MiniVAP Vaporizer

[Polyrhythm]

Thanks very much for that. Yeah I prefer attaching the basket to the cone too, I just hope no unhealthy/poisonous vapours come out of the silicone cone or for it to affect the flavour in any way.

When I don't attach the basket to the cone and just drop it directly into the heating chamber, half full of material or a little more, I don't get enough juicy vapour density. Not to mention, it is much more difficult to cash out the basket. (Need to drag harder at high heat for longer time; which in turn heats up the mouth piece making for an uncomfortable draw in overall.) And when I remove the lid when done, I find the material out of the basket somewhat and around the outside of the basket; but still under the under the plastic cone with screen when the lid is on. That being said, i'm still trying to find that sweet spot in terms of method, consistency and amount.

Yeah I do realize that it won't work well if you pack the basket, with the MV being a convection vaporizer and all.

If anyone has any tips on getting the best vapeing performance out of their MV pleeeeease do let me know.

Luvin the flavour and want more of it definitely.

Thanks!

Hey Vapemen -welcome!
I have been using a minivape for a little over a year. Here are some tips.
It is possible to pull the air through too fast. Since this unit is convection, you want to start your draws nice and slow- this way the herb warms up and starts producing vapor, then you can start to increase the speed a bit. In the beginning use the silicone tube and the little mouthpiece. I find that the little "cigar tip" mouthpiece restricts just a bit, preventing you from moving too much air through. Also, direct the vapor at your tongue, this way you can feel the temp of the vapor. As others have mentioned before in this thread, you need to let the unit fully warm up. I pull some air into the chamber a few times as it is warming up to get the chamber up to temp as well as the heater. Also, don't add your herb until right before you need it. Make sure it is ground well and is somewhat dry. I am not using the little basket. Most of the time using just enough material to cover the bottom screen. I am using the green setting, but using the red setting when using water tools.

With these techniques you should get thick, smooth clouds that taste amazing. I am wrecked forever on joints I love the minivap and it has seriously helped my wife live with major pain and still get through the day.

 

[grokit]

I'm not sure why I follow this thread. I guess because along with the plenty,
the minivap is my favorite vape that I will likely never try!

 

[Vapemen]

Hey Vapemen -welcome!
I have been using a minivape for a little over a year. Here are some tips.
It is possible to pull the air through too fast. Since this unit is convection, you want to start your draws nice and slow- this way the herb warms up and starts producing vapor, then you can start to increase the speed a bit. In the beginning use the silicone tube and the little mouthpiece. I find that the little "cigar tip" mouthpiece restricts just a bit, preventing you from moving too much air through. Also, direct the vapor at your tongue, this way you can feel the temp of the vapor. As others have mentioned before in this thread, you need to let the unit fully warm up. I pull some air into the chamber a few times as it is warming up to get the chamber up to temp as well as the heater. Also, don't add your herb until right before you need it. Make sure it is ground well and is somewhat dry. I am not using the little basket. Most of the time using just enough material to cover the bottom screen. I am using the green setting, but using the red setting when using water tools.

With these techniques you should get thick, smooth clouds that taste amazing. I am wrecked forever on joints I love the minivap and it has seriously helped my wife live with major pain and still get through the day.

I'm sorry to learn about your wife's pain, I hope she gets well. Thank you for the detailed tips, really appreciated!

 

[JCat]

Just got my replacement battery in and some extra silicone cones and baskets ... hadn't used my MV in a while (I mainly use it when travelling) as my battery had died (I'm sure mainly due to my mishandling of it ... ie. it didn't get used enough, never got depleted enough, and I stored it at a full charge! ... not good things for these batteries)

Anyways ... to get back on point ... just vaped a bowl in it last night and again this morning ... and I must say ... I do truly like this vape. Definitely one of the best.

 

[JCat]

Well vaped 7 bowls in it between Wed/Thu and battery was still going strong. Must say ... really happy with this vape still.

