Best of the Lotus Vaporizer thread

[VapeNStone]

Here are s0me m0re L0tus hits

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[S1N3]

I posted this glass in the cheap glass thread the other day. Thought I'd give you all a look, still I prefer the 19mm Honeycomb I posted a few pages back also sold by the same vendor on aliexpresss

If you'd like to see the glass better here is a Perc test on Youtube.


Here is the thread where it's being discussed: http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/cheap-high-quality-bubbler.5255/page-99#post-483188

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[DaProfessor]

Big Torch Tips & Tricks
Some of you know that I use a fairly powerful torch with the lotus. I'm using a 4 flame honest torch. I was actually scorching almost every single bowl for the first couple weeks learning how to control the heat. I'll share some of my experiences.

• Do not preheat. The best part of using a large heat source is instant vapor. I begin to draw at a very slow speed right before applying the flame. I then accelerate my draw to the desired speed.
• Max out your draw speed. If this is your first time using a large torch, inhale as quickly as possible without straining yourself. I can get a golden brown ABV in 2-3 hits solely by inhaling as quickly as possible.
• Next, lower your draw speed. After your are comfortable hitting the pipe at a quick pace, try to scorch a bowl. Slowly lower your draw speed until you get some black bits at the end of a hit. This will establish your 'slow' draw speed. This is why I scorched many bowls. I couldn't get past golden brown and I tried to slow down my draw. The bowl would usually end up a bit black.
• Vary your draw speed throughout a single hit. Once you are comfortable with high and low draw speeds, mix it up. My personal approach is to draw slow for a 2-3 seconds, then draw quickly until my lungs reach capacity. With in 2-3 hits I'm getting bowls that are milk chocolate to coffee bean in color with no scorched taste.
• Vary flame distance from plate. I have begun to hold the flame further from the plate, compared to using a single flame torch. I feel that heating the plate with the hottest portion of the cone is too intense. Heating with the bushy tail of the flame provides superior taste up to the golden ABV stage. I do bring the cone close to the plate when taking the last hit from a bowl.

YMMV and it is not recommended to use a large torch with the lotus. I do notice some scorching of the wood underneath the heating plate. You need to remove the plate to see it. Personally I am not concerned, since my myrtle zap has some scorched bits. I've been using it for years and have accepted any risk that scorched wood in an airpath can present. However, there is no visible sign that the wood is contaminating the airpath.

All said and done, I'm going back to the small torch for a bit. I want to master the lotus as originally intended

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[Meghan]

Damn you @Meghan!!!

With a statement like your last sentence, I know have to go roll loose change to begin funding for a Lotus.
I must mention that I was not looking for a portable, flame based vape prior to reading your comment.

LOL. Sorry! (You'll thank me later, though, I think!)

The fact that the Lotus doesn't depend on batteries or electricity is a big reason that I say it would be my one and only. I use my Solo and my Pinnacle Pro a lot, but I'm constantly worrying about battery life. Not necessarily because they generally die mid-session (although my Solo's battery life has definitely declined since I got it), but because if I don't remember to stick them back on their chargers when they're not in use, I'm screwed when I need them next. The fact that the Lotus produces tastier, thicker vapor than any of my other portables and will never be unavailable when I need it is absolutely huge for me. It's easier to use than my previous flame-based portable, the bronze Sherlock VaporGenie (which is also very nice), and doesn't require a Bic-style lighter, which I appreciate a lot. It's efficient. Yes, there is a slight learning curve (I don't agree that it's super difficult to combust in the Lotus, though it's easy to avoid it...I have come close because I am trying to get the thickest vapor possible), but I found the learning curve for the Firewood and the VG to be more cumbersome for sure.

Prior to the Lotus, I rarely vaped flowers through water. For whatever reason, the Solo has only worked well for me with the Pinnacle WT, but never inverted in a larger bubbler. I could get hits, but actually fogging up my bubbler eluded me. And sometimes the air restriction on the Solo made it difficult to draw at all. The Pinnacle Pro is better through water, but the taste really suffers over level 2. My Underdog is great, but sort of tethered to one place...and my GonG is actually too long to effectively vaporize the whole load very much at all. So I almost never hit that through water.

But since Saturday evening, the Lotus plus the GBD Inline Bub have been my vaping tools of choice. So much fun to use. Such smooth, giant hits. I won't bother trying to use my Solo, PnP, or UD through water anymore. No point.

So yeah, long story short...I was hesitant to buy another flame-based portable because I so rarely use my VG, but I 'm 100% thrilled that I did. I'm completely amazed by how easy the Lotus is to use, how good it tastes, and how much fun I'm having with it. And I will be able to take it with me absolutely anywhere I go, even if there are no outlets. It doesn't get much better than that.

