Arizer Solo

[Burken]

How do people find vapourizing hash in the solo? What do you use to do it? Organic cotton wool? The type of hash I want to use it with would be like manali.

I use hash in the Solo from time to time, and I find that sandwiching the hash between a pinch of weed works just great. Using that technique also allows you to just dump it out in your ABV-jar when its spent.
Most of the time I have traditional moroccan hash.

 

[OF]

Many thanks it did just that. Had a Michael Crawford moment and hooked the angled pipe with the cuff of my Levi and it's went down painfully onto a concrete floor.

Tried a straight one that hasn't fitted last 3 times I tried it and now it does, great stuff quite like the straight one.

Great news, thanks for passing it on. Glad you're on track.

Funny world, I prefer the bent stems. I got upset when the seal loosened up enough so gravity would rotate it while I wasn't looking (I can be pretty casual about it when I'm enjoying the garden......), not a problem with the straight stems of course.

You might want to work a bit on your technique. Many of us have found it's best to not try to bounce the glass bits off the deck. No offense, just a thought.........

Enjoy your Solo, that's why you bought it, right?

Regards,

OF

 

[Dr. Soxhlet]

Yes, I dare say we all have. It's a very common theme no doubt discussed a dozen or more times here.

They are all tight at first, but loosen with use. My advice is use the stem that fits for a few dozen sessions and try again.

The whole reason folks mess with adding a ring is precisely because the seals loosen up and the stems get looser and looser as the unit breaks in.

If you read back (search on 'tight stem' might help?) you find lots of advice from guys on how they got theirs to fit.

Just enjoy it, it will sort itself out.



The Solo is not intended for concentrates by design, which is why the maker doesn't provide instructions or support this.

In general, it depends very much on the exact concentrate used, and that can vary widely. The thing to be careful of is to keep the melted concentrate from making it to the SS heater body (where it will burn on). But, really, you're on your own here.



There's no way of knowing for sure, which is why they don't publish a guideline to go by. Arizer never intended an extra ring or anything else there. The size of the gap depends on many things that otherwise don't matter if there's no ring there. The exact length of the outer tube for instance (seems pretty constant). And the thickness of the cap (takes up the gap since the outside is at the same point), which is a known variable the maker doesn't need to take extra effort to control in his original design. The over all oven height (again, not a critical deal in the original design) also takes up (or adds) to the gap the ring will sit in.

We decided there was a need for the ring (which is why it's not included with the unit), the responsibility for fitting and use is therefore ours. Way back when, when I experimented with various schems (including springs, flat gaskets, different size and hardness rings and so on) I came to the 113 ring and material that seemed to work in almost all cases. In my own personal 4/20 celebration I sent out little baggies of the proper 113s to nearly 50 Forum members last year about this time.

After that, the thicker caps showed up with fit issues. I got one and posted this photo showing the problem there:


My solution was to stick the 113 ring to a piece of tape and sand it thinner (sand two flats, one on each side, by lapping it on a sheet of 240 grit or so paper on a flat surface). Some guys just didn't tighten the cap down as much, others went to look for thinner rings.

Again, like using concentrates, this is not a supported thing, you're on your own really.

Good luck. I'd go with thicker personally, you can't sand them down if they're too thin and make them thicker...... You could also, of course, simply use the vape as designed, it does an excellent job?

OF

Well I'm back to using the #113 "O" ring again. I had been using my own variation of the manufacturers' recomended ajustment of the black factory retaining ring using a plastic film cannister. This worked well for me, but I decided to start using my gong again and the smaller diameter of the bowl reuired the "O"ring to be in place. The # 113 "O" ring does grip and seal the smaller diameter.
My gong is unusual and probably so far, one of a kind. Remember that rather useless "aroma therapy"
bowl that came with your Solo? I took it to my local glass blower and had a hole opened up, screen installed and the 14mm connection added. You could have a 18mm added instead. Cost me $20.00 and no shipping:

I have to be extremely careful when putting the ring in. I apply pressure, so as to not put undue strain on those threads on the cap. The cap came so loose fitting that the threads engage only on the last quater turn. Once in everythings cool. I put two black "O" rings on the outside to keep things steady(don't seem to get real warm). The bowl is huge and will last a whole 12 minute session.
I did notice that the # 113 "O" ring fits right on top of the black factory ring and pushes it back down into place. At this point, I'll just leave the #113 "O" ring in place, as it works with all my other stems as well.

 

[BlaineWarbler]

Does anyone have the phone number for arizer tech in Hamilton Ontario?

 

[OF]

Well I'm back to using the #113 "O" ring again.

