Discontinued Pax Vaporizer by Ploom

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willieR

Been here since 2009
Very nice synopsis Paka. Some stuff you have to clean. Some stuff you (might) want to clean.

Topic change: Which one of you electrical smarties can tell me if it is remotely realistic to have a solar recharge for the pax that you might put on a backpack. If you were gone for 4 days and no AC, could you realistically charge the Pax? And not weigh 5 pounds?
 
I've read through the last 20 pages or so and wanted to pose a question to active users of the product for over two weeks.

I'm still having difficulty determining the best oven loading technique. Little or lots of flower, packed tight, or loose, etc... I imagine the variables impact efficiency and time to get medicated.

For solo sessions, I'd be curious to know which technique gets you medicated the quickest, and which method is the most efficient use of the flowers (reduce wasted vapor and flower).
 
chefkormaz,

Bildo3523

Active Member
Coming from using a metal one-hitter for years I've grown accustom to receiving my meds via a fat straight-shot of hot and harsh, lighter fluid filled smoke. With that being said, I've been a firm believer on filling the oven halfway, tamping it down, throwing some kief in, throwing more flower on top and pressing it down firmly and then vaping on high with a heavy stir towards the end. That is, i WAS a firm believer, until today. I didnt realize until I got home but I had been vaping on low all day at work today and i felt great. I was able to make a single bowl stretch me an 8 hour workday this way which means my Pax might actually put up a fight in the efficiency department against my one-hitter afterall...Regardless after vaping for almost a month I couldn't imagine going back to that dirty ole thing anyways.
 

HSIHP

Well-Known Member
My technique isn't very scientific but here it goes... I usually have my herb ground up and in a doob tube ready to go when ever I need it so I usually just open the oven door and poor in enough to fill the oven and overflow into the reservoir, creating a sizable mound that goes just about to the end of the unit. I then pack it down with a pen cap that has a square tip (the perfect tool as it also has the pointy end that i use to stir the loads) as much as it will go. Usually this fills it up just over 3/4 of the way but the key is I press it as much as I can and then a little more.

I start my sessions on LOW and go until I see a noticeable drop off in vaper. Usually by this point I am in a great head space and i turn the Pax off, making sure to leave it standing upright on the table. For the next session I'll stir, start on low until the vaper drops off and bump to medium. I'll do that same thing for a 3rd session, but this time with med and high and I only stir if half the time. With this technique I find I use the same amount that I would with a Surfer to get the same amount of high.

I love my Pax and it will have it's first major test next weekend when I take it camping! I have a small battery pack that is used to jump cars that also has an outlet on it to keep it charged throughout the weekend. ;)
 

ILoveCollege

Yeah.. F* Combustion..
Boy, this thread is a roller coaster. You don't have to go that far back to see where I was getting beaten up for saying the Pax was a high maintenance device, now the majority seem to agree.

Cleaning, however, depends on how you use your Pax and what you put in it. Dry loads don't give off as much resin as weed that is still moist and sticky, so dry out your stash. If you tend to use it on high and finish the oven in one session, you probably won't get as much accumulated goo as someone who uses low temp and spaces out the hits, because when you do that, you create more opportunity for resin to form. Since the oven is always on when the light is green, when it sits around without being hit it's still producing vapour that can condense just where it can cause trouble. If you use it all day every day you'll obviously need to clean it more often than the weekend warrior. If you fail to take a clearing hit after you shut it down, you'll get more gumming.

Only you can tell how often to clean. Given the mouthpiece issue, you need to pay a little more attention to your Pax than your other devices. That doesn't necessarily mean you'll have to clean it more often, but it does mean you're better off checking to see if it needs cleaning after every session. As soon as you the mouthpiece starts to show signs of sticking, clean it. Keep the spring and retractor mechanism area clean. Try to keep your Pax upright until it cools down, and especially try to avoid letting it cool down inverted.

I've been told that the number of actual failures for the Pax is extremely low, especially considering how many of them are out there now. Most of the problems--and this includes most so-called temperature light issues--can be resolved and/or avoided with a little attention and proper cleaning.

This is what I was looking for. I am one of the people who looks at their tools, and I like to make sure that everything is in nice, clean working order. Like I said, this is what I wanted to hear/know.

On the otherhand, if someone is looking to drop out of the PAx world, I might be interested in taking it off of your hands.
 
ILoveCollege,

CuttyBuddy

Well-Known Member
This is what I was looking for. I am one of the people who looks at their tools, and I like to make sure that everything is in nice, clean working order. Like I said, this is what I wanted to hear/know.

On the otherhand, if someone is looking to drop out of the PAx world, I might be interested in taking it off of your hands.


