Putting the group (really, 'me' ) on notice, as of last night.
If you're still using dosing caps, stop. You're robbing yourself of:
- 2 nice terpene hits at the beginning of the sesh (the first one in particular is joyous). I run @ 8.5 full-time, btw.
- roughly 40% of the capacity of the stem load (my test mule: Missle stem, which I consider the best of the 'standard / kit' versions.)
Other notes: If you're a draw counter (in seconds), let the button go 8s after the buzz, on those first few hits. You'll get a good, flavorful hit and a bunch more usage on the battery before green turns blue. Later, as your load gets used up, you can up that time to whatever your max extract timing is.
When cold, remove the outer keeper, the o-ring, and the sleeve with the screen from the stem side. Take a look at that screen. It's not only double-lined... it appears (?) to be triple-lined. Meaning no matter how fine you grind, the herb should
not (?) be getting into the little holes underneath. Which is one reason you're using dosage caps, right?
Downsides:
Yes, it's a little messier in the stem loading portion, without caps. Use the scraping tool in the top, if you need to. And as you know, 'warm' scrapes off easier than 'cold'.
Yes, there's no screen at the stem holes. Don't worry about it. You've got glass balls and a screen at the other end.
Future upgrades:
Drill out the loading end, with its six small holes, leave a ridge, and stuff a screen-based load stem with o-rings holding it to the stem (like at the top end, where you draw). Perfect device.
(yes, I'm a bit medicated while writing this. Would you expect different?)
TL; DR: Ditch the caps, if you're still using them. You're robbing yourself of a bunch of flavor.