The Arizer Air

[MeditativeMind]

Hi guys.
My air just arrived today. I have orderd 2 more batteries would it be ok to charge them with the omicron charger? That would be real nice so i did not have to buy a new charger.
I have no clue if this works please help me out

As long it's a quality charger with over-charging protection you'll be fine. As far as I know, the batteries themselves don't have any protection so make sure you never over-charge and never fully discharge.

The Nitecore chargers are highly recommended.

No, it flashes red for the second half of the range. First green, then white, then orange to the 50% point, after than it's red each power up. Once the voltage drops under about 3.6 Volts in my tests

There might be a fifth setting. I notice somewhere between white and orange there is a setting where it looks like it's white but there are other colours flashing behind it as if it's in the middle of a transition from white to orange/yellow. I've seen it twice already. It might just be my eyes playing tricks or my specific unit... not sure really.

any suggestions on how to fix the hard draw on the air?i mean u suck and it feels like you have to train your lungs to feel it easy...

Instead of pushing the stem in all the way so it touches the plate, try lifting it up just a little. Even 1-2 millimeters is enough to greatly increase airflow. Another option is to buy the PVHES

So the newer model Airs have a battery indicator on it?

Yes. From what I gather it's 100% software related so with or without the indicator, your unit will function the same. With the indicator, you'll see a light representing a battery level rather than just a red light when battery is low.

I see.
So it flashes like a red color when the battery is near dead?

When you plug the unit into the charger or when you first turn it on, a light will pop up. This light indicates your battery level. As far as we know, the levels are (from highest to lowest): green, white, orange, and red.

 

[McSheamus]

any suggestions on how to fix the hard draw on the air?i mean u suck and it feels like you have to train your lungs to feel it easy...

You can put 2 screens on top of eachother in the heating chamber. Then you don't have to lift the stem up each time. No disadvantage to it either so why not...

 

[OF]

As long it's a quality charger with over-charging protection you'll be fine. As far as I know, the batteries themselves don't have any protection so make sure you never over-charge and never fully discharge.

Agreed, but I'll hold that the charger in question, the one from Omicron/Persei fails that 'quality charger' test. And since, as you point out, these batteries have no internal protection and are capable of very high peak power this is a bad combination IMO. It is not a full featured charger, but is effective in it's intended use (charging pairs of batteries in a different application) and low in cost.

IMO poor economy.

There might be a fifth setting. I notice somewhere between white and orange there is a setting where it looks like it's white but there are other colours flashing behind it as if it's in the middle of a transition from white to orange/yellow. I've seen it twice already. It might just be my eyes playing tricks or my specific unit... not sure really.

Anything is possible, but I ran my test carefully twice. Being color blind, I didn't go by colors but rather which of the 3 LEDs is lit. There are only 3 choices, red, green and blue. White comes from all 3, orange from red and green together. If you look very carefully you can see this happen. It is possible to 'flicker' between the four states, for example at exactly 3.93 Volts it flickers between green and white (green stays on, red and blue flicker on and off together).

I still want to play with this some more, but right now I'm thinking the battery meter 'improvement' is really a step backwards. What do I care about the fine points of the first half of the useful range? I want to know if I have enough power for another session or should I recharge, right? The new 'meter' offers no such clue. Only that it's 'half (or more) used'.

The old system seems to work like a motorcycle or the original Volkswagens (no gas gauges). There you simply run until it stops, then activate the reserve (another gallon of gas in the VW via a lever under the dashboard, good for 30 plus miles) and motor on. I think with the original program when it stops flashing red to show the battery is in trouble you can simply restart and have a final session?

I want to go back and carefully test the original system (pity Arizer doesn't just tell us how these features work......), but right now I'm thinking the original is more useful.....even for those who can see colors normally.

OF

 

[olivianewtonjohn]

any suggestions on how to fix the hard draw on the air?i mean u suck and it feels like you have to train your lungs to feel it easy...

You have already had many fine suggestions. Two I can offer is, if your stem doesnt sit flat just rock it back and forth to get more airflow. Second tip is maybe think about how you are using the device, maybe you are trying to fight it vs working with it. What I mean by that is instead of fighting the resistance inhale slower until there is minimal resistance.

What do I care about the fine points of the first half of the useful range? I want to know if I have enough power for another session or should I recharge, right? The new 'meter' offers no such clue. Only that it's 'half (or more) used'.