My gong is unusual and probably so far, one of a kind. Remember that rather useless "aroma therapy"
bowl that came with your Solo? I took it to my local glass blower and had a hole opened up, screen installed and the 14mm connection added. You could have a 18mm added instead. Cost me $20.00 and no shipping:

I have to be extremely careful when putting the ring in. I apply pressure, so as to not put undue strain on those threads on the cap. The cap came so loose fitting that the threads engage only on the last quater turn. Once in everythings cool.

Ah, so, you're the one! I remembered someone did this (had a local Glass Blower build one), but couldn't recall who (I'm very bad with names, even if they are real names with faces....). How close are you with the fellow? I believe the only critical part is the OD on the lower part, and then as we know it's a reasonable range. I believe the modern technique is to blow the tube out into a cavity (round hole in a graphite block in our case). Very standard fare for old schoolers, I've watched it done by never have personally. After that it's pretty straightforward (cut it off, fire polish the end, install the web and add the ground glass connector), all stuff he seems to be able to do.

I'm thinking a block or two of graphite or two and he could be into the 'LHSHES' (Local Head Shop High Efficiency Stem) as well if he wants to build the jig and cut the notches and grooves........

Back on topic, about the loose cap, two easy fixes. Well one easy one (a couple layers of Teflon 'Plumber's Tape' on the boy part first) and one that takes a bit of a 'touch' ('egg shape' the cap on 3 sides). That is bump it out of round by .010 inches or so 120 degrees from each other. The male threads then will bear only on 3 sections of the female ones but the loading is very small really. I'd go tape first, of course.

Good luck with the ring, IMO it has advantages. As I've said before, I notch the bottom in 3 or 4 places to increase the air flow a bit (recovers some/most of the restriction the ring introduces).

Good luck with it. Please consider proposing making custom stems to your contact? TIA

OF

 

[bellas]

Ugh....my New Solo died on me. I noticed it just didn't seem to be heating up like my other Solo's. Then last night the unit would flash the bottom blue light then flash the top yellow then the blue... It does this both on and off the power cord when pressing the two buttons. When I leave it unplugged and not pressing the buttons the blue light flashes and starts to fade and appears to do a strobe light effect. Can't turn the unit off. I have done the reset a few times with no luck. Oi! I have emailed Arizer. Think I'll go freak out for awhile.

 

[OF]

Ugh....my New Solo died on me. I noticed it just didn't seem to be heating up like my other Solo's.

Can't turn the unit off. I have done the reset a few times with no luck. Oi! I have emailed Arizer. Think I'll go freak out for awhile.

Bummer. With some interesting variations in symptoms you seem to have a lot of company. That is there seems to be a lot of new ones dying.

How brave are you? Are you up to taking the screws out and unplugging the battery? I'm thinking it's a software thing, it's little trolly has skipped it's tracks to use the technical terms. Trying to execute it's revision or date code......

Soft reboots like the reset here depend on the processor working at some level to read the keys and power input timing. Not so with a cold start (from no power). Normally that forces the processor to restart from the get go. I've done it on Solo, unlike some (few) systems there's 'nothing to forget', that is calibration or other necessary information stored and only protected by the battery power. Like a car radio that's lost it's mind, the unit should restart fine but stupid in the car case, no more stations programed. In Solo things like 'last power level recall' and beeper won't be saved (no big deal, really).

Anyway, if you're up to it it's easy and fast. Remove the cap then the four screws. The works slide out the bottom. The battery is under a cover behind the front panel, carefully remove the cover (by the clips) then the battery. The connector is under the battery, unplug it for half a minute or so. I like to push a few keys so any residual charge is sure to be 'used up'.

It goes together easily, take care with the cable, connector and battery so the cover goes on without undue pressure on the latches. The only fiddly part is to be sure the unit is back solidly in the body tube again before putting the screws back in. That is the tabs are solidly down, they break off easily at this point. Screws only 'just snug', get them too tight and that too can break the tiny tabs.

Good luck with it in any event. Bummer when mission critical gear like this doesn't prove reliable. Hope you've got a backup.

OF

 

[BlaineWarbler]

Soft reset: Plug into charger and hold down the up button for 4-5 seconds, release and unplug.

Hard reset: Open and unplug battery for 10 seconds. Re-assemble.

I just tried both of these method on my unit to no avail. My unit is new, sent from Arizer under warranty replacement. When I turn it on and set a temp, the blue Idle light is lit and the red Heat light flashes, but none of the numbers light up and the unit shuts itself off within 20 seconds.

I've sent Arizer 2 emails but so far no response. Any other suggestions I can try? I'm really miffed that they sent me a bum unit! I want to try draining the battery and charging it back up overnight, but with the unit never heating up and shutting itself off I don't seem to know a way to do this.

