Discontinued herbalAire

[Egzoset]

My bad, i didn't search the forest! I confess!!! Why should i? I went through it all before - OF COURSE - but the thing is no one can be expected to retain all this information and be able to recall about it months later!

Perhaps in v3 this trivial detail will be mentioned in the user's manual, hopefully!...

The future HA owners might even dream of finding at least one replacement screen in the package: that way nobody would even need to read their manual or search the web since it would seem self-explanatory, i think.

 

[Magic9]

I always check this thread but it's really died off lately. The HA is still my only vape, so it sees quite a bit of use. If I could have a vape sitting out in the open all the time, I'd probably trade it for a PD though. While I love the HA, it does seem best used with multiple people. I'll eventually get a PD and keep the HA for special occaisons or. I'm confident the HA will survive the years until then.

 

[Egzoset]

In my opinion the HA doesn't need much to feel "complete":

According to Steiner666 this would be a "stem", i guess: the mouthpiece and bowl are combined together. Quite frankly my HerbalAire should have been delivered with one included inside the box but i didn't know better back in January, when i ordered mine.



As far as i'm concerned i can't care less if the whole grip part needs to be made of teflon. Exposure to potential teflon off-gassing would be next to zero since (e.g. trivial) in this particular configuration where the air path is in direct contact with glass and/or ceramic only, with a screen somewhere between the vaporizing bowl and its mouthpiece. Controversy over teflon would stop and become ancient history - not that it matters to me, actually.

Steiner666, i believe your analysis is brief and yet strikingly efficient! You appear to have a finger on the HA paradox: it's a merciless extractor which rips aways everything the plant has to offer, too bad it's not built to allow "conservation" by moving the precious herb away from heat simply by taking the "stem" out... My HerbalAire feels like a heavy loaded train: once it's set in motion my only option is to attempt to keep up with it by going through the whole process of turning green buds into dark-brown ABV in one strike.

 

[Pcpvapors]

Are the volcano bags Usable with the HA? or has anyone come up with something to use to plug the balloons? (besides your finger)

 

[Egzoset]

All i know is that it's quite easy to adapt the tubing diameters between an HA and a Zephyr Ion. If the later has anything common with the Volcano then there's a possibility you could work something out i guess. Too bad i only own *1* vaporizer!

 

[steiner666]

...My HerbalAire feels like a heavy loaded train: once it's set in motion my only option is to attempt to keep up with it by going through the whole process of turning green buds into dark-brown ABV in one strike.

well said, thats just like how it always was for me. But if my budget/supply ever allows for me to just vape whole nugs per session, I'm definitely getting one again. I never got a chance to use mine with glass, but i bet it's awesome. and yeah WAY better than whip mode.

@notmyrealUSERname: I definitely agree on whips/tubing in general, for the HA and vapes in general. If you can't handle or enjoy the vape direct-inhale just stick it straight into a downstem. Hosing is just awkward and gets stinky quick.

 

[Egzoset]

Ha! Ha! I'm glad you enjoy Steiner666!!!



Oh yeah, i mean it and - i feel it too - when i picture the HerbalAire as a heavy loaded train !



Gee, i wanted to know the difference beetween Indica and Sativa...

It's not allowed to discuss "horticulture" details here, i believe, but lets say i've been experimenting lately and tonight i filled my HerbalAire crucible (very lightly!) with a load of green pistils freshly chopped, direct from a set of old autofem plants which i had started in July (their life cycle lasts no more than 70 days in "normal" conditions). About one third of the pistils were dry... I wanted a Sativa-dominent strain, hence i chose some dwarf auto-flowering (and feminized) seeds in hope i'd see a difference when compared to what i can obtain from a dealer.

Well, it "extracts" all right!

Actually, i feel a bit extracted myself at the moment!...



It was a bag session, by the way. Without a water toy my bag tasted like spruce gum that isn't bitter too much.

 

[vaplexus]

I have an HA 2.1 which was my first vape, putprchased in 2009. I ourchased it on reco from friends of mine that started with a vapor daddy. they found the VD unreliable and so got the HA whch they use devery day and love it. i like mine too. I also got a MFLB last year which is also nice but a very different vape for a different purpose (portability). I have also used extensively an Arizer Extreme Q.

The way I tend to use the HA is to put ground substance in the bowl, about 0.1g and then a fine screen over the top of it. i dont tend to use bags anymore. i use a stem from a MFLB in the stock teflon "mouthpiece" connected to a 30cm piece of silicone tubing, into a smaller piece of acrylic tube. the tube and mouthpieces i got as part of a whip set for the MFLB. this is my prefered wY to use the HA.

