**Ball vape comparison megathread** Compare your balls.

[LesPlenty]

Sounds great. So does TKO use different size bowls to the other injectors?

From the site,
*please be aware that the adapter end of the TKO is a proprietary Injector joint and is intended to be used with the Infinity bowl for best results.

Yep, turned me right off, I hate companies that try to make you only use their gear only even if they say it is all because of better this or that.

 

[Oden]

Sounds great. So does TKO use different size bowls to the other injectors?

The size of the bowls for the TKO diffuser is 3/4.
If I'm not talking nonsense, the size of the injector bowls is 5/8.
O'connell offers an 18mm adapter which is easy to install, and uninstall.
So that the TKO is perfectly compatible with all 18mm injector bowls.
It works perfectly.
I love this modularity.
I still prefer the diffuser!
It is more efficient, especially for extraction.
But if you have a lot of 18mm bowls, and want to use the TKO this way (hands free) it also works great.
I sometimes use it on glass bowls, and ceramic from Qshop, and with the o'connell WPA with a basket grid! This last configuration is super efficient for micro dosing.
The basket grid is an extraction level killer.

The TKO diffuser also works great with the old FP Shovelhead bowl, the one before the update, but it's nowhere to be found now unfortunately.
Also with the wooden bowl Ed's TNT, and that of sticky brick labs. Even if it's not hands-free.
The TKO is really very versatile.

After a session the TKO always melts my face lol.
Smooth, densest vapor I've experienced so far.
My only points of comparison in the bead vape category are the Baroma XL, Teroma XL and QXL.
The Baroma XL is a fucking heavy hitter! But it takes a lot of weed for it to work properly, with the XL bowls lol. And despite the BXL's 600 rubies, the TKO hits harder, has a much better flavor, and smooth vapor is denser.

From the site,
*please be aware that the adapter end of the TKO is a proprietary Injector joint and is intended to be used with the Infinity bowl for best results.

Yep, turned me right off, I hate companies that try to make you only use their gear only even if they say it is all because of better this or that.

From the site,
*please be aware that the adapter end of the TKO is a proprietary Injector joint and is intended to be used with the Infinity bowl for best results.

Yep, turned me right off, I hate companies that try to make you only use their gear only even if they say it is all because of better this or that.

O'connell precisely made this 18mm adapter on request of the members of the discord group! For the TKO to be used universally with most bowls 18.
And to allow people who do not wish to invest in O'Connell bowls.
I don't see the harm in his strategy sir.
He made this diffuser style to stand out from the competition, and provide better performance.
Besides this guy never balks has made new improvements.
He is always listening to discord members.
If you ask him something new, he will spend the night chatting with you on the discord to find a solution lol.
It's rare enough to name it, in this industry.

 

[tinctorus]

I live in Europe.
It won't be interesting for me.
But thank you

Order from Ali than, either b2cvape or one of the others

This shop has a good selection

Oh and recommended vape is having a sale right now and they're in the uk

 

[felvapes]

The Tiodw mini from B2cvape on AliExpress is pretty bloody impressive
I will do a video of it soon
For a budget baller it really does give the more expensive options a run for their money
I did a mesh screen swap for airflow and got an extra 10 balls in for a total of 150 ruby
Will come back and review it later but it is definitely a worthy option for people with killer performance for an accessible price

Here is my run through of the Tiodw XL
Impressed with the performance of this baller head and it is a regular part of my routine now
I wasn't sure if I would use it lots or if it was going to be an occasional thing
Gotta watch the tolerance and stash killing properties, but otherwise it's an absolute beast

 

[Abele Rizieri Ferrari]

For a budget baller it really does give the more expensive options a run for their money

This from Cloud Connoisseur wrt a zirconia and stainless steel ball head he's releasing:

target price is actually going to be $105

with and SS version right behind it with target price of $35-40

 

[felvapes]

This from Cloud Connoisseur wrt a zirconia and stainless steel ball head he's releasing:

The z8 looks amazing, but costly with the material and manufacturing
The SS is interesting, but the Tiodw mini is Ti

 

[Abele Rizieri Ferrari]

The z8 looks amazing, but costly with the material and manufacturing
The SS is interesting, but the Tiodw mini is Ti

It's not a z8, which is by Phase3. This is about the zirconia Zeal by Cloud Connoisseur with a target price of 105$.

