Arizer Solo

[dorkus_molorkus]

my replacement unit stank for about the 1st hr or so running. I can taste it sometimes, but not so much ATM.

But I have also noticed a couple of other things as well.

I only use one stem ATM, and its all nice & loose on the 1st unit, but really tight fitting on the 2nd unit.
I can tell which unit is which from how the stem sits in the solo.

The battery life of the 2nd unit appears to be superior to the 1st as well. lest dots of battery consumed for the same amount of running time.

 

[dorkus_molorkus]

hey frederick,

in regards to the power adapter with an aussie plug, I was going to pop into jaycar with the usa one and see what they reccommend.

I will let you know when I find out.

also it would be really good if anyone who has the car adapter could post some pics & some info on the unit.
That way armed with the right info I can pop into a electronics store here and get one maybe.

 

[charliedontsurf]

The harshness you experience is probably due to using it at 4 (I do 2, then 4 to finish it off if need be) and the shortness of the stem versus a whip vape. There's less room for the vape to expand and cool off.

9V is for charging, and 12V is for use according to what we've been told.

I hope someone with more electrical knowledge can help you with those chargers, and me too! I had a universal Ac/DC adapter show up in the mail - it's made to power guitar pedals with wired power instead of make-you-broke 9 volt batteries, but can power alot.

It's a 1000MAH rated unit, and has voltage settings for 1.5, 3, 4.5, 6, 7.5, 9 and 12 volts. However, there is also a polarity setting! That is to say, which way the batteries would be facing, or so the graphic makes me think. What polarity setting should I have this on for the Solo? Or my PSP for that matter? Should I not plug anything of real value into this adapter, besides 5 year old pedals? I've heard about people screwing up their Hebalaires and maybe other vapes by using the wrong type of inverter (not sure if we're talking about the same thing here), like the sine wave wasn't right or something like that.

Info on the adapter reads: Input: 110/220V, 60/50mhz. Power: 18W. Current: 1000mah max.

Thanks to the electro-heads!

 

[Frederick McGuire]

It should show the polarity either on the solo itself, the charger, or both.

I'll have a look on my unit and see if i can figure it out.

I've got no experience with inverters, so I can't help you there, but I can tell you that I would avoid plugging anything in to that adapter without knowing the polarity...
If you get the polarity wrong;
Best case scenario - nothing will happen
Worst case scenario - you fry a component of whatever you plugged in and you now have a fancy paperweight...

I'm sure most consumer products have some kind of protection from reversed polarity (hell, a diode is sufficient for this purpose in the really simple circuits I am familiar with), but it's not worth the risk IMO.

 

[charliedontsurf]

You're right Frederick, the Polarity is shown. It has a positive on the left, a negative on the right and a weird symbol in the middle. I'll write the weird symbol as an @

+ @ -

Now on my adapter, the polarity is shown in a vertical manner, IE: positive over negative or negative over positive. I assume the left side corresponds with the upper one? So the Solo's + @ - should translate to

+
@
-

Right? I'm not plugging it in until I know, for sure. We should ask Steve if the Solo has polarity protection, it'd be good to know.

 

[WatTyler]

I'm not an expert on electrtonics, but I am confident that it means centre positive. the symbol in the middle is the plug (face on, looking into it), and there's a line from the '+' positive to the centre (the hole in the plug), and the line from the '-' negative going to the outside of the plug. There should be similar definition on your supply, CDS. I think your supply will maybe charge it fine (set to centre +, of course), but is too low on the amps to run the heater directly.

Also according to the unit it's 12V for charging and 9v for heating, rather than vice versa as has been mentioned here. I wrote this before a few pages back, but I have tried putting 9V through it with a 3.5A variable voltage supply, and for some reasin the unit seemed to be turning itself off every minute/90s or so. Strange. 3.5A should be plenty of juice- we tested to Solo which peaked at 1.5A (although that wasn't from a cold start, if that's a factor). My friend suggested it could be because the power supply was a switching transformer, rather than a coil transformer, and this may have 'confused' the unit (most cheap supply's are 'switching' i believe). But this is by no means a verified conclusion. I think Augustus West had the 9v heating supply on its way- any news Augustus?

