Pax - All Models

[Vaporific]

I just had visions of when the device becomes uncovered a in future time. I imagined an Archaeologist finding this amongst some rubble and not knowing what some ancient civilization used this for . It was a cultural artifact of another time that did not exist in a future society. Luckily you had managed to charge it before it was lost and the chamber was still full.

The Archaeologist somehow bumped it and managed to turn it on (PAX batteries are in fact robust) and the device started flashing its colorful display . The Archaeologist was aware Petroglyphs can act as astronomical markers for ancient generations or something of that nature. A wisp of smoke emerged from one end.
The Archaeologist pressed this to her lips (in my vision there are mostly HOT female archaeologists) and inhaled a tiny breath to see what would be the outcome. She detected a slight sweet and sticky essence and rolled her tongue over lips, but couldn't discern what the taste was. She attempted this again and again to no avail. After 5 min with no impact the artifact was dropped to the ground and lost amongst the rubble & she remarked "he should have gotten a lobo", to be found by yet another HOT Archaeologist centuries later.

...... THE END

You should listen to 2112 by Rush and swap the guitar for the vape/Pax. But I digress.

I’ve been loving my pax3 for a few years now. Hands down much better than the original which I have but the pop-up mouthpiece was always wonky and the temp setting button finally stopped working. The Pax is just so pocket friendly, and my PAX3 is so consistent with very good battery life. I don’t get huge clouds with it but I’m not a could chaser and it gets the job done. I bought the wood charging holder too which is great at home and it also fits nicely in my car behind my beverage holders on their sliding cover for charging on the go.

 

[Javamanny]

PAX AS ONE-HITTER! What I’ve been looking for, kinda. Longtime Pax user. Have tried many other vapes but nothing came close for me. But there’s always been one big problem: the first 2-4 hits in a bowl are great then degrade rapidly. It’s not just the taste degrades, the “brightness” of the effect degrades as well.

I’ve been looking, hoping, asking for a mini-session (3 hits or so) cap or other solution. I have discovered a pretty good work around.

I measure out approx .025g of ground material, fill bowl and press down. I keep PAX upside down and turn on. When it’s heated I wait another 30 secs to give it a head start. I sip it keeping it upside down which works fine and maybe even helps vapor hit my tongue. I shake it here are there to get all the goodness and sip til diminished returns. All my sessions now give me that nice taste (though on the light side due to small amount) and a lovely balanced effect.

I’m a lightweight so you might want to use more which will probably give more flavor. Give it a shot, let me know what you think. Also anyone handy who can up with a more elegant solution let it rip!

 

[Flotsam]

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My feelings towards my PAX plus has evolved somewhat since i first got it. FC has been more than helpful getting the most out of it.

I sort of disliked my PAX at first but i had never even tried vaping prior so it was hard to tell what the expected result should be. I learned some things i had shared before about some first steps I took to improve things. Her i want to b map out what i liked and didn't like about it.

First the Likes since these always seem to be overlooked:

• It is very compact, & can be palmed fairly easily - this is huge for me as i use it a lot in public
• It has lower stealth settings for temperature where you can get vapor but there is virtually no visible vapor at all
• Got a 10 year warranty, which is good considering it has a Li battery
• Battery lasts pretty well
• Good initial taste - I don't use this at the highest setting as i

Here is my list of dislikes and possible mitigation steps

• The silicon mouthpieces are not great and will certainly retain bad flavor if not regularly cleaned. I use a lower setting but it can taste a bit burnt if i persist. Doesn't I have tried a bubbler but dislike how long it becomes and all stealthiness go away
  • My idea here is to use the WPA to add a small POTV glass piece on top
• Taste is now pretty decent for the first few draws. It does dissipate after a fairly short bit and its telling me its time for a repack. It would be nice if the process was more complete .
• Examination of AVB has lead me to repack and then do another short round to finish off the bowl. there is not really a way without removing the material to stir or anything like that. Will usually get another 2 or 3 hits that are more flavorful before i call that bowl spent and the remains added to AVB jar. So my thoughts are that something could be done which would allow for more complete vaporization to take place. More analysis below.

So the PAX being a Conduction vaporizer I have to ask myself what steps can i take to improve the situation. So the conclusion i have come up with is to find a way to bring that heat that the heater provides to the rest of the oven. I think the answer is either to add thermal mass to the PAX oven to retain heat and have a more complete roast. Some vaporizers use some kind of Convector element to add redistribute heat to the chamber and this is something i may try.

So as to determine which things work and which don't I will proceed with testing each of these things. I know it is still purely subjective but i will try to properly document the results, as i can especially with warm up times & color of AVB. What i don't want to do is make a bunch of changes all at once and then i don't know how effective each one is. I have come up with some tentative steps that i want to try in this order. Try to keep some variables consistent: same ambient temp, same weed.

Step 0 Baseline results.
Step 1 Add mass to oven
Step 2 Add convector in addition
Step 3 Remove all chamber mods
Step 4 Remove mouthpiece, add WPA & glass to see if draw improves
Step 5 See if adding ventilated back improves draw as well

I am currently in Step 1 with regard to a thicker stainless screen as well as a variable back that would allow you to change oven size, but more importantly has its own mass to contribute to the equation. Not wanting to spoil the story but i can tell you i feel the improvement of taste and quantity of vapor and longer vapor production (as in more consistent production) has vastly improved. That is obviously subjective but what i can report it has vastly improved the experience at least for me. I would suggest if you have an opportunity it is worth it. Cost is minimal for these parts and you can easily find them on eBay or Amazon. The downside is warm up time is Greatly extended and i would say it is almost DOUBLED! I was seeing warm up times between 50 to 60 seconds & over rather the typical 30 seconds. So it takes a significant amount of time to heat this chamber to the prescribed temperature setting as before, but i think a lot of it is retained. I will have some definitive numbers the next time i share. I had also thought about how to use terp balls in this regard but that might be a later iteration to try.

