Best of Da Buddha thread

[tokinGLX]

mod note: To comment on the Da Buddha, go to the full Da Buddha thread. To add posts to this thread, read the sticky at the top of this forum.

is a great vaporizer for the person on a budget.

while it does have a less desirable vapor to air ratio than the ssv, it still delivers a very strong hit.

i have a buddha for in car use that i plug into a power converter, while my ssv keeps me company at home. i may end up using the buddha more at home tho, after today.

a friend had taken that bong attachment off my hands that i had just picked up a couple days ago and he brought over his nice glass bong with the 19mm gg downstem. the male piece blown by 7th floor didnt fit tight in there, but it definitely sealed to make a nice hit. a real nice hit. the kind of hit that puts an ear to ear smile on your face.
(':

the bong attachment is only like 15 bucks(they make a 15 and 19 mm connection) and most headshops carry a downstem that will fit it and your current bong. it is a HIGHLY recommended addition to pick up with/for your buddha.

the only downside to this is a familiar effect to bong-users.....your herb goes more quickly. but still. with these hits, you dont tend to mind too much.

i got a video uploading(and another short one to edit/render/upload), should be done in about 10 more minutes so you can see for yourself.

 

[max]

The best efficiency is achieved with small amounts. Unfortunately it's no fun to load just a pinch in the DBV and get a small hit or two. So load an amount that'll give you some nice hits, and go ahead and see what it can do. For best efficiency, take hits you can hold without instantly exhaling. The THC in vapor is slower to absorb than with smoke.

You'll notice that the vapor high leaves you more functional-most of the time anyway . As you increase the vaping temp the effect becomes more similar to the smoke high. But even above 400 F, the high is a lot cleaner. Useful temp reference- http://www.canorml.org/healthfacts/vaporizerstudy1.html

 

[max]

would you say the SSV hits that much harder that it justifies the price difference?

I think that would depend on the person-not only the difference in the hit, but $80 is a lot for some, but not for others. tokinGLX, who has a lot of experience with both units, says the difference is minor. For me the bigger issue was heater angle and hands free. I favored the SSV on these two points, but someone else could pick the DBV for the same differences.

 

[max]

Have not worked up the nerve to try cig tabacco in it yet. That is my ultimate goal.
Any Ideas anyone? I dont want to over-do it with the nicotine, you know?

If you have a spare wand and tubing, I'd use it for tobacco. It will screw up the odor/flavor on the wand and tubing you're using for herb. Tobacco smoke stains may also make cleaning the wand more difficult.

Would it harm the unit if I put something on top of the casing to help hold the heat in and protect the inside glass, maybe keeping it at a lower temp that way?

I wouldn't do that. You don't need to hold the heat in or protect the heater cover (just be careful not to drop anything in the unit. )

 

[goettel]

Got my DB last week and haven't fired up the bong since, which has to be the true test of any vapo.

Shipping took about three and a half weeks (to the Netherlands), but considering the shipping cost was very low ($10 or so), that's perfectly ok. Packaging was fine, and everything survived the trans-Atlantic trip. The included bag is BUD-UGLY (no pun!), but - hey - it was included, so who cares.

Stuff I ordered with DB: one of the 'ice chamber's (about $65, which is a bit steep imo - I could personally do without any painting on it), extra stir tool, 3m extra tubing (for fuckups and 'experiments') and 10 extra screens.

I have to say first impressions were not entirely positive. My DB has a slight wobble because the rubber feet aren't exactly matched, and the fact that the glas cover actually freely turns over the ceramic heater made me a bit nervous. Until I realized it can't not, so was designed that way - and actually, it's pretty handy when sharing the whip, for it reduces the chance of pulling out the whip, since it can turn left and right a bit.

Material quality is great! The glass connectors feel very high quality, the ice chamber is a solid piece and the tubing is nice and 'fleshy'. The whole thing with the ice chamber attached looks pretty good too, although the DBV logo is pretty tacky, which isn't worth mentioning really. Just don't lose the stir tool in the couch, since it's extremely sharp...

