Discontinued Pax Vaporizer by Ploom

[Deadshort480]

There seems to be a lot of mixed feelings about the Pax. Even though my unit is giving me a slightly hard time with that flashing blue light (sending it back for replacement on Monday), it still works with a bit of jostling. I have no qualms with the vapor production, quality or taste of the vapor, or the cleaning process. Personally, I enjoy cleaning my Pax. I'm happy. I'll be even happier when I get my replacement.

 

[stoneloc]

My Pax came in today. I was going to write a long review talking about exactly how much I enjoy it, but think I'll sum it up as the reason I won't be writing that review is entirely because of how much I enjoy it. I am, however, going to go order a pizza.

 

[BittenBagel]

How does taste deliver with the Pax?

 

[JoeKickass]

How does taste deliver with the Pax?

The Pax delivers taste!

(On yellow most of all)

 

[ats314]

I clean my daily driver LB about once a month or so, and then it is 60 seconds of heat with the PA and a quick brush along the rails. I have never cleaned my koa LB but it gets little use; it is a display piece. I have never had any build-up on the flat part of the shelves and definitely never around the O-ring of either of my LBs. The only thing that accumulates there is loose material that I can shake back into the trench. Since the heating chamber is small and the vapour path is extremely short (I hit the LB native) there is almost nowhere for the resin to accumulate. If your ABV is not really toasted and particularly if it is still sticky, you need to learn better technique. I can get black ABV from my LBs any time I want it.

The Pax accumulates more resin because it has a much longer vapour path but especially because it continues to heat after you draw. Since it is a conduction device this means it continues to produce vapour when you aren't using it. That vapour has to go somewhere. Some of it is inhaled on the next hit--if there is a next hit--but some of it condenses. I honestly wonder if those who insist that it needs no cleaning have ever looked through the vapour tube or into the mouthpiece tube. On mine, after three-four ovens there is obvious accumulation. I tried leaving it alone as JoeKickAss describes, and noted two things: one, the accumulation near the top of the mouthpiece actually started to block the exit hole, and two, the taste (which goes off quickly in the Pax under the best of conditions) got to be simply awful. I can taste the buildup easily and it is not nice. I should add that I dry my stash thoroughly, because material that hasn't been dried increases resin accumulation by quite a bit.

Finally, and I've posted this in this thread several times already, just because you and JKA don't feel a need to clean your Pax doesn't mean everyone feels that way. Hell, look at JKA's avatar. It's easy to understand why he insisted that crap on the shoulders wasn't an issue, he just doesn't mind it--but I do. Those who do feel compelled to clean the Pax for whatever reason find that it is high maintenance, and no amount of insisting that you don't feel that way doesn't change how someone else feels.

good info, thanks

 

[druminfected]

I'm in the US but Everclear is illegal to sell in many states.

Yes some states Everclear is illegal, which is kinda dumb imo. I'm pretty sure you can't get everclear in cali, but you sure get the other goodies! Not sure, but you might be able to get denatured ethanol at walgreens, but they put something in the denatured so you can't drink it but much cheaper than regular ethanol.

ethanol has different properties than iso, which is why a lot of people also like to make oil with it instead of iso. much better stuff when using ethanol IMO.

 

[druminfected]

I have had my Pax for 24 hours now, and have begun taping video cuts.
I am going to try to be patient and do this in a positive light, so I am taking my time.
I almost wish I had not gotten my Inhalater first, as I was VERY pleased with it, and it is a hard act to follow.
So far my experience with the Pax has left much to be desired.
I was going to make this my Vape for the day, but am being "foiled" by long charge times.
Am reading hints and tips, and will report back.

