Gear Gear Review --- $100 Quartz/Ti DHgate Enail

[Bouldorado]

I ordered an enail from a DHgate seller and received it in less than a week. That's from mainland China to Denver, CO. I've ordered stuff via Amazon Prime that took longer. Fast shipping aside I'd say this enail is one of the best values on the market. Here's a quick review:

Cost: $105 with free express shipping (and considerable discounts if you buy more than 4)
Seller: Carolongtechnology (enail is generic, not specific to that seller)
Heatup time: <90 secs to stabilized dab temp
Temp range: 0~1000°
Materials: Quartz nail, titanium adapter and carb cap

Includes the PID controller, flat coil, 2 quartz heads, ti adapter (m or f, 10, 14,18mm), carb cap, carrying case, and 2 silicone containers.

The case and silicone containers are low quality but everything else is better than I was expecting for the price. The power cord was a bit snug attaching to the PID controller but fits very securely as a result. It is however on the short side: ~3 ft for the outlet plug and ~3ft for the coil so you'll need a nearby outlet.

The nail is very well designed (seems to be a D-Nail knockoff). The Ti portion is versatile and can be flipped around so it's compatible with 10/14/18mm male and female pieces. The quartz head attaches to the Ti nail with a slotted screw and rests on the flat coil. The threads are cleanly cut and all the Ti pieces fit together smoothly. The Ti portion is durable and securely holds the coil while the quartz is clean/tasty (and should be cheaply replaceable).

As far as performance goes....the numbers on the controller don't seem accurate for the quartz surface temp (700°F would scorch dabs), but they are consistent. My current setting of 708 is perfect- dabs pool with mild evaporation and are nicely completed when the carb cap is added (light residue is left which I've been wiping up with a q-tip). It warms up in about a minute and half, slower than I can heat my quartz banger with a butane torch, but is quicker in the end (since there's no cooldown wait). Taste is far superior to a 3 month old quartz banger with moderate use. It turns on or off with a single button press and has a programmable default temperature, so all together this is about as hassle-free as dabbing gets.

In summary, the materials (except for the Ti/quartz) are not the highest quality nor is it made in the USA but performance is similar to high-end enails at a fraction of the price. I can't speak for the durability but as of now I highly recommend this enail.

 

[lazylathe]

I recently became very interested in concentrates but could not justify the expense of some setups.
@herbivore21 recommended a killer setup and that is what i will strive for over the next few months.
however life got in the way and change of jobs, money tight etc, etc...

I kept reading rave reviews about the cheap Chinese setups and was intrigued.
Quality will not be as good but for a complete noob, a great entry level setup.

Mine cost around CAD$150 and that was with a complete quartz nail and carb cap.
The nail fits either 14 or 18mm pieces, so quite versatile.
The coil was a regular style one that wraps around the quartz bowl.

First use and the overshoot was 2 degrees! That is pretty good.
Temp is stable about 90 minutes later, or sooner for low temp dabs.

So far i have tried some Sublimator reclaim oil as well and reclaim from my MiniVap.
Both were pretty potent and tasty with the Sub oil tasting the best as it was pure oil.

I then purchased some real concentrates to really test it out!
I went for Sunset Sherbert from Thompson Caribou and then a house brand, Farm Fire Rockstar Extract.

These really brought the setup to life!
The flavor was crazy intense and so flavorful! It sticks in your mouth for hours!
It's almost like the oil coats your teeth!

Shipping was around 3 weeks and super easy transaction as always.

So a second recommendation for the cheaper side of things to possibly start off with!
Now comes the fun parts... Rosin Press... D-Nail Sic Halo...Carb carps...proper oil rig....
After a lot of saving....

Very happy with the setup and when i am done with it, it may be donated or it may turn into the travel set up!