My other vapes still have their place in my arsenal (well, some of them...) If I'm super sick, it's the Solo all the way (easy to lie in bed and medicate). When I'm out of the house and looking for stealth, I'll take my Pinnacle Pro. But for at least 80% of my vaping needs, I'm pretty sure the Lotus will be the best choice.

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[David and Michael]

Any news on those magnetic WPAs @Max Jitter?

Thanks

Here's the new WPA. Just one magnet on it and it's still almost too strong. We haven't had a chance to put the photo up on the website yet.

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[BLAZING OG]

Finally got the lotus vapor cap & WPA & I have to say that so far I think I am in love with this little puppy. Flavor is delicious, I cannot taste any metal, any SS, any wood NOTHING but my med's (Butter OG). My first take at it was delicious flavor and a smaller but decent exhale, I had not honed in my technique yet. Now iam blowing huge clouds effortlessly, by my second bowl.
Will report back!




























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[BLAZING OG]

Yeh my first impression was "meh" no vapor only taste.. Only when i wasn't afraid to torch the thing was my mind blown! Easy to combust yes, but easy to correct.This was always supposed to be my travel piece. But it is so versatile in every way it now rides SHOTGUN

I completely agree!!!!


First session , Fresh grinds on the left & Abv on the right.
Got 2 or 3 Flavorful hits, then dumped out , nice and even & the pics do no justice for how nice and uniform the color is.
(Image Below)



Second Session, got more control & as @NeeChee mentioned is when I torched the crap out of it and got huge feedback lol lol
OMG, WOW!
Fresh Grinds on left & ABV on the right!! No specs of black at all, the camera likes to add shadows and trickery with the flash, but I assure you looking thru a magnifying glass NO BLACKS just dark brown.
(Image Below)



Third Session
Hit it Hard and still no combustion, but still I kept the flame at a distance ,circling flame or bringing flame closer and then pulling further aways and so on.
(Image Below)


One of my sessions weighed out
0.11 bouncing to 0.12
(Image Below)


More ABV shots
(Image Below)


All of the ABV put together, approx .3-.4 ish.
Extremely Medicated myself & my wife.

I have to mention that I did combust once (my fault),actually my wife did, I was lighting her up and she got 2-3 great hit (2 were lung busters for her), I did good , but then I pushed her to see if she could get another last hit (we find relief in the high temp affect) . I torched the heck out of this one as to push the limits & extract it all, sure enough I saw one tiny spark snap thru and thats when I stopped. She said she got mostly vapor but the last bit tasted a bit burnt, and after inspecting the load (ABV) it was the darkest brown I have ever seen with a speckle of black with a tiny bit of ash(like it was starting to combust and did ever so slightly). So basically you can combust but its really hard and you have to be trying to and heating the heck out of it, have not combusted anything in the last 4 sessions Ive had.Back to testing!

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[Sneech]

Just got my black friday order from MT in today! I have a question for you @Max Jitter! Is there a lotus V3?! I got my new cap in today and noticed a few difference. I have some side by side pictures to show as well.

The new cap is on the left, old on the right. Immediately I noticed the longer stir rod and the inclusion of a patent number on the metal in the top pic. On the top of the lotus cap my old one has this triangle inside the circle as you can see in the picture, while the new cap does not. I'm wondering what revisions each of these is and what other features might be "under the hood" of the new cap!

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[llamaman001]

ok wow. So at first I was actually letting the flame touch the cap, now Im putting just the very tip of the flame on there on its working wonders! When I want to extend the hit I slowly pull the lighter away farther and farther until Im almost done then cut the torch off. I am doing some MONSTER pulls on this. Im on hit 5 from a full bowl, no packing.

 

[natural farmer]

If you keep hitting the same bowl over and over will it stop producing visible vapor?
I thought I was doing something wrong because I was really scorching the last hit of the 1st bowl and I didn't get any visible vapor at all. No material blackened either though. Then I packed a fresh bowl, did the same thing, and got an enormous, tasty cloud. So is that how you tell when a Lotus bowl is done?? When it stops producing visible vapor?? That sounds like a weird question but I'm just used to the Solo which seems different in every way. I can keep getting visible vapor off one bowl for 30 minutes with the Solo, although it feels like a chore to do it.

