Am I vaping correctly?

[Musicgu7]

Hello everyone!

I am a total noob, on this site as well as to the beautiful and peaceful world of herb / vaping

A quick bit of history:
I was never a smoker either, I probably smoked herb 3 times in my life and that was years back (and crap stuff), since I am not a regular (tobacco) smoker either I decided to buy a vape and after some back and forth about recommendations with Randy at Puff It Up (can't say enough good things about Randy and PIU!), I picked up a Flowermate 5.0s

Love it! I am now going to pick up an imag+ from Randy as well but I have a few questions (being a noob) that hopefully you more-experienced-than-me folk can answer (I feel guilty asking Randy so many questions) :

1 - I grind up the herb, put it in the bowl, start the vape on Blue and once the blue light is on solid, I take a hit.
(I actually don't like the first hit as it tastes too... "plant-y" - but thats something for another discussion)

I then put the vape off, open it, stir it up (the bowl - like Bob Marley sang about ), clean the mesh (if it needs to be cleaned) with a toothpick (basically just kind of "dust it" so if anything is sticking to the mesh it falls back into the bowl, not 'actual cleaning' like with rubbing alcohol) put the top back in, start it up and take another hit.

I do the above for each hit, 2 hits on blue, 5-7 on magenta, 5-8 on red (seems like the best way to get the most out of the bud - again, perhaps for another discussion).
As you can imagine its a bit of a pain in the ass to keep opening, clean mesh, stir, start up again - its something I'm willing to do if its the right way of vaping - but is it the right way of vaping or am I doing something wrong?

Writing the above actually is a bit more complicated than actually doing it, it usually takes seconds to do it and seems to "roast" everything in evenly - or am I just fooling myself?


2 - By the time I hit the red setting on my vape, the bud is pretty dry, I was wondering if I could put a drop of water in? maybe I would get a little more vapor? or would that screw things up?

3 - Reading up on the Imag+ I saw in some places that it can supposedly handle other things instead of just bud, so even if I can't put a drop of water (question 2 above) in the Flowermate, can I do so with the Imag+ ?


Thanks for reading, sorry for my noob questions but I really have no experience with anything other than what I wrote above, no smoking, bongs, pipes, cookies or the many other things people use to enjoy this wonderful plant.

Cheers!

 

[KeroZen]

Welcome on board!

To answer your question(s): yes, you are doing it wrong!

With the FM5, use a moderate to fine grind. Then take the provided metal tamping tool and use the flat end to tamp gently your load until it makes a flat puck. Don't tamp too much otherwise it will restrict draw. I load between 0.05g and 0.15g, you don't have to fill the bowl completely as long as you tamp it.

Then take your hit and keep the device powered on all the time. No need to open, no need to stir (this is a conduction/radiant vape, so it cooks the load uniformly like a hoven) Take slow draws and wait about 10 seconds between them. You need to sip slowly, rushing the draw will be counter productive.

If when you open the bowl you do find plenty of particles on the mouthpiece base, it means you either didn't tamp enough and/or drew too hard. Note that over time the FM5 mouthpiece screen will clog with resin, this is normal and you will have to clean it with ISO (wiping with a paper tissue after every use also helps as it's easier to remove when still hot and liquid)

For your second question, just forget the water. The drier the better for herbs vaporization. What you see is not water vapor, it's really a particulates aerosol.

Finally you can use any dry herb in any vaporizer. Make sure to do your research before using other plants though (regarding adverse effects, dosage and interactions) Note also that it can give your device a lasting taste which you might or might not like...

 

[Musicgu7]

Hey KZ!

Thanks for the warm welcome and reply!

> I load between 0.05g and 0.15g

Not sure how to measure it to what you describe, I usually fill the bowl so that it just fills the top of the ceramic part, but it sounds like I am filling it too much.
Is there some other way you can describe how much to fill? Not sure if you have the FM, but if you do, is it like 3/4th of the ceramic part or...?

Or perhaps how thick the "puck" should be? 3/4/5 millimeters?

Then take your hit and keep the device powered on all the time. No need to open, no need to stir (this is a conduction/radiant vape, so it cooks the load uniformly like a hoven) Take slow draws and wait about 10 seconds between them. You need to sip slowly, rushing the draw will be counter productive.