Funny I thought the same thing! I got my inhalater first and then got the pax. After being VERY pleased with it, it is a hard act to follow. I can say that cleaning the Pax vs the Inhalater is no question in my mind that the Inhalater is easier to clean and maintain. Just a lil solvent on q-tip then in inhalater unit and solvent wash capsule ( not even needed, you can just use a mflb brush or just blow out the other side) and boom you done! Pax you need to bust out a pipe cleaner clean the pax, then clean the mouth piece clean, then you have to clean the inside of the oven area, and then when done you have to pop open the oven and clean the resin in there as well. Then finish off cleaning the inside oven lid where most of the stickyness occurs. I'll stop right here, because I really want to do a full review of both the inhalater and Pax and list the pros and cons.

With both my units having battery malfunctions, I'll have to wait until I get back both fully functional units, because that may be a factor in reviewing both the pax and inhalater and don't want to give bogus info because of malfunctioning units. Like many of you here on the forum, we try to read peoples opinions on what advice they can give before purchasing very expensive units, instead of a impulse buy and then end up being very pissed because you didn't read FC!

The only way I seem to be getting hits on the Pax, was when I puffed it like a cigar, but little puffs. If I did any other way not much vapor would come out. believe me, I'm really trying to like and make the best out of the Pax reading up on tips and ideas to make a more pleasurable vaping experience.

Well.... back to using my MFLB, which has been saving the day for me from malfunctioning units. Small Compact and built like a beast, the mlfb will be one of the vapes that stay with me forever! (since the lifetime warranty )

 

[lesvape]

Yes some states Everclear is illegal, which is kinda dumb imo. I'm pretty sure you can't get everclear in cali, but you sure get the other goodies! Not sure, but you might be able to get denatured ethanol at walgreens, but they put something in the denatured so you can't drink it but much cheaper than regular ethanol.

ethanol has different properties than iso, which is why a lot of people also like to make oil with it instead of iso. much better stuff when using ethanol IMO.

You can get 151 Everclear in Cali, but when I was looking for like a small bottle of everclear to make dragon from my ABV with, I found at a local liquor store out here in West LA area a 91% Everclear. I asked I thought it was illegal to sell this high in California, but he said I guess not since they carry it.

 

[donald420]

I live in new zealand and my pax should be arriving 2moro morning only prob is i have to get a converter in order to charge my pax, i went and got 1 but am not 100% sure its the right 1 so was just wondering if someone with the knowledge could please help me out? I got a powertech plus mp-3484 input 100-200VAC 50/60Hz output 9VDC 1.66A. Is that 1 sweet to use? Any help will be greatly appreciated

 

[willieR]

After vaping all day yesterday with the Pax, this morning I got it ready for another day.

I dumped out yesterdays ABV, wiped off the oven lid and reloaded. I'm exhausted from all the cleaning.

 

[Origon]

By the time I started reading and caught up to the thread my PAX arrived on the 29th (ordered on Sept 14th). My postal office is open for 3hrs on Saturdays, so I went to pick it up and after using it thrice yesterday, I decided I needed a better packing tool for the oven as my pinky barely fit, so the MiniTool from VapeTool was ordered. Until that gets here, I did find a quite convinient packing tool that a lot of us might have lying about the house.

The other color (lead-thickness) variations work just as well. The (in this case black) cap is flat and the perfect size to get into every corner of the PAX oven. While this would probably not be a good idea if your oven is hot (it is soft plastic after all), this works great when the unit is not hot enough to affect that plastic.

 

[dudeeitsbrian]

The only way I seem to be getting hits on the Pax, was when I puffed it like a cigar, but little puffs. If I did any other way not much vapor would come out. believe me, I'm really trying to like and make the best out of the Pax reading up on tips and ideas to make a more pleasurable vaping experience.

have you seen the video i posted a bunch of pages back? basically it just shows what you should expect as far as cloud size on medium/high temperature, using some very good herb i might add.

here's the video (skip to around the 3 minute mark if you don't want to watch the entire thing, that's where the clouds begin):

 

[Dreamerr]

Not literally, obviously. I have no issue with it.