OF

Not sure I am following. Would you mind expanding this part? Is the meter not accurate? If you see green, white, or orange doesnt this indicate another possible session (or more)?

 

[OF]

Not sure I am following. Would you mind expanding this part? Is the meter not accurate? If you see green, white, or orange doesnt this indicate another possible session (or more)?

I didn't say it wasn't accurate (at least I didn't intend to), I said it wasn't all that useful.

Imagine covering the bottom half of your car's gas gauge with tape so you can't see it. That's what Air gives you. In your car you can know how much gas you have left, as long as it's over half a tank. Same with Air.

In your car so modified if you can't see the needle on the half of the scale still showing all you know is the tank is less than half full, how much less you have no clue. Same with Air, when the green LED goes out (when orange shifts to red) all you know after that is it's less than half charged. How close to the end, you have no clue. Not all that useful IMO. The important half you're 'shooting blind' even with normal color vision.

When it shows red you have two sessions left, or maybe one.......or maybe none.....

Consider where you depend on Solo battery lights the most, at the bottom, right?

OF

 

[foonaciousd14]

Kind of strange why Arizer decided to go with the color-coded scheme instead of perhaps using a digital display or the traditional Solo display.

I understand that they wanted to make this unit a true portable, but for people who are color blind it can be a little bit of a hassle.

That being said, all someone really has to do is just read which level corresponds to what temperature and they should be fine. Or they can remember how many clicks it takes to get them to their desired setting.


This unit looks very intriguing. It seems like an easy transition from the Solo to the Air if I were to get one of these bad boys.

 

[olivianewtonjohn]

I didn't say it wasn't accurate (at least I didn't intend to), I said it wasn't all that useful.

Imagine covering the bottom half of your car's gas gauge with tape so you can't see it. That's what Air gives you. In your car you can know how much gas you have left, as long as it's over half a tank. Same with Air.

In your car so modified if you can't see the needle on the half of the scale still showing all you know is the tank is less than half full, how much less you have no clue. Same with Air, when the green LED goes out (when orange shifts to red) all you know after that is it's less than half charged. How close to the end, you have no clue. Not all that useful IMO. The important half you're 'shooting blind' even with normal color vision.

When it shows red you have two sessions left, or maybe one.......or maybe none.....

Consider where you depend on Solo battery lights the most, at the bottom, right?

OF

With use you wont see a pattern? I am on a long Tbreak and its been awhile since I used the air, but I thought there was more or less a pattern. Like on orange having 2 sessions more. I will have to test more but for me it was helpful in the sense of knowing I am on white so there are plenty of session just for me; no need to bring another battery or swap it out.

Kind of strange why Arizer decided to go with the color-coded scheme instead of perhaps using a digital display or the traditional Solo display.

I understand that they wanted to make this unit a true portable, but for people who are color blind it can be a little bit of a hassle.

That being said, all someone really has to do is just read which level corresponds to what temperature and they should be fine. Or they can remember how many clicks it takes to get them to their desired setting.


This unit looks very intriguing. It seems like an easy transition from the Solo to the Air if I were to get one of these bad boys.

Yeah I think you and OF are in the majority. I might be in the minority but looking at another small portable with the solo light design, aesthetically I prefer the single light system (but understand the want for such a design)

Regarding LCD, I agree. My $50 panasonic shaver has it. My chinese beta herbstick deluxe has it. $25 ecig batteries have it (MVP2 for example). Whatever the reasoning arizer decided to not use microusb or put a screen on it. But at the end of the day they make a reliable, quality product. I dont think I can remember any digital portables without design flaws or problems. From what I can tell failures are very rare with this product. Perhaps one of the most reliable flawless portables I have seen. Smooth roll out!

 

[OF]

With use you wont see a pattern? I am on a long Tbreak and its been awhile since I used the air, but I thought there was more or less a pattern. Like on orange having 2 sessions more. I will have to test more but for me it was helpful in the sense of knowing I am on white so there are plenty of session just for me; no need to bring another battery or swap it out.

It's not useless, it's just aggravating in that it could easily be so much more useful. Think about my gas gauge analogy above. You get fine steps where you don't need them (at the top of the charge). And with 3 steps (green, white, orange) covering what's basically two sessions you don't always see all 3 of them. Yes, seeing white is reassuring, but consider that for us color blind guys that's the last clue. Orange being indistinguishable from red....... I'm reduced to 'white or not white' basically.

