DETAILED info needed about volcano classic vape session PLEASE!!!

[akwardsauce]

i hope u guys like to read & have something to toke while you plow through this detailed message (the instructions said to be detailed...):

so this is the first forum ive ever signed up for...& i think it is SOOO useful & full of info. i see people say that they like volcano users' opinions because we are underrepresented on here. i think this is the best website about all this info cuz the other ones just pretty much say the same stuff over and over again. this is the one that keeps popping up when i google my interesting hard to find ganja & vape questions...

but i need an answer to this...ive been looking all over online for about a year still with no luck...a youtube vid would really help on this subject too! but i havent been able to find someone that recorded their whole volcano classic vape session...

i bought the volcano without ever trying it before and only trying some kind of cool looking box vape at a party like 2 yrs ago (i never tried to find out about it cuz i wasnt into vaping at that time) & a gumball-machine shaped vape like 4 yrs ago (that was my first vape experience ever - which made me think vaping was a scam). other than those 2 vapes, i never did it before but something came over me (prolly my own cheapness) & i decided to get a vape so i could get the absolute MOST from my ganja (by vaping it to the fullest i could, then curing it with a water bath 1st for like 7 days to remove chlorophyll & other unwanted substances, then drying it, then using 99% alcohol to extract the remaining goods before finally tossing it out).

so i bought a VOLCANO vape CLASSIC style with SOLID valve like 1.5 years ago (which is currently kept unused at my sisters apartment in a dif city cuz it needs a place to stay & shes pretty much a blunt smoker...its the culture over there) & have a MFLB i should probably get sometime this week or early next week (dont even have a local hookup yet but thats a different story...). if you can believe it, i havent consumed ganja (or even alcohol) for about 2.5 months now...so im kind of looking forward to "starting fresh" again by vaping OCCASIONALLY only & avoiding smoking totally. BY NO MEANS have i ever had a low tolerance, but i suspect that i might have one now since, even though ive consumed about 2.5 months ago, its been very sparingly before that for about all of 2011 for sure (like maybe 2 weekends of fairly heavy smoking a month prior to this break). so basically i think its cooled down a lot...

anyways i had a question about people's usage of the volcano vaporizer. now i know that this has been discussed before, but there are always key details left out - which makes the conversation worthless information (to me anyways). basically ive had mine for like 1.5 yrs (lets say 1 year of use since ive been away from it for a while) & i want to know EXACTLY how people go about using it. they say after you have it for a while, you get in a groove, but i have used it DIFFERENTLY like every single time i fire it up. sometimes i see vapors keep on coming, but i need to use new ganja cuz the effect is not there...and other times i try to max a bunch of bags at 9 just to try to kill it so i can move on to a fresh chamber session...sometimes i give up on pulling the most out of it.

so these are the questions that i think i need answered so i can find a consistent way to use it when i finally do get it back. hopefully (if anyone even touches this question) this is a useful skeleton to help answer the questions i am looking to get answered. & hopefully i didnt blow it by giving you my life story...

1. ganja quality (low, med, high)
2. ganja quantity (some kind of useful description such as "doesnt cover whole bottom of screen" or .X grams, etc...)
3. size of the bag used (X cm or inches, default volcano size, turkey or large reynolds bag, or ridiculously huge, etc...)
4. heat or dial value used for bag #1 followed by a stir or grind?
5. heat or dial value used for bag #2 followed by a stir or grind?
6. dial value or heat used for bag #3 followed by a stir or grind?
7. dial values or heat used for bags #4, 5, 6, etc. followed by any stirs or grinds...?
8. special methods for adding kif into the chamber to bud or methods for vaping kif alone in the chamber
9. if you use a different brand of vaporizer, do you know the actual TEMPERATURE you use (in F or C)? at least with this information, i could set the volcano dial to the corresponding heat since that is essentially what is needed for effective extraction.
10. any other info that would make this more clear to a newcomer to vaping?
11. do you only refresh your chamber after a certain number of bags or refresh it when the visible vapors do not show anymore?
12. do you feel satisfied if you start a new session with pre-vaped ganja from an unfinished older session, or do you try to start fresh every session?
13. how long do you tend to feel effects for and how would you classify your tolerance?
14. how long have you had your machine & how often do you use it?


so ive been doing a lot of research and i am starting to believe that you can safely max the temperature on the volcano (or at least max the last bag at "9" & in fact, this may be the recommended way to use it for the most efficiency) in order to extract a great deal of useful stuff. there are a few proper scientific studies that ive read the documentation to...i found those on this forum, which was totally awesome. however people dont seem to go that high when i read their methodology.

