Having trouble starting your iolite? Rejoice!

[Medicinal Vibe]

This is a post for everyone who owns an iolite vaporizer.
There are several tips and tricks I have found through a full year of owning (and loving) my iolite.
At first, learning how to work the device to its fullest potential was a struggle, because there were a few things I wish someone had told me that I'm about to tell you.

1. Filling your iolite correctly
This was one aspect of the iolite that took me alot of time to truly understand, due to the lack of "how to" videos on youtube and the internet itself. Some people have no trouble filling their iolites, and some people do. At first, filling my iolite was an un-pleasurable experience. Butane would spill all over the device and on my hands. This was because I was not pushing hard enough down on the butane, and also because I had not made a proper seal between the nozzle and the hole where you fill up the iolite. First of all, DO NOT USE ANY ATTACHMENTS FOR THE BUTANE NOZZLE. I have gone through many different nozzles, some that come with butane and others I have constructed myself, and it provides nothing but more trouble. At first, keep your iolite sideways with the device's tube pointing horizontally. Take the butane can, and line up the silver tube with the small metel part where you fill the iolite, and make a firm connection perfectly horizontally without releasing butane. Tip both the can and iolite perpendicular now, with the butane pointed directly upside down. Do exactly three short puffs of butane into the iolite, using decent force downwards. This will not fill your iolite up 100% (Due to oxygen it will never be 100% anyway) but it will be enough for two fully vaped bowls which is enough for personal use each time. This will regulate the amount of butane in your iolite, and you will never find yourself over filling it with frustration.

2. Keep your iolite and butane in a warm place.
I know for a fact the iolite functions much better when both the unit and butane are stored in warm places. If the butane gets to cold, the iolite experiences trouble igniting and having a steady stream of heating up. Also, when the device is cold, it will rarely ignite.

3. Don't use the moisture condensor.
I have experienced superior vapor flavor and quality without the moisture condensor. It is the small metal thing in the plastic bag that came with the iolite. I have used it several times for experimentation with muchy drier herb, and it truly isn't worth it. FORGET ABOUT IT!

Although this sounds wierd... 4. Treat your device with care and consideration.
The iolite is more like a lady than a machine. Take her apart, know her inside out, listen to her, understand what she's bitching about. If the butane flow sounds like it's spurting when you turn it on(that's what she said), your iolite is to cold. If you can barely hear the flow, turn it off and wait 5 minutes you impachient stoner you.

ENJOY YOUR IOLITE!
Please submit any other tips or tricks to getting the iolite to work everytime and anytime

 

[nr-cole]

I made some additional recommendations regarding the draw in the official Iolite thread which I'll re-post here.

Biggest key to getting the best hits out of this thing is a really, really slow draw. And I mean slow. Put your lips on it and pull slowly, do you hear a slight whistling sound? That might feel slow but it's too fast. You want to just barely pull air through the mouthpiece for as long as possible (10-20 seconds). This seems to give the hot air lots of time to sit in the chamber and mix with your herb. I'm not sure if this will work for everyone, or if the whistling noise I use as a guideline on mine is even made by everyone's (I use the slightly longer mouthpiece included with the 2010 models), but pulling this slowly gives me big, satisfying rips every time.

My other tip has been repeated many times, but I don't think everybody has caught on yet. Bleed the tank! If you find the unit isn't igniting after 3 clicks of the button, take a pen, toothpick, whatever, and depress the filling nozzle. This will bleed all the extra air out of your tank and the heating system. If you've refilled then you're going to lose a little butane, but it beats getting frustrated by clicking the piezo a hundred times over. I've never not had it start on the first try after bleeding and refilling the tank.

If you're still having problems the above tip about keeping it warm is also great advice. Butane boils at room temperature, which I assume is why the cold can cause issues.

Happy Vaping!

Also, if you're a new Iolite owner, you might have seen a lot of tips telling you to "remove" the moisture condenser. When I got mine I tried to figure out how to do so, but eventually figured out that the condenser I'd heard about wasn't in my unit, but in the bag. I'm guessing that means they used to put it in the unit when they shipped. If you're buying a new Iolite, the company has already done your work for you. Leave that thing in the bag where it belongs.

 

[2Supra4U]

bleeding out the tank imo is one of the most important things

if you dont know how much is in when your filling just bleed it til ther eis no more hisssss

I find sometimes you may have to spend 5min after its empty just pressing it over and over til there is no sound whatsoever (i find it builds pressure back up even after you may think its empty)

WHen I go to fill I bleed every single time.

also I know how longs ive used it so i know whether i may have time to use what butane is left in it or if its better to just bleed and refill (i have had times i tried to push it and ended up runnin out 10min into a bowl....when theres still some tokes left)

had mine now since summer 2009 (june'ish) and it has fired on one "click" every time.

The few times i freaked out that something was wrong ( it would stutter and stuff when heating or other similar issues) it turned out to be the tank was just pretty much empty, cuz I would bleed and pressure would die in a few secs.....thankfully there was no real problem.


the keeping it warm is important too as it says in the manual that it shou;d be kept warm or will perform best when warm.

meaning if u have it sitting in your car (when its -15 out) or leave it overnight or sitting in the cold......wait til it warms to room tempature before firing it up.

that or never let it sit in the cold like that!

forgot to mention about the running times.....if you are not getting close to 2hrs on a fill then I would suggest bleeding your tank and making sure its totally empty and make sure you are filling correctly
I get just about 2hrs to a full fill.......i have had times its been shorter, but i think its do to a improper fill or if you press down too long and let it spit out for more than a few secs. when Im filling the second it starts spewing back out i stop.

 

[nr-cole]

Anybody have a sure-fire method for getting resin out of the mouthpiece? I was thinking about just letting it soak in a cup of rum or vodka for a few hours to make a tincture.