Tried out the baskets again (with my silicone cones and without the top but just hooking my 14mm hydratube style thing against the cone) ... and gotta' say ...really hit like a champ and worked great. 3-4 lungful's and nice thick vapor and the end resulted was nice even brown ABV)

This maybe my best 100% convection vaporizer (the EVO has similar convection only properties as long as you don't let it heat up too much but has more conduction going on than the MiniVAP ... at least IMHO ... not to take anything away from the EVO which is my favorite vaporizer )

 

[Ethnobotanist]

^Thanks JCat. Still new to the MV however I couldn't have put it better myself

I did a quick search using keywords 'iso' and 'silicone' on this thread and iso was too short. Therefore tried 'alcohol' and 'silicone'. No results.

Can someone please confirm the safety of using iso alcohol to clean the silicone parts such as the cone? The quickest result I found via search engine was yahoo answers:

Silicone tubing is made of silicone polymer. Though there are different types of silicone, it will not generally melt with heating before the heat causes it to start decomposing. However, solvents like alcohol won't melt anything. Perhaps you mean that it might dissolve the silicone? Polymers can dissolve, but silicone rubber won't dissolve in alcohol. It will swell to some degree depending on the type of silicone and degree of cross-linking of the polymer. When this happens, the polymer is essentially trying to dissolve, and taking solvent into its structural lattice. It could swell to many times the original size. But when the alcohol is removed and allowed to evaporate, it will return to the original state, it had not dissolved, or melted.

Also someone on GC posted just iso alcohol and silicone are fine (in the context of removing resin for making concentrates...I just want to clean the silicone parts). However I'd welcome confirmation on here. Partly because this community is highly intelligent and partly in case someone else searches this thread like I did.

Also, if it is safe, does it matter if I soak for a few mins or so rather than just wipe it with iso? I will of course rinse it with water too and let it dry out thoroughly so any alcohol can evaporate. I've now been using the MV for 2 days...and WOW!

Thanks

 

[JCat]

I've always cleaned my silicone stuff from all my vapes with 99% ISO. (I also clean the other parts of my MV w/ 99% ISO) I think the quote you have pretty much covers it ... they make all kinds of stuff for doing extractions (ISO or butane) that is made out of silicone (bowls, matts, etc.) so therefore it must not degrade with ISO.

 

[Ethnobotanist]

^Thanks you JCat! I was planning on cleaning out some old glass pieces tomorrow morning having being inspired by your post on using the MV->basket->cone->hydratube. Thought I might as well put the cone, screens etc in with the iso soak. Fingers crossed I can make a nice setup using various misc leftover glass XD

 

[JCat]

^Thanks you JCat! I was planning on cleaning out some old glass pieces tomorrow morning having being inspired by your post on using the MV->basket->cone->hydratube. Thought I might as well put the cone, screens etc in with the iso soak. Fingers crossed I can make a nice setup using various misc leftover glass XD

So how did it work out? Did you get a good setup? IMHO some key things to have on hand is a half dozen or so different small lengths of silicone tubing--alone and stacked together it makes a wonderful way to build adapters!

LOVE my MiniVAP .... but ... (always a but right ) ... my biggest complaint would have to be heat up time. I like to let mine get to green ... and that takes a good ~6-7 minutes or so? .... pretty darn long. It makes it a portable only "sort-of".... my biggest gripe ... if the MiniVAP was ready in 1.5-2 minutes it would take it from an absolutely great vape to an absolutely phenomenal vape!

 

[PPN]

Yes it is, a little bit shorter at pink level (my favourite dry mode) , too long heating time and too short auto shutoff!

I would like to see it become phenomenal!

ps: and a smaller battery! (I'm awaiting for it, but sadly there is no update...)

 

[Tweek]

I just don't understand how these guys can afford to doddle with this thing? In the time it has taken them to make a few small upgrades here and there, so many other manufacturers have come out with way more affordable, and interesting options. MiniVap was always one I would have loved to try, but it just seems they are in no rush bring down the price and/or add some more innovations to stay competitive.

 

[vorrange]

I agree they could be more quick on the innovation, but it seems the vape is quite good as it is, although a lesser price would make it much more appealing.

I have no idea about the manufactoring cost though, but i think it is built in Spain too.

 

[JCat]

I agree with all your observations @Tweek and @vorrange ... still a great vape though ... hoping they will innovate as they have a great platform upon which to do so!

 

[vorrange]

The expectations are good right? More temp settings, and glass airpath if i'm not mistaken.