Yea ti is a different material than stainless steel, but afaik most brands have it pretty similarly priced to their respective ss counterparts (for example TKO I believe), so that's mostly a matter of preference then

 

[felvapes]

It's not a z8, which is by Phase3. This is about the zirconia Zeal by Cloud Connoisseur with a target price of 105$.

Yea ti is a different material than stainless steel, but afaik most brands have it pretty similarly priced to their respective ss counterparts (for example TKO I believe), so that's mostly a matter of preference then

You're correct I mistook the unit being zirconia, I rush read the post and didn't notice the different name/manufacturer

The Ti Tiodw mini is less than $35 USD
It's the cheapest titanium option available and this design brings performance that is close to the expensive options
It's great to see more companies bringing out accessibly priced devices that function well

I've always pushed that vaping should be accessible to everyone and that everyone deserves the health benefits associated with it
Too many years the exclusive club has been a thing and I feel that greed has hindered the vaping community and the growth of people quitting combustion

105 for a zirconia is certainly a good sounding option imo as is a cheaper ss

I never found it sat okay with me that qaromashop sell their SS heads at the same price as their Titanium ones

 

[Abele Rizieri Ferrari]

Too many years the exclusive club has been a thing and I feel that greed has hindered the vaping community and the growth of people quitting combustion

I'm not so certain the profit margins of the builders of more exclusive vapes are better than the mass produced ones. From what I can tell the elusiveness of the boutique artisan vapes has more to do with factors like the attention and love they're built with and the amount of time it takes to develop and build them up to the standards of the maker, and isn't really making vaping less accessible and has nothing to do with greed. There's plenty more affordable options. It's more the big business vapes with a total lack of innovation that I think are greedy, if you wanna use such terms for either mass produced big brand vapes vs boutique vapes. These artisans are pushing vape manufacturing forward imo, creating higher standards in every way.

As for ti v ss I'm not interested in a ti one anyway so I'm actually glad Phase3 came out with a ss one and now CC as well, both at pretty affordable price point, the latter by CC even competing with the current budget kit on price. It will be interesting to see how they compare on other aspects.

 

[LesPlenty]

The Ti Tiodw mini is less than $35 USD

Hard to pass at that price!
Looking forward to the CloudConnoisseur zircon job getting into people's hands as the Z8 really interested me...until I found it was 14mm based, close but no cigar.

 

[felvapes]

I'm not so certain the profit margins of the builders of more exclusive vapes are better than the mass produced ones. From what I can tell the elusiveness of the boutique artisan vapes has more to do with factors like the attention and love they're built with and the amount of time it takes to develop and build them up to the standards of the maker, and isn't really making vaping less accessible and has nothing to do with greed. There's plenty more affordable options. It's more the big business vapes with a total lack of innovation that I think are greedy, if you wanna use such terms for either mass produced big brand vapes vs boutique vapes. These artisans are pushing vape manufacturing forward imo, creating higher standards in every way.

As for ti v ss I'm not interested in a ti one anyway so I'm actually glad Phase3 came out with a ss one and now CC as well, both at pretty affordable price point, the latter by CC even competing with the current budget kit on price. It will be interesting to see how they compare on other aspects.

The fact there is the 105 zirconia and 35/40 ss planned shows the same point I made
It can be done at an accessible price - and good on them for doing it
In the same post you shared from the maker they mention themselves they thought 120 was too high a price and theirs will be less at 105
I'm sure they are still making a living and profit from it....

