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

[oddjobold]

The internet seems to be lacking a really good comparison on ball vapes.

Please start with which ball vapes you have and your thoughts comparing between them.

I seem to be limited on the choices for the poll, so this is just a bit of fun. Your comparisons are most important. Please stick to ball vapes currently available, as discontinued won't be much use to a potential buyer

Kinda expecting there is "no best ball vape" but would like to see everyone's thoughts.

Have fun.

 

[Razhumikin]

Wheres the couchlog option?

 

[cptofnthng]

I only ever tried the halo. It works, flavor is good, heating up 15 minutes. But it doesnt Work great with small loads for me. Im still looking to sell it, but it seems no one really wants it

 

[Hippie]

The Glass Symphony rules them all

I've got/built a Pinky, Flowerpot 18mm post, B0, B1, B2, G43, Glass Symphonies in 19/26 24/29 24/40 and MA2/3 adapters, a Life Sabre log with 2.5mm balls, a few logs like the Highlighter and Silver Surfer with 3mm balls, DC Elev8R, Sand Castles, DiY Atlases, and a few other DiY efforts along the same lines

The Pinky surprised me the most. I think that's because there is little extra material being heated with the balls

 

[Easywider]

I only ever tried the halo. It works, flavor is good, heating up 15 minutes. But it doesnt Work great with small loads for me. Im still looking to sell it, but it seems no one really wants it

I find the Ed’s tnt injector bowl works really well for micro dosing with the Halo.

@oddjobold should add Zenith and Couchlog to this list.

 

[cptofnthng]

TKO also missing

 

[GoldenBud]

The internet seems to be lacking a really good comparison on ball vapes.

that's true
but the question is how to divide them and sort them into groups?
like, the vapes which use PID vs vapes use 12v VVPS?

CouchLog/Zenith/Halo/Atlas run by 12v (*Zenith 3.5V but 4A)
ELEV8R/Freight train/GS/TKO/TiTi/Pinky/QCeroma need PID right?
and DDave's vape into the 110V plug directly?

 

[oddjobold]

I am afraid I already have the maximum choice for the poll.

Interested why you think your choices are best.

 

[Easywider]

I think it's just trying to simplify the discussion by grouping ball vapes by the type of power source.
Not so much these are better than yours, it's with the inclusion of these vapes that we have a more complete list of ball vapes.

Like a PID coil will have more mass and most likely hit harder with less of a refractory period that a 12v power source

 

[GoldenBud]

Like a PID coil will have more mass and most likely hit harder with less of a refractory period that a 12v power source

yeah, all these 12v 1a or 2a need refractory period, i think? except for like Herborizer 12v 5a i think, so no beads but much more power to compensate....

 

[Shit Snacks]

I only ever tried the halo. It works, flavor is good, heating up 15 minutes. But it doesnt Work great with small loads for me. Im still looking to sell it, but it seems no one really wants it

Yeah I also do not consider Halo or Highlighter to be ball vapes, rather they are halogen vapes (sure they have some balls, but that is not the primary heating element and they function very differently from other vapes where the balls are the primary heating element)

Atlas and Zenith also different from the others without using enail PID stuff, different from each other too with different heating element within the balls among other things...

And aside from G43 these are the only ones I have ever tried lol

 

[Vaporware]

You might want to run this again in 3 months or so and include invertedisdead‘s newly named Phase 3 V1.8 since the first run is in production right now!

Phase3 Vaporizers

Figured I'd start this thread to facilitate discussion on a little something I've been working on. Many thanks to those who have already been following me along with this project, I really appreciate all the kind-hearted support, FC has always been an incredible place that many of us call home...

fuckcombustion.com

 

[oddjobold]

I was thinking about grouping. Does it really matter?

I mean if you had a PID controlled ball vape, would you also need a 12v ball vape as well? Or visa versa?

I don't think you would be looking to purchase based on power source - but performance. For most ball vapes a complete bundle is available with everything you need.

The only real difference when considering what is the best ball vape for you, is it portable or not.

At the moment there are very few in the portable category.

 

[Lobby]

I only ever tried the halo. It works, flavor is good, heating up 15 minutes. But it doesnt Work great with small loads for me. Im still looking to sell it, but it seems no one really wants it

I’ve only seen a couple Halos for sale and I thought they went fast. I can’t afford any more vape gear or I’d have to sleep with one eye open. Have you listed it on Reddit?

