Interesting Vito, I do almost the exact opposite to get a more "concentrated" hit. Sometimes I cup my hand around the oven end to act as an insulator (avoiding the lid when its hot) to make it heat up more/faster and reduce the airflow, which sometimes seems to give a bigger hit (maybe just in my mind), but you can feel the airflow around your palm and the increase in heat. I don't have any problems with the pax airflow and I've run over an oz of hash through it already mixed in with bud, since mid August. I usually use medium temp setting and kick it to high for the last few hits.
The bottom line is you just have to keep it very clean, especially in the area where the top inner tube meets the mouthpiece. I wipe it down when hot after every few uses with just a rolled up piece of paper towel and have virtually no issues. I let it cool and make sure its clear of vapor before putting it on the charger. When I'm lazy about cleaning and it gets gummed up the mouthpiece will move slower or it will show the temp setting when it should be heating. I can always hold down the mouthpiece slightly to make the connection and it will begin to heat and by the time its warm it functions fine again, just needs the resin cleaned out around the top.
If you think the airflow is too rescricted make sure there is enough space between the screen and the vapor path underneath it in the oven, I have my screen set in at an angle so the side with the hole is higher to allow more airflow. When I thought the airflow was suffering the screen was just too close to the hole and it was getting resin buildup. Just make sure your screen isn't jammed in too far and restricting the flow.
I contacted ploom's online chat about the new mouthpiece design and after telling me to clean clean clean and then clean some more they supposedly shipped me a new mouthpiece, so I will see if I notice any difference when it arrives. I was very pleased with the customer service so far and it seems like the cleaning is the #1 problem for the pax, people think its faulty when it needs to be cleaned. I understand there are also some DOA/faulty units straight out of the box and that is unfortunate but ploom has excellent customer service and when you have a properly functioning pax in your hands you will forget all about it.
Overall I've had it since mid August and I still love my pax and feel that it is the best portable on the market for my needs. Customer service is top notch.
I've been using the newer mouthpiece and not experiencing any new problems (yet) so I am just going to keep using it until something changes, see how long it takes for things to build up in there. I do the usual wipe out cleaning every few days, but not the ISO cleaning, unless it starts doing the temp thing again. I have not had a stuck mouthpiece yet either. Maybe my herbs are not as sticky as other peoples.
