herbalAire H2.1

that is awesome man!

Thanks, i've been lucky i guess! Well, not so much initially because my Mister Maker died, once again!... So,
this time i thought to myself there was going to be some significant change. Most unfortunately i don't get a light show out of this particular configuration (it's only meant as an ultrasonic humidifier after all). At least i shouldn't have to fear frequent failures as for my previous fog conditioning experiments: this one should survive to routine abuse a little while longer, we'll see!!



It's possible there could be a major design flaw in what i've just posted. I'm not sure but it's about fog being washed by water... I'm wondering if it's the placebo effect or else. Anyway, i see no fog in the mixing bottle yet it seems to calm down my urge to cough. Or perhaps there's some fog inside but it's too faint to be noticed and yet soothing enough to delay the coughing and hence render a brief session enjoyable.

if a commercial version of this was made, it would sell.

But it would need to be GonG.

Salutations OO,

Indeed, that and beyond: i'd probably want to be among the very 1st potential customers to acquire such a bong accessory myself - if such item worked fine with my HerbalAire that is - but not if the concept got ruined by the presence of synthetics! Ultrasonic waves can be used to release all sorts of substances after all...

Since the unit's reservoir handle makes a perfectly solid anchor point where to attach a string it's easy enough to render this "mod" quite stable & reliable for further testing with more soft-drink bottle "mods"... Or perhaps i'll simply have to try redirecting the machine's jet of mist towards my face (e.g. no mixing bottle, no tubes): only a cloud of moist air to poke into between two cannabic inhalations.

Or maybe it would be better to consider StinkMeaner's very basic alternative...


(*Steam Inhaler* Anyone Use One? Maybe With Vaporizing.)

More experiments!...



This time my cannabic vapour path doesn't include a mixing bottle where to inject moisture. Instead, that bottle has been recycled in order to implement an uni-directional valve, so that it becomes impossible to blow fog into my HerbalAire via its glass accessory (Arizer Solo). I could as well have used just 1 single 5/16 " I.D. 7/16 " O.D. PVC tube in place of 3 joined sections, as long as it has a tiny hole down the curve to let the fog in while draining excess water out it will do great it seems...

We don't see it well under the dome (soft-drink bottle piece) but that tube bends down near the middle, above the reservoir handle. A pair of red wires (on top) attaches the dome to this handle for more convenience. The bended tube section passes over it exactly.

Now here's the valve, it's a multi-functional item meant to keep the mist where it's needed and more!...



Fresh air enters the bottle through the right-side brass connector which then carries that air under water via a "bubbling" tube. The air below the bottle's top will follow a long tube and feed the vaporizer via its pump connector, eventually.

Smoke-like movements in my glass stem become even more visible as a result of the bubbling turbulence created in the water inside my "valve" bottle during inhalations. As for the sound, that's a real nice feature all by itself considering that it provides a complement of bio-feedback!

So, briefly put i'm now mixing cannabic vapour with fog within the inhalation tube itself. The humidifier's tiny fan doesn't generate enough pressure to pump water out of the valve bottle, though that pressure is sufficient to ensure that the precious molecules stay trapped inside this tube.

Moderate inhalation only will supply fog alone. A stronger effort forces new fresh air to enter the system, pushing the vapour load ahead. At 1st i inhale faintly to fill the dome, then more intensly to fill the path with my favourite type of vapour...

Then the next inhalations reveal taste & aroma in quite a pleasant manner.

A sliding piece of tube covers the mixing hole partly, enabling me to adjust the amount of fog to be inhaled with my vaporized load. It takes only one hole and it doesn't have to be large (equivalent to 1/16 " or so); when set correctly there's very little thinking to do, except enjoy and hence notice that the disturbing coughing urges are gone for the most part!

Inhale, enjoy: that's simple enough as a proof of concept. I could have done it using no hot glue at all, as a matter of fact!

The testing goes on: now it's worth a session in my veranda!



This was after i sprayed 94 % grain alcohol into the PVC tubing and then rinsed with water to get a somewhat more neutral vapour path, actually. It's been a perfect opportunity to refine the mixing site under that foggy plastic cap: instead of one 1/16" hole down the curve i made two with very little space in between, then i cut the tiny PVC bridge to obtain a rectangular slot with sharp edges... This modification didn't seem to impair anything and yet excess water drains fine at some point, so that no droplets ever reach my mouthpiece anymore - or the HerbalAire's oven for that matter!

