2clicker said:
stinkmeaner said:
Did you miss the Goot Soldering iron I showed you? That iron with the element in the picture will give you much better results, if you really want to make a truly great vaporizer then choose a finned cartridge heater.
The Hakko is not promising at all, not unless you get one of their soldering stations with adjustable temperature control. You could attach a dimmer/rheostat to a regular Hakko but that would only control the wattage going to the heater and would not adjust for temperature changes, like when you inhale. The Goot and the Soldering iron you bought both have an actual thermostat built in and will keep the element at a controlled temperature, so when you inhale the built in thermostat will actually know when the element is cooling and adjust the temperature accordingly. Trust me mate, I know what I am talking about.
i see what your saying about the thermostat
i saw the pics of that heater, but what is the material? is it stainless? shouldnt i be looking for ceramic only?
maybe just purchase the hakko heater itself and solder it to the iron i already bought...?
thanks for the help
Yes they are stainless, which is perfectly safe, the ceramic elements are not even the ceramic people have in mind, most are made with Aluminum Oxide, Magnesium Oxide, or Barium Titanate which is sintered at high temps to form a solid. Ingredients in your ceramic element can be a mystery and since most come from China and other countries with poor quality control reputations.
Stainless is used widely in the Pharmaceutical industry, Food Packaging/Cooking, Coffee machine Heaters, Medical Implants. Truthfully I would trust stainless over many of the mystery ceramics out there, plus you can buy a finned heater that is made in the USA and you can count on them being pure stainless.
Lastly the Ceramic will not heat as well as the Finned tube. Here is an explanation I wrote in another thread:
Finned Cartridge heaters are designed for heating air, these fins would radiate heat far better while effectively heating the air at a more consistent temperature with less energy used. The smooth ceramic is not made for heating air, they are meant for heating solids and designed to be in direct contact with whatever they are heating.
The Fins create more surface area and cause turbulence in the air when you inhale drawing air over the Fins will cause turbulence in the air rather than the current flat design which has a flat heater that has nothing to stop the air from whizzing by, this means uneven air temperatures so you have to be more aware of your inhalation technique.
See how much more surface area the Fins create, every time you inhale the air will be slamming against those fins where as the smooth ceramic the air flows right by without the time to properly heat air.
http://www.fastheatuk.com/images/cartridge finned.jpg
but i was just was working with what i had. Surprisingly enough though i haven't really had much trouble with combustion since you can see the herbal goodness as your lighting it.
The VHW uses the same style handle but obviously a different element from the size of theirs, all you have to do is swap it out for one of same wattage. If it is not working send it back for exchange but don't give up on the adjustable type, you will need an adjustable iron to properly vaporize since most Soldering irons burn at super high temperatures of around 900 degree Fahrenheit. 
