1) I do this all the time and I get visible vapor till the end of the 8 minute cycle or right before, the only thing that gets vaped almost right away IMH is the terpenes/ terpenoids (The Flavor). if your pulling some visible vapor then I would say yes there is still stuff left in it, some people collect there ABV (already been vaped) material and use it to cook. The small amounts left in the abv combined with usually doubling up the recipe I have gotten some heavy medicating effects from abv brownies.
2) I seem to get a bit better results due to the cooling effect of the water tool to the vapor, and in tern I get smoother bigger hits. Not to say I cant get those off hitting it dry but some people are affected by the PNP direct heat. I would say i do get a bit better results, but any 14 mm piece can achieve the same, but the PNP WT is pretty dam cool ( I love mine ).
3) I do get extra bit of vapor when I turn it from lets say 4 to 5 not much more but I feel I like I get almost everything out of my material. The flavor isnt so great for most on the high heat, but coming from combustion were only the greens taste good Iam okay with the 4 or 5 setting at times.
4) I usually load and tap the herb down lightly , like just guiding it into place and not packing tight. I seem to get good results, some seem to pack real tight and get great results too, I haven't experimented enough on the pack yet.
I did try loading herb in the heat chamber without the bullet and it seemed to work the same for me , further testing is needed to confirm that.
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vapor33