A word on the instruction leaflet: it's very clearly written, and I think a beginner would find it easy to get started with the DB after reading it. Not a trivial point imo.

I tried DB first without the ice chamber and got pretty much what I expected (I've had a Vapor Brothers for a couple of years): strong hits on a nicely filled bowl, less so with small loads. I tend to vape at high temperature (about 2/3 to 3/4 on DB) and blow out a load on the first few hits, with stirring doing very little afterwards. It wasn't until I hooked up the 'ice chamber' (which is really 'just' a bong) that I fell in love with this little beast! Vaping through it is just so much more comfortable: the vape is cooler, there's no chance of any debris hitting your lungs when drawing (something which happened a couple of times with the Vapor Brothers) and, maybe best of all: it really is just like toking a bong, but without the actual smoke, which makes the permanent switch from smoking to vaping a lot easier, and more fun.

On the minus side: the ice chamber doesn't really moisten the vapo, in my experience, so I still get a soar throat from drawing dry air. But I'm confident that experimenting with temperature, draw-speed and actual fluids in it will help, and I highly recommend getting one, since it simply adds so much to the vaping experience.

A week on, I'm very happy with DB, and I have every confidence that it will keep me happy for a long time to come. The DB was a late-comer on my shortlist, which included the HerbalAire, Arizer Extreme and the Volcano. After deciding to forget about balloon vaping altogether, it became a simple choice. I like the DB for what it is: a lo-tech (a good thing, not a bad thing imo!), high quality vapo with a solid manufacturer (they've been around for a good long while) behind it, at a very reasonable price.

Posting this review on other forums too, fyi.

 

[goettel]

Smokey, the smallest amount which I can get a nice, thick vape out of is about enough to just cover the whole screen. Less...not so good, because (like you suspect), you have to have at least enough in there to have it stick out of the tighter screen section.

DB is a nice step up from the old Vapor Brothers, in design, ease of use and effectiveness, imo, if that gives you any more reference.

 

[OldGuy]

how tight should the ground glass on my DBV be? my wand slides pretty effortlesly in and out, and often starts sliding out with only the slightest tug. my last vape GG had a lot more friction and was a LOT safer to pass the wand back and forth

When you fully inserted the wand into the GG joint, apply SLIGHT rotational torque to the connection. Again, the slightest rotational torque is all you should need or want to keep the GG joint connected.

 

[unsigned_char72]

Some Da Buddha porn:

All parts:

side view:

top view:

temperature knob:

heating element:

heating elemnt close view

heating element glowing:

 

[max]

turn it off and on for every hit

Off and on for every session maybe, but every hit? That would make neither you nor the vape happy. 7th Floor has been running an SSV non stop for 7-8 years now, so I don't think leaving it on for a few hours is going to be a problem. You're more likely to wear out the dimmer switch by turning it on and off so much.

 

[max]

any record of this ironhorse of a vape ever failing for any reason??

Sure. Not a lot, by any means, but there have been a ton of 'em sold, and nothing's failure proof. The temp control/dimmer has been/will be the most likely part to fail. It's a solid product with quality parts though, and does come with a 3 yr. warranty.

I got one of these in the mail the other day to use for a dealer review-a complete kit just as they ship out from 7th Floor. I must say I'm very impressed by the quality of the padded bag that comes with the vape. Considering that a decent brand name hands free box vape will run you at least $150 (maybe $140 on eBay), the DBV, with this nice storage/carry bag, is a real deal for $159. You'd have to be a real wood lover to go with a light weight wooden box unit instead of this.

 

[Iso2]

New here, I thought I would give my experience with Da Buddha.

I bought mine a few weeks ago. Just Da Buddha, nothing else except for 10 more screens. When I recieved it I had to go to work, then pick up some more bud, so it was an excruitiating wait for me.

