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Discontinued The NEO by Prrl Labs

Black_Prrl

Manufacturer of the Neo and Terp Surfer
Manufacturer
Hey, all! I’m starting a new thread for our new product, the NEO… we’re getting ready to launch a pre-order campaign in just a few days with a planned delivery date by Thanksgiving. So, I wanted to tell you a bit about it, and get your initial thoughts and questions.

The NEO acts more like a combustionless lighter, rather than a traditional vaporizer. It seals over the bowl of your pipe so that when you inhale, hot air is drawn through the NEO and into your bowl, vaporizing your weed. It uses pure convection plus radiant quartz heat to deliver clean and rich vapor from almost any pipe, bubbler, or bong.*

We have always been a bit bugged by the messy lids, apps, and chambers of many mass-market flower vaporizers out there. They’re a hassle and I hated always having to clean them in order to prevent that stale ABV/AVB taste. It also seemed that we were hiding our weed inside a black box. With those devices, we found ourselves spending more time futzing around with the device itself, rather than staying connected to our herb. So, we really wanted technology that would fade into the background once you learned to dial in the experience.

We loved the wood of our first product, the Ember, but we wanted something with even purer flavor, more durable, and more easily manufactured at scale. This led us to look into ceramics. We found that one of the toughest and thermally efficient technical ceramics is zirconia (zirconium dioxide, ZrO2, to be more precise). While it’s more expensive than other options and it’s a real bitch to manufacture, it is nearly indestructible, pure, and has great thermal performance. Moreover, it’s semi-translucent so the glow is pretty mesmerizing.

We chose to go with a vertical orientation for the NEO (as opposed to the horizontal Ember) because we found it was easier for less experienced folks to get a good seal around the bowl when they were first learning. We also liked the sleek lines that reminded us of a rocket, heat ray, or light saber—don’t hate on me for that, it was a high idea and the Force was with us! 😎

As for the power mod, we partnered with Eleaf to reconfigure their firmware in the Rim-C. Not only did we love their form factor and how it complemented the size and shape of the Neo, but their features were also hard to beat. It has USB-C, fast charging capabilities and a swappable 18650 battery. We looked at units with larger batteries, but decided that the 18650 was so common and you can find a 3000mAh one for pretty cheap these days.

If you’re interested, we’re giving away three NEOs during our countdown to the pre-order campaign. You can find more info on Instagram @Prrl_Labs, or at our website, PrrlLabs.com.

We’d love to get your impressions and questions!

-Mark


*Some pipes, especially glass spoons, have uneven edges around the bowl. We include a clear, silicone “collar” to fit over the end of the Neo’s quartz chimney, that enables you to make a good seal with almost any pipe. The seal is important, because any air gaps act like a carb and let in cool air, rather than pulling the air through the Neo when you inhale.
 

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Black_Prrl

Manufacturer of the Neo and Terp Surfer
Manufacturer
I think this looks like a GIANT winner!

Question - can the Neo be placed on its side immediately after use? Any burn risk?
Yes, it can be placed on its side immediately... the end with the quartz chimney gets hot, though not as hot as a lighter and cools fairly rapidly. The zirconia body will become about as warm as a fresh cup of coffee and take longer to cool down. For a longer session, this prevents the need to preheat in between pulls. When lying on its side, the quartz doesn't touch the surface and we haven't melted the couch yet. 😊 But, we let it cool down for a few minutes or put it in a case before putting it into our pocket.
 

Shit Snacks

Milaana. Lana. LANA. LANAAAA! (TM2/TP80/BAK/FW9)
Thanks for the contest!

Look forward to seeing these in the wild... Nice product evolution, gorgeous design!

By the way though, after entering the contest, then clicking through to follow and like on Instagram, those extra points are not being counted in my total for some reason...
 

Black_Prrl

Manufacturer of the Neo and Terp Surfer
Manufacturer
Thanks for the contest!

Look forward to seeing these in the wild... Nice evolution from the pearl, gorgeous design!