IMO even those with normal color vision are ill served since it lacks any useful resolution where you need it. Better if it had showed green until say 1/2 or more through the charge cycle then resolved the last part in useful size steps? Not well thought out, IMO.......as patches can tend to be. This is exactly the sort of issue you should discover and resolve in Beta Testing.

OF

 

[McSheamus]

No, it flashes red for the second half of the range. First green, then white, then orange to the 50% point, after than it's red each power up. Once the voltage drops under about 3.6 Volts in my tests. I did a series of tests (max temperature, no stem) which load less than making vapor. The series went 12 ten minute sessions (not the less than 60 minutes that happens in real use), from 11:35 to 1:36 when it stalled. Two at green, two white, two orange and six red.

OF

I'm gonna test this tomorrow but i just read what you said there. You say when red is coming up the charge is 50%?

I get at a full charge, 2 on green, 1 white, 1 orange and I do 1 at red cos I thought it wouldn't last another session, just use it at home so charging is no biggie.

This means that I can normally get 3 more sessions out of it (4 sessions before it goes red, so i'm assuming 4 after also). I never manually shutoff, so each session is 12 mins.

So normally I would have 8 sessions or 96mins or more than 1.5h before it goes dead. Wich is equal to the Solo...

This needs testing!

 

[olivianewtonjohn]

@McSheamus 5 sessions is possible and inline with what you would expect (50mins). Each session is 10mins not 12. No way it has the same battery life as solo since its one 18650 vs two 18650's (say maybe 8 sessions at 12mins each=96mins)

I dont think you interpreted the post correctly but ill let OF chime in. To be honest im still alittle confused lol. Next time I use the air I will pay close attention to the light indicators.

 

[McSheamus]

@McSheamus 5 sessions is possible and inline with what you would expect (50mins). Each session is 10mins not 12. No way it has the same battery life as solo since its one 18650 vs two 18650's (say maybe 8 sessions at 12mins each=96mins)

I dont think you interpreted the post correctly but ill let OF chime in. To be honest im still alittle confused lol. Next time I use the air I will pay close attention to the light indicators.

10mins right, my bad! Still would be 80mins...

When red comes it is 50%.

Before red I have 4 sessions, so ideally after also...

Let's see how testing will work out!

 

[Rizla]

I read through most of this thread and bought the Air based largely on your opinions.

I must say this thing is awesome!

One thing I find interesting however is that earlier in this thread someone posted that
the unit was charging his batteries to 4.25v and discharging them below 3v. I have the
newer model with the battery indicator and it charges my batteries to 4.2v and
discharges them to 3.3v (still quite low for my liking). When it switches from white to yellow
my batteries are at a much more comfortable 3.55v-3.6v, so I tend to charge it then.

This leads me to believe the overcharging/over-discharging present in earlier models is a
possibly dangerous manufacturer defect, at very least this will decrease the lifetime of your
batteries. Even the super special $3 chinese 18650 Arizer sells for $19.99.

Another thing worth noting is that my plastic mouthpiece cracked while I was removing the stem.
It made a loud pop and cracked in two places rendering it unusable. Fortunately the vendor I got
it from is replacing it at no cost (Thanks Jack at Agracan!). Has anyone else experienced this?





(sorry if this has been posted, I read 121 pages then I got my Air and have been smoking, err vaping, since)

 

[photobooth]

I get at a full charge, 2 on green, 1 white, 1 orange and I do 1 at red cos I thought it wouldn't last another session, just use it at home so charging is no biggie.

This is pretty accurate for me as well, 1.5-2 on green, 1 white, 1 orange and 1-2 on red. So if the indicator reads red, I know to grab an extra battery or two. Personally, I like knowing as the battery approaches 50%

 

[olivianewtonjohn]

@Rizla

Good to know im not the only one getting 4.2V at full charge. My external charger goes to the same value. Ill test the low end when I use it as well.

Regarding the mouthpiece, I have heard of another user with a broken mouthpiece but it seems far from common. Insert when hot to avoid too much resistance

 

[OF]

I'm gonna test this tomorrow but i just read what you said there. You say when red is coming up the charge is 50%?