Finally, when the time came, I turned it on to max and let it run for a few minutes like the instructions told me. Then came the good part.

I have been smoking weed for the past 2 years so changing to a vape was a little difficult for me. What I mean is, the way you draw the vapor in is much different I have found to merely just sucking on a pipe/bong. I found the best way to do it is just suck it in as if you were taking a normal breath of air. No extra force required, unless you're down towards the end of the weed.

The high is absolutely amazing. I only loaded up once into the wand but that was enough. I was in complete relaxation. This is coming from a guy who has smoked pot for pretty much 2 years straight, nearly every night. I wanted to keep trying out my new toy but my body and head said, "no, you've had enough for now, wait". It was crazy! A great high on so little weed! During my research for a vaporizer, I read that vaping doesn't give you much chair lock. I haven't found that to be true. Maybe less chair lock but it was still there.

It takes a little bit of practice to get the vaping right, since as I said, I was so use to using a pipe or bong. But after that, it is smooth sailing! I have never even seen a vaporizer in real life so this is my first. I'm very happy.

Another thing I love about vaporizers is the minimal smell. I can sit in my room, watch movies whilst my girlfriend can do her thing in the same room. She can't smell anything. It's great! I can get high without disturbing anybody. Sometimes my mate and I make a night of it. We sit around the TV with a good movie, food and Da Buddha and just have a great time. Unless somebody sees Da Buddha, they wouldn't know we've been vaporizing.

The guys at 7th Floor were very helpful. I live in Australia so I wanted to make sure I was getting the right power cord. They took a picture of the cord and sent it over. Very helpful.

The only negative things is the tube has a habit of falling out of the wand. I emailed them about this and they said I have to really jam it in there. I have tried that but it still comes out every now and then. I'll stick with it otherwise I'd have to buy another wand they said.

I hope this thing lasts me for a while because I don't feel like sending it off to get it fixed if it does indeed break. I'm worried from the posts about the dimmer switch and heating element.

Lastly, I want to thank all you guys here and Tokin (your videos rock!). Especially the people in the channel. Before I wanted to spend a bit of money on a vaporizer, I wanted to make sure I was getting the right one for me. With a little of research and a couple nights chatting with the guys in #fuckcombustion I made my choice. For those interested, I was tossing up between the SSV and Da Buddha.

Everything about Da Buddha screams professional. Even right down to the carry bag it comes with. That thing is so well padded I could throw it like a football! I do worry about the power cord breaking off with the way it bends to put it back in the back, but I try to be careful so it should be alright.

I am going to buy the Aroma Top soon so I can vape and let it release some nice oils.

I am very happy with my purchase, if anybody who is thinking of making a purchase of Da Buddha has any other questions from a (still) new customer I'd be happy to answer them.

p.s. the only thing left to do is to give my Da Buddha a name...

 

[max]

Not as thick vapor as I thought there'd be

It has a fairly large output opening, vs. the SSV, so it gives a smoother hit. A slower draw and/or packing the bowl a little tighter will give you more vapor per hit.

 

[Mezz Mezzrow]

hey guys. how do you clean your Buddha?

If you are looking to get some sticky goodness from all that collects in the wand, its better to wait a while. You can then stick it in the freezer for a minute and use the pick to scrape off some stuff that will make you silly high.

There're two methods for harvesting the very valuable "wand hash": Scraping and iso washing. Personally I prefer scraping. I use iso to extract honey oil from ABV, but I prefer to limit the amount of iso I deal with.

It took me a while to find a good scraping tool. You need something really long and narrow. I finally took an old pair of barber's shears and snapped them in two. Works perfectly. Being a cheap SOB, I try to clean the whip as well as I can, rather than replacing it. I take a wire coat hanger which I straightened out, and I use it to push an iso soaked rag through the tube. Cleans it out pretty well. The mouthpiece is the hardest bit to clean, cause the shape is so odd. I stick an iso soaked piece of paper toweling in the mouthpiece and then scrub the inside using a pick.

