I'm shaking and very sick and need to smoke asap, but will try to communicate the best I can. Having real issues today.
Got the CFX and didn't really notice a smell. Once heated it was a strong odor. For a couple of hours or more I have been doing burn offs. Everything is iso'd. After multiple burn offs there's no change, because the path leading to the heater doesn't get hot and it is not possible to access from the bottom for cleaning.
I connected the WPA into a female to male 18mm, and sealed it with the O-Ring on my Volcano bowl. I inverted the unit with the temperature on both units at max and the Volcano pump on to force heat thru the path. Yes, I explained all of this to the manufacturer a few minutes ago on the phone. Anyway, I made a complete seal and forced hot air out the rear of the unit for around a total of 50 minutes of starting and stopping. I overheated the unit multiple times and know it is hot, and put my finger above the rear grill burned my fingers a bit from the hot forced air. After several burn offs using that method, I iso'd the chamber again and put the mouthpiece on which oils/odor was removed from. I took a dry pull with nothing in and got an intense taste. Tried it a few more times and started to have a reaction. So, repeat inverting burn offs using forced air from the Volcano pump to force air out of the bottom of the CFX. I did this for another 30 minutes (multiple sessions) to be sure enough heat held thru the entire path hot enough for long enough to vaporize the residue in the main entry path at the bottom of the unit. Bowl completely smells like chemicals again after iso'ing. My home smells like a mix between what you smell when the dentist grinds on your teeth, plastic, and silicone, because air was pumping thru the back for so long at high heat.
Anyhow, super disappointed. The puffitup teardown shows a great vapor path, but that path is spoiled by the residuals from production. The factory admitted to this residue that they said of course is from the manufacturing process, but they do not actually know what the chemical is. Anyhow, I was offered to send it in so they could see if they could find one with less smell. I explained after this many burnoffs and the methods I used, this residual oil more than likely would not vaporize by simply getting another unit. They said they would clean it for me, and I thought "That would be great!", and I said "Yes, that would be great. All that needs to be done is remove the path and clean it out". They said they can't take it apart or access the bottom path. So, there is nothing the factory can do to make an oil burn off that came from manufacturing 'If We Don't even have a Clue of the boiling point of this residual oil is to know the temp to vaporize the residue off', and not a one of us can say we know the boiling point of an oil that we nor that manufacturer can identify...
So bummed. Sick, going to medicate. Be back after while.
My reasoning for typing this is for the lurkers with cancer and chemical sensitivities that are not members and are simply researching. Im a research freak, often until I get very nauseous from staying awake and researching too long while my mind is in focus on the subject or object I am studying/researching. Yes, the materials in the path of this product are pure, and you can see that on the puffitup teardown. What you won't hear them speak of and cannot see is the residual oils from manufacturing, but then again Puffitup may have never used the unit to know it needs burnoffs etc. So, medically safe components? Yes, but if you have chemical sensitivities you either need to be prepared to possibly have to return your unit, or steer clear altogether until you see this forum say that either the oil has been identified, the residue is no longer in the units, or the housing is revised for a bottom access port so you can clean it. Again, you cannot clean the long skinny path below the heater. I did ask them on the phone to go ahead and add to their list that these units need to have the grill so it is removable and the bottom of the path is cleanable. As it stands, all dust etc is going straight thru the bottom, entering the path, because there is no filter like on the bottom intake on a Volcano, and when it does build up you cannot access the bottom to be cleaned. The guy on the phone did seem to be in agreement with the verbal tone change after explaining "This unit by fact can never be cleaned completely, because the bottom is not accessible".
I don't want anyone seriously ill like me with extreme chemical sensitivities to be lurking, decide to buy this unit, and then possibly have a reaction. For us extremely sick, we just can't risk inhaling from something that could 'possibly' harm us, and is unidentified. This will be the unit for you if they make the unit accessible on the bottom side. This would allow you to completely clean the unit, but until then...be safe, buy what you know for fact cannot possibly be of any harm to your health. If it is at all in question, steer clear.
EDIT: OK, unbiased. My family has to bring me food every day because of how sick I am, and rarely get to leave home. My Mom just showed up while typing this. I did not explain anything, and I inverted the unit again on the Volcano and I said "Put your nose over it while the air is running out the back and tell me what you smell." to get an unbiased opinion from someone not expecting any odor. She said "It smells like plastic", and this was after the however many hours Ive been trying to get rid of the smell and taste.
If anyone feels that the oil is safe, keep in mind what happens when someone with Amalgam fillings simply chews gum. It releases vapor and absorbs in the roof of your mouth etc. In a lifetime, someone could chew gum every day for 70 years, and at 70 years those Amalgam fillings still release vapor. It does not vaporize and stop harming your body, and it is not like herb where heating it enough times will do so, and for all we know, this oil could release chemicals for years of use. No way to know because again, no one knows what it is to say they know exactly what it's doing to us, and to simply "assume" it is safe is a big gamble. Again, assuming that over a period of time this unknown chemical will evaporate or vaporize and no longer release is unknown, regardless of opinions, they will never make facts. This issue is simply left at question. We don't know if the oil would be like herb, eventually vaporizing, or like Amalgam fillings, and every use of the unit is possibly putting something bad in your body, but no one knows, again, since no one knows what the oil is to even know the boiling point. Obviously it is way above the 430-440 degree range, because the smell still pours into my house everytime I inverted and try a burnoff again. I understand that proud owners will no like this post, but again, this is for the lurkers who are very sick with major chemical sensitivities and researching this device.