wow. so i know thats really specific, but im used to scientific research papers & i figure the only way to duplicate an experiment is with the proper information & documentation. so hopefully you can help me out or point me to somewhere to look...chances are you stopped reading this 6 pages ago...

i think the most useful way to answer these questions would be to make a youtube video with the camera showing how the user loads the chamber & with what (user identities not needed), then just keeping the camera pointed at the volcano from beginning to end (editing out unnecessary footage for time reasons would probably be needed, as sessions can go on for a long time in some cases)...but i dont wanna push my luck. this way, i can see how its adjusted & when its "done".

i also saw a video on youtube when i searched "tokeez bags volcano" of some dude with a killer house making a 5 - 6 foot "tokeez" brand bag from a volcano with milky vapors & killing the whole thing in like 20 seconds...isnt that a total waste of ganja? but then again he looked like money wasnt an issue for him...you can even see another volcano in the background...

SORRY FOR THE LONG THING...you can make fun of me if you want to.

HERES SOME INFO ABOUT VAPING AT AROUND "9" ON THE VOLCANO CLASSIC:
heres some graphs that show what im talking about (experiments done using volcano classic):

http://stash.norml.org/wp-content/uploads/volcano1.png
http://stash.norml.org/wp-content/uploads/volcano2.png
http://stash.norml.org/wp-content/uploads/volcano3.png

and here are some research that may have the article i was referring to...i havent clicked on all of them yet, but if i find that article website, ill post it here for sure!

http://www.vapormed.com/volcano-medic-v search.php

thank you so much for your time!!!

 

[Carbon]

I have a Volcano Digital. With a conservative amount of good bud I'll only run through 3-4 bags of my stuff. This is with a small sized bag that came on the valve originally. My last run was with a partner, and I used 0.3 grams and ended up only running it 3 times (I'm sure it was good for a 4th). Looking at the amount I was going to grind up it seemed too small, but when I got it into pieces it was clear that it was plenty. My tolerance was down so my experience lasted many hours compared with my friend's hour or less (6 bong rips the night before will make the next afternoon vape session a bit less effective).

As for temperature, I'll usually start at 365F for the first two bags and then go into the 370s for a 3rd or 4th. You'll notice the color and opacity of the vapor varies considerably with just a 10 degree or less jump from 365 up to say 375. The higher temperature will also produce heavier effects, and the vapor will be more of a thicker, white color rather than the bluish white at 365. The vapor is also harsher the higher you go and has a less desirable taste. The second bag is usually the best one overall as the herbal material has come up to temperature. A bigger bag is never a bad thing to try.

If you really want to milk your stuff, I'd say go for 5 bags and stir the contents of the chamber at least every 2 runs. On another note, some people will put the chamber on top of the device and run it for a few seconds until they see visible vapor being produced, then they'll clip the bag on top of it. This is great for getting a higher vapor to air ratio in the bag, but I will often refrain from doing this to spare my throat irritation. The only time I may do this is near the end of a bowl's life if you're really trying to get every last bit out of it, so prerunning the machine may get that last bag a bit more life in it than it otherwise would have.

In the end there is no one right way to use the device. I am of the opinion of using less herb and running through the whole bowl in one session. I know others that prefer to load up a lot of material and will run 1-2 bags only to return to the same bowl and run it again for another session or two. It is mostly personal preference, but I have found if the device has been sitting that you really need to at least get to a 2nd bag to produce more vapor as everything gets up to temperature (assuming your bag is as small as mine). Try different ways and see what works for you and what you like best. What is best for one user may not be for you and vise versa. Be sure to report back with what you find.

*Edit: Let me also add that I use a locally blown beaker glass pipe with a showerhead diffuser with my Volcano to further reduce irritation. I will put the mouthpiece of the bag directly onto the glass joint on my downstem that would normally take the slide (bowl) piece. This is overkill for some people, but for me it is a very noticeable difference in harshness from the dry hits out of the bag and out of the pipe. Also don't fret as the Volcano is one of the easiest vapes to use properly. It is very user friendly, and it's tough to actually get it completely wrong. I hope my comments have been helpful for you.

 

[weedemon]

welcome again to FC and nice to have another inquisitive mind with us! here are my thoughts on your questions.