I had a guest for this late experiment and noticed that it works better with more than only 1 person because while i'm busy holding my breath and tasting the moment the next user fills that dome with fog as he takes his own toke (otherwise fog tends to fall down into the humidifier's central cavity, which would translate as more work for MY lungs)... Since there's an overflow opening behind this particular Sunbeam device (SU1400-CN) we must turn it on once in a while (and hence the fan with it) or we wouldn't see fog around the mixing section. In fact the very 1st inhalation only serves to raise the humidity level and fill the vapour path in doing so, then real (cannabic) inhalations follow thereafter.

For the most part cannabic vapour remains inside its inhalation conduit(s) until required because of resistance to airflow caused by the admission valve (connector behind, bottom-right corner of picture).

The other part located between the mixing hole and the mouthpiece will purge if there's positive pressure inside (e.g. fan IS running) but nobody has his lips on that "smoking" mouthpiece!... Yet it's quite possible to avoid loosing too much of it simply by limitting the applied vacuum to stop making bubbles during inhalation. The weight of water within the "valve" bottle doesn't allow air to flow towards my vaporizer's oven (from the top), only in the opposite direction (via back inlet connector) and never when no bubbles are forming. Each bubble corresponds to a finite volume of air, which at some distance past my HA crucible translates into clowdy "chunks" of potent cannabic vapour (as if the bubbles themselves were carriers when in fact this water from my "valve" bottle will never come in contact with that noble vapour... As a result some sufficient lung effort is necessary to generate bubble noise and get a mix of fog + cannabic vapour.

The last inhalation (before switching seats) needs to be sufficiently faint not to be that loud, this way no additional cannabic vapour enters the tubes during a purge - otherwise the fan would expulse precious molecules normally meant to be consumed...

Salutations everyone,

First of all, hello T-Dub! Thanks for your recent expressions of support!!

It's been more than a year now since i've suggested a "mod" for the HerbalAire v2.1 pump, well this pump exactly (e.g. mine):



What about bringing it back on topic now?...



By the way, just to make sure: that's the dark rectangular one with a stack of 2 tubing connectors located on one of its narrow sides, while the power-cord is opposite. Lets mention that this specific model is driven by a selenoïd (those who own it may have noticed already that manipulations of the pump's switch often translates as transient spikes on their power line)... This happens because there's no synchronism between electric contact activation/breaking in the switch and the line's sinewave angle at that precise instant: e.g. during phase inversion voltage/current are zero and hence a perfectly adapted switch should target this specific time-slot to go "On" or "Off" - which isn't the case in the situation described above.

Hummm... So i guess i must have got something like this on my mind when i tried the following setup, it was quite a while ago and i forgot the details as a result:



Electronic (Zero-Crossing) Dimmer, FOR THE PUMP ONLY!...

...

I also experimented with this more affordable alternative:


(Leviton Hi-Lo Lamp Dimmer No. 1420)

Some time has passed, i'm pleased to report this Leviton "in-line" rotative button didn't cause any dangerous selenoïd tremors so far... In fact there's just less noise when operating at 50 %: no tremors, no explosions - but who knows!...



Anyway, lets say i don't always use my pump but i no longer make it run at full speed if i do, that's for sure! It works so well for me i see no reason to go back... Transient spikes remain an open issue though (yet my original switch had the very same problem too).

Also, why would i want a faster (100 % speed) airflow? I wonder.

Well, one modification to consider here might be to add some electric noise-killer component across the switche's contacts, probably a high-voltage capacitor to tame down those spikes a little.

Any reactions?

Hummm... What about a contest for HerbalAire owners?...



This sample just won't win a prize ever:


(YouTube: HerbalAire with Arizer Solo glass accessory)

So, who's willing to show us what's real vapour porn exactly!?

Keep thinking outside the box Egzo, I like it. The fog "conditioning" may require an "injection" system or mixing "manifold" to make it work I'll keep dreaming . . .

Hey guys, especially Egzo & t-dub, what are yall using to connect your tubing to the solo stem? It seems to be some kinda connector, but I don't know? I have the solo stem, I got some 'teflon tape'(hope its the right kind, have no idea. Got it at Home Depot for <2$..), an extra crucible, assorted screens, some old tubing(NOT the stock tube!), & am eager to attach it all. I don't know how to connect the stem to the tubing. Any help?

Egzo will have to comment on the solo stems since I don't have one. My solution was a full glass ride like Samir did . . .

Salutations,

Thanks, i'll certainly keep that in mind for my next tweaks!

This is how it's done in my own case, look at the bottom-left corner:


Fog Mixing Parts (2012-Nov-14)

The 2 black pieces below are from herbalAire, i've only slipped a short piece of the smaller tube on top of the left HA component. That connector has a slight "V" shape, this helps a great deal to garantee proper sealing... Also notice that the teflon pipe extenders also got shaped in a similar manner and hence they're interchangeable.

