EHLE. 100ml and HVY Mini Beaker Review

mnmlh

Well-Known Member
Alright folks - a little comparison between the EHLE 100ml purchased from EDIT, and the HVY mini beaker from aqualab.

Size:

The EHLE is 100ml, obviously, but what about the only slightly larger-looking HVY? 250ml! This was obtained using the same method by which 100ml fits in the EHLE, which appears to be the volume left inside the tube after the appropriate amount of water has been added. It came right at 250, so I assume that is what they intended.

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Quality/Durability:

The EHLE is something to behold. It's pure German engineering. Subtle details and perfect glass. It's like a machine churned them out. I can go over the EHLE with a fine tooth comb and appreciate every bit of craftsmanship and little details such as the hand etched signatures on each component. Wow! I'm new to GonG/high quality glass, so this impressed me. It's a solid 3.2mm in every part of the design and employs a full joint size for all the connections at 14.5mm. It's done right, plain and simple - but it is small.

When pulling the HVY out of it's wrapping, I immediately noticed some ripples in base and that it has a home made feel to it, not unlike something you might find at your local head shop. The top of the tube is 3mm, and as it flanges out at the bottom, I imagine it gets down to 1.5mm or so. It has an 18>14mm down stem with a thin half-connection (not sure what the terminology is here) in the tube's joint. Where the EHLE sticks up and out, the HVY just has a GonG lip that the downstem fits into. Within the downstem is a full 14mm connection. One difference in the stem, besides the fancy gridded diffuser, is the ID, which is the same as a regular 18mm setup, allowing more airflow when the slide is not inserted.

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Usability:

The EHLE is tiny. It's effectively just a bubbler with a slide that would easily fit in a coat pocket. It holds about a few shot glasses worth of water, and the hexagon base is proportionate to the size but is not enough to make it feel nice and weighted. You have to approach grabbing it with your hand carefully so as not to knock it over. The standard non-diffused downstem chugs through the tiny amount of water with authority. It makes a nice metallic clinking sound, like the well oiled machine that it is. One major problem with the EHLE, and perhaps it's biggest downfall in the general usability department is the water splashing up when you rip it (solution: don't treat it like a big bong, but that's hard when your lungs are at the end of their rope, and go for one last gulp.)

The HVY shines in the usability areas. It holds probably 200ml of water in the base and is very stable with such a short length of tube above it. You can swipe it off it's feet quickly without fear of destruction. Setting it down must be done with care though, as that thin glass and tons of water weight gives it an achilles heel. That is drawback number one. The other one will be familiar to users of beaker style bongs. The last bit can be hard to clear as it swirls around in the bottom unless you right the tube vertically.

newglass-002.jpg


Vaping :brow::

The EHLE has a super-awkward angle relative to ones body for the joint when taking a hit. One must turn the MZ upside down while contorting the wrist in order to get a good grip on it for setting down after your draw. I take 15+ second draws sometimes, so honestly, it just feels wrong. Too much effort. Too unnatural, especially since the joint is near the mouthpiece - you are holding the MZ above your face. Weirdness!

Draws are okay. A little difficult to get massive suction on it compared to something bigger, but it's much easier than the regular stem. I'd probably spend the extra $100 on a nice GonG bubbler for a small vape accessory.

The HVY's diffuser does not play havoc on the airflow like the EHLE and it produces a more consistent vapor that fills the tube in a similar fashion to combusting. The fat ID of the 18>14mm downstem seems to help too. Then there is the angle of the main joint. Ahhh, much better. Actually comfortable to use. Couple with the 13.5 and it's a smack upside the head. This has made me really interested in the SSV. I know I lose efficiency, but since the MZ was my first vape, I'm a convert now and might need both styles. I think most vaporists do (along with a MFLB of course.)

Contrary to advice typically given on the subject, I've found that matching up a "small vape" like the MZ to a larger bong is a good thing, at least, it is with the HVY. It produces vapor the whole way through. I don't "get" these devices - my MZ's airflow get's a lot hotter at the end of the draw than at the beginning. It has dawned on me that this may be due to the brass inside the stem heating up fully. When you remove it, the part that goes into the nylon is pretty long, and the whole thing is hot. Maybe the thermal conductivity of brass is a good thing in this way, as it is recovering lost heat and insulating the vapor path.

Combusting:

Might as well write blurb here while I'm at it. The EHLE's slide is the "European style" with a massive hole in it. If you stick a glass gauze in there and load the gigantic thing up, it's way too intense for my liking. If you swap in the bowl with something like on the HVY, then it's a really nice little bubbler. I might prefer the EHLE when combusting in that way, but would like a diffy for it. The HVY's bowl is nice. It's really a bargain when you think about it. The bowl would cost like $10-12, the diffy another 10-20, and good luck finding a plain tube without those items. It's the best package I could find online, and while my local shop has some $60 HVY minis, they have some heady details I could do with out. I'm a minimalist. The damn slide even matches the color scheme of my office. Love it!