1. ganja quality (low, med, high) - imo high. i seek the best i can get

2. ganja quantity (some kind of useful description such as "doesnt cover whole bottom of screen" or .X grams, etc...) i use a lil more than what it takes to have the whole screen covered. (probably a 0.2-0.4 grams in a bowl)

3. size of the bag used (X cm or inches, default volcano size, turkey or large reynolds bag, or ridiculously huge, etc...) I went with an arms length. this is a little bigger than normal but i prefer it. I had gone shorter before because i thought it was better since it was usually only me using it. but i learned that the vapor density was usually not the same as compared to a bag that had a larger volume to fill.

3.5 - I always use my concentrate pad loaded in the bottom of the bowl. the extra heat provided by the SS mesh gives me a better result imo. when the light turns off and i know im ready to start vapin i put the bolw on and wiat until i see strong vapor coming out the top. i dont mind wasting a second worth of weak vape to attain a thicker stronger bag as a result. with the SS pad in there it usually takes 10-15 seconds of having heat put through it. before i clip on hte bag. but visual indication, not time is the way to judge when to clip the bag on imo.

4. heat or dial value used for bag #1 - 5.5
5. heat or dial value used for bag #2 - 5.5, but i stir before i cook again.
6. dial value or heat used for bag #3 - 6.5
7. dial values or heat used for bags #4, 5, 6, etc... -7.5 and then i dump it into my abv container.

8. special methods for adding kif into the chamber to bud or methods for vaping kif alone in the chamber - I just sprinkle it on top of my herbs if i want to add it. i prefer my ssv for kief.

9. if you use a different brand of vaporizer, do you know the actual TEMPERATURE you use (in F or C)? at least with this information, i could set the volcano dial to the corresponding heat since that is essentially what is needed for effective extraction. i own the volcano classic with solid valve system.

10. any other info that would make this more clear to a newcomer to vaping? - experiment and see what results you like the most! just because i prefer the SS concentrate mesh in there all the time, might not mean you do.

so ive been doing a lot of research and i am starting to believe that you can safely max the temperature on the volcano (or at least max the last bag at "9" & in fact, this may be the recommended way to use it for the most efficiency) in order to extract a great deal of useful stuff. I'd say going that high is cool too. if i want to get more out of my vape before i toss it into the abv jar I will re grind it in the orange grinder the volc comes with and balst it at the 8.5-9 setting it's less tasty of course and hard on the throat i find so i don't do it too often.

follow up q's:

so you only refresh your chamber after 4 - 5 bags instead of when the visible vapors do not show anymore, correct? yep, you will get diminishing results of course right? i'm less interested in those personally.

also, do you feel satisfied if you start a new session with pre-vaped ganja from an unfinished older session, or do you try to start fresh every session?that depends on how far along it has gone in the previous session one bag? i'd keep using it. more than that? i mgiht top it up with some more fresh

how long do you tend to feel effects for and how would you classify your tolerance? i feel the effects for a good 1-1.5 hours after consumption. I have a tolerance and have to be careful when with people who don't blaze very often. but not a lot really either imo. 1 gram a day on average i would think. more on weekends

i guess i should have added in the question "how long have you had your machine & how often do you use it?" I have had my volcano for over a year now. when i first got it i used it every day, then i started buying more vapes and i use it less. In fact it is staying at a friends house atm and i just use it whenever i am over there. it's easier than trucking it around with me and worrying about the cops taking if off me

hope all that helps bud!

 

[akwardsauce]

I have a Volcano Digital. With a conservative amount of good bud I'll only run through 3-4 bags of my stuff. This is with a small sized bag that came on the valve originally. My last run was with a partner, and I used 0.3 grams and ended up only running it 3 times (I'm sure it was good for a 4th). Looking at the amount I was going to grind up it seemed too small, but when I got it into pieces it was clear that it was plenty. My tolerance was down so my experience lasted many hours compared with my friend's hour or less (6 bong rips the night before will make the next afternoon vape session a bit less effective).

As for temperature, I'll usually start at 365F for the first two bags and then go into the 370s for a 3rd or 4th. You'll notice the color and opacity of the vapor varies considerably with just a 10 degree or less jump from 365 up to say 375. The higher temperature will also produce heavier effects, and the vapor will be more of a thicker, white color rather than the bluish white at 365. The vapor is also harsher the higher you go and has a less desirable taste. The second bag is usually the best one overall as the herbal material has come up to temperature. A bigger bag is never a bad thing to try.