I may be looking to drop out of the Pax world. She's nice but I don't like how even on low setting the AVB still comes out dark. No matter what. My Low medium and high experience seems to have more to do with warm up times and less about maintaining a constant temperature. I don't like my bud overly dark. My luck lately...
 
CuttyBuddy,

ILoveCollege

Yeah.. F* Combustion..
I may be looking to drop out of the Pax world. She's nice but I don't like how even on low setting the AVB still comes out dark. No matter what. My Low medium and high experience seems to have more to do with warm up times and less about maintaining a constant temperature. I don't like my bud overly dark. My luck lately...

If you drop out, let me know. I am in the market for a vape, still not sure what I want. but as of right now the Pax is my top pick
 
ILoveCollege,

willieR

Been here since 2009
Cutty, that sounds odd to me. Very odd. I don't recall anyone else expressing that issue, actually. Maybe it's a completely new problem. All settings heat up to max for you.

Most have commented how stable the three temp settings are. That would certainly be my opinion.
 

jambandphan03

in flavor country
I'll agree with Willie, I have been using the low temp setting on my pax to make my loads last longer, and it doesn't at all turn dark until I crank up the temp to a higher setting. I can stir it 3-4 times on low and never see dark looking ABV.
 

newVaper420

Vapor Enthusiast
I'll agree with Willie, I have been using the low temp setting on my pax to make my loads last longer, and it doesn't at all turn dark until I crank up the temp to a higher setting. I can stir it 3-4 times on low and never see dark looking ABV.

I agree with this. Unless I turn it up to medium or higher, I barely get dark loads. And the only way I get dark on medium is to just keep going at it. But never experienced it on low.
 
newVaper420,
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jambandphan03

in flavor country
I'm still having good results after cleaning around the spring area. Have not had one issue with sticking or temp light since, and those dental picks seem to work well enough. I really do enjoy this vaporizer. It's really not nearly as much trouble as it seems, more a matter of getting used to how it works. We seem to have established the key areas that need some kind of regular attention in this thread. Every vape I have used has some kind learning curve to get through before peak performance can be met. I can see too, that if you are new to vaping in general, it can be even more challenging because of how different vaping is compared to smoking, which has it's own learning curve. I don't think I have a low-no maintenance vaporizer. Even when I smoked I had to clean glass constantly, and things were much dirtier then. Many factors come into play for vaporizers to be a satisfying experience and it seems to be somewhat individualistic. That's what it really comes down to in the end. If you are happy using it or not, if it works for your needs/wants.

...up too early, couldn't sleep, early morning rambles...
 

jambandphan03

in flavor country
I use the newer version as my portable mouthpiece, and the old style as my glass connecting piece, so it stays home with tubing stuck on it. I tried using the tube/mouthpiece as a portable, and it kept getting pushed in my pocket and turning the pax on from the tubing sticking up.
 
Mine gets pretty warm around the oven area, especially if it's been on high for a while. I just hold it near the top. Also, I think it's supposed to shut off automatically if it's been on standby for a bit. I'm not sure after how long it's supposed to shut off though.

Edit - from their website
How does the motion-sensor power-down work?

The device has an on-board accelerometer. When the device sees no movement for around a minute, it goes into standby mode (lower heat setting, around 150C). Then, it will shut off after another minute or so. A bumpy car ride is enough motion to keep the device awake. You can’t trigger sleep-mode by accident. Leave it alone and it powers down, simple as that.

I chatted with the ploom and because of that (or it was just a timing coincidence) they said they were changing the fax on the website. It now reads what my experience of my pax does.

How does the motion-sensor power-down work?

The device has an on-board accelerometer. If the device sits still for 20 seconds, it goes into standby mode (lower heat setting, around 150C). Pick the device up or move it, and it will heat up to the last temperature setting selected. If the device sits still for 3 minutes, it will shut off. A bumpy car ride is enough motion to keep the device awake.
 
Well it finally happened! This morning my pax mouthpiece was frozen solid in the off position. When i say frozen i mean completely stuck with no movement to be had at all however with a few minutes of patience and then some cleanup I was back in business. Simply warming the pax with a blowdryer for a few moments on high hot setting was enough to warm the resin to release the mouthpiece. Now I have been using oils in my pax and not cleaning it in order to see first hand what it took to lock it up, about 2 weeks with nothing more then a quick wipe down after using it daily.
 
Latinrascal,

elevation

Well-Known Member
Is there any possibility to use portable USB chargers with this? Like chargers that can charge at 1.5A or 2.1A? Because the PAX could probably be charged with one of those pretty quick.
 
elevation,
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