By the way though, after entering the contest, then clicking through to follow and like on Instagram, those extra points are not being counted in my total for some reason...
Sorry to hear that! We'll look into it... DM me your email and I'll see if we can figure out what happened. It's our first time using Kickoff Labs, so we're still learning stuff. It seems as if you've already followed us on IG, it may not count as a new one--maybe to prevent like/unlike to game the system, but I really don't know.
 

Black_Prrl

Manufacturer of the Neo and Terp Surfer
Manufacturer
This looks interesting. I love the fact that it's meant to be used on an pipe or glass piece. Just hope it's not too expensive. Under $200 I hope!.
Under $200, but just barely... We originally hoped to offer it at $179, but got word this past week that the manufacturer was upping the cost for the zirconia by 41% and that shipping was more than double what we were expecting...ugh! For our pre-order campaign, though we'll be offering 50% off for the first 50, 40% for the next 75, 30% for the next 100, and 20% for the remainder of the campaign. We'll open the shopping cart at 12:01PM Pacific time on Thursday, the 24th.
 

Black_Prrl

Manufacturer of the Neo and Terp Surfer
Manufacturer
No halogen... the heating element is made from a proprietary super alloy manufactured here in the US and is in the same family as Inconel. Due to it's high corrosion resistance and strength at high temperatures, it's been used in rocket and jet engines. We've run it for thousand of thermal cycles without noticeable degradation.
 

invertedisdead

PHASE3
Manufacturer
How are you getting good airflow and even vaporization when using combustion pipes and bowls?
When I've tried vaping with combustion pipes or bowls the single hole "push" bowl has always been very inhibitive for convection flow.

Any videos of it milking an off the shelf martini bowl? Like the one in the picture above on the bong? That would be awesome to see!!
 

Kins

Well-Known Member
Under $200, but just barely... We originally hoped to offer it at $179, but got word this past week that the manufacturer was upping the cost for the zirconia by 41% and that shipping was more than double what we were expecting...ugh! For our pre-order campaign, though we'll be offering 50% off for the first 50, 40% for the next 75, 30% for the next 100, and 20% for the remainder of the campaign. We'll open the shopping cart at 12:01PM Pacific time on Thursday, the 24th.

On a Friday you'd do better because more people will have money to spend.....
 

Black_Prrl

Manufacturer of the Neo and Terp Surfer
Manufacturer
How are you getting good airflow and even vaporization when using combustion pipes and bowls?
When I've tried vaping with combustion pipes or bowls the single hole "push" bowl has always been very inhibitive for convection flow.

Any videos of it milking an off the shelf martini bowl? Like the one in the picture above on the bong? That would be awesome to see!!

I love this question!! Like you said, most pipe bowls are designed for combustion. So, a single hole is just fine. However, with convection-based extraction, you want to draw the heated air as evenly as possible through the weed. With a few simple techniques, it's totally doable.

When trying to vape from these single-hole pipes, it helps to use a glass daisy or find a bowl with a perforated glass screen bottom. These solutions inhibit particles from getting into the vapor stream, and they widen the airflow across the bowl to minimize channeling effects. It also helps to tamp your ground herb, which forces the air to find smaller pathways through your weed--increasing the surface area exposure to the hot air, and resulting in a more efficient extraction.

We are working on a special pipe that optimizes airflow and extraction...more details forthcoming.

I'll try to post a video soon... though you can see one by @A7XFREAK674 on Reddit here
 

Black_Prrl

Manufacturer of the Neo and Terp Surfer
Manufacturer
So, @Black_Prrl , I have some questions:

Heat up time?

Stirring needed?

Dimensions and weight?

Any warranty info?

The more I think about this, the more I like it!

Thanks!

Initial heat up time time will vary depending on how cold the unit is and what power setting is selected. Usually, starting from room temperature, a 30 second pre-heat is sufficient. I usually do that at a high power setting, then reduce the power for my actual pulls. After a pause in a session, the zirconia usually stays warm enough that a 15-second booster works fine. Obviously, there is no need to preheat if there isn't a pause in the action.