If you really want to milk your stuff, I'd say go for 5 bags and stir the contents of the chamber at least every 2 runs. On another note, some people will put the chamber on top of the device and run it for a few seconds until they see visible vapor being produced, then they'll clip the bag on top of it. This is great for getting a higher vapor to air ratio in the bag, but I will often refrain from doing this to spare my throat irritation. The only time I may do this is near the end of a bowl's life if you're really trying to get every last bit out of it, so prerunning the machine may get that last bag a bit more life in it than it otherwise would have.

In the end there is no one right way to use the device. I am of the opinion of using less herb and running through the whole bowl in one session. I know others that prefer to load up a lot of material and will run 1-2 bags only to return to the same bowl and run it again for another session or two. It is mostly personal preference, but I have found if the device has been sitting that you really need to at least get to a 2nd bag to produce more vapor as everything gets up to temperature (assuming your bag is as small as mine). Try different ways and see what works for you and what you like best. What is best for one user may not be for you and vise versa. Be sure to report back with what you find.

*Edit: Let me also add that I use a locally blown beaker glass pipe with a showerhead diffuser with my Volcano to further reduce irritation. I will put the mouthpiece of the bag directly onto the glass joint on my downstem that would normally take the slide (bowl) piece. This is overkill for some people, but for me it is a very noticeable difference in harshness from the dry hits out of the bag and out of the pipe. Also don't fret as the Volcano is one of the easiest vapes to use properly. It is very user friendly, and it's tough to actually get it completely wrong. I hope my comments have been helpful for you.

YES thank you!!! i guess i should have mentioned that i use a very regular (about $30) 1 foot-long tube shaped glass bong to filter my vapor sometimes. i do not think that it is too much of an extra step myself. there is nothing special about my bong, so recently i purchased a packet of tiny tiny black glass jewelry beads (for $0.10 off of ebay) to pour at the bottom of the bong to act like a "diffuser"...those havent come in yet so i havent had a chance to try it but i think it should work.

so you only refresh your chamber after 4 - 5 bags instead of when the visible vapors do not show anymore, correct?

also, do you feel satisfied if you start a new session with pre-vaped ganja from an unfinished older session, or do you try to start fresh every session?

how long do you tend to feel effects for and how would you classify your tolerance?

i guess i should have added in the question "how long have you had your machine & how often do you use it?"

heres some graphs that show what im talking about (experiments done using volcano classic):

http://stash.norml.org/wp-content/uploads/volcano1.png
http://stash.norml.org/wp-content/uploads/volcano2.png
http://stash.norml.org/wp-content/uploads/volcano3.png

and here are some research that may have the article i was referring to...i havent clicked on all of them yet, but if i find that article website, ill post it here for sure!

http://www.vapormed.com/volcano-medic-v search.php

thank you again so much...you are awesome...i will edit my original question with these follow ups!

 

[akwardsauce]

welcome again to FC and nice to have another inquisitive mind with us! here are my thoughts on your questions.

1. ganja quality (low, med, high) - imo high. i seek the best i can get

2. ganja quantity (some kind of useful description such as "doesnt cover whole bottom of screen" or .X grams, etc...) i use a lil more than what it takes to have the whole screen covered. (probably a 0.2-0.4 grams in a bowl)

3. size of the bag used (X cm or inches, default volcano size, turkey or large reynolds bag, or ridiculously huge, etc...) I went with an arms length. this is a little bigger than normal but i prefer it. I had gone shorter before because i thought it was better since it was usually only me using it. but i learned that the vapor density was usually not the same as compared to a bag that had a larger volume to fill.

3.5 - I always use my concentrate pad loaded in the bottom of the bowl. the extra heat provided by the SS mesh gives me a better result imo. when the light turns off and i know im ready to start vapin i put the bolw on and wiat until i see strong vapor coming out the top. i dont mind wasting a second worth of weak vape to attain a thicker stronger bag as a result. with the SS pad in there it usually takes 10-15 seconds of having heat put through it. before i clip on hte bag. but visual indication, not time is the way to judge when to clip the bag on imo.

4. heat or dial value used for bag #1 - 5.5
5. heat or dial value used for bag #2 - 5.5, but i stir before i cook again.
6. dial value or heat used for bag #3 - 6.5
7. dial values or heat used for bags #4, 5, 6, etc... -7.5 and then i dump it into my abv container.

8. special methods for adding kif into the chamber to bud or methods for vaping kif alone in the chamber - I just sprinkle it on top of my herbs if i want to add it. i prefer my ssv for kief.

