Induction Heater - Smoke/Off Gassing?

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RoboCorn9

Member
Hello everyone!

Since i bought a Dynatec Apollo 2 for my Dynavap i have noticed this smoke/off gassing inside the chamber/coil after i have heated and lifted the Dynavap.

I have searched the web, and i can find some short discussions elsewhere about this topic, but nothing about what it really is, or why its happening, only speculations, but at least its happening to others as well, and not only with the Apollo 2 unit.
Some people are speculating its heated/burned oil from the fingers on the cap, or that its coming from the Dynavap itself, i find the last one most unlikely since its just metal, but could it be that its actually from the Dynavap?

I have tried 2 different Dynavap just to make sure , with a load as well as empty, newly cleaned with Isopropyl alcohol and empty, even to the point that i have not even touched the Dynavap or the Cap after cleaning, just to make sure there is no oil, still i get this smoke/off gassing in the heating chamber of the Apollo 2...
I doubt there could be oil from the fingers on the Cap that not even Isopropyl alcohol can clean off, and that also 10 heating cycles after each other would not burn away, but what do i know...
Only thing i can clearly determine is that its not coming from one specific Dynavap, or from material in the Dynavap sipping trough the cap while being heated in the Apollo 2.
So its either coming from the Apollo 2 unit, or both of my Dynavap, again, i find the last one most unlikely since its just metal, but what do i know...

I have now returned my Apollo 2 since the shop i bought it from says it not normal, i can now either get my money back, or get a new unit and hopefully it will not produce this smoke/off gassing, but what do i do it the new unit dose the same...

In other words, is this normal?

Have any of you guys experienced the same with the Apollo 2, or other units?

Do anyone know what it is, and why its happening?


Thanks! :)
 
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RoboCorn9,
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someTooL

someTooL

Well-Known Member
Probably just vapor. Probably. Some escapes (unless you starting pulling with it inserted lol). After time the glass tube will need cleaned also. That vapor (probably) your seeing collects there over time.

Do you smell smoke/electronics burn smell?
 
someTooL,
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RoboCorn9

Member
Siebter said:
Hm. What does the smoke smell like?
Click to expand...

someTooL said:
Do you smell smoke/electronics burn smell?
Click to expand...

Hard to explain the smell, but others who i read have experience the same, says its smells kinda like a hairdryer, and maybe that's how i would describe it to i guess, not so much of a burnet smell, more of a weird electronic type of smell i would say...


someTooL said:
Probably just vapor. Probably. Some escapes (unless you starting pulling with it inserted lol). After time the glass tube will need cleaned also. That vapor (probably) your seeing collects there over time.
Click to expand...

I have tried cleaning the glass tube, to the best of my ability with a Q-tip, dose not seem to make a diffirence that i could see... also the smoke seems to come from around the click button at the bottom of the heating chamber of the Apollo 2, so i don't know...
 
RoboCorn9,
Siebter

Siebter

Less soul, more mind
Just to clarify – the smoke / whatever it is appears with every heat cycle? If so, it hardly could be emitted by the Dynavap I think; I do get a small bit of vapor coming from the cap at the first heat cycle, but never after that.
 
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RoboCorn9

Member
Yeah its every heat cycle... When ever i heated the Dynavap its smoke streaks left in the heating chamber of the Apollo 2, it lingers camly for a short while before it disappears, and the streaks seem to emanate from the bottom of the heat chamber.

I guess i will ask for a replacement unit, and hope with the new one its at least just very little smoke, and only the first heat cycle..

I would still like to know what this smoke is coming from, and what it is..
 
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Abysmal Vapor

Abysmal Vapor

Supersniffer 2000 - robot fart detection device
Just give it a deep clean. If there is something like a herb bit inside or residue it will always offgas when it cames in contact with the other wall of the cap. Also clean your cap on the outside,cause it can also have some of that residue on it. If it continues to offgas after deep clean i wouldnt USE it.
 
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Abysmal Vapor,
T

thunderstealer1337

Well-Known Member
Lol, I think your fine, go look at other users ih, when they pull it from heater it's always exhausting some vapor/smoke.

Also ih have diff activation switches. Some is a cork covering, some is a ball activation on plastic carriers, some is a silicone cover.

The thing they all have in common is what your describing
 
thunderstealer1337,
Siebter

Siebter

Less soul, more mind
@thunderstealer1337 – Not for a while, but quite a few full ones. I don't see anything emitting except for a faint trail at the first heat cycle. I also have used various IHs including the Apollo 2 and never experienced hairdryer smoke or the like.
 