Not a weird question at all mate!
The Lotus can go from very hot to very cold so you are the master of your load! Apply enough heat and you can finish the bowl in one hit. Take it slowly and keep your draws short and you can sip it throughout a whole movie if you wish. A load is done when you don't like the taste any more. That depends on the strain as well. Some, especially Sativas, will taste yak sooner ime. Now depending on your palate the ABV can be anywhere from very light brown to almost black brown. You are the judge of how thorough you want the extraction to be. YOU ARE IN TOTAL CONTROL with this little marvel of a vape!!!

EDIT: About vapour production... Since it can get very hot you can get visible vapour till you have a pretty black ABV... The taste suffers a lot though at that point, I only go there by accident during the last hit.

 

[filteredhead]

...the way the metal is bending down towards the inside, could it possibly obstruct or change the airflow? You can see how it's stretched inward around the center post a bit. If its normal, and nothing to be concerned about, I'll not worry.

Thanks for that detail, I was not able to see bends in your earlier pics. The center of my vapor cap plate does have a bit of a concaveness to it but not real bends in it that I've ever seen. As part of a vapor cap tune-up have flattened a few dents by pressing them out with bottom of small dash spoon (of course after already having removed the top plate for cleaning).

Regarding the butane residue colors that form on the vapor cap, many folks here (including me) seem to use "refined" butane (e.g. vector) but the residue still appears. I've used a wire brush to remove top plate colored residue deposits a couple times by gently and lightly running the wire brush over the plate in warm soapy water. I don't know if that will cause excessive early wear and tear so I don't plan on doing it often.

Below is what my vapor cap looked like after the first couple months of usage, and after it was cleaned:

A hex wrench labeled 0.05" fit the screws of my Lotus vapor cap. The wire brush was purchased at dollar store.

 

[filteredhead]

With short hits i don't hear much popping, however with sessions where taking several larger longer back-to-back hits, then i hear the popping sound from within the vapor cap probably due to the extra heat build-up. I figure with longer hits (where flame is held farther away for 20 seconds or more) a larger diameter of the inner plate heats up and warps/bends from temperature transition. I think the wood charring is due to heat absorbed by outer steel ring cover as result of long draw/heat cycle where jet lighter's heat cone expands and heats the steel ring.

I don't seem to hold the flame too close nor consider it over-heating the vapor cap, regardless those dis-colorations still occur with vector butane and with holding the flame away for long hits my Lotus abv still comes out between gold and dark brown.

During long draws I try to keep the flame about 1.5 to 2.5 inches away from the top plate (after the initial close-in heat-up). Perhaps its wear and tear, i dunno, for me the popping/clicking sound occurs during longer draws, and also sometimes after a longer hit is over the cap makes the sound while I reload the wpa. Here's an older video of a longer draw with flame distance and abv color in case anyone is interested.

 

[natural farmer]

I have found an easy way for long, thick, low temp hits that taste just AMAZING with no chance at all for scorching and I 'd love to share!

So, you got your usual 5/8" flame, 2 sec preheat with the tip of the deep blue part of the flame touching the center of the Lotus, then start a low to medium speed inhale and at the same time move the flame higher with the light blue part of the flame touching the center again or make slow and small circles (not much difference cause when the flame is high enough the heat stream touching the hot plate is wide enough). Draw for as long as you can and you will most possibly be amazed as much as I am right now! So high!

 

[filteredhead]

My new Lotus kit arrived from EZV earlier this week and am pleasantly surprised to see the adjusted location of the stir stick on the newer vapor cap (on right with patent number). The stick location on new cap seems to have been moved outward by a few millimeters, perhaps from feedback here to presumably help clear more glass joints, adapters and downstems.

The stir stick on the old cap (v2 on left) collides with the joint of my gridded Sov downstem, preventing cap from seating all the way onto the wpa. The stir stick on new cap (v3 on right) clears the same joint due to the re-location.

 

[filteredhead]

^ Just looked at mine no patent Its official you have a V3!...also in the second photo the V3 sits flusher on the WPA is this correct? or just a fluke?. (edit) sorry looks like the poker pushes it up. So V3 seems like only the patent and more space for poker?

Yes agreed, the difference between V2 and V3 seems to be the poker/stir stick location and patent number.

Would like to mention that the old v2 vapor cap's stir stick still clears most of my gear including several 14/18 low-pro reducers and downstems without issue. That said, out-of-the-box the new v3 cap fits more pieces.

Also had to peek underneath the hood...here is the inside of the brand new/unused v3 vapor cap. Not sure why there is discoloration on the inner plate, maybe as result of assembly process from factory?

 

[filteredhead]

I never thought to check the inner plate of my v2 cap when it was new/unused. Here's the inner plate comparison of my used V2 on left and new V3 on right:

 

[David and Michael]

Also had to peek underneath the hood...here is the inside of the brand new/unused v3 vapor cap. Not sure why there is discoloration on the inner plate, maybe as result of assembly process from factory?