So normally I would have 8 sessions or 96mins or more than 1.5h before it goes dead. Wich is equal to the Solo...

This needs testing!

Yes, that's what I said. Based on my test, reported here:
http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-arizer-air.16415/page-144#post-750291

I took a fair bit of care (ran it twice in fact), I got 6 test sessions before red, 6 after, making it 50% through. Note these are test sessions, not making vapor. The idea is uniform heat load free of human factors.

As has been said by another Member above, better check your count. You're the only guy to report more than an hour I think actually making vapor. 50 minutes seems a good number?

I read through most of this thread and bought the Air based largely on your opinions.

I must say this thing is awesome!

This leads me to believe the overcharging/over-discharging present in earlier models is a
possibly dangerous manufacturer defect, at very least this will decrease the lifetime of your
batteries. Even the super special $3 chinese 18650 Arizer sells for $19.99.

I'm glad you got on board, more so that you're enjoying it, it's an excellent device for sure.

However, I think you're way off base with your opinion of battery and usage. I see no evidence of "
a possibly dangerous manufacturer defect", but rather good reason to follow the maker's advice and not use and "$3 Chinese 18650s" but rather stick with the quite exceptional IMR battery they selected and evidently designed the Air around. CentiZen researched this quite carefully, substituting other types or makers is definitely not recommended (and blows the warranty if you're honest). He bought a batch of the exact units from the maker and is offering them to Members at about half price.

This has been discussed a lot in this thread, and also in a separate thread about the battery somewhere.

OF

 

[g14production]

Hi again guys and gals, Still loving my Air and don't regret it one bit. One thing I would like to do is pick up a more efficient stem like the Vortex Shorty, seems like PV is out and is always out of stock. Is their anyone else who sells a similar stem or even a better stem? Thanks.

 

[McSheamus]

Yes, that's what I said. Based on my test, reported here:
http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-arizer-air.16415/page-144#post-750291

I took a fair bit of care (ran it twice in fact), I got 6 test sessions before red, 6 after, making it 50% through. Note these are test sessions, not making vapor. The idea is uniform heat load free of human factors.

As has been said by another Member above, better check your count. You're the only guy to report more than an hour I think actually making vapor. 50 minutes seems a good number?


OF

I'll let you know when i have counted how many sessions when it's red till it drops dead, wich i have never done.

 

[Phaeyune]

Probably! It shouldn't be a common issue that's forsure. Are you operating mostly on red? I never used the sleeve.

Yes, I usually just use red. I actually removed the sleeve as a test and it's still shutting off. Really getting annoying. It didn't behave this way when I first got it. I'm not sure what's going on with it, but I can't imagine that this is normal behavior. It happens sometimes on the very first session from being cold.

 

[Rizla]

I'm glad you got on board, more so that you're enjoying it, it's an excellent device for sure.

However, I think you're way off base with your opinion of battery and usage. I see no evidence of "
a possibly dangerous manufacturer defect", but rather good reason to follow the maker's advice and not use and "$3 Chinese 18650s" but rather stick with the quite exceptional IMR battery they selected and evidently designed the Air around. CentiZen researched this quite carefully, substituting other types or makers is definitely not recommended (and blows the warranty if you're honest). He bought a batch of the exact units from the maker and is offering them to Members at about half price.

This has been discussed a lot in this thread, and also in a separate thread about the battery somewhere.

OF

I understand that you guys discussed this at length and I did read through that. I obviously value your opinions (at least $246 CAD shipped worth =D).

Did you find in your research why they decided to alter the charge capacity (both charge and discharge) in
the newest firmware?

Seems very odd to me if it was intended.......seems more like they quietly updated the firmware, adding a
charge indicator and changing the capacity to something safe.

I never said I used a third party battery. I use the battery my air came with and charge it with the unit, it's a cheap reliable bak; their landed cost on it is probably about $5. Charging $19.99 is gouging so bad it's insulting.

I really do love the unit but it seems like a case of a shitty company that makes great products. Their customer service seems like it's run by engineers! Kind of sucks but I'll probably buy an extreme q anyway.

It's really too bad they didn't use a usb charger so they could update the firmware.....

 

[biohacker]

I really do love the unit but it seems like a case of a shitty company that makes great products. Their customer service seems like it's run by engineers! Kind of sucks but I'll probably buy an extreme q anyway.

