Tafée Bowle

[vapviking]

I much prefer an all glass hook instead of using the aluminum steel and silicone here...

I love glass, too!
I was suggesting an $8 adapter to make use of the stem he already has. I leave.the silicone mp off the stem btw.
Something about the metal adds cooling and what I kinda call "conditioning". And I like the shape of the (non) mouthpiece, wide open.
I think I'm ptobably in a small club, though.

 

[Shit Snacks]

I love glass, too!
I was suggesting an $8 adapter to make use of the stem he already has.

Yeah I know, I just don't think that is the best option as glass would be a better investment for me at least (that is a great adapter and Delta3D is awesome) what I want is the reverse a way to use the TB with something else instead of the TB stem with something else haha

I leave.the silicone mp off the stem btw.
Something about the metal adds cooling and what I kinda call "conditioning". And I like the shape of the (non) mouthpiece, wide open.
I think I'm ptobably in a small club, though.

I actually tried it that way originally when I got it, thought it was okay, then moved on, now what we know about the finish on the outside, I definitely wouldn't want to put my mouth on it...

 

[kiddvudu2]

Just picked up a TinyMight after two years with the Bowle as my daily driver, and I was immediately struck by how spoiled I’ve been with both the cooling of the Bowle’s stem and just how quick and easy it is to load and unload.

I'm in the same boat. I've had my TM2 for about a month now (love it). Was using my TB as my daily for over a year. I will say though, it took me about a year to convert to the TB as an "out-n-about" device after receiving it because my prior portables were so much smaller, but once I figured a way to travel with the TB I never looked back. I love the pot system for ease of swapping on the go, and everything is so simple to maintain. I'm actually going to a buddies house tonight and the TB is definitely coming along because it's 2nd nature at this point, but I'm also taking the TM2 in case I get a chance to show it off (but sadly I assume we are going to have to be as stealthy as possible, so I'll be sneaking the TB around and TM2 will remain hidden in my luggage).

Being a long-time battery vape enthusiast, I know full well that I need a backup device. So, when I ordered my TM2 I posted all my other battery portables in classifieds planning to hold on to whichever one of them was the last remaining. As luck would have it, it turned out to be the TB. And I have to admit, the past 2 weeks have been a pleasure mixing my time between both of these devices. I hope to find a way to travel as comfortably with TM2 as I can with TB, but if I don't, at least I still have TB!

In a happy vape place at the moment. VAS is napping peacefully for the time being.

 

[ChooChooCharlie]

My eyesight sucks -- those are phillips head screws. Nice young woman at Ace hardware helped me find a standard #1 Phillips head with shank long enough

Can see in pic where that noisy rattling piece came from:

it's part of the heater surround, it feels like ceramic -- why would it break? Born faulty from factory?

for isolated airpath fans, this interior design is a winner. I peeled back the silicone gasket, revealing aluminum wall separating electronics from heater and air paths. The air inlet on bottom of puck enters 180 bend channel up then down heater, all to the right side of the bisecting diameter wall

Edit: I had to open the other unit, which has a slight rattle
No broken pieces in this one, just loose screw
Tightened both screws holding down heater bracket -- fixed

You can see the "wall" bisecting the puck better here:

 

[ChooChooCharlie]

pulled out the battery this morning for a pic:

(wires still attached, you'd need skills to replace I believe)

 

[vapviking]

pulled out the battery this morning for a pic:

(wires still attached, you'd need skills to replace I believe)

And I had thought it was only 750mAh!

I'm struck more by the voltage. So used to seeing 4.2 volts in 18650's and others that this caught my eye, at 7.4 volts.

If I had some clue about the alchemy we call 'electricity' I might go on...

But very cool, thanks Charlie. Will you try to see about a repair of that heater housing? Or at least see what Tafee has to say?

 

[Texus]

pulled out the battery this morning for a pic:

(wires still attached, you'd need skills to replace I believe)

So no easy click in/click out connector? A shame...

Need to remind myself how to do a battery reset/recharge or whatever they call it, to determine if it is just a user-fixable issue or if I need to send in/solder in a new battery.

 

[letter never sent]

Awesome photos, thanks @ChooChooCharlie !

 

[badbee]

I'm struck more by the voltage. So used to seeing 4.2 volts in 18650's and others that this caught my eye, at 7.4 volts.