Definitely the assembly process. The diffusion plate has to be annealed (heated and softened) before it is formed.

 

[natural farmer]

Not much charring under the hood here... Even if someone manages to char it though there is minimum contact of the airway with the charred surface around the holes. I am talking hair thick contact around the already very small holes. Anyway. My advice is to keep hits hot and short to avoid charring almost completely.

For those having trouble getting amazing hits with a bubbler (scorthing,burning,etc), here's my two cents. Get your flame a little bit bigger than it is now, I have my torch on a pretty high setting. Not the highest, but close. Put the flame to the plate, very closely so the center of the flame is touching the plate, until it burns bright red. This will only and a few seconds. Begin to inhale immediately, and pull away the torch somwhat. Make it so the center is glowing a slight orange, not red. And once it's orange (or glowing), keep it there by adjusting the flame and inhalation speed. You will be able to take a hit for as long as you want without combusting or torching, I just took a 20 second rip (at least) with my bubbled using this technique, and there was so much vapor it was ridiculous, and it tasted amazing. First time I've felt my lungs fill up that much since I took my first dab. Never knew the lotus was capable of this. Make the center glow, just not red, and control your draw speed. With a proper bubbler I'm sure you'd have a similar experience. Now I can't move, great.

The Lotus is the only vape I have tried so far that makes my eyes water and my lungs burn when I choose so. Who needs dubs???

 

[natural farmer]

First cursory review:
Wish I had a vid camera, or phone tripod, but don't right now. Anyway, my first tryout was both OUTSTANDING (Lotus w/OEM stem), and DISAPPOINTING (torch): the torch wouldn't fill/the butane can valve was leaking also...Shit! BUT!!! I did get 3 monstrous hits with the only 3 flames I could get before the torch poofed out. Put in a very small pinch. Good flavor, big vapor, almost spent, dry, but very light ABV...zero scorch! Learning curve must be near zero, and as I said - got my first 3 huge hits with my first and only 3 flames. Seems real easy to use, no fuss no muss. Feels like a Home Run! My heads in a good place now, so I won't stress too much over the faulty torch.


EDIT: I did get the hot plate red dot on all three huge cloudy hits...the vapor wasn't hot and the ABV was light. No scorch. I think the secret to a love affair with the Lotus V3 is to have the right working torch. l believe the Solo stem caps will fit the Lotus bowl, so stowing a session in the pocket with the Lotus cap beside it is a stealth maneuver. If the Solo stem caps don't fit, I'll find something that does.

Congrats on your early success mate! It will only get better!
And you might want to get a dozen of those Honest from dx or elsewhere so you are never left without one. A couple might not work so well but they will do send you good ones if you send them a mail... 20$ for a dozen lighters isn't bad, right?
Oh, and maybe try avoiding putting the vapour cap in a pocket with other objects. The hot plate dents very easily...

On the subject of protection and cases, that @Max Jitter had brought up again I kept forgetting posting some photos to show how well my old Ryot PackRatz works with the Lotus. I don't know about the newer models but should be the same size!
I wonder if @Max Jitter has found anything yet...

EDIT:
This little package and a filled spare lighter in another pocket will last me 2 full days of use as the little SC stash box hold about 2 grams of unpressed herbs and each lighters can usually go through a day.
Now if I press the herbs in the container and squeeze 8-10 grams of ground herbs and add a small butane can in the mix it becomes a week's pack or even more! If you are left in a field of cannabis plants with that pack you might stay in there for months!

Wake and bake is so nice!!!!!

 

[vorrange]

Awesome, Its one of those vapes that grows on you as your technique grows.


Congrats!!!!!

Yes it does!

I had prior experience with other flame vapes, and more difficult ones, like the Vaponic.

But still, every vape has it's technique, and as i fine tune my technique to use the Lotus, the experience improves and i enjoy it more and more.


So, here is how i do it, you guys can comment and add your input if you want:

1. I drop a nugg in, ungrinded.
2. I set the lighter aligned with the center, flame is ~2cm/0,78in, and the height is where the flame changes density which is the flame position where the temp is highest.
3. I fire it up and after 2sec i start hitting it, i keep at it for ~10-15sec and then i stop the flame but i continue hitting it until i feel the vapour cool down.
4. I poke the nug to break it and stir.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until herbs are dark brown.

With water everything i do the same, only difference is the hits are longer, roughly 30sec. And i also control the height of the lighter because with longer hits the usual height can prematurely kill a bowl or result in uneven roasting.
I gauge the vapor thickness to regulate the height of the flame.