What's good about the later method of tubing attachment is the fact that i wouldn't fear shattering glass as much by using it than when inserting something rigid inside my glass accessory. It's obviously safer to stress glass from outside by compressing it a little compared to the other way around, which means i need to be extra-carefull each time about what i'm doing...

Looks like I'll soon be joining the HA 2.1 party

Getting one in a trade next week some time. Just now popping in to read the thread, so I'll catch up soon.

**after reading this thread a bit, I am really glad I got in on this trade, looks like I should be pretty happy with this vape. I haven't worked with anything that does bags yet so that should be fun. It seems many folks are happy with the performance of this one, so I look forward to trying it out. I have several solo stems, stock, PVHES and GonG.

...BTW it's fun reading this thread backwards...

Good to see this post, I was just sitting here thinking this might be the solution to stablizing the solo stem. I have some of that high temp silicone tubing that should work just fine. Good to know. I am excited to have it heading my way soon.

** Has anyone tried using the Ed's wood Solo stem in the HA?

Next time you get a change; pick up some teflon wrap at the hardware store. You'll need it to make a seal with the arizer stem. Other than that; I am sure you will enjoy the HA.

I was thinking of trying a small bit of silicone tubing, but I won't know how it will work until I have it to mess around with. Thanks for the suggestion though, if I can't work with the high temp silicone tube, then I'll try the teflon. Does it have to be any special kind, because I think we have some down in the tool box.

Got the HA 2.1 today! have blown up and enjoyed a few bags now. This is a great little vape, and I look forward to seeing what all it can do. So far so good!

You will love your herbalAire! I use it everyday,even if i own other very performing and satisfying vapes. It is so much versatile you can't go wrong with the HA.

I haven't set it up as a desk vape yet, was playing with bags yesterday. Having 2 plugs to run bags made me set it up in a different space than where my usual set up is. I am sure I will get it over here to my desk soon enough. So far I really like the simplicity, and can say my only main gripe is having to dump out a hot, loaded crucible when you want to take it out. I haven't figured out a good way to do this other than just tiping it upside down, which can make a mess if my top screen is loose. A very minor gripe indeed. I ran some of my light roast ABV through it and got a pretty full bag of vapor. The taste wasn't the best, but it still worked just fine. Nice to know I can recycle some herbs and conserve a bit.


Does this have a time cut off? if so how long?

I just moved it over to my desk, and now testing it out w/ my bubbler.

I think the most common and practical way to dump the crucible and it's load is just that;tipping the HA upside down! I always have an extra crucible ready so i don't have to wait for it to cool down.
I also have a mini plate beside my HA to dump the ABV so it don't spill.

The HA 2.2 have a 30 min time cut off before showing all her multicolor light show sensational!

Have fun!

Hey Jamband, I'm glad you're enjoying the old HA.

I suggest getting a 3/4" or 1" across, highly flexible stainless steel screen for a top screen in the crucible. The ones that come with the No2 are perfect for the task or you can find good ones elsewhere. A good screen has very little chance of coming out.

On handling hot crucibles, I dropped them directly into my palm and then immediately rolled it back and forth between my two open palms, kind of like you were making a meatball. The metal is so thin that it transfers heat harmlessly into your hands and is cool to handle normally in about two seconds.

Does the HA 2.1 have a cut off time?

Thanks for the advice charlie... I did find a screen in my stash that fits pretty snug on top of the load. I ran a pretty full bag on the highest setting tonight and shared it with my man, and it was seriously potent!! We were both giggling and then couldn't move for about 30 mins... I was definitely one toke over the line... coming out of it now.

Yep, the HA auto shuts off at 30 minutes from the last point the dial was moved. If you're using it for extended periods and want it to idle, just remember to reach over and bump the knob a bit every one in a while.

Liking my Saxo, it's working great with my Wychwood. Cheers!

Welcome to the HA club, jamandphan03, I hope you utilize and enjoy it's versatility as I have!

One bit of advice I can offer is to keep the PTFE mouthpiece (if you use it) in the unit as it heats and cools, this makes it seal much better in the long term, I have found. Also, if you keep the inner core clean, the unit can be inverted, and the crucible can be tapped out, without having to touch the hot surface.

As well as it blows bags (and it does), where it really shines is going directly into your glass, imo. The nice thing is it fits well into 14 or 18 mm pieces, with it's contoured mouthpiece shape.

Is it worth getting the three bag mouthpiece without the high output pump? herbalAire has a special on their website for a free one with an H2.2 purchase. Considering their promotion, anyone have experience without the highoutput

I dont have the high output pump but have the 3 way mouth piece. I like it, i use it when there's a few people or if i wanna vape bags back to back to back