Discontinued Super Vapezilla

ozwiz

owner Vaporiser World NOW live Australia
marcuss said:
ozwiz said:
The extreme I really do like but one of my main reasons of turning to vaps was for my health . i have to set the extreme at 350 c to get as good a hit as i get from either the herborizer or svz at 180c
welcome ozwiz! i'm sure you are a guru vaporist and we look for people like you in this forum....just a little thing on the extreme...if you take your time to read this forum you'll find everything about this vape's temps issue.....your plant doesn't reach this temp!!the digital sensor read the heater temp!So your plant get the same 180-195c of any other vape.
check this in the exterme thread!
Hey marcuss I think you have taken my comments about the extreme a bit to heart .This sort of thing is all about personal taste I think . I 've read the threads about the extreme & temp & agree that the temp shown is not the temp going through the herb. I'm an asthmatic so maybe that has something to do with my preference. The extreme can sometimes irritate my lungs more than the svz or the herborizer. Look as I said I think the extreme is a great vape particularly if you have friends around the bags are just so convenient ! I have read most of your posts & your definitely a big fan of the extreme & I agree with you it is a top notch device. I'm just giving you my opinion on all the models I own. :)
 
ozwiz,

marcuss

above the clouds
ozwiz....yes i like this vape and like you i tested lots of vapes i just say that you don't burn anything at that temp and i believe that the extreme is healtier like herborizer if you put a bong at the end of the whip!aslo if you have sore throat problems!
http://www.fuckcombustion.com/viewtopic.php?id=18 check this out!
I tested a aromed vape and this is the first water filter vape i tried...works nice but i prefer the extreme+icebong system for his thicker hits.
try once this system if you want then tell me if your health issue get better....i just try to help people, and as i said i'm happy to see new experienced dudes here!
obviously anyone taste is different!
...this is my two cents!

enjoy vapor!
 
marcuss,

vtac

vapor junkie
Staff member
ozwiz said:
Hi guys I have half a dozen or so vaporizers starting with a super vapezilla, stealth vaporfection, vapor tower , vapir oxygen, vm3 volatizer, an extreme, & the big daddy of them all a herborizer. The herborizer is the latest addition & is the absolute best vaporizer I have tried. I know you lose some thc going through the water but this thing is so efficient it really doesn't seem to matter. I've read a lot of bad press about wr & svz on here I agree about the company but not about the product . i heat it to 180 c it takes 5mins max admittedly it is a little noisy & does take 5 mins or so to cool down. The hits at that temp setting though are way smoother & more consistent than the stealth. the stealths convenience fast startup & no waiting for cooldown are good but i still rate svz just. The vm3 volatizer is a great little unit for outdoor events where you need to be a bit discreet , far supreme taste to the vapir oxygen which tastes of plastic or something. The extreme I really do like but one of my main reasons of turning to vaps was for my health . i have to set the extreme at 350 c to get as good a hit as i get from either the herborizer or svz at 180c . I will post more of my experiences with these vaps in the next day or 2 . This is my first post I hope my input was helpful.:cheers:
Nice to see an Aussie vaporist, and serious one at that! :wave:

Glad the Super Vapezilla is working well for you, I think mainly we have issue with Wicked Roots. Even if the SVZ works fairly well I'd be hesitant to recommend it to a first time buyer. $550 and all the b.s. with WR...

Anyway, that's awesome you've tried so many units, that's the first I've heard of someone reporting on the VM3 Volatizer as well as the Vaporfection Stealth.

The Herborizer looks really nice, I wish they had some more info on their website. Is it kind of like the Ape Vape?
 
vtac,

Vaporizer_Reviews

Well-Known Member
Well, I decided to void my warranty by drilling out the rivets on my Super Vapezilla and ?open Sesame?, last week.

Getting to the point, I ended up tightly wrapping a 3? x 24? strip of aluminum foil around the glass tube that encapsulates the sissy little ceramic heating element over a dozen times in order to insulate the glass tube and focus the infrared into the inhalation air stream. There are 3 exhausting air streams in the unit. Two of them do not get inhaled. The introduced aluminum is in an air stream that will not get inhaled, outside the glass tube, and good distance away from any wires. I closed the unit back up and now it takes 5 minutes to warm up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, 8 minutes to 550 degrees, and 10 minutes to 585 degrees, in a 65 degree room. Before, it took over 20 minutes to warm up to 450 degrees in a 65 degree room. No bull. This thing was not factory tuned for cooler climates. I question how it performed in Amsterdam. After the modification, the max temperature peaks at well over 100 degrees warmer than before, now measuring at 609 degrees. At the same time, the exterior of the box stays much cooler to the touch, barely even warm. The heat sensor probe sits on the ceramic and measures the temperature of the hot ceramic, not the temperature of the air flowing across the herb. Vaporizing in the 600 plus range without combusting is evidence that the temperature of the air hitting the herb is much different than what is displayed on the LED.