 

[Lo]

I use Everclear to soak all my IO parts to make a tincture. Works very well

 

[2Supra4U]

yea you could do that, however i dont see there being enough to actually make a tincture, unles ur using that same stuff to reuse when u actually make a tincture from other stuff.

id say its better to soak in ISO from the drugstore

then you can either keep some in a sealed bottle and use it over and over to clean each time....finally letting it evap and then use the oil to vape or smoke

or you can use a lil and let it evap and use it right away

 

[nr-cole]

yea you could do that, however i dont see there being enough to actually make a tincture, unles ur using that same stuff to reuse when u actually make a tincture from other stuff.

id say its better to soak in ISO from the drugstore

then you can either keep some in a sealed bottle and use it over and over to clean each time....finally letting it evap and then use the oil to vape or smoke

or you can use a lil and let it evap and use it right away

Interesting... It's not dirty enough to need a cleaning yet, but it sounds like some experimentation is in order!

 

[gettin lifted]

off topic a bit but... as far as the comfort care package does that help at all with hitting it? i would assume that it would.

reason i ask is because i always feel like my iolite doesnt give me the real hit i want. i can never see any vapor exhaled when i blow out. but it deff works. just isn't my favorite. i also sort of feel that it wastes some good thc. i only say this because when i heat mine up i leave it on the counter for a minute or two and when i come back i can smell weed/vapor. (you know the smell) which leads me to believe that the smell is thc running off into the air. but idk.

id rather pull out the ssv and take 3-4 good hits attached to my waterbong then to have to watch how fast/slow im hitting my iolite. then pack up another bowl and have 30 mins into it. when i could just spend 5 mins with my ssv.

or maybe my iolite is broken. who knows.

 

[2Supra4U]

how do you pack your bowls.

you should be able to get pretty nice clouds

in the end really depends on the quality of herb you got mostly, but you could be packing it too much or not draw slow enough.

it does slowly leak out vapor as well...the heat pushes it out the stem.

 

[nr-cole]

off topic a bit but... as far as the comfort care package does that help at all with hitting it? i would assume that it would.

reason i ask is because i always feel like my iolite doesnt give me the real hit i want. i can never see any vapor exhaled when i blow out. but it deff works. just isn't my favorite. i also sort of feel that it wastes some good thc. i only say this because when i heat mine up i leave it on the counter for a minute or two and when i come back i can smell weed/vapor. (you know the smell) which leads me to believe that the smell is thc running off into the air. but idk.

id rather pull out the ssv and take 3-4 good hits attached to my waterbong then to have to watch how fast/slow im hitting my iolite. then pack up another bowl and have 30 mins into it. when i could just spend 5 mins with my ssv.

or maybe my iolite is broken. who knows.

I don't do this all the time because it isn't always convenient, but when I can I leave the bowl unattached from the main unit while it heats up. If you lay the unit on its side and then lay the bowl/stem across it it will sit fairly stable there. Also, I pack my bowls about 1/2 - 2/3 of the way full, then tamp it down very lightly with the little brass tool it comes with. Like I said, I have become very successful at pulling out solid vapor clouds every time.

EDIT: Also, don't waste your money on the care package if you want a whip. Go to the pet store, take your mouthpiece with you, and find a piece of tubing that fits snugly over the top. I'd boil anything you buy there before using it, but should be dirt cheap.

 

[max]

Also, don't waste your money on the care package if you want a whip. Go to the pet store, take your mouthpiece with you, and find a piece of tubing that fits snugly over the top. I'd boil anything you buy there before using it, but should be dirt cheap.

Any tubing used for vaping should be at least food grade quality, and you should never boil tubing. You can stick the end of a piece of tubing in boiling water for 5 sec. or so in order to make it flexible enough to connect to a mouthpiece, but boiling for sterilization purposes is neither necessary nor advisable.

 

[buddyfranklin]

look at how delicate this thing is....really....its $200 for goodness sakes. I shouldn't have to handle it like a newborn baby.

 

[2Supra4U]

you dont have to treat it like a baby, you just have to treat it with respect.

if you toss it around or drop it like a tool all the time what do you expect.

treat it like a $600 smartphone, then you'll be fine.

 

[Lo]

I have several IO's and one that is about a year old - still works as good as day one....and I'm rough on stuff. I do treat it like it's a cell phone or camera though.

 

[nr-cole]

I really don't understand in what way you want to be "rough" with it. You wouldn't want to drop anything that cost you $200...

 

[DocBenway]

I have another iolite question. My iolite never seems to start until I OVERFILL it (the gas has to start spitting out before the unit will start hissing). Once it's hissing, it works like a charm. But it doesn't seem to get going before that. Am I doing it wrong? It seems wrong, but it works.

 

[Lo]

Are you in USA?? Which brand of butane you using?? If you are in USA you should be able to get Vector or Colibri which are refined and recommended. Other brands sometimes cause starting issues.

I do find mine lights quicker and runs stronger when it is full. I always fill until it spurts back or 'overfills' but then I let them sit before use. If I do a 2nd run between refills sometimes the butane hiss seems less powerful and it is harder to light so I generally refill mine often.

I also vent them here & there to make sure no air is in the tank.

 

[willieR]

I have another iolite question. My iolite never seems to start until I OVERFILL it (the gas has to start spitting out before the unit will start hissing). Once it's hissing, it works like a charm. But it doesn't seem to get going before that. Am I doing it wrong? It seems wrong, but it works.

Sounds like the unit is ON while you're filling? I just fill until the sound changes (announcing it is about to start spurting). Then wait 10 minutes or so, then turn on and click start.

Also I rarely pre-warm before filling, but when I do, the unit is assembled to contain the heat.