I was not sure where to post s small review, so i thought i would tag onto yours to keep them in one thread maybe?
Hope thats okay @Bouldorado

 

[Bouldorado]

I was not sure where to post s small review, so i thought i would tag onto yours to keep them in one thread maybe?
Hope thats okay @Bouldorado

Of course that's fine

Can you link the specific one you bought? It's great to have non-DHgate reviews on these enails/sellers...



Unless you want to support American companies, I'd say there's no reason to buy a brand-name enail. Just like China glass (my opinion of which has done a complete 180- so stupid to spend hundreds on a clear bong)-- you can get all the functionality of something Made in the USA at a fraction of the cost and only a small tradeoff in quality. I've used D-nails and Errllectrics before (granted, not the latest greatest Halos) but in a blind test, you couldn't tell apart the $100 China nail and the $600 American one.

It's crazy, looking at D-nails website, you'd have to spend at least 3x as much to get the same digitally controlled functionality (and that requires DIY).

Speaking of China glass, here's my latest $40 acquisition (also from DHgate)...

 

[lazylathe]

I also think it is a good idea for a thread!

This is my setup:

https://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/0.html?orderId=82116616400938&productId=32758405852

I will get some pics of it setup tomorrow!

 

[nosmoking]

Now you guys just need to get one of these...
https://www.thickassglass.com/products/tag-replacement-domeless-silicon-carbide-dish

 

[r3vrb]

Now you guys just need to get one of these...
https://www.thickassglass.com/products/tag-replacement-domeless-silicon-carbide-dish

does it actually fits with his nail? im thinking about buying this and the same $15 nail un DHgate

 

[Bouldorado]

does it actually fits with his nail? im thinking about buying this and the same $15 nail un DHgate

I just measured the quartz dish on my enail:

25mm outside diameter and the screw has an OD of 9mm. So as long the inner hole on that SIC dish is larger than 9mm, it will work. Though it does look taller than the quartz dish I have.


Is SIC supposed to taste better than quartz? I've been dabbing off quartz for years now...

 

[nosmoking]

Many including myself prefer sic over quartz for many reasons including flavor, durability and low maintenance. I can measure the inside of the sic dish as well as the height of the inner and outer walls.

Edit:
Outside wall height is 13mm
Inside wall height is 9mm
Inside Dia is 9mm
Outside dia is 25mm

 

[Bouldorado]

Height wise my dish is 10 mm. Inner diameter is ~9.5mm (I'm using cheap analog calipers, hard to measure smaller than a mm).

So sounds like the SIC dish is worth a shot at only 12 bucks a pop. Only dimension that may cause issue is the OD of the fastening screw and that can be filed down if it's too fat...

I get durability but why is SIC easier to maintain?

In a week of enail ownership I've put less than .5g through it. Even after wiping every dab up with q-tip, there was still a considerable bit of residue baked onto the quartz (which had to be scraped off with a chopstick under boiling water). Not sure when the flavor starts to be compromised but a buddy of mine had a quartz enail that he never cleaned. After a couple months that thing never had good flavor again, even on a perfectly clean piece.

 

[herbivore21]

Unless you want to support American companies, I'd say there's no reason to buy a brand-name enail. I've used D-nails and Errllectrics before (granted, not the latest greatest Halos) but in a blind test, you couldn't tell apart the $100 China nail and the $600 American one.

It's crazy, looking at D-nails website, you'd have to spend at least 3x as much to get the same digitally controlled functionality (and that requires DIY).

As somebody who has used all of the latest and greatest next gen e-nails, I have to say that this claim is demonstrably false.

Sure, the brand name controllers cost more. They also don't miss a beat and in the d-nail case at least, are backed by lifetime warranties that they do honor (including an additional heater coil if you don't use a DIY unit). I will conceded that if someone wants to save some cash and doesn't mind if the controller may need to be replaced sooner and doesn't have the extra warranty, by all means buy a cheaper controller.