The obvious downside that will result from additional heating requirements is that battery duration will suffer. From my experience however, you still can get through a session without needing to stop due to battery depletion. Like i said i think PAX engineered this battery pretty well.

Like i said i will document results and share them. I have also found the convector i will use for step 2.

These type of mods might be possible on other conduction style vaporizers as well. If the vaporizer is a Convection or hybrid heating we would be talking about improving air flow in the device.

 

[budweis]

Recently got my hands on Pax again, this time the Plus one, and must say I kinda like it. The 3 was my gateway vape that got me off combustion so there is a little bit of sentiment but being also an ex cig smoker I can't help myself to enjoy that thick, almost bluntish, vapor.

Yea, the flavor is mediocre, it gets kinda hot at the end of the session and efficiency is not the best but sometimes I feel like sitting down and puffing on that thing and it's been great. Probably wouldn't want it to be my daily driver but it has its place.

Fill the chamber to the edge of the stainless steel inlay and smush it with the half pack lid. Works every time.

 

[maremaresing]

Great work playing around and testing and modding @Flotsam ! I love to see this. Your process of changing one thing at a time and documenting it is stellar, and I look forward to what you come up with to get more out of the tiny pax. How much material are you attempting to load each time? What is your goal load size?

What WPA are you planning to use? I have both the full silicone cheapie, and the fancy POTV one. While I appreciate what POTV was trying to do, especially with making the button accessible with the top on, I am not impressed. The movement to press the button is so stiff that I worry about breaking the glass, and it's not a positive engagement. I also don't like how the bulky top is wider than the body of the pax.

One of my early projects was making an angled top for it, and it gives a nice "pipe like" puffing experience. Not my best fit and finish, and making angled drill holes on curved surfaces is something I don't intend to do again until I have better tooling down the line.

Fill the chamber to the edge of the stainless steel inlay and smush it with the half pack lid. Works every time.

This is the gold standard for getting great results out of the pax. Couldn't have said it better myself, but I'll add that I exclusively use 2 petal heat level and get an extended cloudy session until the material is toast. My scale says this is .25-.26g of the delightful Rasberry Bear Claw CBD (from Eight Horses).

 

[Flotsam]

Fine work maremaresing! I never thought of something like that. But i like that style. I do like the length of the metal and reminds me i do have a pack on hand.

So your list intrigues me, You have a unique mix of products that i have rarely seen. The Volski Vector intrigues me in particular. I have been approaching this VAS thing very cautiously. I know if unchecked i would go crazy and spend tons $$ i don't have. So strategically i had gotten a Dynavap because I know there were some DIY options i could pursue. (eg. IH). Currently building a better bong to host some home brew Terpcicles projects for (better flow). POTV Lobo under the tree on 420.

I've got a glass work table now which lines up well with my drill press. & i can cut off bottles. I will post some of my "projects" once they are a bit mature. Its a bit of an artistic stretch that i am looking for. I love heady glass but just can't justifiy as i would be the only person i could show it off to is me.

BTW that is a real interesting username. May i ask what the origin is?

oops forgot to answer your question , I have the PAX one and i noticed it already had a hole in it. I will drill that out if i can. I have a small machinists vise that i had gotten from my departed uncle who was a craftsman with numerous items in the Smithsonian. If the material is too soft i have a few other approaches i can use to enlarge that hole size.

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[maremaresing]

Thank you!! I'll send ya a pm on the non pax topics from your post @Flotsam so we don't veer the thread off the Pax course.

The OEM Pax WPA looks similar to my knockoff version, which is solid silicone. Don't use a drill press on it, as the drill bit will bite and cause the material to flex and then rip the whole thing to bits. If I were doing this, I'd start with something like a leather punch set, slowly increasing the size. I'd still use a drill press but NOT TURNED ON so I could control the up and down motion of the punch. Since the WPA is shaped to insert firmly into holes, I'd use the drill press to create a wooden jig with a stepped hole of 14mm into 18mm for the WPA to seat in. (perhaps sanding the wood so the wpa doesn't get damaged.)

You might also try the drill bit thing, but not powered. Detach the chuck and use it to hold the drill bit and manipulate the whole thing with your hand, feeling for proper bite, never forcing it.

 

[Flotsam]

Thank you!! I'll send ya a pm on the non pax topics from your post @Flotsam so we don't veer the thread off the Pax course.

The OEM Pax WPA looks similar to my knockoff version, which is solid silicone. Don't use a drill press on it, as the drill bit will bite and cause the material to flex and then rip the whole thing to bits. If I were doing this, I'd start with something like a leather punch set, slowly increasing the size. I'd still use a drill press but NOT TURNED ON so I could control the up and down motion of the punch. Since the WPA is shaped to insert firmly into holes, I'd use the drill press to create a wooden jig with a stepped hole of 14mm into 18mm for the WPA to seat in. (perhaps sanding the wood so the wpa doesn't get damaged.)

You might also try the drill bit thing, but not powered. Detach the chuck and use it to hold the drill bit and manipulate the whole thing with your hand, feeling for proper bite, never forcing it.

My departed uncle had left me with a set of leather punches that he made no less. I always feel honored when i use his tools. He was a pipe smoker for most of his life as I recall. Wonder how receptive he would be with vaping cannabis?