 

[Ernielicous]

Inv 1.7 all the way

 

[Texus]

I’ve only seen a couple Halos for sale and I thought they went fast. I can’t afford any more vape gear or I’d have to sleep with one eye open. Have you listed it on Reddit?

I am surprised no one has jumped on it. Right up there with Herborizer for best flavor for me.

 

[LesPlenty]

Thanks for the thread @oddjobold as I have narrowed my choices to the Taroma and B1/B2 and maybe the Aliexpress Ti version as it will be about US$70...there is already a ceramic version available on Ali,

19.73US $ 34% OFF|2in1 Ceramic Tiodw Housing 18mm Male Joint with 60pcs 4mm Natural Agate Terp Pearls For 20mm Heating Coil| | - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

And injector bowls cheap,

13.92US $ 30% OFF|14mm Male To 18mm Female Join Glass Bowl Adapter with 20pcs Holes Glass Filter Screen and 10mm Plug Style Carb| | - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

9.95US $ 37% OFF|18mm Male To 18mm Female Joint Glass Adapter Bowl Attachment with 20pcs Holes Glass Filter Screen and Handle for Daily Necessiti| | - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

 

[invertedisdead]

That's so strange, I was just telling someone today that the DHgate ball vapes were right around the corner.

edit: Also, I appreciate the shout out! I never make any of these lists lol

 

[gordontreeman]

Yeah I also do not consider Halo or Highlighter to be ball vapes, rather they are halogen vapes (sure they have some balls, but that is not the primary heating element and they function very differently from other vapes where the balls are the primary heating element)

Atlas and Zenith also different from the others without using enail PID stuff, different from each other too with different heating element within the balls among other things...

And aside from G43 these are the only ones I have ever tried lol

I think fundamentally they’re all doing the same thing regardless of heat source though. Like from a physics perspective ball vapes are about storing a lot of heat in a lot of mass to most efficiently heat the air flowing past them. So the heat source really isn’t a big differentiator whether it’s coils, a ceramic resistor, or or a halogen bulb —unless they’re not isolated from the air and affect the flavor.

Otherwise the end goal is always to get a lot of mass very hot and force air to flow around all the hot surface area. The balls just do a great job of maximizing surface area and forcing the air to flow past a lot of it. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, that’s my high level understanding of the physics of them.

 

[cptofnthng]

Yes. Balls are balls. Just a matter of preference. Some like em bigger.

 

[GoldenBud]

Some like em bigger.

but then also the airflow can be bigger, as with the Glass Symphony, huge air inlet. it can smash 0.1gr within 6-8 seconds because of that, damn these memories

 

[Ramahs]

 

[Shit Snacks]

I think fundamentally they’re all doing the same thing regardless of heat source though. Like from a physics perspective ball vapes are about storing a lot of heat in a lot of mass to most efficiently heat the air flowing past them. So the heat source really isn’t a big differentiator whether it’s coils, a ceramic resistor, or or a halogen bulb —unless they’re not isolated from the air and affect the flavor.

Otherwise the end goal is always to get a lot of mass very hot and force air to flow around all the hot surface area. The balls just do a great job of maximizing surface area and forcing the air to flow past a lot of it. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, that’s my high level understanding of the physics of them.

I disagree, again the amount of balls that are in the halo is much less than in the atlas, it's not relying on the balls as much as it's relying on the halogen... Definite difference

 

[thunderstealer1337]

Lol no HL? He came out way before all those others and it's diy, is your list for diy or just purchased units plug and play?

 

[gordontreeman]

I disagree, again the amount of balls that are in the halo is much less than in the atlas, it's not relying on the balls as much as it's relying on the halogen... Definite difference

I’m not familiar with the atlas aside from pictures but I guess with less thermal mass I would think it would just be a less effective ball vape. It’s just the physics of it: there’s less mass to hold and transfer heat. The glass and heater might make for a more pure taste than something like a ti body. I guess the alternative would be that the heater itself is putting out more calories of energy and just not relying on the balls to store the excess as much as to force the air to be in contact with the heat source.

Either way it’s still following the same design pattern in a slightly different configuration was more my point. It’s not a fundamentally different tech to heat the air, so I guess for me it’s still a ball cape, even if the design wasn’t necessarily intended to hang with the heavier hitters as much as to chase after purity of flavor. I think that’s the point of this thread, right? There’s not an objective best, but there might be one designed more for flavor (heater not in direct contact with the air path, all glass air path vs ti/ceramic body and heater directly in the airpath) that user a prefers while user b prefers that design that’s just chasing after huge efficient rips.