 

[PPN]

I just don't understand how these guys can afford to doddle with this thing? In the time it has taken them to make a few small upgrades here and there, so many other manufacturers have come out with way more affordable, and interesting options. MiniVap was always one I would have loved to try, but it just seems they are in no rush bring down the price and/or add some more innovations to stay competitive.

Find a way to try it and you'll understand!
This is the cleanest vapor that I ever seen in my short vaping experience, smoothy and cloudy, it's my favourite vape but i'm agree that some update and nices improvements would be nice.
And if you told me it's overpriced, ok, but I can see many vapes overpriced too (Cera, Cloud, Sub, Herbalizer, Persei+ accesssories) and some of them have lot of issues and are just surfing on the fashion wave, the MV is the better portable building quality with the capacity of the better pluggin vapes.

For example I have a FV, I spent in 300 USD in unit, accessories, batteries and shipping and when it works I vape only one bowl/day now and there is many little issues, with my MV I vape at least 5 bowls/day and I needn't more accessories or CS contact (I spent 365 euros for a single MV).

To show you how it's a powerfull vape I'm thinking to sold my Cloud+( but it's difficult cause I like my Cloud and MV can't handle concentrates like the Cloud+)

Try it Tweek!

 

[Fogoff]

Hi everyone !

Been away for a while, busy with work and life ...
I want to share with you my story.
Last week I came back home, and my mv was unable to boot. I dismounted it but I couldn't find something.
I contacted mv in Espagne and return the unit ASAP.
They received it contact me to tell me everything was done. Great services.
They also ppropose me a firmware update (25€).
Details of of the new features:
- the red setting point will stop to solid since the start up
- auto startup (as soon as you connect the battery or adapter, the miniVAP will switch on automatically)
- we can custumize internal timer for switching off to a certain number of minutes (now is 10min-blue-10min-off).

I choose 20 MN for the timer.

I very impatient to receive my unit back. Normally I should have on Wednesday.
In the meantime I am all about BHO.

 

[Roger D]

I hope that means I'm about to receive my up to date backup unit !

 

[Fogoff]

I hope for you roger
I give you details of the price of spares accessories I ordered because I lost them.
Button is 2 euros.
Top cap is 22 euros.

 

[Fogoff]

What's up roger?
Could you give me the email from delicatessen via pm ? I broke a bubbler and need to see if he can repair it.

 

[Fogoff]

Got my mv back today.
They sent me a decarboxilation chamber. Does someone know how to use it ?

Edit: I found out myself for the decarb rings.

 

[Ethnobotanist]

So how did it work out? Did you get a good setup? IMHO some key things to have on hand is a half dozen or so different small lengths of silicone tubing--alone and stacked together it makes a wonderful way to build adapters!

LOVE my MiniVAP .... but ... (always a but right ) ... my biggest complaint would have to be heat up time. I like to let mine get to green ... and that takes a good ~6-7 minutes or so? .... pretty darn long. It makes it a portable only "sort-of".... my biggest gripe ... if the MiniVAP was ready in 1.5-2 minutes it would take it from an absolutely great vape to an absolutely phenomenal vape!

Well I'm glad to say that I got it working fairly well with a mostly intact Jet-Flash smoke system setup. The great thing about this is the mouthpiece which mimics the Helix setup for making the vapor spiral in a vortex within the mouthpiece to cool down. In fact I'm curious about trying to set it up with just the mouthpiece connected to the MV to see how well it works.

I've actually just been taking dry hits and am very happy with it. Tried it on red and can too easily take overly large hits without the throat irritation, dryness etc which I experienced with the stock mouthpiece and red setting. Unfortunately I don't have any silicone tubing so I'm worried that the flexi-cone isn't sealing properly and that there is air leaking in.

Since I've only owned the Volcano Classic and shared an LSV with my cousin till I let him 'buy me out', I don't have any silicone accessories from other devices which can be re-used and modded for the MV. Had a quick look for some affordable medical and food grade silicone tubing. Most places seem to only sell bulk to hospitals etc. I can see how it would be great to have a few different ones as you suggest.

I just don't understand how these guys can afford to doddle with this thing? In the time it has taken them to make a few small upgrades here and there, so many other manufacturers have come out with way more affordable, and interesting options. MiniVap was always one I would have loved to try, but it just seems they are in no rush bring down the price and/or add some more innovations to stay competitive.