 

[Pipes]

I just tried both of these method on my unit to no avail. My unit is new, sent from Arizer under warranty replacement. When I turn it on and set a temp, the blue Idle light is lit and the red Heat light flashes, but none of the numbers light up and the unit shuts itself off within 20 seconds.

I've sent Arizer 2 emails but so far no response. Any other suggestions I can try? I'm really miffed that they sent me a bum unit! I want to try draining the battery and charging it back up overnight, but with the unit never heating up and shutting itself off I don't seem to know a way to do this.

It sounds like a bad battery. Fails when it get loaded by the heater.
If not working, then returning would be the preferred option. Not sure on the shipping commitments on your warranty but replacing the battery yourself is of course an option. Worst case you end up with a spare battery pack. When contacting, and if they are convinced as well it's a battery issue, see if they will just send you a replacement battery? Saves them money as well as you. Never know unless you ask.

 

[BlaineWarbler]

It sounds like a bad battery. Fails when it get loaded by the heater.
If not working, then returning would be the preferred option. Not sure on the shipping commitments on your warranty but replacing the battery yourself is of course an option. Worst case you end up with a spare battery pack. When contacting, and if they are convinced as well it's a battery issue, see if they will just send you a replacement battery? Saves them money as well as you. Never know unless you ask.

I don't think I can tell arizer that I did the hard reset though because that would mean admitting that I took the unit apart, which would void the warranty, right? Same with asking them to send me a new battery I think. Has anyone had experience dealing with arizer in these circumstances?

 

[Pipes]

No need to tell them that much.
Battery indicates full. Unit turns on and after setting temperature, the red heat lights blinks a couple times and then unit turns itself off.
Express your concerns that this is already a replacement unit and think it was never properly tested.
Ask what can be done to expedite getting a working unit in hand. Hopefully they will suggest something, local dealer.? If they state they suspect a bad battery, THEN ask if it would be possible to get a battery shipped and that you feel you could (with directions from them) change it out.
This is best handled by phone if you can find a number.
Good Luck.

 

[BlaineWarbler]

Good suggestions, thanks for the tips! My last email was a little demanding so hopefully they won't take that to heart I'll see if they will let me do a swap at the store I bought it from (they are in Toronto so I'm sure they have a good relationship with them). I can't find a phone number for them anywhere on the net so I guess I'll just have to wait for a reply...

 

[Dr. Soxhlet]

Ah, so, you're the one! I remembered someone did this (had a local Glass Blower build one), but couldn't recall who (I'm very bad with names, even if they are real names with faces....). How close are you with the fellow? I believe the only critical part is the OD on the lower part, and then as we know it's a reasonable range. I believe the modern technique is to blow the tube out into a cavity (round hole in a graphite block in our case). Very standard fare for old schoolers, I've watched it done by never have personally. After that it's pretty straightforward (cut it off, fire polish the end, install the web and add the ground glass connector), all stuff he seems to be able to do.

I'm thinking a block or two of graphite or two and he could be into the 'LHSHES' (Local Head Shop High Efficiency Stem) as well if he wants to build the jig and cut the notches and grooves........

Back on topic, about the loose cap, two easy fixes. Well one easy one (a couple layers of Teflon 'Plumber's Tape' on the boy part first) and one that takes a bit of a 'touch' ('egg shape' the cap on 3 sides). That is bump it out of round by .010 inches or so 120 degrees from each other. The male threads then will bear only on 3 sections of the female ones but the loading is very small really. I'd go tape first, of course.

Good luck with the ring, IMO it has advantages. As I've said before, I notch the bottom in 3 or 4 places to increase the air flow a bit (recovers some/most of the restriction the ring introduces).

Good luck with it. Please consider proposing making custom stems to your contact? TIA

OF

With my new replacement Solo(new features) the airflow is sufficient, so that no other adjustment or High Efficiency Stem is needed for me. The thing hits hard now, just as strong as a joint hit. The only thing I added was an EQ balloon stem connected with a piece of tubing:

 

[CarolKing]

I am really enjoying the stock stem on the new Solo and the better airflow of the unit. Heat up time for me was never an issue in the original Solo, but the newer model heats up in half the time. I'm sure all this has been discussed before.

It's easier using the PA charger with the longer cord when I need to charge the unit. The PA charger seems more sturdy than the charger that the Solo comes with. I'm a little nervous I see some of the new model Solos with some heater or battery issues.

 

[Dr. Soxhlet]

I am really enjoying the stock stem on the new Solo and the better airflow of the unit. Heat up time for me was never an issue in the original Solo, but the newer model heats up in half the time. I'm sure all this has been discussed before.

It's easier using the PA charger with the longer cord when I need to charge the unit. The PA charger seems more sturdy than the charger that the Solo comes with. I'm a little nervous I see some of the new model Solos with some heater or battery issues.