However, I can't stress enough how wrong you are about the nails man. A smaller, polished quartz dish will taste and perform noticeably differently to the larger d-nail halo dish with wicking surface. The oil will pool substantially in the smaller, polished variety especially if you do moderate-large dabs. The oil will also pool depending on the angle of your GonG joint/nail in the respective direction. A d-nail halo mitigates this with the wicking surface and because it has much more surface area to offer, you can boil your dab off more quickly.

However, the d-nail quartz halo is ABSOLUTELY NOT what I recommend people to buy.

I have said it for a long time, but I'll say it again here. Silicone Carbide and Sapphire are infinitely better materials for dabbing on than quartz (quartz pools far too much and even with a wicking surface; distributes heat unevenly compared to SiC and Sapphire, making for inferior taste) and titanium. If you're on a budget, look no further than the SiC halo. You can buy a SiC halo and slim series base for $120 usd. That nail will last you a lifetime and you will never need to buy another nail (although you may want to spend more on sapphire later ). Get a cheap coil and controller and you can have one of the best brand name nails on the market for a relatively low spend compared to the whole brand name setup. DO NOT USE A CHEAP COIL WITH A SAPPHIRE OR QUARTZ HALO (poorly QC'd off-brand coils may cause damage from heat expansion), SiC is no problem for this though

What gets me is so many people seem to be dabbing on these polished quartz nails which pool and require waste to taste. Could one not just spend an extra $100 (beyond the $100 in the thread title) or so to get a high end SiC nail to use with the cheap controller? You will save much more than the difference in cost of cheap quartz nail vs high end SiC very quickly with the amount of oil that you stop wasting to taste!

I would not recommend the cheap DHGate SiC unless you only do small dabs. That dish and the shape of the retaining nut makes for negligible dabbing surface area!

Of course I am not picking on my brother @Bouldorado here, just augmenting his comment with experience of all of the high end sapphire and SiC enails out there

Some should also consider the Liger sapphire and SiC if they prefer a banger form factor and don't mind the substantial additional cost and teething problems with ordering from CCA (which may even have been resolved by now ). I recommend the 30mm bangers for people who dab a lot of flakey unpressed full melt or crumble type material.

I will say that IME the d-nail halos perform better (that is, they vaporize the same dab more quickly with the same flavor quality) than the Ligers and you should not go with the Liger IMO unless you fit the above criteria.

EDIT: @Bouldorado SiC is easier to maintain because you can torch it for hours on end without stopping and not damage the nail. It is the absolute most easily cleaned material used for dabbing

 

[lazylathe]

@herbivore21

I agree with everything you said but this is the $100 e nail thread.

I am extremely happy with my super cheap setup as it is 100% better than my torch heated Ti nail.
I also know that upgrading to superior materials and equipment will yield far superior results.

For now the need to experience concentrates on the cheap was real!!
CAS - Concentrate Aquisition Syndrome!

Once life settles down I hope to upgrade to a level where it is all about the flavor!!

 

[herbivore21]

@herbivore21

I agree with everything you said but this is the $100 e nail thread.

I am extremely happy with my super cheap setup as it is 100% better than my torch heated Ti nail.
I also know that upgrading to superior materials and equipment will yield far superior results.

For now the need to experience concentrates on the cheap was real!!
CAS - Concentrate Aquisition Syndrome!

Once life settles down I hope to upgrade to a level where it is all about the flavor!!

Bro what I was saying above is that depending on how much you dab, you could save the extra $$$ needed to buy a more expensive nail to go with a cheap controller in a few weeks because with SiC, you do not need to waste to taste

Either way, you have the means to just upgrade your nail now when you get more cash, so no problem there Many of us bought quartz before SiC and Sapphire were well known to be better etc.

My comments are aimed at those who have not made purchases yet, since the increased efficiency of dabbing on SiC vs quartz pays the cost of a d-nail SiC halo setup a few times over very quickly

 

[seaofgreens]

@herbivore the D-Nail stuff should fit the DHgate flat coil you think?

 

[herbivore21]

@herbivore the D-Nail stuff should fit the DHgate flat coil you think?