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Conclusion:

With all of this said, weighing the positives and the negatives of eachl; get the HVY for vaping, and get the EHLE as a durable combustion bubbler but be careful when you rip it if you don't like the taste of bong water. With vaping, this isn't much of a concern, but it is a little irritating.

The HVY will need more care associated with it, but that is the price you pay, and the only real drawback. The way I see it, I could get 3 HVYs for the price of one nice EHLE. Okay, am I going to break all 3 HVYs and somehow the EHLE is going to be spared in that amount of time? With concrete floors? No way.
 
mnmlh,

lwien

Well-Known Member
GREAT review and comparison, mnmlh. A big two thumbs up !!
 
lwien,

caseball2051

Well-Known Member
i personally was torn between the 250ml EHLE and the HVY beaker. I went with the EHLE and i love it.

the stock bowl is not useful however. I find anyhow
 
caseball2051,

mnmlh

Well-Known Member
lwien - Thanks man, glad you like it!

caseball2051 - I might have to try a 250 next. I do like the engineering, but then there is the whole diffuser/slide issue. Overall, it's a much more expensive setup for a similar function. Then again, $50 seems to get some pretty fancy stuff online, but most of it is too large. I think the small Weed Star 5mm tubes are worth a look too.
 
mnmlh,

aero18

vaporist
caseball2051 said:
i personally was torn between the 250ml EHLE and the HVY beaker. I went with the EHLE and i love it.

the stock bowl is not useful however. I find anyhow
It's very useful if you buy a MFLB whip tube and stick one end of it into the bowl and the other into the draw stem. Works great.
 
aero18,

steiner666

Serial vapist
Hey man, i've been looking at getting one of those exact EHL's as a smaller alternative to my 24" black leaf. I can see how the angle would be annoying for what you're vaping through it, but with my DBV and angled adapter, it looks like it will work perfectly. Well, i guess the adapter i have now is for 18.8mm stems, so i'll have to get the smaller one when i order this.

but yeah, thanks for the nice pics and impressions.
 
steiner666,

vtac

vapor junkie
Staff member
Nice review, hope you don't mind I split it off from the MZ thread.

w! I'm new to GonG/high quality glass, so this impressed me. It's a solid 3.2mm in every part of the design an
Have you calipered it? I think it's 2.5mm or whatever the next size is in Schott tubing. EDIT has a separate 3.2mm EHLE. line which wouldn't make much sense if this were also 3.2mm. Anyway, the mark of a quality tube is even thickness throughout with clean welds and the Germans are unsurpassed in this area. I think EHLE. is one of the oldest scientific glass companies around, since 1949.

The HVY's diffuser does not play havoc on the airflow like the EHLE and it produces a more consistent vapor that fills the tube in a similar fashion to combusting.
Try less water. From your pictures it looks like you have too much in the 100ml, especially if the chug bothers you. Just a few mm above the tip of the downstem. EDIT might have fucked up with the downstem there; looks to be a bit short. Ideally it should come as close to the bottom corner as possible: 10.5mm is the right size the 100ml.

EHLE. does make some really nice diffused downstems with pierced holes. FWIW, I think the flow on the 100ml is damn near perfect even with a standard downstem.

Might as well write blurb here while I'm at it. The EHLE's slide is the "European style" with a massive hole in it. If you stick a glass gauze in there and load the gigantic thing up, it's way too intense for my liking.
That looks like the medium cone bowl which seems to the the standard EDIT ships. You can specify the small when you order, which is less than half the size.

I hear you on the akward angle with a PD or similar vape. It took a few sessions to get used to it but now it's second nature. The shorter whip ripper tubes make it easier as well. Try rotating the bong a bit off the the side.

Hope I didn't do to much nitpicking here, just wanted to throw my 2 cents in because I've owned a 100ml for a year or so.
 
vtac,

SimonC

Well-Known Member
Nice review and interesting reading. Thanks for taking the time.

Simon
 
SimonC,

hereatlast

Well-Known Member
Great review! My stock Ehle bowl is the same huge hole and I can't really understand why other than airflow. Either way, I combusted out of my 250ml Ehle once or twice and it was way to harsh for me (a combination of almost exclusively vaping for the past months as well as the fact that the Ehle doesn't spin/move the smoke much, meaning it doesn't cool it).