I haven't cleaned the heater cover yet. I haven't blown any herb the wrong way, so it's stayed pretty clean so far.

 

[usr/share/vape]

Clean the wand as above. I don't care about saving the results of the whip and mouthpiece, so I use Marc Emery's method for cleaning a bong:

1) Pour some iso in the item (tube or mouthpiece in this case).

2) Add some sea-salt. Marc uses kosher salt, but what's important is that it's course - not a fine ground.

3) Shake well for a few mins.

4) Pour out and enjoy a shiny clean item.

The alcohol is the solvent and the sea-salt is the abrasive. It cleans places nothing else can touch. Works like magic.

cheers

 

[max]

Of course this assumes you are dealing with 7th Floor directly. If you bought it
somewhere else you'll have to talk to whomever you bought it from.

Not at all. A manufacturer's warranty means they will back it. Dealing with a reseller for warranty service isn't necessary or even possible in many cases. The usual policy for most products is that you can return it to the reseller within the first 30 days, and after that you need to deal with the company that makes it. But this is just a general practice and may vary. A manufacturer's warranty nearly always means you can deal with them for service from day one, and that IS the case with 7th Floor.

 

[max]

The storage bag is really a joke

I checked out a new DBV about a month ago or so, for a review, and thought the storage bag was excellent. If the ergonomics of it weren't perfect, I didn't even notice. It was very well padded and had pockets for tubing, wand, etc. Getting a bag of this quality, free, with a $160 vape, is previously unheard of, and I salute Steve at 7th Floor for providing such a bonus with a vape that's designed as an economy model. If the performance and construction quality didn't set the DBV apart from the competition in this price range, IMO the free padded bag certainly does.

SSV may be better but not $90 better.

The price dif is actually $82, when you count shipping. Performance wise, it's not necessarily better, just different. As for the rest, you get more custom glass and and a footprint that's slightly more stable, with a metal base instead of plastic. Whether the difference in heater angle, glass, base, custom glass, is worth the extra $ or not is just personal preference. The hits are also slightly different, due to the heater cover/wand interface. For me, it was worth the extra $, which was only $57, since no discount was available anywhere for the DBV at the time. But I just prefer the SSV setup vs. the DBV. If you want hands free, the DBV is the no brainer choice IMO.

 

[Beezleb]

Hey all, I'm new to the forum and I was wondering something...

You know the goo that builds up in the wand? Do any of you people ever scrape it up and revaporize it?

Or am I just a solitary fiend?

That goo is condensed THC for the most part. Great and highly cherished stuff. Use it similar to kief.

 

[steiner666]

I have 2 questions, is it safe to use the screens provided? I would think its kind of sketchy since they used tape over it, I don't wana inhale the chemicals from the tape.

i havent got to the spare screen yet, but if there's glue and stuff from the tape on it i'd just get some pliers or something and hold the screen with it and use a lighter to torch the stuff off and then maybe run it under some hot water... or just boil them maybe.

Da Buddha IS supposed to click on/off.

As far as ideal vaping temps and such, i've found my ideal position to be 2 o'clock. Here's how i do mine:

-Set Buddha to 2:00 on the dial

-While its heating up, break up nugs as best as i can with my fingers, sometimes 1 partial rotation in my grinder (i dont usually get it too fine the first time). Dump it onto a piece of paper folded down the middle (optional, for cleanliness)

-Load the bowl up, if more than 2-3 mins hasnt gone by i wait a bit and then take a few hits, not usually full lung capacity because the first few hits are killer and its best not to waste them by taking in hits too big to hold in for long enough.

-When the hits start to become noticeably thinner, i dump the bowl out in a line on the paper and then suck it back up, going in teh same direction. This way, what was on the bottom of the bowl is now on the top and vice versa. I do this to both get a look at how vaped the stuff is getting, and to flip the bowl to expose more fresh stuff.