Siebter,
TheThriftDrifter

TheThriftDrifter

Land of the long vapor cloud
I noticed that my vapcaps do a similar thing with my IH.

I think it was @TommyDee who has a theory that it is a small amount of vapor escaping and that over time it leaves an oily residue on the glass liner that protects the IH coil.
 
Hippie

Hippie

Well-Known Member
I'm inclined to agree it's vapour after reading what Phattpiggie and TommyDee say about it here

VapCap Induction Heater for Desktop and in Car Use

FYI. Sneaky Pete released a new holiday video that had a short demonstration and positive review of the Portside Mini. The link to the video is below. My Cauldron arrived over three months ago and have been in love ever since. Haven’t touched a torch since that day. Great product @Pipes...
fuckcombustion.com
(and owning a few IH myself for 2 years now)
 
Hippie,
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RoboCorn9

Member
Interesting, i forgot to mention that before cleaning my Apollo 2, when examining the tube with a flashlight, i saw what looked like tiny droplets of brownish clear liquid at to bottom of the heating chamber round the click button, and when cleaning the tube to the best of my ability with a q-tip i did see this oily substance on the q-tip.

If this indeed is the cause of the smoke, then it would also explain why there is smoke in the heating chamber even after heating a well cleaned and empty Dynavap.

Seeing as this oil in time then possibly collects at the bottom of the heating chamber, and it being near impossible to get down there and clean thoroughly, could it in time maybe cause problems?

Have any one opened the Apollo 2 and know if its possible to clean that area around the click button?
 
RoboCorn9,
TommyDee

TommyDee

Vaporitor
@RoboCorn9 - you can ISO the circuit board inside the Apollo. Can you remove the case screws? That residue is a shipping problem for sure -if- it were ever questioned or detected.

I used a vial in my IHs so there was no bottom or loss. The collection wasn't just a little bit. All the more reason not to linger on the cup. That is your vape escaping! And a pretty thick terpy load to boot. The reason it became evident in mine is that I used the coil sitting sideways for a long time. The vape would condense immediately on the glass. It'd be a dab within a month. I promote real-time hits on the IH to prevent this loss. This is one of the reasons Flix has a remote fire button presumably. Water features being the main one of course.
 
R

RoboCorn9

Member
TommyDee said:
@RoboCorn9 - you can ISO the circuit board inside the Apollo. Can you remove the case screws? That residue is a shipping problem for sure -if- it were ever questioned or detected.

I used a vial in my IHs so there was no bottom or loss. The collection wasn't just a little bit. All the more reason not to linger on the cup. That is your vape escaping! And a pretty thick terpy load to boot. The reason it became evident in mine is that I used the coil sitting sideways for a long time. The vape would condense immediately on the glass. It'd be a dab within a month. I promote real-time hits on the IH to prevent this loss. This is one of the reasons Flix has a remote fire button presumably. Water features being the main one of course.
Click to expand...

Good thing i have not sent my Apollo 2 back to the shop yet! Its currently boxed up and i was gonna send it this week.

So i guess i just unpack it again, open it up and clean it as good as i can, then test it out with a clean and empty Dynavap to see if its at least close to smoke free, and if all clear i just continue using it as normal. :D
I was really not to pleased having to be going back to the torch waiting for a replacement.

The following question may be a stupid one, but what do i know since i don't build these things. :p

Could there be a potential future problem if the plastic click button has gotten a little melted dent in the middle?
Its working just like it did before so i assume its not a problem, just want to make sure.

You see stupid as i was, i tried heating the end of some metal tweezers to see if the heating chamber would still give of this smoke, but instead it gave of plenty of smoke since the end of the tweezers must have got really hot and burned/melted a dent in the button...
 
RoboCorn9,
TommyDee

TommyDee

Vaporitor
Probably torx but maybe safety torx

Oh and @Robobuddah - I wouldn't worry about cleaning it. It doesn't have the normal pot smell so it should be good to ship.
But you were sending it back only for this? Apollo 2 has some kind of clear/wht silicone cap on it. That is important. They can fix that. You might have poked through that with the tweezers. I don't know what the original Apollo used.
 
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TommyDee,
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RoboCorn9

Member
@TommyDee It was the shop where i bought it that said there should be no smoke, and that i should return it for a replacement, or my money back.

It dose not look like i poked through the silicone cap, but i might return the unit anyways, so they can at least replace the silicone cap just in case, or if they want to, give me a new unit.
 
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