I am under the impression that there is a seperate power supply for heating (9V) and charging (12V), rather than one that does both at once. But has anybody noticed in the instruction leaflet that it also says there will be a seperate 19V charger available? I'm not sure if that's just a typo. 19V seems a strange number, and not really a factor of 9 and 12 unless you're getting confused. Or maybe this is the one that Vapornation says does both?

 

[vape4life]

Wow this thread sure was quiet for a while. My replacement Solo had a very strong odour for a while, but I am pleased to say that it really doesn't have a smell anymore. My old Solo was forsure defective because that thing constantly STANK. This one is awesome and I can actually use it! I have had no peeling/flaking yet after much use but am constantly looking for it. I have realized I can't live without a portable and this thing seems to be doing the trick no problem. My replacement like another has mentioned fits the same stems tighter, and the battery life indicators are different too. Whereas before the light would frop from 7 after 2 cycles or so, it now seems to hover there much longer. Not sure if it really means anything, but still. I also noticed that the paint job on the removeable collar isn't the greatest and has some flecks of something, but not a big deal really. Just stoked that it doesn't stink and no chipping thus far.

Although I really love the solo, I have realized that it just doesn't replace the Extreme-Q in my opinion. Different animals and very perfect compliments to eachother.

Oh yeah, I will never use my solo stems without screens, and always grind...finer is better in my experience.

 

[al bundy]

be careful with the adjustable power supply.
i had one and at the 12 volt setting it was putting out 16+ volts.
use a volt meter to make sure.

and make sure the polarity setting is right.

 

[psyshaman]

Loving my solo, even more so with this little Headford bub that arrived yesterday

It's been foggy evening here

 

[EtherLeak]

Jeez there were nice hits coming off that the other night dude! haha

 

[Flatland]

The glass stem use to be a tight fit on my unit. Now it's completely loose and it spins around freely. Does anyone know why this would happen?

My glass stem is now tight again...WTF!?

 

[SF Giant]

The glass stem use to be a tight fit on my unit. Now it's completely loose and it spins around freely. Does anyone know why this would happen?

My glass stem is now tight again...WTF!?

Heat expansion?

 

[BossBrew]

This smell/taste is a bigger issue than I previously thought. It's almost revolting to have the taste on your tongue and at this point I am seriously contemplating putting this thing down until I get another response from Arizer. The thing has been used for at least 2 hours since I got it, there's no reason that smell and taste shouldnt have burned off by now.

Looks like i'll be spending a lot of quality time with my MFLB in the coming days. This sucks.

 

[DeepFried]

@psyshaman
That jacuzzi bubbler is the one I have had my eye on for awhile now, how does it hit using the Solo? I think it is one of the best bubbs for the price right now.

@BossBrew
2 hours isn't really that long for a smell to wear off, although I agree it shouldn't be there in the first place. Let us know what Arizer says as I don't think they have acknowledged the smell issue as a problem yet.

 

[vape4life]

+1 my replacement has absolutely zero odour now. I still find it hard to believe.

One of the little rubber feet of the EQ fit right in the stem... just an fyi.

@BossBrew
2 hours isn't really that long for a smell to wear off, although I agree it shouldn't be there in the first place. Let us know what Arizer says as I don't think they have acknowledged the smell issue as a problem yet.

 

[charliedontsurf]

@psyshaman
That jacuzzi bubbler is the one I have had my eye on for awhile now, how does it hit using the Solo? I think it is one of the best bubbs for the price right now.

@BossBrew
2 hours isn't really that long for a smell to wear off, although I agree it shouldn't be there in the first place. Let us know what Arizer says as I don't think they have acknowledged the smell issue as a problem yet.

Steve's way to acknowledging the smell was to tell me I, like him, have a discerning sense of smell and taste - that is, that every Solo smells the same and only some of us are keen enough to notice. Now that individuals have had replacements that didn't stank while their first did, or visa-verse, we know this not to be the case. Thought I was just gifted!

Rest assured, if my steel bowl model stinks, I will press for a replacement until I get one that doesn't.

 

[McNerdius]

Order placed. I've been telling myself to wait - but alas... i have a once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity to snap one up so i will. Besides, i'll quite likely be getting a second one anyway, right ?

Plus i've got some secret military technology waiting to study the particulars of the airpath, as it seems that's still somewhat of a question. More posts next week !

 

[vape4life]

I wouldn't count on that. There are thousands of units out there now and there is no way they would recall them all. You might get an older one and then have to claim it under warranty and my fingers are crossed that they will replace them and not just tell us to "lightly sand" the rest of the coating away. My question is will they exchange a ceramic one for SS even if there is NO flaking?