-Hit it till it becomes thin again and then re-grind the stuff again until its almost powder and hit it again. This exposes more surface area and makes for more hits.

-stir it up after a couple hits and maybe get another hit or two out of it and then put it with the rest of the vaped stuff.


I do things this way because it doesn't seem to vape like 70-80% of the bowl in the first two hits like it does if i just ground it up good and hit it. Makes the bowls last longer, especially between 2+ ppl. I dont usually adjust the temp, i just hit it slower when i'm not getting that big of hits. If hitting it slow at 2 oclock doesnt produce any vapor, i consider it vaped. Sometimes i go back through my ABV and grind it up more and vape it a bit higher, but i save that for rainy days, as i dont much like the flavor past a certain point.

 

[max]

The temperatures are not standardized.

The temp range IS standardized. It's the dial settings that aren't, which I'm sure is what you mean. All the units turn on at the same point (only variance would be a slight difference in one temp control vs. another), but the marker on the dial can be sitting anywhere. It could appear that a particular unit is turning on at noon instead of the normal setting of approx. 7. All you have to do is pull the knob off and reposition it so the 'turn on point' is where you want it.

 

[Snuff]

I successfully finished assembling of my new DBV with a small bowl like the PD has. All metal parts are custom made.

Here is what I have got:


Design of a new DBV in the draft:



[URL='http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/best-of-da-buddha-thread.16747/'] [/URL]

 

[Beezleb]

i cleaned out everything and put in a new screen and the weed is lighter again. about how much do you guys pack anyway? half way?

With the old wand, 1/2 way at least with the new wand, which is only new to me as I recently got one as I still had wands from when the original DBV released, and now 1/4 for myself to 1/2 way with two people or a needed bigger effect. With the newer wand, I do use less than the other wand. I like the new one but I got more draws off of the old wand but you use more product as well. The new tubing is much better than the old tubing. Hard to pull this one out as it is not stiff at all.

 

[vtac]

da buddha isnt the most efficient either.

In your opinion. Many people say it's cut their herb usage dramatically.

Efficiency is more about usage patterns than the vape itself. Something with a larger bowl such as the DBV makes it easy to chew through herb but that doesn't make it inherently inefficient.

The Da Buddha is my first vaporizer, and I've only had it for four or five days now and I've learned a lot in just a few short days.. so I don't doubt that I will become more efficient.

Whip vapes take a little getting used to but you'll be a pro in no time. The learning process is pretty enjoyable, too.

 

[stuartambient]

so i should pack smaller bowls?

I generally go with the instructions 1/8-1/4 filled , even less many times.
Almost real time , the wand I just did barely filled the well (made by the screen) with a quick pat down.

I got 7 decent hits off of it. This was done with the dial just past midnight. These are not fogger hits. Still I felt each one at the back of my throat , and usually I will stop drawing just slightly after. A good hold 5-10 seconds and each one still had some white vapor coming out on exhale. For the last 2 hits I emptied the wand and did some more grinding with my fingers. So first pack, not powder, but the remix it's now is very fine.

The other thing I would say , the big thing , I noticed and still have trouble with is the draw. I found those last 2 hits by drawing for a fairly long time. I didn't count the seconds, the sun didn't set and rise at all in between, but it's longer then a hit off a regular pipe or joint. Also I find the draw should be steady, but not rushing it.

As for my increased amount as I mentioned above, I think it might be my personal usage. Or I'm just in love with my DNV and want to share time with it as often as possible.

