I got this last week and have a few questions, it's my 1st dry her vapor. Anywho,
Haven't seen anyone comment specifically on this one, but I've read up on vaporizers in general. How long do you guys get out of 1 load? I don't have a digital scale, so I'm not sure how much I'm using. But I'm using the included grater and filling the chamber a little more than half way and semi packing it down with the G Pen tool. After 3-4 hits it's pretty much spent. Reading on other units I see people claiming 10+ and even up to 20 before they have to reload the chamber. I'm not taking super long deep draws, wondering if I should be getting more than 3-4 here. Temp wise I've tried 350, 375 & 390f without noticing much difference. Except how much cloud's produced.
LOOOOOONG post here, but you seem to be new to vaporizing, and I remember how much it sucked not knowing anyone to help me and having to sift through a thousand sites, with ten times the number of vaporization "experts" who don't know what they're talking about, before figuring out what I have until now. You'll go through a transition from smoking to vaping that will be frustrating at times because the difference between smoking and vaping is like the difference between driving a car and a boat. There's so much information I want to give you, but many other sites have done much better than I ever could. A few are below. For what it's worth, this is what I wish someone had to told me when I started vaping...
You won't sense the vapor like you do smoke (smell, taste, feel down the trachea into the lungs), but you've already noticed higher temps = more visible vapor. Lots of people like "cloud chasing," which is particularly illogical with vapor considering that "super-dope cloud" that impressed everyone contains the cannabinoids you paid for. Don't get caught up in seeing your vapor like with smoke. Anyway, my draws with my first vape were overkill because I was hitting it hard and fast (like with a bong) because I was accustomed to "feeling" the smoke tell me when to stop hitting. Vapor sorta sneaks into your throat and lungs (compared to smoke's contaminants). My problem was I felt I wasn't inhaling much of anything... even though I was inhaling more cannabinoids than with the same volume of smoke (efficiency of vaping is SO much better than combustion... it has to do with the extreme combustion temps which destroy cannabinoids). So my draws were few, unnecessarily thick, very wasteful, and generally disappointing.
My lessons were:
- Vapes aren't bongs, so don't hit them the same way;
- Don't expect the same sensory experience as with smoke (seems like nothing is happening because you don't feel the same effects like with smoke immediately - due to the contaminants - while cannabinoids take 5-10 minutes to kick in;
- Realize that vapor contains far more cannabinoids than combusted herb smoke and what were considered small hits during your smoking days are normal hits when vaping.
You mentioned not taking long, deep draws. However, slower/longer, yet easier draws, which won't impress idiot friends, are best for vaping. It takes longer for a vaporizer to heat herb because you're dealing with 300-400F temps. It's about 2500F in a pipe or bong bowl when fired. Therefore, it's obvious that quick, hard hits are appropriate for combustion, but slower, easier draws are where it's at in vaporization. For me, it simply came down to personally experimenting (which were the most fun experiments I've ever conducted!) to determine proper draw technique, which is different depending on the vape type (conduction vs. convection, desktop vs. portable, etc.).
Vapor characteristics are a function of many things, not the least of which is whether you dry cure your herb AFTER you purchase (or originally curing your homegrown). Herb to be combusted needs to be slightly moist and dank. Much drier herb is necessary for most vapes, especially portables. I let my newly-acquired material dry out a day or two before (depends on the humidity), THEN grind it and vape. One reason for your experience of so few draws could be that your herb wasn't dry enough.
Forget that card grater and invest in a good 4-piece grinder. SpaceCase is my preference, but they're crazy expensive (and completely worth it IMO). One of the sites below will help you choose a grinder. I emphasize 4-piece because you want to collect the kief (has the highest concentration of THC) from the grinding process. Some vapes need finely ground herb to function properly (hello, MFLB), but it appears from my experience and those I've read that the Elite needs just a normal, medium grind. So I'm thinking another potential reason for your experience of so few draws was that card didn't grind the herb properly. I've never used the card, so I'm speculating there.
- DON'T THROW AWAY THE AVB/ABV. I say AVB ("already vaped bud"), others say ABV ("already been vaped). Of course, the term is redundant, but that's my old high school lit teacher still in my head! Part of vaping vs. combustion is avoiding the carcinogens released at high temps. The problem is that avoidance means you're also avoiding many cannabinoids still in the material. Therefore, trashing your AVB is trashing lots of valuable cannabinoids. There are many ways to extract those cannabinoids without being exposed to the carcinogens. I personally shy away from techniques using explosive materials and chemicals because of my preference for all-natural ingestion (cooking, making capsules, etc.). I'll include some links for you on this, also.
As for the Elite, I've not had it long enough to confidently provide data (hits/load, etc.), but only 3-4 for half that oven is ridiculously few. I only have the above guesses for you unfortunately.
There's a lot to learn about vaping and unlearn from smoking - dank vs dry herb is a perfect example. Just keep plugging along and remember the extra time and effort spent to protect your lungs is worth it. Think of being in a hospital bed 20-30 years from now, dying of lung cancer, wondering if it was worth investing time into "all that new-fangled vaporization learnin" (yeah, I'm originally from Georgia).
Anyway, here are just a few links I've found. I'm not a rep, get compensated by, get free stuff from, or have any affiliation with these sites, and there are probably better ones than these I haven't found yet. I don't agree with everything any of them have to say, however - used collectively - I found them helpful during my "Fuck Combustion Transition."
http://www.vapecritic.com/ - Like everyone else, I don't agree with him on everything, but his site has a ton of info I initially found useful on my current vape/MMJ journey. He's kinda corny at times, hasn't reviewed the world's best vape yet (Aromed 4.0), and has no official/pro training... but he knows a lot about vapes and vaporization and is upfront about his financial ties to the industry. Especially check out the "More/Tips & Tricks" section for info on packing vapes, need for drier herb to vape, temps to use, cleaning tricks, etc. He also has lots of info on grinders, tutorials, etc.
https://www.medicaljane.com/category/cannabis-classroom/ - While the vaping experience (taste, smell) and efficiency is vastly superior to combustion, my main reason for the switch were the medical benefits. I have dug up a lot of MMJ research and related what I found to vaping. Once it was clear what I was trying to accomplish with vaping, it became much easier to figure out how to do it using this site as a class of sorts.
http://beyondchronic.com/about-beyond-chronic/ - This is the Old Hippie's site. He started down the MMJ path and has collected lots of phenomenal info on vaporization, recipes for how to extract remaining compounds from AVB (and fresh herb), and generally is dedicated to utilizing herb for medicine in the safest, most efficient, and most enjoyable ways he can find.
http://www.southerncannabis.org/medical-marijuana/infuse-coconut-oil-with-marijuana/ - I use coconut oil almost exclusively when extracting from AVB and this site is just one of many illustrating why.
I wish you the best of luck and please let me know of anything you learn about the Elite along the way!
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and I'm getting some discount as well which came to 155$ (136E) including everything plus a $20 gift coupon for a T-shirt that I don't know if I qualify for that or not. They will let me know from tomorrow I think.. It will be cool to get a free T-shirt as well tho.. I was checking out some of the designs and some of them look pretty descent!