9. if you use a different brand of vaporizer, do you know the actual TEMPERATURE you use (in F or C)? at least with this information, i could set the volcano dial to the corresponding heat since that is essentially what is needed for effective extraction. i own the volcano classic with solid valve system.

10. any other info that would make this more clear to a newcomer to vaping? - experiment and see what results you like the most! just because i prefer the SS concentrate mesh in there all the time, might not mean you do.

so ive been doing a lot of research and i am starting to believe that you can safely max the temperature on the volcano (or at least max the last bag at "9" & in fact, this may be the recommended way to use it for the most efficiency) in order to extract a great deal of useful stuff. I'd say going that high is cool too. if i want to get more out of my vape before i toss it into the abv jar I will re grind it in the orange grinder the volc comes with and balst it at the 8.5-9 setting it's less tasty of course and hard on the throat i find so i don't do it too often.

hope all that helps bud!

dude thanks so much...your comments were very helpful. i added a few follow up questions to my original post, so here they are (if its not too much trouble):

1. do you only refresh your chamber after 4 bags or refresh when the visible vapors do not show anymore?
2. also, do you feel satisfied if you start a new session with pre-vaped ganja from an unfinished older session, or do you try to start fresh every session?
3. how long do you tend to feel effects for and how would you classify your tolerance?
4. how long have you had your machine & how often do you use it?

im guessing you kind of hinted at tossing it after the 4th bag at 7.5. im glad some user actually thinks its okay to max out at 9-ish.

heres some graphs that show what im talking about (experiments done using volcano classic):

http://stash.norml.org/wp-content/uploads/volcano1.png
http://stash.norml.org/wp-content/uploads/volcano2.png
http://stash.norml.org/wp-content/uploads/volcano3.png

and here are some research that may have the article i was referring to...i havent clicked on all of them yet, but if i find that article website, ill post it here for sure!

http://www.vapormed.com/volcano-medic-vaporizer/en/study-research.php

thank you so much - it helped out tremendously!!!

 

[Carbon]

I put fresh herb in for every session. One session will consist of a minimum of 3 bags, sometimes 4. As I said, I know others that put more in and come back to it later. I'm of the opinion that if I can't finish a session because I'm too messed up, then I've put too much herb in the chamber.

I will say my tolerance is low at the moment. On average I'd say I vape a couple times per week, so it doesn't take much to have an effect. Last year when I was doing it daily for the most part, I still had good results. You just need to put more herbal material in the bowl dependent on your tolerance level. Don't overthink it. With some use you'll quickly find what works best for you.

I will say that I miss the direct draw vape experience sometimes. Just waiting on that VXL Could to come out so I can retire the Volcano.

 

[akwardsauce]

using the turkey bags from reynolds pretty much eliminated all of the variables from the volcano. now, just clip the bag, turn on the fan, & collect it until the bag is full. you can get a few bags with a few stirs in between, but the extraction is pretty thorough as long as you have a bag big enough to collect everything.

reynolds turkey bags are my new favorite accessory for the volcano...TRY IT its so cheap!

I put fresh herb in for every session. One session will consist of a minimum of 3 bags, sometimes 4. As I said, I know others that put more in and come back to it later. I'm of the opinion that if I can't finish a session because I'm too messed up, then I've put too much herb in the chamber.

I will say my tolerance is low at the moment. On average I'd say I vape a couple times per week, so it doesn't take much to have an effect. Last year when I was doing it daily for the most part, I still had good results. You just need to put more herbal material in the bowl dependent on your tolerance level. Don't overthink it. With some use you'll quickly find what works best for you.

I will say that I miss the direct draw vape experience sometimes. Just waiting on that VXL Could to come out so I can retire the Volcano.

btw, when you do retire your volcano, how will you find a good home for it? what are you looking to get for it, just out of curiosity?

mod note: No selling or soliciting items on the forum.

 

[Carbon]

Just an update. Some other people are running much larger bags on their Volcanos and I've found a 2 now and then 2 later approach works well too.

As for my Volcano, I don't know how soon I'd get rid of it, but I'd have to at least break even on my Cloud to be happy with the sale. It only gets very light use so it holds up well (not that these things can't take some heavy abuse).

 

[akwardsauce]

i might have to go into the thread for the CLOUD to see what people think about it...last i checked, it wasnt on the market yet (still in the R&D & hype-it-up phase)...im assuming its out now?

it was an interesting when i saw the youtube video for it, but it kind of looks like something that a lot of vaporists do already (water-filter their vapors)...just a specialized machine for it...im definitely not spending $200+ on it, but id like to try it!