Ash-catchers for reclaim purposes

[OhTheAgony]

I've noticed a few of you posted you use an ash catcher to reclaim some of your condensed vapor. I am quit curious about this and figured we should have an ash-catcher-reclaim thread.

To the people that have experience with this;

-have you noticed a significant decrease of build up on your downstem?
-are certain designs of ash catchers more efficient to use for this purpose then others, and if so please specify which.

Right now my downstem is the part that collects most of the honey, but it doesn't fit in my reclaim container and pure clean alcohol is very expensive here, so at the moment it just goes waisted with my daily cleaning with hot water and a bong cleaner. Adding an ash catcher to the loop that can just be filled with a little alcohol seems the most economical way to solve this.

I'm really liking this one of the ones I found so far:

But I wonder if this one would perhaps be a little more effective:

Share your experiences please!

 

[Frederick McGuire]

With that EHLE one, it will likely restrict flow a bit, and you will primarily get buildup in the top of that upstem part (I've got a similar one that come with my agung cyclone)

Depending on the design it can be hard to get out, but soaking would probably get it all.

 

[OhTheAgony]

This one?

I think they are sold as 'Huricane' bongs over here.

Forgive me my noobness, but what part exactly do you mean with upstem, the top of the part on the bottom-right?

 

[Frederick McGuire]

Yep, that one, I'm pretty sure agung is an Aussie brand, and it's basically a hurricane clone.
And yep again for the upstem. I figured it's the part of the downstem that goes up... Upstem?
Although seeing that pic you've just posted, it has an open end, unlike my cyclone one, which had a closed end with a hole punched in the side. So I don't think it'll be a buildup choke point like it was in mine.

 

[vorrange]

The physics of it might explain the buildup. If it has many 90º angles the vapor will hit the walls there, like in the elbow bowl in the EQ.
I am guessing a separate, bottle shaped ashcatcher with a simple diffused downstem would be enough for good hash catching.
Tree percs and such would be more difficult to reclaim problably.

 

[EyeFonez]

I have a HiSi fixed stem ash catcher which works great for oils.

The fixed stem aspect is nice for cleaning because its one less item to clean.
It also has six vertical slits for a nice froth effect (Less percolation for oil, the more flavor and less reclaim)

I have the 14mm but the 18mm may have more diffusion slits, I can't say for sure.

Hope that helps ha!

 

[Frederick McGuire]

Its 1 less piece to clean, but its harder to clean than the 2 separate pieces...

It may just be that I don't have as good a herb as some of you guys have, but I've never noticed significant amounts of reclaim forming in my pieces...
The main thing that dirties them is if I am using a vape that lets some herb fall through (e.g. the Gnome)

Also, If the A/c is purely for reclaim purposes, I'm thinking running it dry would probably help.
Less stuff getting absorbed by the water during the hit, less reclaim being washed down the drain when its emptied, and more glass surface area for condensation.

Also, try searching for hash catcher, or some variant of that, I remember this exact thing being done by someone (iloveb00bs?) doing a similar thing with an ash-catcher.

A Quick ISO Rinse, which I keep for the small amount of reclaim (I get far more from cleaning a vape and its associated parts), and then a rinse out with cool soapy water (I use sugar-soap) brings my pieces sparkling like new...

 

[EyeFonez]

Its 1 less piece to clean, but its harder to clean than the 2 separate pieces...

How so? I just cap off one end with a female stopper, one with a male and im done.
Only one item to iso also means you use less iso.

With a downstem theres hard to reach areas for iso, say nearest to the joint, especially with slits or a honeycomb downstem.

Also, If the A/c is purely for reclaim purposes, I'm thinking running it dry would probably help.
Less stuff getting absorbed by the water during the hit, less reclaim being washed down the drain when its emptied, and more glass surface area for condensation.

I also wonder if that would help with reclaim. I just haven't tried because I like how with water my reclaim eventually balls up and I can get some if not most back without using iso

Although I'll have to try it dry next time I run a batch and see if I notice a difference.