Ive been expeerimenting with using a concave piece of screen in the cruicile to hold the substance higher in the bowl space. this works pretty good too. i know what everyone means about the need to finish the cruicible once you start - the large thermal mass of the HA keeps the temp high even after you turn it off and so you are still cooking the stuff. however thats great for temp stability.

tonight i am going to try using it without a cruicible. put a screen in the bottom and the stuff inside directly, screen on the top. see how that goes. also i have removed the screen from the large "mouthpiece". i clean everything with a combo cycle in an ultrasonic cleaner and then wiping with 99% iso. cleanliness is important for good taste.

I use the MFLB for portable use when out camping or travelling. i basically dont use it at home. no need to with the HA. and the hassle with chrging the batteries etc and it is not as temperature stable.

I just ordered an Arizer Solo for at home portable use. I prefer the temp setting and not having to deal with batteries as in the MFLB. I like the Extreme Q but i find it a bit finiky to work with and thr glass can be a challenge. once something got jammed and i had to break the glass to get it apart. i think the HA is just a good simple reliable good looking well made vape and it will likely be my main vape for awhile.

 

[t-dub]

The HA is my first vape and still my daily driver until I get the VXC. Its an awesome vape imo. I dropped it last night and it just bounced, thing is sturdy as heck. And I am getting great hits now that I am grinding and using a screen in the top of the crucible. Just a little nasty on the throat is really the only complaint that I have. Well that and the fact that it is hard to stop that train once it gets moving. I just load smaller crucibles that I know I can finish. One time I dumped out a hot crucible and it landed on my frozen Space Case grinder. Well I grabbed the crucible immediately because I didn't want it to mar the surface of the grinder and low and behold when i picked up the crucible, it was ice cold, and it only took a second. Thought this might help suspend some of the continued vaping of the medicine, but not sure if it helped at all.

t-dub

Edit: I keep my Titanium Space Case grinder, wrapped in a paper towel, in the freezer, works better imo.

 

[Pcpvapors]

Anyone else's pump obnoxiously loud?

 

[notmyrealUSERname]

^ only when i turn it on! vapebong ftw!

 

[Egzoset]

Hi,

That's an opportunity to try putting the pump (and the pump ONLY) on a dimmer circuit loaded with an incandescent bulb connected in parallel, to meet its minimum working requirements (50 Watts of such mainly resistive load will do).

In other words, please keep your HerbalAire away from a dimmer or any other devices unless you know that's absolutely safe for your precious electronic vaporizer! The dimmer is for the HA's complementary aquarium pump only.

That pump makes less noise when its power is being reduced via a dimmer. But don't forget: dimmers are built for resistive loads, that's why the pump can't be connected to the dimmer alone, it needs to work in parallel with an ordinary light bulb meant to constitute the most part of that resistive load (LED technology is OKay), making the mainly inductive load of the pump's actuator a lesser part in comparison. Failure to use a suitable load puts the dimmer at risk, you've been warned one last time people! If you try this then don't say i didn't tell about it all later.

If i've managed to make that part clear this time then i'll be satisfied...

Oh, and a by-product of using a dimmer on the pump is that it makes bags "thicker" as a result of having a lesser airflow generated - hence less noise as well.

 

[charliedontsurf]

Egzo, you can screw with the air output more safely by just obscuring the intake hole on the pump itself. Your finger, a piece of tape, anything would do to slow down the rate of air output.

The pump made for the multi-bag system actually has a little plastic piece just for this purpose.

 

[Egzoset]

Bah, not high-tech enough, really! A simple diode for a two speed system would have been the minimum in that price range... Oh! I just recalled that i DO have exactly this sort of button hiding somewhere and the only difference would be its colour 'cause the actual casing is absolutely similar in shape... Yes, you've read me fine: the button on that pump could easily be converted to support two speeds (50 % and 100 %)! Just let me find that half-wave rectifier/switch thing, it sure would be convenient - at least to me!...



By the way, anyone noticed how easy it is to pre-form a brand new screen so it can be inserted inside the crucible with nothing but a light delicate push of the fingertip?

All it takes is an "AA" battery and some patient gentleness to round up the screen's edges, possibly using the crucible if you can be extra careful not to distort it (by trying too hard to enter the unbent screen followed by that battery, for example)...

 

[Egzoset]

More airflow (power) control on HerbalAire pump makes bags "thicker"!! (merged)

Salutations HerbalAire v2.1 owners!

Yep, it works just as i predicted, of course:

This is a direct "Tried & Tested" "100 % Compatible" "Drop-In Replacement" for the black one which comes installed on our pump's A.C. power cords!!! I call this ultimate simplicity for end users: you've only got two screws to deal with in order to perform this HA "mod"... No other tools than a screwdriver are necessary.

That device - if you can get your hands on one, that is - will add a half-power position to the pump's rotary wheel switch!

It's really that simple! Please don't thank me, send your contributions directly to a local charity organization near you...



