Seed Beads: affordable, available, and effective vapor diffusion!

[gvape]

You made me want to take my extreme out again.... Its been a while since I last used it and now that you gave me the idea to use the beads as a screen for concentrates im all over it. Gonna be a few days before I get a chance to test this out but Im excited.

As far as the beads in the pipe, I think less water and more beads may be my solution or maybe not. Im not sure how much of a difference the beads do with vape, but Im sure they would work wonders with combustion. I would just hate to clean them....

 

[Progress]

Gvape, here are some tips for using the beads in the cyclone with extracts (fill the cyclone with seed beads, preheat beads n cyclone for 15 min with he elbow on occasionally drawing hot air past, put the oil on top and stir throughout the beads as it begins to melt).

Also, less water and more beads may suit your tastes. Play around with bead levels, bead size, and water levels until you get your personal, ideal balance of drag and diffusion.

Let us know what works for you when you have a moment.

Toke it easy.

 

[gvape]

I still have yet to try the cyclone with the heads.

However, my illy got the beeds up in the perc area and now the beads are stuck between the percs and the wall of the pipe. Its driving me nuts they wont come out. Any ideas on how to get them out?

 

[Progress]

Gvape, I tried to warn about beads and diffusers like inlines, trees, etc. The best bet is to shake carefully with iso or water. Salt often used for cleaning can help too.

Slightly larger beads 6/0ish also move less and can be nice for pieces with an empty chamber with trees/etc above it.

Smaller diffuse better but move (and may be carried by the water) more.

How well do you feel the beads diffuse? Can you picture a simple beaker with an undiffused downstem full of beads?

 

[VWFringe]

more videos of small beads in action please.

 

[gvape]

I am NOT a fan of the beads since they ruined my illadelph. I have spent hours trying to clean this thing with iso, salt, everything other solution I got and they wont come out.

I would have never gotten beads this small if I knew they would have gotten stuck. I should have thought about it more, but was too excited to try the idea.

Neat Idea, but they are a pain to clean and get back in. I will stick to snow as it melts and I just empty and add more.

 

[Progress]

Gvape,

I am sorry to hear about your experience. Seed beads are definitely best for simple pieces (ex a non-diffused travel beaker), and may pose some threats to complicated diffuser designs.

Although, I would say that a travel beaker full of seed beads can out-preform many high-end glass pieces with fancy (and expensive) diffusers.

Maybe you will find a cheap piece for your seed beads, or a friend with a cheap piece who would want them.

VWFringe, I would like to see some more videos of seed beads in action as well.

 

[Adaox]

Nice thread! I'll see if I can find some beads locally. I hate ordering online. Thanks for the idea.

 

[VWFringe]

besides not seeing any videos, i still do not have a clear idea of how the draw compares to percs

is this comparable in diffusion to glassware, and not "too hard" to draw?

 

[Progress]

Adaox - "Nice thread! I'll see if I can find some beads locally. I hate ordering online. Thanks for the idea."

You're welsome, Adaox. Let us know how it goes.

besides not seeing any videos, i still do not have a clear idea of how the draw compares to percs. is this comparable in diffusion to glassware, and not "too hard" to draw?

Even a video could not do the Seed Beads justice, IMO.

I am sure that a video could show how they shuffle around, and how the vapor rises evenly out of the entire flat surface of the beads in thin/sticky bubbles and carbonation-like fizz (causing the vapor to refuse to elongate in the space above the water).

I guess you could even shoot a clear, extreme close-up with great sound which would show how the beads spin as passing air bubbles move around them and get trapped in the holes in their centers, while allowing people to hear the hiss of the bubbles escaping and the 'extreme hailstorm of tiny pebbles' sound one hears from the mess of under-water, ricocheting beads.

However, I think that the best video could not even come close to the full experience. One of the best parts is that you can modify the experience by adding new size/shaped, cheap seed beads to your collection.

As for the drag of the set-up, it is a fairly unique experience. It generally starts off with a bit of drag as the initial bubbles find their way through the mess of beads, but grows to be virtually completely drag-free as more-and-more of the spaces between the seed beads fill with vapor. It also fizzes after you are done clearing it due to all of the air (not vapor due to clearing) that is still struggling to get out of the maze of the seed beads.

Of course the performance/drag of the seed beads greatly depends on the size/shape of the seed beads and the glass they are in.

Toke it easy, and fizz on!

 

[JacFlasche]

I was looking on ebay for glass beads and noticed that they call them crystal beads. I looked what material it is and those contains high amount of lead. If someone know a vendor for cheap glass beads that don't contain lead i'd like to know.

So you think that the lead will leak out of leaded glass? You do know that that leaded crystal is what the finest glassware in the world is made out of and has been for centuries without anyone dying or getting sick. All crystal stemware and decanters are made of leaded glass. The beads your are talking about may be called crystal, but them may not be crystal. You should ask them, they may not have lead in them at all, and may just be trying to seem higher quality than they really are. Lead increases the transparency of glass. Actually most glass that is colored is colored by metals of one kind or another. Gold, for red, cobolt for blue, even uranium for yellow in glazes on pottery (which are a form of glass) etc.

 

[JacFlasche]

Sometimes you can find a good deal on PYrex glass beads under labware on ebay, but usually they are expensive.

I am thinking that the diffusion you guys are interested in could be applied to developing a heat exchanger that would use beads to heat air. Instead of making a bunch of pyrex tubing coils in which to heat air, maybe just running an air stream through a short tube full of heated beads would be as good?
I guess this is sort of off-topic, but they are both fluids. Any ideas?

 

[Hippie Dickie]

i have thought about using glass beads in my oven tube but can't come up with a way to lock them into place ... and then be able to clean them if necessary. Seems like a nice way to build thermal mass, but with computer temperature control, not necessary ime.