 

[Frederick McGuire]

I just find its easier to clean a piece with any stubborn bits by getting a pipe cleaner/some other brush in there, which can easily be done to a downstem, and a chamber with a removable downstem, less so with a fixed piece.

IMO, it works out about even for me, just different.
(I had a little speck of bud stuck in the downstem part of my reti bubbler once... NFI why it was so hard to dislodge, but I ended up having to bend a coathanger to the perfect angle and put a bit of paper towel on the end of it to get it off...)

 

[vorrange]

Also, try searching for hash catcher, or some variant of that, I remember this exact thing being done by someone (iloveb00bs?) doing a similar thing with an ash-catcher.

It was iloveb00bs, he has a few videos in the arizer and hi threads with the ash catcher setup.

 

[EyeFonez]

I just find its easier to clean a piece with any stubborn bits by getting a pipe cleaner/some other brush in there, which can easily be done to a downstem, and a chamber with a removable downstem, less so with a fixed piece.

IMO, it works out about even for me, just different.
(I had a little speck of bud stuck in the downstem part of my reti bubbler once... NFI why it was so hard to dislodge, but I ended up having to bend a coathanger to the perfect angle and put a bit of paper towel on the end of it to get it off...)

Have you tried 99% iso and epsom salt? Works like a charm every time.
When you say a little speck of bud does that mean you smoke oil and bud out of your piece or just as you were saying earlier that some bud just falls through?

If the herb just falls through I'd say just run some hot water though it soon after so it doesn't stick.

 

[sessnet]

I don't get super herb at all, and I get a shitload of oil caught in my Solo stem. Here's a pic:

Obviously one is clean/new.... other is dirty. And yes - it's all oil from a little better than mid grade herb - no concentrates!

I don't know why it collects so much.

I wanted to get an ashcatcher to increase the amount of oil collected, but it seems like an uphill battle.

One extra piece to attach, just to get a tiny shrivel of oil :/ It's not really worth the hassle for me.

I bought a few ashcatchers specifically for the purpose of trapping more oil, but they are just sitting around, since it's just more glass and things to fumble with.

And as you can tell from that Solo stem, the oil seems to be more condensed towards the bowl. And even though 99% of the time the Solo stem is upside down, maybe it slides down towards to mouthpiece/cotton... For now, I am not fully understanding the physics. Maybe it's that little ledge that is acting as a corner, and that's where the magic happens, like the elbow in the EQ.

 

[Frederick McGuire]

Have you tried 99% iso and epsom salt? Works like a charm every time.
When you say a little speck of bud does that mean you smoke oil and bud out of your piece or just as you were saying earlier that some bud just falls through?

If the herb just falls through I'd say just run some hot water though it soon after so it doesn't stick.

I don't combust at all (unless its by accident) and my Oil experience is limited to making a couple of batches of BHO for my Omicron (fun fact, you can throw a little dab of oil into a solo stem, torch it from the outside and vape it - in the same vein as how I deal with the buildup like sessnet posted)

Yeah, I just mean any little bits of bud that fall through my particular vape of choice.

Ive used 100% ISO, but no salt. I pour the ISO into the piece, swirl/swish/shake it up, pour that back into the ISO container and then rinse it out a few times with cool water.

If I want it to end up sparkling like new, after the ISO rinse, I give it a wash with sugar soap.
I have yet to find a stain that resists that.

 

[ilovebOObs]

here is mine, haven't used it since i broke my 45 degree adapter. i find it keeps the plant matter away but i still clean my glass around the same time since vaping causes oil build up fogging up the nice glass.

 

[EyeFonez]

I don't combust at all (unless its by accident) and my Oil experience is limited to making a couple of batches of BHO for my Omicron (fun fact, you can throw a little dab of oil into a solo stem, torch it from the outside and vape it - in the same vein as how I deal with the buildup like sessnet posted)

Yeah, I just mean any little bits of bud that fall through my particular vape of choice.