An aside: I don't think 5mm Weedstar should be in the same sentence as Ehle; even if the latter is (about) 3mm Ehle is a trustworthy company with good business practice, Weedstar doesn't seem to fit that mold.
 
hereatlast,

vtac

vapor junkie
Staff member
My stock Ehle bowl is the same huge hole and I can't really understand why other than airflow.
I believe it's because the Europeans like using a glass gauze. Speaking of which, if you're planning on buying some, the ROOR gauzes seem to be a better fit even in EHLE. bowls.

the fact that the Ehle doesn't spin/move the smoke much, meaning it doesn't cool it).
Can you elaborate on this?
 
vtac,

alucard

Well-Known Member
Aren't ice catchers overkill for vaping? There's a slightly cheaper Ehle 100 ml on Edit that doesn't have one.
 
alucard,

lwien

Well-Known Member
alucard said:
Aren't ice catchers overkill for vaping?
Not at all. I've used ice and no water. Works great. Cools the vapor down really nice and adds just a touch of moisture.
 
lwien,

mnmlh

Well-Known Member
vtac said:
Have you calipered it? I think it's 2.5mm or whatever the next size is in Schott tubing. EDIT has a separate 3.2mm EHLE. line which wouldn't make much sense if this were also 3.2mm.
I think you are right. I'm not sure where I got that, but I believe the HVY is 3mm, and it does seem thicker at the top than at anywhere on the EHLE.

Not too nitpicky. I appreciate the input and advice. I'll try a lower water level, although I did just throw some water in there for the shots. I usually put it at a more than a few mms from the bottom of the downstem, so I can try that out. It would make the chug go away significantly.

Also, thanks for sectioning this off. I wasn't sure it was FC-relevant enough to warrant a new thread. I'm too new around here to be so bold. :)
 
mnmlh,

mnmlh

Well-Known Member
Since this post got turned into a thread and quite a few people have read it, I wanted to add something about the HVY in order to complete my review.

The small half connection/lip joint on the tube is not as stable as a full joint, like on the EHLE. If kept clean and dry, it works pretty good, but as soon as it gets loose and wet, it can be a little bit wobbly. I just wanted to make sure people have as much info as possible.

If you like to combust, that style of a bowl may not be the best option either, unless you are packing one hit at a time because it is hard to clear the smoke out of bowl and can make the next hit harsh.

vtac - lessening the amount of water to a level I never would have though was effective has made the EHLE quite a bit better. It looks like they did give me the shorter downstem, which I am having a hard time finding what the hell it would have gone to. The 100ml looks like the smallest thing they produce. Anyways, thanks for the tips!

Anyone want to enlighten me on where to put the water level on that diffused HVY stem? I've never had a diffy, but when you fill it up to where it covers all the slits, that's a lot of water in there. Then, when you tilt it, as if to take a hit, the position of the stem in the water changes a lot. I've been smoking out of glass bongs for 15 years and have had my own methods for water level, but as I've said, I never took this all very seriously until recently and I can't say that anyone I know personally is exactly an expert on the matter.
 
mnmlh,

collegerower

Well-Known Member
I am in the market for a bong in this price range, and I wanted to see if your thoughts are still the same leaning towards the HVY. I think I am because of its larger volume.

Anyone else have experience with the HVY?
 
collegerower,

rabican

Well-Known Member
collegerower said:
I am in the market for a bong in this price range, and I wanted to see if your thoughts are still the same leaning towards the HVY. I think I am because of its larger volume.

Anyone else have experience with the HVY?
Its weird but i cant find the HVY mini beaker on aquas website anymore... i know it existed a ~week ago. Anyways wouldn't it be better to consider the 250ml ehle vs 250ml HVY? I believe the prices will be similar after shipping (ehle might be 10$ more).
 
rabican,

collegerower

Well-Known Member
I e-mailed them last week and got this:

We are waiting on HVY to ship out our order, should be middle of next week.
So I dono why that item is not listed, but it seems that it will be back in stock next week.
 
collegerower,

lwien

Well-Known Member
collegerower said:
I am in the market for a bong in this price range, and I wanted to see if your thoughts are still the same leaning towards the HVY. I think I am because of its larger volume.

Anyone else have experience with the HVY?
I do.
 
lwien,

collegerower

Well-Known Member
Would you recommend it for a fellow "log" style vape application?

I like the small size, and it will be my first bong. I just want to pair it with my zap, and dont really want to mess with tubing.
 
collegerower,

lwien

Well-Known Member
collegerower said:
Would you recommend it for a fellow "log" style vape application?

I like the small size, and it will be my first bong. I just want to pair it with my zap, and dont really want to mess with tubing.
I recommend it highly. If I ever broke it and had to do it over again, I'd get the same one. It's perfect for the PD. Provides a bigger hit than my lungs can handle, especially when it's loaded up with hot water. No problem clearing what so ever and super stable. Nothing bad to say about it.

Made from German glass in the USA with a diffuser and a 250ml capacity, all for under 50 bucks? Can't really go wrong with this one.
 
lwien,

collegerower

Well-Known Member
lwien,

Did yours come with a diffused downstem? I see that their small straight tube comes with one, and I didnt know if the beaker used to also?

Thanks.
 
collegerower,

collegerower

Well-Known Member
Cool, I shot them an e-mail asking. The Pictures dont show one, and it dosnt list it. I wonder if they stopped including them...
 
collegerower,
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