I disagree. Arizer is an incredible company with AAA+ customer service which they pride themselves on.

 

[OF]

I'll let you know when i have counted how many sessions when it's red till it drops dead, wich i have never done.

By all means please do. I have done that (count, measure) and reported here what I found. It seems much in line with what others found. It would be interesting indeed if you found something different I think.

I think it's fun to note until I ran that test and posted what I found we couldn't even agree on the colors and their order.......now it seem we do at least that much.

Good luck with your experiments.

Did you find in your research why they decided to alter the charge capacity (both charge and discharge) in the newest firmware?

Actually I don't find that change at all. My original BF unit and the one I just got seem very very similar to me.

On what do you base this claim of change? TIA

If you're correct, that means the current version gets less run time per charge then, right? About how much?

OF

 

[Rizla]

Actually I don't find that change at all. My original BF unit and the one I just got seem very very similar to me.

On what do you base this claim of change? TIA

My personal experience with my device; tested with a cheap multimeter, a high end charger and a super high end multimeter at work. All consistently measured 4.2v full charge and 3.3 when it locked out due to low voltage.

Since you have both an old one and new one it would be great if you could run similar tests and see if you achieve the same results.

olivianewtonjohn also had the same results with the unit charging to 4.2v and I'd say it's a sure bet their unit will perform the same cutting off at 3.3v.



edit: I got mine from agracan.ca in January, their facility is apparently an hour from arizer hq

If you're correct, that means the current version gets less run time per charge then, right? About how much?

Yes that's true I hadn't thought of that as I never used the "first gen" air.
I get about 60min from 4.2v to 3.3v (6 sessions) the last session sometimes cut out early or got a very short 7th.

I get about 40 min from 4.2v to 3.6v, when white goes to orange, that's when I like to charge it.

 

[pakalolo]

I use the battery my air came with and charge it with the unit, it's a cheap reliable bak; their landed cost on it is probably about $5. Charging $19.99 is gouging so bad it's insulting.

I really do love the unit but it seems like a case of a shitty company that makes great products.

Please review our rules, particularly this one:

• Don’t attack products or companies. You can post your opinion, and you can criticize, but posts written to offend are not allowed.

This is insulting, all right. It's difficult to see how Arizer wouldn't take offense to being called shitty and gougers. Since you've just joined I'll assume you didn't read the rules carefully rather than not having read them at all. Take a few minutes and study them now so that you don't break another one, because you just used up your free pass.

 

[Rizla]

Please review our rules, particularly this one:

• Don’t attack products or companies. You can post your opinion, and you can criticize, but posts written to offend are not allowed.

This is insulting, all right. It's difficult to see how Arizer wouldn't take offense to being called shitty and gougers. Since you've just joined I'll assume you didn't read the rules carefully rather than not having read them at all. Take a few minutes and study them now so that you don't break another one, because you just used up your free pass.

but it seems like a case of a shitty company that makes great products

This is clearly my opinion based on my experience with the company, I don't see how this crosses the border from criticism to slander.

I feel this way due to but not exclusive to:

-Their inability to provide a replacement plastic mouth piece for sale, included with an order or otherwise.
-Releasing product revisions with no explanation
-Blatant gouging


I can reword or delete my post if you'd like but I figured a site with fuck in the domain would be made of stronger stuff.......

 

[UnshavenFish]

First i should start by saying this is just my opinion and remember opinions are like arseholes everyone has one and sometimes they stink! Lol

I don't think there has been a charge related change although i did at first...even @CentiZen reported same results (with first firmware) that i have (with battery meter) and many others 4.20 upper and 3.4 lower.

As far as I'm aware it was only one case of getting 4.25 upper volts and i think this might even be down to leaving plugged in after finishing charge (just a guess)

To my knowledge anything above 4.25 will shorten battery life and its not until around 4.50 that things could go wrong so even with 4.25 it should just mean slightly longer runtime (very little) but also shorter battery life overall.

There was also mention about worries about lower voltage cutoff, for me 3.40 is fine due to the kind if battery this is (IMR) if you have come from using say mechanical mods (e-cigs) this will seem low (i charge mine at 3.80 as this is where output drops for me) but that will be because mechs start to loose performance at a higher voltage than the setup we have with the air.