If it is the heat discoloration of the nickle heat exchange plate that is your concern there isn't much you can do to stop it but keep it clean, use good butane to minimize soot buildup and hit it with q-tip and some polishing compound from time to time and it will develop a pleasing kind of...
I have three regular and one high temp cap that all mate snugly and interchangeably with my long stem, two shorties and WPA with a satisfying click as the magnets engage. Every time. The fit is snug and the alignment has to be correct but they mate flawlessly. The stems and caps have suffered...
I get the best results by generously preheating and doing long slow steady sipping hits allowing the payload to warm up slowly and time for the vapor to make its way out of the plant matrix. For best results keep the bowl warm between hits by not sucking all the heat out at the end of the first...
Used my original cap for well over a year and then it got burned when I looked away for a second while a stranger at a bar torched it good. Damn, pissed me off. My black one has been abused a bit but it doesn't show as much. My beautiful high-temp cap succumbed to torchery within a week by my...
My guess is that previously you were drawing too fast on the device and not maintaining the consistent temperature within the bowl required to maximize the quantity and quality of vapor. With the open carb a smaller amount of consistently hotter air is coming through the cap and payload...
Google image "butane micro torch" for an idea.
I also install a fine screen in all my caps to keep the fuzz from getting all up in there. They are a bit fiddly to get just right but once you figure it out, problem solved.
edit: pic link
Some of us have had good luck with the vapman lighter. They are similar in use to the standard Honest lighter but higher capacity and have a solid, well-built feel about them that other cheapo alternatives lack. They run about $15 iirc and come with a little leather pouch if you are into such...
That is what I thought a year and a half ago when I put down my Solo to give the Lotus a try. Three normal caps, one high temp cap, a long stem, two shorties and a WPA later, I haven't even charged my Solo in months.
I love the fact that I can cheerfully use the same tool both chillin' it at...
Had the same Zico a while back and loved it but it internally deconstructed after a few weeks time. I now have 3 of the vapman torches and love them. Vapman torches are basically a well made version the reliable honest torch that comes with the Lotus but with a larger tank (3 gram capacity iirc).
^ The dropbox image reference doesn't work here, you will need to use something public like imgur. Did you drop it or burn out the heat exchanger plate?
The screen will discolor and oilcan a bit due to normal use. I have found that using a bit of polishing compound (glass range top cleaner) on a qtip now and then cleans it up a bit and gives the heat plate a cool steampunk shiny look.
My Vapman torch has an integrated plastic cylinder around the fill port which significantly limits the amount that it can be purged. They must be filled upside-down and it is impossible to bleed off the last 1/2" or so of the tank.
This is a minor irritation and other than that, I really like...
I would be inclined to think that the differing effects are not so much convection vs conduction but more based on the dosage timing of different vapes. When I use my Solo (rarely these days) I usually load up a bowl and have a single 10-20 minute session to finish it for full a spectrum...
The fucktard teaparty congressmen fucking with the citizens of dc instituting massively popular, voter approved laws in their own place of residence. Fuck you!
I can't even coherently address the other shenanigans the congress is up to right now. It is too upsetting to try and distill my fury...
The latest from a couple of the best comedians working right now are both great.
Bill Burr: I'm sorry you feel that way
Doug Stanhope: Beer Hall Putsch