I think the cleaning is minimal also. I've never seen anything aside from very slight resin on a pipe cleaner. The oven cleans out with a quick wipe and a puff of air. This is I suppose partly because the herbs are in contact with smooth steel, and most of the surfaces are hot, so no sticking. The ABV is dry brown toast. All of it.

The LB, because not all surfaces get hot, requires more brushing after a session. There's always a slight buildup arould the O-ring and on the shelves. That area doesn't get hot. The ABV is not nearly as toasted and stays sticky.

Why do I say all of this? Because despite the quick characterization of the Pax as a high maintenance item, a good arguement could be made that the LB logs in more hands on cleaning time than the Pax. I can't speak for all of Paxdom.

Two years and I have never cleaned my LB and it is very clean. I see no reason to clean the LB unless you want to clean the stem. I have zero resin or anything I can see on it.

 

[Vitolo]

Funny I thought the same thing! I got my inhalater first and then got the pax. After being VERY pleased with it, it is a hard act to follow.....

I am still not dismayed. I will wait for a working unit, before deciding.... too many people love the Pax for me to pre-judge.
I will comment that here and on other forums there seem to be a number of people waiting for replacements.
As for smaller puffs, vs. Big hits.. Thick cloudy puffs can work.
Thick cloudy puffs can be held in and built up upon with further thick hits to gather a huge cloud.. sort of like the MFLB.

 

[terpsfan726]

I really don't understand why everybody is being so hostile in this thread. Some people like the pax, and some people don't like it as much as other portable vapes out there...

Until about a couple nights ago, i never really started using the low temperature heat setting a whole lot. But WOW, i am very happy with using the low heat setting for a majority of the session. It really take a whole lot longer for my herb to turn darker on low, but i almost get as medicated as i would be on the higher settings. Makes my session last MUCH longer.

I would have to disagree with those that say the pax does not need to be cleaned. Although, mine does not build up as much as paka's (with the mouth hole getting clogged with resin), but i do notice a difference in the taste and the smoothness of the mouthpiece(and actually the smoothness of the oven lid surprisingly).

 

[JoeKickass]

but i do notice a difference in the taste and the smoothness of the mouthpiece(and actually the smoothness of the oven lid surprisingly).

Yes I definitely agree! But if you just keep on using it you'll find it doesn't need to be cleaned, it will still work just fine. But yes cleaning does slightly improve taste (like it does on all devices)

 

[fudpucker]

OK, just got my Pax a couple of days ago, but wasn't able to use it until last night.

I was getting worried with all of the posts about hard to draw, etc. My background/experiences: various bongs (the old days! ) Buddha, MFLB. I charged up the Pax, loaded it (didn't weigh, just put stuff in and tamped down until the oven looked pretty full) and waited for the light to turn green. It did, I put the mouthpiece in my lips, slowly puffed, felt the nice warm vapor fill my mouth, and got a deep enough inhale that I coughed! I'm just not seeing any problems at all getting nice thick vapor with almost no effort.

Love the "easy" nature of this. Small, sleek, set it down and it auto cools down, pick it up, light turns green, take a hit or two. No batteries or cables or tubes, and as easy as picking up and putting down a slim ipod.

 

[webb]

I am still not dismayed. I will wait for a working unit, before deciding.... too many people love the Pax for me to pre-judge.
I will comment that here and on other forums there seem to be a number of people waiting for replacements.
As for smaller puffs, vs. hits.. Thick cloudy puffs can work.
Thick cloudy puffs can be held in and built up upon with further thick hits to gather a huge cloud.. sort of like the MFLB.

Vito, I really hope you enjoy it when it arrives!! You deserve it to work, and I thoroughly enjoy mine. The only complaint I have right now is battery life, mine lasts about 5 sessions, but I haven't fully discharged it yet.

 

[terpsfan726]

i agree that is does not need to be cleaned, but imo it should be cleaned for optimal performance.