As for draw speed, i find slow draws are prefered at all times. It helps to extract better, and it is much easier on the throat.... plus, the hits are thicker.

I do tend to accelerate a bit towards the end of the inhalation, habits from my genie technique, i feel it helps raise temps somehow.

So, this is how i do it!

 

[natural farmer]

Well, mine arrived in the mail today. Filled up the lighter, filled up the bowl, and gave it a shot...and got no vapor. Tried again, still no vapor. I taste bud ever so slightly but can't taste any vapor. I preheated it and took long enough draws that I had to set the Lotus down for a couple minutes because it was getting too hot. I've made 6 attempts now and still can't get anything. Followed the instructions and instructional videos to a T.

R u sure your flame is high enough?

The thick blue part of the flame should be almost equal to the distance between the points of the Lotus leaves on the hot plate. That's an easy way to measure a 5/8" flame. If the flame is right, lower your draw speed. You 'll get it soon enough...

 

[NeeChee]

Warning: Be careful with the double torch! I went a few back to back sessions last night and got the wood too hot. I noticed what appeared to be vapor coming from the cap a few times.It tasted like i charred the wood a bit.I took cover off and it does not look bad just a little darker on one side though. I went back to the single jet and no problems since..Anyway imo the double jet is too much because it spreads the high heat to far from the center plate.

 

[BLAZING OG]

Finally got around to do a quick hd vid of the lotus , more to come.!!!

Enjoy!!!
Watch in HD

 

[Vapodudule]

The plate on my lotus seemed to develop a bit of a crack.. and now it is giving off a powerful wood smell and offgasses when I torch it without the bowl attached. I don't feel safe using it until I can replace the cover so I suppose I'm back to combustion now :/

Why would you want to torch it without the bowl attach and overall not inhalating when you torch, it is false operating imo. The lotus belongs to a high temperature balance since the air inhale and the heat applied by a torch on the plate are both fonctionnal. Which means you have to inhale to operate lotus.

The ring of wood touching the plate is conducted heat from the plate, since you do not output heat by some inhaling, the border phenomenon of wood charring by superheating it is normal by your behavior.

I made some photos of two lotus units used as such: one from may 2013, other from sept 2013. I found the zone charred unevenly but very few to none heavy charred zones. To me it leads to the theory of functionning of the lotus. It leads to a very rare overheating plate announcing a stop use of lotus for colding plate.

This theory as all of them is criticable at will.

Step 1:

Bring the high temperature balance possible to let a stable centered flame hit the center of the plate. This step should not overlast in time more than 3 seconds, more seconds risks note 2.

Step 2:

begin to inhale and start a high temp air flow and maintain it. Control the flow inhalated by looking at clouds if you can. taste is the other control way.

Put back the flame at a 2 cm heigh of the plate and make gentle circle to let this heat compensate the heat output of your inhale.

Setp 3: Enjoy being a modern vaporist and repeat.

Note 1: border behavior. The overheat of the plate by conduction of the wood of the chassis can bring some wood taste on the hits. Let the plate cool down before next use.

Note 2: Border behavior. An oversteady flame at the center of the plate can bring some radiation impact on the load, this provide spots of charred loads. By a quick though lotus is a magic filter of heat from blue heavy torch, since axis of flame leads right in the bowl make radiation not very far.

Note 3: do not overpack loads since lotus should be convective dominant, air have to flow freely. Just make a plane surface with your pinky in order to prevent fluffy loads to fly in the cap.

Note 4: Big clouds means more particles, i observed many time herbal loads shrinked through hits. Visible rich clouds with many components.

Note 5: Hits can be at your disposable, many whispy ones or few heavy. stretch loads or not, your choice or consequence of your behavior of your blue flame. Beware of skiping step 1, i always prefer a very short direct flame touch to make cold plate take is operationnal temperature than a too long flame impact on the flame to prevent any overheating. skipping step 1 and having a normal behavior of the unit without overheating plate is still to be dicussed.

 

[David and Michael]

By the way, do you know if verdampftnochmal.de will at some point offer accessories (http://www.lotusvaporizer.com/catalog/4) ?

Little question to finish : Is there a real performance difference between the old and the new versions ? Or are we only talking here about design improvements like bigger chamber capacity, stirring stick and magnets ?

Verdampftnochmal will not be offering accessories soon.Contact them directly if you think they should be.
The present model has a third plate in the vapor cap that mostly eliminates radiation heating of the bowl.
Regarding double and triple torches, I don't recommend them. They make it way too easy to overheat the Lotus, leading to a broken hot plate and charred frame.