Power goes through a half-wave rectifier (diode), effectively implementing a reduction of 50 %. That feature is acquired via a simple circuit which can be considered to be practically as fail-proof as it can be! I believe that with 50 % less air in our balloons none of us HA owners have a good reason to complain about "thickness" anymore!...

 

[mrfloopa]

if you can get your hands on one, that is

May I inquire where you found yours, or what I should refer to this as in searches or at a store?

 

[Egzoset]

Sorry, all i can tell is that i bought mine about 3 years ago while i was a resident in Quebec city...

The store where i got this could very well happen to be one of these:

Canac-Marquis
Canadian Tire
Rona L'Entrept

Or perhaps one of the electronic stores out there:

Electro-Mike
Accs lectronique

Euh...

I wish i could refer you to Newark or Jameco but i just don't see it anywhere on their web sites and there's no model number on the device to make things worst... One distributor though refered to it in their picture's file-name as being SW1419 but Google could have told you as much i guess. Good luck!

For more searching i'd try words along these lines:

Leviton 3Way 200 Watts Line Switch SW1419

...or just go to this web site which is offering this specific item:

http://www.grandbrass.com/

Well, at least i know one will find it there all right!

Oh, and they're got it in brown... No black though.



ADDENDUM:

I think i've found the "magic string" at last:

Leviton Hi-Lo Lamp Dimmer No. 1420

In any case, as long as it's just based on a diode inside it won't really matter at all what's the exact shape.

 

[Egzoset]

My contributions to this forum is over. Enjoy.

 

[notmyrealUSERname]

My contributions to this forum is over. Enjoy.

did you retire from the forum? or kill your computer? or did you get another vape? either way thanks for stopping by!



just out of curiosity, i wonder what the stats are regarding how the ha is used most, i.e. vapebong, direct draw, or bag blower? if there was some way to conduct a poll on here i would do it.

obviously, i am a huge proponent of vapebonging with the ha. i haven't actually blown a bag with it in months and months.

so, FC what's your fav method of using your ha?

 

[nicelytoasted]

I've had an HA for a few years now and use it exclusively in direct vapebong mode, or to be more specific, vapebub mode (since I prefer to use my bubbler).

Although most peeps consider it a bag blower only (which it does very well), it truly excels in the above mode, imo.

 

[Abysmal Vapor]

Hi i saw This on facebook i think there is one on twitter too . One of the first 1000 likes/tweets can win a HA . I ain't trying to promote the site just i think that this unit will be best in someone's hands who's dedicated to vaporizing , that's why i posted

 

[Magic9]

I direct draw (with stem), and vapebong on special nights.

 

[SD_haze]

What would herbalaire owners say is the maximum load size for herb?
(Say, if it wasn't grinded)

I saw a video of the herbalaire where the makers just stuffing gobs of tobacco in it, but then I see the crucible and it looks really tiny.

I have a herbalaire coming to a friends and am concerned about group use.

~also~
When a load is cached, you need to use tweezers to get the crucible out while its hot, right?
How easy is it to empty it out & throw another nug in there while hot?

 

[t-dub]

The HA holds way more than I need that's for sure. If anything the trouble I have had is finding out how little I really need to put in there. If you want to dump the crucible turn the HA upside down, assuming you use a separate top screen on top of your load if using ground, to get it out then either let cool, this happens pretty quickly, or use lab tweezers to manipulate.

t-dub

Edit: To answer your question about weight in the crucible: I just went and packed one as full as I could get it with bone dry, vape-ready, medicine. Weighed .5 gram on inspection.

 

[notmyrealUSERname]

What would herbalaire owners say is the maximum load size for herb?
(Say, if it wasn't grinded)

I saw a video of the herbalaire where the makers just stuffing gobs of tobacco in it, but then I see the crucible and it looks really tiny.

I have a herbalaire coming to a friends and am concerned about group use.

~also~
When a load is cached, you need to use tweezers to get the crucible out while its hot, right?
How easy is it to empty it out & throw another nug in there while hot?

group use is one of the ha's things it does best. if your blowing bags, get the adaptor and blow up to 5 bags at a time - everyone gets their own bag! however, group vapebonging is where the ha shines, because you don't ever have to stir the crucible! simply pass your glass with one hand, and the ha with your other hand. you don't need a third hand to control a whip! nothing every gets spilled or dropped - water or product! everyone gets big clouds! and as long as you don't drop the glass everyone will have a great session - because you can drop a ha and it will keep on working! if you have a top screen in you won't even lose any product because you could just put the crucible back in (once you picked it up off the floor) and keep going!

when that crucible is done then dump it out by simply turning the unit over and letting gravity do its work (always use a top screen in the crucible). place it on your grinder - the metal grinder will help dissipate the heat better, within 1-2 mins it will be cool enough to handle. repack and go again, or you could simply purchase a few extra crucibles...