That means internally that pack has 2 Li Ion cells in series, just like 2 cells in a Mighty. The "nominal" voltage of Li Ion cells is 3.7 V (4.2 is their max voltage). It's easier to make vapes operate at 7.4 nominal because they can get good power levels with less amperage (which burns up conductors) compared to a single cell.

 

[vapviking]

That means internally that pack has 2 Li Ion cells in series, just like 2 cells in a Mighty. The "nominal" voltage of Li Ion cells is 3.7 V (4.2 is their max voltage). It's easier to make vapes operate at 7.4 nominal because they can get good power levels with less amperage (which burns up conductors) compared to a single cell.

So it may really be 2 Grasshopper batteries in there after all!
No, wait...

But seriously, thanks a lot.

 

[ChooChooCharlie]

It's a LiPo pack, lithium-polymer "gel" encased in that shape
They probably chose LiPo because of the puck's interior space limitation

That off-the-shelf battery pack may have determined the puck's minimum height and width?

Edit: Suppose you could stack two 18650s, but puck's width would need to be larger, and cup may be too wide to comfortably hold

second edit: if we didn't give a puck, wouldn't it be funky to redesign, leaving the genius heater tech and pot system intact? Stem rises vertically from 12:00 position in pic -- now stack two 18650s vertically above heater assembly. Three pillars, with Peek surround and easy grip, hold it like a microphone

 

[ChooChooCharlie]

Someone stop him before he posts again!

Pop goes the weasel

yeah, Bowle coil looks ugly, but works well
kinda reminds me of Haze square

too drunk to trace air flow

 

[FlyingLow]

thanks for photo-logging your teardown.

as you say, it sure is ugly... but it works.

 

[Shit Snacks]

Oh, yeah, makes sense that it is a spiraled coil like the square, wonder what material though, what's great about this one is it is encased in that ceramic shell that helps insulate and become part of the overall heater mass, more so as you go... Noice

 

[ChooChooCharlie]

Those white ceramic parts "nest" together, creating a circular path for both coil and air flow. The green arrows show two gaps where black and red ends of coil feed through. This is also where the air enters, following the coil loop around both sides. The inner protruding "horse shoe" forces air to flow through the coil. Finally into horse shoe's opening and down the poop chute

Got it back together, after much cursing. Alcohol helps steady my ET tremors, but creates problems of its own.
After dropping screw into case, then shaking upside down, the little ball bearing that makes the cute clicking stem insertion sound fell out I suppose. Oh, well. Still works though, which given my poor skills, amazes me

 

[DonMarteng]

Awesome pictures, thank you! @ChooChooCharlie

Just wanted to let you know that Tafée wants me to send the defective unit back to Vapefiend, where I had initially bought it.
After I provide shipping details a new unit will be dispatched to me from Tafée Canada.
The only problem is that I have to pay for every shipment and Im not seeing myself spending 1/3 the price of a new unit just on that.
Its the first time Im having warranty problems with a company where I have to pay for replacement.
Right now Im not sure what to do and Ill wait for another answer from Tafée, but Im losing my interest in this unit very very fast.
Furthermore I have asked about my extended warranty twice and not received any answer.
What am I gonna do in 2 months, when my replacement fails and Im out of warranty?
Since I had great experience with them in the past Im still hoping for a better solution, updates will follow

 

[vapviking]

Those white ceramic parts "nest" together, creating a circular path for both coil and air flow. The green arrows show two gaps where black and red ends of coil feed through. This is also where the air enters, following the coil loop around both sides. The inner protruding "horse shoe" forces air to flow through the coil. Finally into horse shoe's opening and down the poop chute

Got it back together, after much cursing. Alcohol helps steady my ET tremors, but creates problems of its own.
After dropping screw into case, then shaking upside down, the little ball bearing that makes the cute clicking stem insertion sound fell out I suppose. Oh, well. Still works though, which given my poor skills, amazes me

I love the color heat-flow arrows!

 

[badbee]

Thanks for posting that @ChooChooCharlie . Interesting coil in a ceramic box arrangement. I really hope they last long enough to produce a more mainstream and robust design.