If it was performance and "community" based all along we would have got to ballers years ago - all for the open source idea sharing - this benefits the "community" more than any one business does as this is how new ideas are shared and created
I can make a diy baller that costs buggar all and extracts fully - I'll still buy and try other heads too
The first vapes were hot air guns - then someone literally slapped a vape name sticker on the side of a store bought hot air gun and started selling them for heaps more money as a vape
We would have got from hot air gun to diy or store bought baller a lot quicker if progression was the main goal over businesses competing
Ballers are simple tech and easy to diy

We both have shown small business that sell at an affordable price
Another example of a smaller company is divine tribe and the lightning pen - very impressive device under $100
These examples prove that you can run a business and make a profit while not trying to rinse every last cent from it in the short term
And people being able to make something that will work for themselves will not hurt your business, in fact these people are likely to experience the benefits of a full extraction device and then later come and buy a more refined or "artisan" version
And at the same time the businesses get to learn from and add to the idea sharing and come up with new products at the same time - things move quicker for everyone and businesses will still run selling refined versions of people's ideas

Exclusive or not has not seemed to affect being expensive either .... Nor has origin of manufacturing if the company is local...


I also look forward to the $105 zirconia baller
It interests me a fair bit and I'll watch for peoples feedback

 

[Abele Rizieri Ferrari]

The fact there is the 105 zirconia and 35/40 ss planned shows the same point I made
It can be done at an accessible price - and good on them for doing it

Doesn't show the point you tried to make of greed by the artisans creating higher priced products though, which like I said i think is uncalled for.

These examples prove that you can run a business and make a profit while not trying to rinse every last cent from it in the short term

It sounds like you have info on how craftspersons are squeezing customers for huge profit margins per item sold. I wonder how you can be so certain about this. I actually heard from multiple boutique craftspersons that it's a struggle to get a liveable income off it, or that they are only able to make vapes on the side. It's just a segment of the market that's more catered to an enthousiast crowd, which is reflected in all their qualities, which in turn is reflected in price.

But this is a topic that's out of place in this thread and that's been discussed before as well, so let's not go through that again/further in a thread where it's out of place.

 

[Shit Snacks]

In the same post you shared from the maker they mention themselves they thought 120 was too high a price and theirs will be less at 105

I actually don't think that is what they meant, I think they were saying that they saw people guessing it was going to be 120 or estimates it would be 120, maybe it was the early pre pre-order price with final price coming in at 105... I do know that that maker put a lot of effort into finding suppliers that could make these affordable this way, it took some time.

 

[felvapes]

Doesn't show the point you tried to make of greed by the artisans creating higher priced products though, which like I said i think is uncalled for.

It sounds like you have info on how craftspersons are squeezing customers for huge profit margins per item sold. I wonder how you can be so certain about this. I actually heard from multiple boutique craftspersons that it's a struggle to get a liveable income off it, or that they are only able to make vapes on the side. It's just a segment of the market that's more catered to an enthousiast crowd, which is reflected in all their qualities, which in turn is reflected in price.

But this is a topic that's out of place in this thread and that's been discussed before as well, so let's not go through that again/further in a thread where it's out of place.

Not sure where I mentioned artisans though
I've been talking about the entire business and "community"
Artisans do not make up the entire space at all, so the value of their work (which wasn't the topic) wouldn't effect the progression or accessibility to affordable options for some people in the past
The fact we can all make diy ballers right now and that places are still in business also proves the point it won't hurt them
Because the baller space is so open source the performance has advanced very quickly and businesses are still running as a result

And I didn't say every option should be cheap as chips and accessible to everyone, but everyone should have accessible options that perform

$35/40 ss ball head is good value for money imo

 

[Haze Mister]

I can make a diy baller that costs buggar all and extracts fully

That will be either steel which kills flavour, or glass which will eventually break. Or a pinky with the questionable industrial material. Do it in ceramic and I will be impressed- but ceramic probably takes longer to get the balls hot.

 

[Abele Rizieri Ferrari]

Not sure where I mentioned artisans though
I've been talking about the entire business and "community"

I figured when you were talking about exclusive vapes you weren't talking about the big production line businesses, whose products often tend to be more affordable and are easier to attain due to availability. I don't know of any exclusive harder to find vapes that are also both mass produced and overpriced. Those aren't exclusive.