In terms of being priced competitively, at least in the EU, the mains adapter only version of the MV is the same price as a Cloud EVO and a lot cheaper than a Volcano Digit. You can't really compare the MV in it's portable-only mode to other portable devices. As my friend told me when he first got his, the MV is more like a cordless phone vs a mobile phone (aka cell phone in USA). i.e. it's a portable home medical device although I think some people would also find it useful for using responsibly when camping, hiking, staying in hotels etc.

Personally, like the Volcano Classic lasted me for almost a decade, I'm hoping for something similar with the MV, although realistically, if it lasts 4 years I'll be satisfied, extra years are a very nice bonus.

edit: I don't think I'm a special case of Volcano reliability. I know a couple of other Volcano Classic owners who got theirs round the same time as me and their Volcanos also lasted for similar periods too aside from warranty repairs/upgrades etc.

 

[Fogoff]

Iam travelling a lot. That's the reason why I wanted a portable devices. Be able to move quicker with it, on me , passing through the security check of an airport for example.
In this term the mv full filled all this. It's portable and yet powerful.
According to you its not as stealth as a some other vape, you can throw in your pocket jeans

 

[JCat]

Well I'm glad to say that I got it working fairly well with a mostly intact Jet-Flash smoke system setup. The great thing about this is the mouthpiece which mimics the Helix setup for making the vapor spiral in a vortex within the mouthpiece to cool down. In fact I'm curious about trying to set it up with just the mouthpiece connected to the MV to see how well it works.

I've actually just been taking dry hits and am very happy with it. Tried it on red and can too easily take overly large hits without the throat irritation, dryness etc which I experienced with the stock mouthpiece and red setting. Unfortunately I don't have any silicone tubing so I'm worried that the flexi-cone isn't sealing properly and that there is air leaking in.

Since I've only owned the Volcano Classic and shared an LSV with my cousin till I let him 'buy me out', I don't have any silicone accessories from other devices which can be re-used and modded for the MV. Had a quick look for some affordable medical and food grade silicone tubing. Most places seem to only sell bulk to hospitals etc. I can see how it would be great to have a few different ones as you suggest.



In terms of being priced competitively, at least in the EU, the mains adapter only version of the MV is the same price as a Cloud EVO and a lot cheaper than a Volcano Digit. You can't really compare the MV in it's portable-only mode to other portable devices. As my friend told me when he first got his, the MV is more like a cordless phone vs a mobile phone (aka cell phone in USA). i.e. it's a portable home medical device although I think some people would also find it useful for using responsibly when camping, hiking, staying in hotels etc.

Personally, like the Volcano Classic lasted me for almost a decade, I'm hoping for something similar with the MV, although realistically, if it lasts 4 years I'll be satisfied, extra years are a very nice bonus.

edit: I don't think I'm a special case of Volcano reliability. I know a couple of other Volcano Classic owners who got theirs round the same time as me and their Volcanos also lasted for similar periods too aside from warranty repairs/upgrades etc.

Yeah ... glass mouthpiece cools much better (vortex or no) than silicone ... (I've always found this with all vapes I've tried). My preferred method to use my MiniVAP is with the Zapubbler (can't get these anymore but I have a post earlier in the thread prior to the silicone cone setup ... ) ... now I just use it directly connected to the silicone cone with the basket ... works great! (vape .15-.2 in 3-4 hits ... just how I like it )

 

[Polyrhythm]

Has anyone had success with concentrate pad? I have tried a few times now, I get great flavor as the wax melts into the pad, but no vapor. Then I get a couple decent hits with vapor but no flavor. I'm using the red setting so it's a little harsh without water. If I do use the unit upside down, would I place the wax on the bottom of the pad? Cocentrate newbie heh

​

 

[PPN]

Has anyone had success with concentrate pad? I have tried a few times now, I get great flavor as the wax melts into the pad, but no vapor. Then I get a couple decent hits with vapor but no flavor. I'm using the red setting so it's a little harsh without water. If I do use the unit upside down, would I place the wax on the bottom of the pad? Cocentrate newbie heh

​

The MV is actually not the better for concentrates, everybody is agree with that assumption, though I heard Hermès Medical is working on concentrate mode for the MV...wait and see