 

[ChooChooCharlie]

More random Bowle babbling:

Forgot to mention the in-stream thermocouple wire. Sure someone will correct me, but I believe Bowle is the first to attempt airflow temperature sensing directly before the herb load. Traditional schemes involve sensing temp at the heater, then subtracting a constant to estimate air flow temp

In pic above a few posts, can see the three ceramic parts. The top two sandwich the coil. Only purpose for the bottom piece is to hold the thermocouple wire. Clever. You can see it stretching across to opposing side grooves, then under, positioning the wire to be taut and straight along the diameter of air hole above screen in puck

My dissection was inspired by curiosity about the heater, and wondering what the loud rattle was. While I successfully solved the rattle by tossing out the piece, I also lost the locking ball for stem. No reason to open puck other than curiosity. Now you don't have to

I am frankly impressed by the coil-in-a-ceramic sandwich heater. But, more restrictive flow in this design than "wide open" coil or mesh heaters, but more consistent and efficient. Suppose this is how they can have such a relatively low capacity battery? Takes less power to heat that tiny coiled coil insulated by ceramic than other designs, which require more coil surface area for similar heat transfer results

Bonus -- ceramic sandwich is like a mini oven. Ceramic is "pre-heated" by coil via sandwich'ed conduction when in light blue standby mode

Good heat transfer from coil to air molecules, lots of turbulence in that narrow circular tunnel pathway

As I previously mentioned, I'm very impressed with the isolation of electronics from airpath and heater. Literally a wall dividing the two regions! Black and red wires feed through wall in a small corner hole, hugged by the silicone gasket which seals from leaks

BTW, that battery would be a royal bitch to replace, I wouldn't even think about it with all those wires and solder points and lions and tigers and bears

Edit:
marine layer of fog enveloped us tonight
Can't even see Star of India

Draw has that signature Bowle sound

Hello darkness, my old friend...
Within... the sound... of turbulence

 

[invertedisdead]

I believe the Herbalizer used a thermocouple to monitor the air temp for temperature feedback as well. Probably others but that seems the most notable since it had such fast halogen heatup.

Coil looks to be Kanthal, interesting how black it’s gotten in the hot zone. Probably glowing hot to look like that?

It’s sort of reminds me of that Vivant Vleaf Go which also used a metal coil inside a ceramic enclosure.

Thanks for sharing those photos, always cool to see under the hood!

 

[420_fitdad]

I believe the Herbalizer used a thermocouple to monitor the air temp for temperature feedback as well. Probably others but that seems the most notable since it had such fast halogen heatup.

Coil looks to be Kanthal, interesting how black it’s gotten in the hot zone. Probably glowing hot to look like that?

It’s sort of reminds me of that Vivant Vleaf Go which also used a metal coil inside a ceramic enclosure.

Thanks for sharing those photos, always cool to see under the hood!

That would make sense with the heater on the vleaf go. The heater on that little guy is really good, and it had huge potential as an amazing vape. And it looks like Tafee just showed how clutch the air temp sensor is, it's just what the vleaf needed.

 

[letter never sent]

@invertedisdead I think you’re right about the Herbalizer, I was going to mention the same vape. Damn, I wish I still had mine!

 

[Shit Snacks]

It’s sort of reminds me of that Vivant Vleaf Go which also used a metal coil inside a ceramic enclosure

It wasn't a metal coil though, right? Wasn't it some sort of ribbon?? Off topic lol

 

[Grass Yes]

It wasn't a metal coil though, right? Wasn't it some sort of ribbon?? Off topic lol

I don't know what's inside the ceramic but the replaceable heater was my favorite part of that vape.

 

[invertedisdead]

It wasn't a metal coil though, right? Wasn't it some sort of ribbon?? Off topic lol

Well it wasn't a helically wound "coil," like this or the Vapbong, it was more like a stamped or laser cut stainless steel sort of mesh inside the zirconia housing. But the ecig community often calls them "mesh coils" when they use similar stuff so I tend to just say coil as I'm lazy

I don't know what's inside the ceramic but the replaceable heater was my favorite part of that vape.

Puffitup did a full teardown, not sure if I'm allowed to link it but it's easy to find.

@invertedisdead I think you’re right about the Herbalizer, I was going to mention the same vape. Damn, I wish I still had mine!

What's wild to me is that dude claimed he never even used a vape before building that.....

Super unique and innovative vape, really sucks what happened to them!!