I figured, it was just funny the way it posted at first. I think until I saw you post about it in the thread awhile ago I had no idea the screen in the crucible was movable. I'm going to try this with one of my extra crucibles.I updated the post and now it is filled with pictures and more information.
I figured, it was just funny the way it posted at first. I think until I saw you post about it in the thread awhile ago I had no idea the screen in the crucible was movable. I'm going to try this with one of my extra crucibles.
I was curious if you had ever tried the ceramic discs @421 has posted about a couple of times? You and he have really made me start wondering if it's swirling around in there when I'm inhaling.
Also I'm surprised that stuff is only 16%. I would have guessed way higher, it looks nice. I tend to only buy from places that have it tested though. I don't have the eye (or nose) for it, I need the numbers.
How I Use My herbalAire:
I wanted to share with you guys how I use my herbalAire H2.2. I have experimented with many different ways and found that this method seemed to produce the cloudiest bags most consistently with as little material as possible. I find that it produces thicker bags at the very start and then gradually decreases in density. I am all about being as efficient with my herb as possible and like to get the most out of it. I like to try and get the medicinal effects from as little herb as possible. I find with my method you can get 1 cloudy bag with as little of 0.10 of good quality cannabis. If you used 0.20 you'll get 2 cloudy bags. For this purpose I used 0.25g of standardized medicinal cannabis - the strain was Chocolope for anyone interested. It is 16.29% THC so not anything crazy potent, but it does have a good coating of trichomes which usually leads to thicker bags of vapour. This is going to be a long post, but I'll include a description above each picture. Enjoy.
1. Take your cannabis - 0.25g pictured
2. Chop it up with scissors or your hands to break it down. You don't need to grind the material, just break it down enough that you can spread it across the screen in the crucible.
3. Take the crucible and break away the screen from the bottom. Just turn it upside down and push with your finger until it breaks free. Push it about 5/8 of the way down. It should stay in place. See the pictures below for an example of how it looks.
Right side Up
Upside Down
4. Take you material and start to pack the open end of the crucible. You want to try to evenly pack the material and spread it across the screen. Then compress it down and create a little disc. It sometimes helps to put a pinky finger in the bottom of the crucible while you pack it tightly to prevent the screen from dislodging.
As you are packing it
After is has been compressed
5. Insert the crucible upside down inside the herbalAire. Because you packed it down you don't have to worry about little bits coming lose and falling through the air holes. If you grind the material before packing it this becomes a bit of a problem, so I don't recommend grinding the material. You'll see in the picture it is placed in my unit upside down.
6. Put the top on and place your bag and start pumping. What I find is that you don't need to leave the material in the herbalAire to preheat or anything. This is simply a place it and go procedure with no waiting time in between. I know sometimes people will leave the material inside their units to let it heat up throughout before turning on the pump, but in this case I suggest just turning on the pump right away once you place it in.
You'll see in the next series of pictures some before and after filled shots with a butane can held behind the bag to give you guys a measure of the density of the vapour in the bags. I also did this at 365. I got 2 really dense bags and 1 bag of half the density, but still satisfying and worthwhile to use.
Just as it is turned on. You'll see the vapour isn't incredibly dense at the start, but it starts to thicken up as the first bag is filled. You'll see the filled pictures of the first bag and it is cloudy like it was filled with smoke. It is all tasty vapour.
Almost Filled
Filled
Butane Can For Measure
I've recently started tearing it into chunks to plug the bottom of the crucible instead of just putting whole buds in. In my opinion that gives me a little bit bigger clouds and more importantly vapes a bit quicker when I need it, but I can definitely say that doesn't lead to better extraction for me. The way it extracts from whole buds is magic.Just a follow up to my other post about how I use the herbalAire H2.2. I don't want to suggest to anyone that my way is the only way to get good results from small amounts. There are a variety of ways to use the herbalAire. I use it a variety of different ways and it is all about what you want to achieve with the device. Some people like a vapour that is not incredibly dense because it can be irritating for them. Others like their bags to look like they are filled with milk. I have a preference which is entirely subjective to my own experience so it doesn't mean you will find the same results. I am curious about how others have modified their methods of users like @421 's ceramic discs and etc.
Some ways you can use it are how the manufacturer suggests in the manual, to just drop a piece in the crucible and place it in the unit. You can even grind the material, but I don't recommend this because it gets really messy, but you certainly get cloudy bags. It really seems no matter how you load the herbalAire you get a complete extraction. Some people also use an extra screen on top to hold their load down to keep it from bouncing around. I found the manufacturer's directions to get the most consistently dark ABV. I followed them and snapped a photo below to show how dark and evenly extracted the piece gets.
As well, about temperature, many people use it at 400 and are happier with that setting. It will certainly give you a full extraction and even faster at 400 also getting even cloudier bags. I personally use it around 350-365 depending on the material because I like to thin out the vapour slightly with the material I am using. It is all about preference. Some people want a very thin vapour and again this can be achieved by lowering the temperature.
Going back to the manufacturer's directions which are to just place a whole nug in I decided to experiment with that and share my results with you guys. Now I think about it, I should of done a before and after, but it's too late now.
This was a 0.27g bud that was just placed in the crucible as per the manufacturer's instructions. I preheated the unit to 360 and dropped it in. I ran 2 bags and then turned the temp up to 380. The interesting thing is how dark and well extracted the sample is. Even my method doesn't yield the same dark ABV as this method does.
I'm interested as to what kind of results you'll get if you follow my method compared to your own. I have spoken about it before in the thread, but felt inspired to make a play by play with some photos today to really show what I mean.
I have never tried the ceramic discs @421 has spoken about before, but have been curious about them. I just have to order a pack and try them out I guess. I just honestly have never felt a need to improve upon my current experience because it's already so good. I believe 421 uses them with the TonG and not sure if they use it with the pump, maybe they can chime in and clarify. If I were to use them, I would load a standard crucible and then drop them in on top to hold my load down and keep it from scattering around in the chamber when the pump is on.
What's inside? I'm really curious on what the air path is like. Unless this has been posted/photographed the the thread before? I just did some more background research on the HA and read that the internals are a mystery?
There was also some insulation material inside that I removed for the photo.
I have some concentrates...was thinking about running them through this as I was curious...how much dirtier do they tend to make the bags? Gonna do a bud sandwich like suggested or a bud canvas
@421 that sound great. I'm going to try wax on bud in the concentrate crucible for extra protection since I already have them. Cover the screen in chunks and then lay a nice blanket of wax over it.