I agree, the stock stem seems to give just the right airflow. My gong also had no notches and works perfect with the new design.
I keep the factory charger in my "to go" kit(mini camera bag). At home I use an original PS2 slim power supply:8.5V 5500MA charger. Seems less likely to fail and the longer cord is easier to use on the couch.

 

[Quetzalcoatl]

I agree, the stock stem seems to give just the right airflow. My gong also had no notches and works perfect with the new design.
I keep the factory charger in my "to go" kit(mini camera bag). At home I use an original PS2 slim power supply:8.5V 5500MA charger. Seems less likely to fail and the longer cord is easier to use on the couch.

You!! I got my slim PS2 psu to work with my Solo! Thanks for the idea, I finally got around to charging my Solo last night as it was showing 2 LED's and I wasn't sure how much I would need it "out of the cave." I almost forgot it was a portable

Nothing new to report re: Solo, been working just fine with the power adapter and has seen quite a few sessions. Been back to using my stock stems, my 18mm PVHES hasn't seen much use. Didn't quite like the airflow as much as I thought I would, it works just fine for what it does but I found myself preferring the slightly milkier and faster extraction of the standards. Might throw it up on the Classifieds for a straight trade for a non-PVHES GonG, might keep it and end up getting a regular GonG and putting the PVHES in storage. Can't hurt to have a backup

 

[bellas]

OF- Thanks for the tip. It did work but as soon as I plugged it into the charger it went right back to what is was doing before. Unfortunately my Pinnacle Pro is stuck in limbo with Vaporblunt. I had a battery issue with that and sent it back weeks ago have heard nothing. I think I am going to take the advise of pushing for a replacement battery as it may be quicker.

 

[ataxian]

Been back to using my stock stems

I'm going to the Local Smoke Shop today to fit my STOCK stem with a Chillum.

Sometimes I like my PHVES and another times I want just a STOCK.

I like both for different reasons.

However I like the draw of the STOCK GonG's and STEMS.

It depends on the curing of the strain as well.
The moisture level of the flowers?
My current strain works best with a STOCK set-up!
The last strain worked better with a PHVES.

Everyday I do something different.
I repeat the set-up's I like.

However all these accessories are just stuff!

CANNABIS is the "HOLY GRAIL"!

 

[gbetter]

Yeh the PNWT works great, i bought it at the same time as my solo when they did the offer for FC members. The vaporizer for hash is for that friend I messaged you about. Unfortunately not gonna have time to get it b4 they leave for India, but they plan on getting a PERSEI at some point. I have a spare new Solo which im gonna give to him to use. I heard its really good when sandwiched in some organic cotton wool. How was the shatter in the solo? Do you reckon you could try some hash in there too? Unfortunately I cant get hold of any hash where I am to test it.

Tastes great

 

[Herr_Dampf]

I always read ataxians posts in a Bender voice, gives them a whole new dimension

My Solo still hasn't arrived at the massdrop fullfilment center. 35 days after the drop has ended. (before anybody tells me anything about supporting my LHS: 119 via Massdrop before taxes, about 280 at my LHS...)
The pain, I have to soothe it by buying more glass!

 

[Scrappy34]

I just got my solo in the mail, it was advertised as being a M1C/M1D but its actually a M1A. I hate to bring up this conversation again, but should I be disappointed? I'm at work so I haven't had a chance to play around with it yet.. Can the M1A do everything that the M1C can? All I wanted was the fixed airflow and the ability to charge while it was in use.. Would you return it for being misled by the seller? (got it from ebay)

 

[CarolKing]

If it ends up being the older model Solo you can always buy the PVHES stems from Planetvape since airflow was your major concern. Nothing wrong with the older model. You can buy the PA charger, so you can use it while charging too. Don't freak out yet. Good luck, however it turns out. Keep us posted.

We may find out in the long run that the older model is better. Time will tell.

 

[ataxian]

should I be disappointed? I'm at work so I haven't had a chance to play around with it yet..

I have 3 SOLO's first one dating back over 2 1/2 years ago.

All three work great.
Don't be disappointed!

CANNABIS is the "HOLY GRAIL" not vaporizers!

 

[Scrappy34]

I have 3 SOLO's first one dating back over 2 1/2 years ago.

All three work great.
I have stock and phves.

Vaporizing while charging?

Is that really a concern?

I have 3 Power Adapters for that.

CANNABIS is the "HOLY GRAIL" not vaporizers!

your right, its not a major concern.. I'm still excited that I got it... its just the psychology behind it I guess. I'm more disappointed that the seller misled me than anything..

 

[cityslang]

Is it me I seem to get more herbs on the straight straw even though they look exactly the same size?