 

[VapedUp]

Had my pax for about 2 weeks now, 2nd batch of units, and here's my experience:

It's very discreet, perfect size, good visible vapor output, and just the overall convenience of the device is great. I feel comfortable taking it in my car and public, and wouldn't be too worried if i was to be pulled over. I get nice visible hits from cigar style pulls and also long soft draws. It does appear having a full packed bowl, packed down, yields the best vapor imo. I'm still working on optimal conditions for smaller bowls. As far as the pax getting hot, only the oven area, but no heat on the mouth piece felt by me at least. I also dont leave my pax running for long periods of time. Take my hits and turn it off. Cleaning isn't much of an issue either. I've cleaned my unit twice since having it, and mainly just from reading here, but not a big deal. It would be nice if the screens came back in stock because i think that will make a positive improvement. I mainly use my pax on medium, never high yet, and rarely on low. Although, lately i have began starting my session on low and liking it. Still good visible vapor output. This isn't my first experience with a vape. I have an extreme vaporizer, but stopped using it mainly because it's not very convenient due to warming up and i think it's easy to get too high and waste herb if i only want a couple of hits.

I can't really say i have any negative issues other than when i first got my pax, the mouth piece wouldn't pull up very easy to change the temp etc, but it's loosened up since. I do think i'm going through a lot more herb right now, but not because of how the pax operates, but because my pax is new and i'm really enjoying hitting it. Having the pax, I've put all my combustion tools away, and don't plan on using them except for emergency use. It's the portable vape i've been waiting for.

 

[MailFTW]

I'm ordering my Pax tomorrow. I know that this has been said before but I just can't seem to find one post that sums it all up. In dealing with cleaning the Pax can someone please explain to me exactly which pieces should be carefully cleaned when dealing with ISO as to not break the electronics? I also do not want my mouthpiece to stick etc so which parts need to be cleaned as to avoid this? Finally i've seen people talking about just cleaning the device while its hot. Do you still need to clean other parts of the pax with ISO if you go with this cleaning route? Thank you for helping me because I know similar posts like this have already been put up.

 

[ats314]

welp, apparently Pax customer service doesn't work weekends. I've received no response on my issue with the broken charger. I think I'll just go try and replace it myself today, but I'm not thrilled with Ploom and the Pax so far.

 

[VapedUp]

seriously, for the non OCD people, all you really need to do for cleaning is heat the unit to green light so the resin isn't hard stuck to unit making easier to wipe off, stick a pipe cleaner with light coating of iso through the tube once a week (may vary depending on how heavy you smoke. i smoke often and once a week is fine), wipe the oven and screen using iso and q-tip, change the screen maybe every few weeks or more, and clean the mouth piece detached and using iso, can also soak. Takes 2 min.

** when sticking pipe cleaner through tube, be careful not to get iso on the temp btn. Hold the unit unit temp btn side facing the down so gravity will help. Also pipe cleaner should not be dripping iso.

Edit: One other thing to point out, doing the actuation (clicking up and down a few times) as mentioned at the end of sessions seems to help keep the mouth piece clean and functioning preventing sticking.

 

[Slightly Medicated]

welp, apparently Pax customer service doesn't work weekends. I've received no response on my issue with the broken charger. I think I'll just go try and replace it myself today, but I'm not thrilled with Ploom and the Pax so far.

I don't think they do any customer service on the weekend. I would wait till tomorrow and give their chat system a try. The chat is running 9am to 5pm PST, Monday through Friday.

I got one of the new mouthpieces. It seems to work well for me and never get stuck. The last two times I used the device the mouth piece would not set right and it would switch from heating to showing the temp status. I cleaned it off and it works again. I don't clean mine after every session. I clean it maybe once a week after 4-6 sessions total.

 

[ats314]

just curious, but does anyone have an idea of where to get a 9V charger that would replace the one in the Pax? I've tried Radio Shack and Fry's with no luck.