Ive used 100% ISO, but no salt. I pour the ISO into the piece, swirl/swish/shake it up, pour that back into the ISO container and then rinse it out a few times with cool water.

If I want it to end up sparkling like new, after the ISO rinse, I give it a wash with sugar soap.
I have yet to find a stain that resists that.

Hah thats what I figured
But yeah you shouldn't need salt for vaping/oils but occasionally theres those little spots which just wont budge.

And i've never heard of using sugar soap? Do you know of any benefits/ drawbacks to using it as opposed to hand soap or dish soap? I've also heard hard water over time will leave calcium spots but I figure theres probably something to clean that too ha!

 

[jackmormon]

I think "sugar soap" in AUS is pretty much the same thing as TSP in the USA (if you can find it.) If you have hard water do not use it in nice pieces. Use distilled water. I learned the hard way on a couple of pieces. It is a process of attrition through using various acid based cleaners and has taken almost a year to get rid of the mineral stains on the bottom of a LW 10 arm bubbler Since using distilled water I have zero mineral build up.

 

[J.R.R.Tokin']

Best thing I have found to remove water marks is good old malt vinegar. Cheap as chips and damn effective.

 

[EyeFonez]

Ill have to keep that in mind. I Have soft water and/ or usually use drinking water from the 5 gallon bottles because of ease and its cold

Havent noticed any clouds in the class or any buildup. so far so good!

 

[OhTheAgony]

Thank for the input so far everyone.

Solo stems are magical Sessnet, for some reason those are great oil-catchers. I think the narrowness of the tubes also has a lot to do with that build up. I suspect my Ehle downstem could get a pretty similar coating if I didn't clean it every day though, albeit my UD spits out a lot more particles that will have to be filtered out.

Boobs, so you did it just to keep your bubbler clean, not to reclaim any oil?

We have very hard water here in my part of the country. Best way to fight lime deposits is a daily cleaning ime. I've cleaned mine with boiled water, a brush, and half a tea spoon of 'schmand weg' everyday for almost a year now, and it still looks like new.

 

[EyeFonez]

Sorry to hear Agony! Good thing now is that you've figured a way to beat it.

and what exactly is schmand weg?

 

[ilovebOObs]

Boobs, so you did it just to keep your bubbler clean, not to reclaim any oil?

.

no i use it to reclaim, i just wanted people to know that i still clean my piece pretty often because of the fogginess. just incase someone wanted to buy one to keep bong clean.

 

[OhTheAgony]

Ah, gotcha. Thanks for the clarification Boobs

It's just a bong cleaner EyeFonez. It was recommended when I bought my first Ehle so I figured I'd just try it out and see, and I rather like it. It doesn't leave any taste or smell, is easy to use and cleans well.

 

[EyeFonez]

Ah, gotcha. Thanks for the clarification Boobs

It's just a bong cleaner EyeFonez. It was recommended when I bought my first Ehle so I figured I'd just try it out and see, and I rather like it. It doesn't leave any taste or smell, is easy to use and cleans well.

Oh never heard of it, but maybe ill have to try some of these techniques out

 

[GratefulVapor]

does anybody use an A/C on their tubes when vaporizing? I know it is overkill, but (depending on the AC) I have found it to help with the 'fogginess' that boobs is talking about, & minimal drag with a good AC. I can't decide whether to get a NICE ashcatcher(such as a vertigo 10 arm or similar brand)..since I have basically stopped combusting. I would definitely want it for combusting, but would it be worth it to have for vapor? Should I forget the AC & go for a bubbler instead? I really have a desire to own a LW 15-Arm...but am worried about it being fragile & hard to clean. Wish the arms were welded to bottom of can like vertigo's. Anyone have experience to help?

 

[VapeXhaleCloudIsLEGENDARY]

I personally don't use an A/C when dabbin but for combusting I wouldn't be able to do that without one. The taste alone almost kills you...