So long as the centre hole of the coil is wide enough to get the retaining lug through it, then most definitely my friend The d-nail SiC is no problem with an off-brand coil so long as it allows the lug through as I said. Don't use off-brand coils with quartz or sapphire though, it isn't worth risking the breakage (especially sapphire!). SiC is much tougher stuff I would not expect it to break in contact with an off-brand coil.

 

[lazylathe]

@Bouldorado

What temp are you running your setup at?
I am at 575F now and the flavor is crazy!

That SIC insert looks pretty cool! Will have to measure my bowl!

 

[Bouldorado]

@herbivore21

Interesting. So the surface itself is what makes SiC better. I had thought it was only due to different conduction/heat transfer properties.

A good wicking surface is rough/somewhat porous right? Doesn't that retain taste?

I still need to try SiC but the polished surface is the reason I like quartz- it feels cleaner and is pretty damn consistent dab to dab (though I clean the piece and the nail dish at least 1x/week).

However if SiC is best for bigger dabs than I may not realize much benefit. This is what my typical dab looks like (+- ~50%)- I get at least 30 from a gram.

So in my case it would take a while to pay off a $100 nail in wasted dabs (I estimate there's <5% waste), especially with $30/g oil.

Is there a middle ground between the DHgate/TAG SiC and the D-Nail?

@lazylathe

I've been running mine at 690~710. That must be the middle of the coil or something because the surface temp is def not 700°. At ~580 it tastes slightly better but pools more.

 

[biohacker]

I'll be picking up one of these budget setups for my first as well! After trying @lazylathe enail i'm hooked! Until it arrives, i'll be somewhat archaic and use the Sublimator that @lazylathe lent me!

 

[lazylathe]

Down to 525F on the Quartz and it is perfect now!
Hits takes slightly longer to finish when carb'd but that flavor is unbeatable!!

I am really enjoying the concentrates during the day and then back to flowers at night.
Sleeping really well again and wake up without that heavy feeling!
This is a good combo for me!

 

[lazylathe]

Just a quick update!
I usually leave my Quartz nail and coil together when finished a session.
Never had an issue before, so thought i was good to go!
Left it that way for a few days and then decided i needed to clean the nail...
As soon as i moved the coil the quartz(?) shattered! The bowl was in the coil and the lower end in my hand!
Must be the lowest of the low end of quartz...

Replaced it with a better looking one bought locally!

 

[Bouldorado]

My friend did the same with a quartz banger enail. I think if the coil doesn't have much clearance the heating/cooling cycles will cause it to constrict until it basically can't be remove unless hot.

 

[Bouldorado]

1 down, 1 to go:

Glad the enail came with a spare dish- I broke the original while cleaning it yesterday. At this rate I'll have a SiC dish within a month...

 

[Vapodudule]

I went for this product of encased flat coil and went to d-nail for SiC and cap in parralel. Well the encased flat coil in 110V does not fit the d-nail slim series! Running it on the cheap base with success.

Overall a good solution for basic product for a basic price. The same PID than the others.

the CS was responsive.

 

[RollTheCar]

I went for this product of encased flat coil and went to d-nail for SiC and cap in parralel. Well the encased flat coil in 110V does not fit the d-nail slim series! Running it on the cheap base with success.

Overall a good solution for basic product for a basic price. The same PID than the others.

the CS was responsive.

So you're saying the Halo Sic Dish fits the nail that comes with the kit?

 

[Vapodudule]

So you're saying the Halo Sic Dish fits the nail that comes with the kit?

Yes, halo Sic plus d-nail big retainer plus cheap nut OR dnail nut! I could give a try to the saphirre insert on levitation on the nut which produced meh results.

the store of this thread offered also cheap quartz bangers for 20mm coils that i couldn t resist the try.

 

[RollTheCar]

Super tempted to grab one of these now! Is the experience really that much better than a standard nail + torch?