 

[max]

i usually dont load up anything more than 1/3 of the bowl, regardless of how i'm vaping it or how many ppl will be on the bowl. I think its easier to evenly vape a smaller amount. .

i'm finding that whilst i am getting pretty high, i'm not getting as blazed as i had hoped - and it's not through lack of quality herb, i've been getting some prime stuff these days!

do you guys just have one (third) of a bowl, and leave it be, or do you pack multiple bowls in a row? because one doesn't seem quite enough for me

I believe this is your first vape? I feel safe in saying that you'd have the same experience with any vape, especially if smoking the same amount does the trick for you. You're experiencing the difference between vapor and smoke. Although there are a few high temp compounds that you only get with near combustion, or smoke, and those do have a sedative and/or analgesic effect, a lot of what you're missing with vapor are toxic smoke byproducts that also have a sedative effect with the amounts you get in smoking. This study will give you an idea of some toxins and where they're released, temp wise. http://www.canorml.org/healthfacts/vaporizerstudy1.html


[URL='http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/best-of-da-buddha-thread.16747/'] [/URL]

 

[steiner666]

just use it some and play with the temps and hit speeds and grind your herb up pretty fine, try to get it so it all comes out a nice even brown color. No bits of green or tan, brown, but no black!

Most ppl accidentally combust part of a bowl or two while learning how far they can push the temps, so dont worry if it happens. The wand/mouthpiece are easily cleaned by boiling (if your combustion was too bad) or by cleaning with iso alcohol and evaporating and collecting the wandhash build-up if you caught it before there was too much smoke.

Best way to avoid combustion while getting the most vapor your can is to grind it up fine and load in a 1/3-1/4 bowl (from screen to tip), pack it in slightly, just enough to keep it from falling to one side when you tilt the wand to insert it in your buddhas hot hole (), but not hard enough to make it hard to hit or to compress the herb to the point where the air can't flow over much surface area other than whats immediately on top.

I personally start vaping at around 11-12 o'clock position, but this can vary greatly, since the knob is a push-on that could have a different off position than mine. The heating element glows at this temp, but not too bright. Start hitting normal, if you dont get anything, hit it as soft as you can and then speed up a bit towards the end of the hit, but try to make the hit last as long as you can basically. If you don't get anything still, bump the temp up, use the smallest increments possible to be safe. If the temps too low by a good amount, you'll get just the flavor, if it's only slightly low, you'll get a thin mist of vapor w/ the flavor, so only increase it a tiny bit.

If you have some really fresh sticky dank, you may run into a bit of a challenge vaping it like other herb. For instance, most of the regs i get, that's dry and usually compact that can almost be broken up enough with my fingers vapes really nice, producing thick hits at noon position. The moist fluffy stuff (stuff that usually was improperly harvested by an impatient grower, and not dried enough) however is a bit of a challenge. I can maybe set it to 2 oclock and get nice hits after 1 or two draws, and they're thick, but if i take too many hits at that temp and the herb gets dried out then i'm running the risk of burning it. So what i usually do with it is vape it some around 12-1 and, stirring between hits, at least get it dry, then regrind it and vape some more, which usually ends up working out really well. If you've hit it a bunch and it's still coming out just tan, you can try raising the temps a bit.

As others have said, vapor produced at higher temps gives a different sort of high. I make use of this by vaping fresh green lightly throughout the day in my portable vape, this gives a more clear-headed high that doesn't really effect my... energy level, i guess you could say. then at night i regrind and revape the same stuff in my DBV, since it has temp control and a better range, and since i can use water filtration and ice cooling to remove some of the unpleasantness of the ABV taste (which still tastes loads better than smoke IMO). Some ppl might prefer to take take in the whole vapor spectrum in one sitting though, to produce a more smoke-like high that gets you high and locks you down to teh couch and leaves you feeling burnt out when it subsides.

anyways, good look, hopefully you find your zen w/ da buddha as i did. I don't really understand how, but I imagine vaping isn't for everyone and some might prefer smoking, for me it was instant love tho. The first hit i got out of my DBV was ok size and tasted amazing, but the second one (and the 2nd one IS usually the killer hit i've found) was just massive, i couldnt believe how huge of a cloud of vapor i inhaled w/o really feeling it. I vaped a couple little bowls b4 work and was high for 3+ hours.