Still stoked that mine has zero odour... i'm also starting to realize that this one doesn't get as "hot" as my old one. I use a one temp setting higher with the replacement.

Order placed. I've been telling myself to wait - but alas... i have a once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity to snap one up so i will. Besides, i'll quite likely be getting a second one anyway, right ?

Plus i've got some secret military technology waiting to study the particulars of the airpath, as it seems that's still somewhat of a question. More posts next week !

 

[darkrom]

Ok so what is the consensus for the best option if yours is starting to chip now?

Is the all steel model coming soon? Do I really have to pay to ship this thing to airizer to get a replacement? What is the smartest way to turn my now broken $300 vape into a good investment once again. Luckily I took a pic of my serial. It's fading rapidly. I fear by the time the replacement steel model is out, my serial will have faded off the unit....

 

[McNerdius]

Luckily I took a pic of my serial. It's fading rapidly. I fear by the time the replacement steel model is out, my serial will have faded off the unit....

Perhaps i've missed it [after reading the whole thread from page one] but i haven't seen in any of the photos where the serial is located. So the following may be both obvious and/or useless, i'm just going to throw it out there anyhow. In the past, my policy with laptops and similar has been to photograph any kind of serial/barcode/etc along with an ID and some reasonable proof of date immediately on purchase. Sounds like i'll be doing that here, as others have. Upon taking said photographs, i will then use scotch tape or clear packing tape to cover over any barcodes/serials/etc, trimming it well so it's not tacky and obnoxious. I have nothing to go on here but i keep imagining it must be something like the serial sticker on my newer laptop, which is simply a white sticker with a printed barcode. A portion of it [top half barcode only] is completely white right now and has been for quite some time.

 

[DeepFried]

From the retailers thread, this site has good close ups, serial is 2nd pic, just click larger image link
http://www.planetvape.ca/solo-vaporizer.html

one for power adapter shows the label with electrical specifications
http://www.planetvape.ca/solo-vaporizer-power-adapter.html
looks like it is 8.5volts and 5000mA to power the Solo

 

[VapeNStone]

Well I might go ahead and purchase one of these and hope it doesn't have this smell that everyone keeps talking about. I looked everywhere and it seems the going rate of one of these is $289 but I decided to go on Ebay and I found it for $184 why so much of a difference?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-NEW-Ar...836?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f0d666854

 

[McNerdius]

The difference lies in the potential for shitty experiences in dealing with resellers regarding warranty and similar issues. Do yourself a favor and buy it from puffitup dot com if you haven't bought it already. I understand they are an authorized reseller, and an excellent reseller in general. Using the promotional code found somewhere in the vicinity of 2/3 the way down post 1021 it can be had for $231 free US shipping. It's the best way to go right now, if money is your #1 concern.

Well I might go ahead and purchase one of these and hope it doesn't have this smell that everyone keeps talking about. I looked everywhere and it seems the going rate of one of these is $289 but I decided to go on Ebay and I found it for $184 why so much of a difference?

edit: my own personal experience with puffitup, albeit limited: Shipped same day as ordered, and had a website login issue involving 3 emails [each] back/forth resolved within an hour of my initial email: At 430PM on a Saturday.

 

[Stu]

Yeah. +1 for puffitup. Great deal and great service. And I think you'll like the Solo, so go for it.

 

[WatTyler]

one for power adapter shows the label with electrical specifications
http://www.planetvape.ca/solo-vaporizer-power-adapter.html
looks like it is 8.5volts and 5000mA to power the Solo

Nice one DeepFried. It's a peculiar number. A quick Google shows that to be the same power supply spec's as a Play Station 2 Slimline, and what looks to be the same plug and polarity. Does anybody on here have both a Solo and PS2 Slim and fancy experimenting and reporting back? I could pick up a Chinese fire hazard version off ebay for under 3.90 delivered which is worth it just to try, but it'll take 2+ weeks to arrive from HK.

Also not sure how much that contradicts the 9V input stated on the bottom of the Solo unit- does half a volt not really matter in the grand scheme of things? Would the labelling round it up? Electronics does seem a pretty precise discipline, but on the other hand lots of things still work the same as the batteries expend and the voltage drops some. I wish I knew more.