nugs first?

Both?

 

[Delta3DStudios]

I'd start with ground herb to compare against your other vapes performance. Try changing only the device, use the same herb, the same bubbler (if you use one), same grinder, same load size

 

[dos equis]

I'd start with ground herb to compare against your other vapes performance. Try changing only the device, use the same herb, the same bubbler (if you use one), same grinder, same load size

Good idea, will probably do that first. If it doesn't knock me off my ass on the first load I'll go with what @MuushuPork said and try some nugs after.

 

[jimbob]

So is mine. Glad to know it is supposed to be.

I was getting the uneven charring too. So I was curious to why and took a look inside the heat port. There is a screen and a clip that holds the screen located at the top of the heat port. So I removed both, no more uneven charring. But now my element is exposed. No biggie, just use a screen in the stem or naked when using a GonG.

Well I'm certainly glad to have some extra confirmation as well.

I did remove my screen actually, but it made the problem worse for me. Possibly because I removed the screen but not the o-ring clip holding it on. I've since removed the o-ring and added my own screen, which improved it again. I may try it without the screen one day, but for now I'll stick to snail pace draws for best results.

@flotntoke
I will have to check them out again. I have seen the 2 hit vid, but that was using the gong and I'm using the direct draw stem. I have tried different distances and heating temps, but draw speed is what has made the biggest difference.

Cheers for the input guys

 

[Snappo]

Good idea, will probably do that first. If it doesn't knock me off my ass on the first load I'll go with what @MuushuPork said and try some nugs after.

Yes! Careful ...The power of the Nano can catch you by surprise and knock you for a loop. I kid you not!