 

[Haze Mister]

Yes indeed the heat transfer causes this when you want to preheat the bowl to add conduction to the experience.
With my infinity bowl I rarely do that.
It's a really cool bowl, and with the insert it's even better! Because you can bring the weed very close to the diffuser for increased efficiency.
Sometimes I put my weed in contact with the diffuser to add conduction. I find it better than preheating the bowl.
Never burned.

Otherwise I love the glass bowl from o'connell, and the one from GVB.
Solidstateconcepts is making a really badass glass bowl for hand-free use, like with the infinity bowl for the diffuser.
But my favorite bowl is the diffuser bowl from Dfreez!
So effective with the TKO diffuser.
Instant milk

It's hard to keep track of all the gear... what is the "infinity bowl"?!?
What do you mean by "diffuser"?

 

[Abele Rizieri Ferrari]

It's hard to keep track of all the gear... what is the "infinity bowl"?!?
What do you mean by "diffuser"?

TKO Infinity Bowl

made with Grade 2 Titanium *please be aware that this bowl is designed for use with the TKO, the mating connector design is a proprietary joint for use with OWW products. Compatible as a shovelhead bowl for a "standard" diffuser. use with a Wood Infinity Ring or TKO Infinity Ring Dimensions...

oconnellwoodworks.com

 

[Haze Mister]

Ah, metal bowls, yikes!

 

[felvapes]

I figured when you were talking about exclusive vapes you weren't talking about the big production line businesses, whose products often tend to be more affordable and are easier to attain due to availability. I don't know of any exclusive harder to find vapes that are also both mass produced and overpriced. Those aren't exclusive.

"Exclusive club"
I didn't say vapes
The exclusive club of people with enough money to own vapes that perform while others who can't afford everything in the world have to suffer and continue combustng
Vaping and the health benefits associated with it should be accessible to everyone

This also has little to do with big production line business

I'm pretty sure my point is obvious

My labglass diy baller should not break as it is made to handle thermal shock
My ti lite ballers have enough balls they taste similar anyway

Anyway some great options that are affordable now for everyone
About time
Nice to see some companies pricing their stuff reasonably these days as a result

Great to have options
New vapers have some good choices/options in front of them compared to the past

 

[Haze Mister]

You can defo get by with glass if you are careful- i only moved to manufacturing in quartz really because I wanted a metal-free piece I could torch and the only other metal-free option is the Qaroma/Ceroma that cannot be torched because of the double wall or (now) the Zaroma that is WAY too expensive to buy or torch!

 

[Oden]

Ah, metal bowls, yikes!

A titanium ring with a wooden handle is coming soon .
I'm glad people underestimate TKO. Makes me think I have the best bead vaporizer.
I have the Qaroma XL which is really amazing for the flavor, but if I want big hits you have to heat it up a lot, and the vapor gets too hard.
It's quite the opposite with the titanium TKO, which is always smooth.
It really isn't bad for flavor, and it extracts well even at 450. That's really cool.
But what I appreciate the most with the TKO is its effectiveness in getting the most out of my weed!
Very dense vapor that gets me supremely high.

 

[Haze Mister]

I could probably deal with a titanium bowl with wood handle, as a backup I am thinking to buy the cheap titanium injector to use outdoors for heating at a log fire, with a clamp of some sort!

 

[Hippie]

Also really impressed by the Tiodw mini for £28, here
And hoping they start making a Tiodw midi or mini plus with a taller body like the TKO and Taroma lite plus bodies at some point
Altho they do look like they need a lot of coil stretching to make it fit the taller body (and larger ball capacity)

 

[felvapes]

Jcvap have adaptor cords now I got them to make
Two cords for either direction or coil/PID configuration you need to make fit
No more apple connection type issues between manufacturers pids and coils
Reasonably priced too

JCVAP Universal PID/coil adaptor cord - JCVAP®|Official Store

These adaptor cords will make it possible to use any PID controller with any coil despite the wiring configuration.Adapt to 110V-220V Voltage. Two options available : Type1:MaleT-,T+,G,P,P, G/Female P,P,T+,T-,G or Type2:Male P,P,T+,T-,G /Female T-,T+,G,P,P

jcvap.com