The system is quite forgiving in that you don't really need to worry about being so precise. You can feel the vapor in your mouth and if it's too light for you, just slow down your draw, or take a few short puffs, until the temp and density of vapor increases to where you want it. I'm sure that most/many of the folks here on FC are familiar with using that kind of technique on other devices -- starting with the pioneering Vapor Brothers whip-based technology.

Let's face it though, waiting for your weed sucks!... So, double-clicking the fire button will start an automatic 30-second heating cycle. This means that we can start the preheat, then go prep our bowl. By the time we're done getting the bowl ready, the preheat is over and we can get down to business.

Right now, there are 6 power settings that correspond to 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34 watts. On the display will be 5 diamonds that are filled or unfilled to indicate which power level you are on. Level 0 (24W) has no diamonds filled. Level 5 (34W) has all five filled. Yes, we could have used numbers, but they don't make sense to most people unless they've messed around with mods or are electrical engineers. We're getting new prototypes next week, and we will need to verify that power range because of some changes we made to improve the thermal efficiency.

Stirring... needed? No. Desirable? Probably. Much of our personal use has been using pipes that have a screened bowl--the pipes that we designed and included with the Ember. In that case, stirring really helps you to get every last drop of goodness out of your herb. So, if your bowl has a glass or SS screen in the bottom, then we suggest stirring and re-tamping frequently. Plus, we love the ritual of doing it--especially when hanging out with friends, shooting the shit.

When using a single-hole pipe with or without a daisy, we sometimes don't bother to stir too much as to not disrupt the cake and dislodge any particles. Moreover, with a daisy, we've found that the oils begin to migrate downward in the bowl and begin to concentrate there. The way the airflow also concentrates there, then heats up the daisy and thus it helps to vaporize those oils.

The Neo is 5.25" long and 1.25" in diameter. It weighs 7.2 oz with battery installed. It's got a decent heft and hand-feel to it.

We have a one-year limited warranty, which is voided if the NEO is removed from the battery mod, or if the firmware is reflashed. Don't get us wrong, one of the reasons we chose the Rim-C was so that we could use Arctic Fox to personalize our settings. So, we get the desire to use your own settings and mod. It's just that then we have no way of knowing if someone has exceeded the design parameters and over-drove the heating element with too much current.
 

Black_Prrl

Manufacturer of the Neo and Terp Surfer
Manufacturer
Will the pre-order be open for international shipping?
Yes!... well most countries. DM us if you think there might be a question--and we'd refund you if we were unable to ship there. Customers will need to certify that they are adhering to their local laws, and will be responsible for shipping and any VAT or other duties and taxes.
 

Black_Prrl

Manufacturer of the Neo and Terp Surfer
Manufacturer
The NEO's chimney is 19mm OD and 16.5mm ID. With the silicone adapter, that OD become ~21.5mm around the chimney itself, but the leading edge is tapered down to 17mm and seals pretty well with most bowls. It works best with bowls who's top diameter is at least 18mm...though a bit wider is better for most bowl shapes so that it snuggles down inside the rim like with the Hemson pipe or Miwak Jr pipes that are in our pics.

That said, we've been able to get pretty good seals with smaller diameter bowls that have a wide top rim which the adapter can seal against. In that case, we invert the silicone collar and it flares out slightly at the tip to make a kind of suction cup shape... It doesn't really work with small, narrow rim bowls, nor most narrow-body chillums and one-hitters----yet.

As I mentioned in a previous post, we're also working on a pretty sick new pipe design as well a custom bowl that fits a 14mm.

In the meantime, here's a short video of a NEO prototype in action. lmk if you have any questions.

 
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Drug

Well-Known Member
I'm really intrigued by this approach and I'm definitely gonna try and pick one up with the pre-order discounts. My Quiver Summit came with a nice ti bowl I wasn't ever gonna use as I don't combust. I just measured it and it seems to be a perfect for the Neo's size. Was also looking online at some pipes I might want to pair it with, there sure is some nice stuff out there.

we're also working on a pretty sick new pipe design as well a custom bowl that fits a 14mm.

Sounds interesting. I tried the search engine but couldn't find any info on the pipe or the bowl. Could you tell a bit more about them?
 
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