Thanks for this! I had a feeling I was doing it wrong and the above clears that up!

For your second question, just forget the water. The drier the better for herbs vaporization. What you see is not water vapor, it's really a particulates aerosol.

Thanks for clearing that up as well!

Sorry for my lateish reply, I didnt get an email telling me my thread got replied to

 

[OF]

2 - By the time I hit the red setting on my vape, the bud is pretty dry, I was wondering if I could put a drop of water in? maybe I would get a little more vapor? or would that screw things up?

For your second question, just forget the water. The drier the better for herbs vaporization. What you see is not water vapor, it's really a particulates aerosol.

Howdy, welcome to the fun.

First of all KZ is telling it true, try not stirring your load so much. Every time you do you have to reheat it all again. It's an oven, eventually the entire load comes to the magic temperature so you'll get it all converted to vapor. Like baking a cake.....

Let me put his sage advice a bit stronger? Don't even think about putting water on 400F ceramic unless you're willing to replace it when it shatters. You've nothing to gain by it, water boils at 212F there will be zero left long before you make vapor again.

In fact, moisture in the vape is the enemy fouling wise. You herb should be well cured (dry) before going in for best results and definitely don't add moisture after the fact.

Welcome to vaping. As you've discovered Randy is good folk. A true asset. Giving him my business adds to the pride of ownership. Planet Vape is also on that list IMO. They're in Canada so right now the exchange rate makes for some great bargains. They too are strong supporters of these Forums and offer excellent Customer Service (although I think Randy pulls off some more spectacular acts there?

Best wishes, Randy won't steer you wrong.

OF

 

[KeroZen]

Is there some other way you can describe how much to fill? Not sure if you have the FM, but if you do, is it like 3/4th of the ceramic part or...?

Sorry I gave you precise figures because I used a digital scale to get a better idea of what I'm using at some point, but on a daily basis I don't. I just tear the bud apart with my fingers and put in on my palm, placing the bits in a straight line and I know by heart how long and large that line should be... There is some variation depending on how much I need to medicate and if I will share the vape with someone or not.

Yes I do have several FlowerMates and once tamped my puck is between half to 3/4th of the ceramic part. But there's no "right amount" excepted the one *you* need to get where you want to.

 

[Musicgu7]

Hey OF,KZ!

Don't even think about putting water on 400F ceramic unless you're willing to replace it when it shatters. You've nothing to gain by it, water boils at 212F there will be zero left long before you make vapor again.

Ah! Thanks for that, makes more sense and you said it in a way that I'm not going to forget as I now know "why" and it makes sense!

Welcome to vaping. As you've discovered Randy is good folk.

Heck, if I start on how much I appreciate Randy I'm sure some folk will think I have stock in his company while I am not going to put down any company without a good reason (a business is hard enough to run as is) I'll just say in all my emails to different companies when I was planning to buy my first vape, PIU/Randy was the friendliest and to the point (good prices too) and I only buy from him.
Perhaps they are others too who are awesome, but I have not dealt with them and the service I get from Randy has spoiled me

Argh! Tell me about it, the damn dollar is wayyyy too strong, I'm in Europe and I do (used to do) a lot of my shopping on Amazon US, but with the dollar doing so good

Thanks again KZ, I used the advise you gave me on the first reply and the second and... it works a treat!
It's hard to express how much gratitude I feel, but just know that your answer is getting me to a point that I used to use a lot more herb to get to... you are saving me herb! As a fellow user I think you now understand how much I appreciate your reply now that I am *saving bud*!!!!

 

[OF]

Ah! Thanks for that, makes more sense and you said it in a way that I'm not going to forget as I now know "why" and it makes sense!

You're welcome. That's the key you know, adding enough 'why' so it fits in with what you already know. Adults only learn that way, we're in the habit of rejecting anything that doesn't 'fit in' otherwise. Children are just the opposite (since I guess their belief structure is still forming), they learn by rote. They memorize addition, subtraction and so on. But you need adult approaches to teach Algebra, Trig and so on built on top of the basic math skills.

The important thing is to understand the vape enough to get full enjoyment from it.

Regards,

OF

 

[Musicgu7]

Thanks OF, much appreciated!