575 on the LED, which is probably 475 or less on the herb, is doing much closer to what I was originally expecting from the Super Vapezilla. Much thicker vapor, much faster, much tastier. I am now able to hit those intense lemon notes that I was looking for, that really require strong air temperature. It still requires many more hits than I care to take per session, but is a huge improvement on before. I stir by slamming the whip into a plastic cup, shaking, and then vacuuming back up. It seems easier and more effective than stirring with a stick which pushes particles past the screen. I can take the spent herb from before I made this modification and I can extract quality essentials, if I want to, that would have otherwise been discarded. I am able to cook the herb to a much darker brown, much faster than before. I always filter through a water bong to cool and hydrate the vapor air before it enters my lungs, otherwise straight vapor from any whip style vaporizer at any temperature can be quite irritating to me. There is minimal if any loss since vapor is not water soluble like smoke which is evident by how clean your water and glass will remain. The slower the draw, the more condensed the vapor. I try to do my draws as slow as my oxygen supplies will allow in order to get the most condensed hit that this machine is capable of.

When I?m finished and it?s time to cool down, I just flip off the switch and pull the top off, letting the heating element air cool in complete silence, with no fans running. ?I do not recommend anyone perform this cooling method with their vaporizer unattended since it presents an exposed fire hazard.? When I want to go again, I just flip the switch on, put the top back on, and the setting is right where I left it from before.

I anticipate putting the heating element and fans on independent switches. It shouldn?t take much more than 30 minutes to complete once I get the parts from Radio Shack. Then I can close her back up for good, get speedy hardcore performance, and no more fire hazard. Keep in mind that if you make this modification and screw up order of operations during a session for some reason, you could fry your box, since most of the internals, besides the heating element, incorporate plastic. And without a warranty any longer, it?s back to the drawing board. Be careful.

I am much happier with my Super Vapezilla after this simple modification to the heating element. I am still thoroughly pissed off about the heating element switch-a-roo by Wicked Roots. The heating element is 90% of the vaporizer by function, and probably 50% or more by expense to the company. These guys are trying to dominate the elite arena with deception regarding their most critical internals. I feel like I just corrected a little kid?s homework assignment that had the wrong answers and was ironically red flagged for cheating at the same time. It is only a matter of time before a few big boys smell the coffee and "honestly" put a foot on this, with a real machine. Don?t make me quite my day job. Wicked Roots really should update their advertisements to reflect what they are truly offering consumers. 4 years was ample time to make the update to their advertisements, especially with a corporate staff. ?Just switch the photo guys. What?s so hard??

I provide this post for current Super Vapezilla owners looking to get better use from their investment, at the expense of their warranty if they so choose.

007 will still be my first weapon of choice. That herborizer looks bad-ass, but I haven?t tried it. How does the vapor intensity compare if you?ve tried both? Also, what is the heating element? The website does not go into much detail. I?m really psyched that they do custom work on request though.
 

vtac

vapor junkie
Staff member
Nice tips, man! Can't believe some tin foil made such an improvement.

If you could take some pics of the inside and your method (also the bait n switch element) it might help potential modders. I'd be a little scared to open such an expensive box.

Yeah, I don't think Wicked Roots has updated their websites in a while...

We will be releasing a forum for our family of customers in early 2005, to show that we stand behind our herbal vaporizers....

Vaporizer Forums

The new Vaporizer Forum will debut later this year. Our goal is to have a space where those interested in Vaporization Technology and Techniques, can learn from our knowledgable staff of Vaporization Experts. You will also be able to research documents from various studies done by private organizations on the reasons why to vaporize instead of smoking tobacco. We will be the first aromatherapy herb vaporizer manufacturer ever, to be offering this level of support for our products. No other manufacturer of herb vaporizers stand behind their product in such a way.
I wonder how their sales are doing...
 
vtac,

Purple-Days

Well-Known Member
You mentioned plastics and there were plenty in my box. Did you notice the red caulk. Are they still using it? Is it brominated fire-stop caulk? The red color disturbed me. See if you can get an answer... I'm sure they will be happy to send you MSDS sheets for all their components.

Taking the top off to speed cooling, and mitigate the heat migration into the electronics section? Is that a permanent plan? If not, aren't you back to a mandatory cool down with fans running?

I really think you are onto something with the elimination of changing the temperature setting twice per session. It wore ours out. That's a very weak spot on the unit, those little buttons you have to mash.

One other note. The Super-Vapezilla we owned would start to blacken and smoke the herbs at about 425-435F on the digital read-out. Good vapor was in the 375-410 range, never above for us. These numbers seemed to be realistic and easy to understand. I wonder why there is such a temperature reading difference? They had it right at one time... no extra math.
 
Purple-Days,

max

Out to lunch
I decided to void my warranty by drilling out the rivets on my Super Vapezilla and ?open Sesame?, last week.
Warranty? What warranty? You mean the warranty on all that expensive labor? Yeah, it takes so much time to open a box and swap out a sub-assembly. :/

575 on the LED, which is probably 475 or less on the herb
A lot less, I would hope. I much prefer a temp under 400 F.

Just the idea that you can improve the performance of a $550 vape with homemade mods is enough to turn me off-completely. I'll stick with analog.
 
max,

vtac

vapor junkie
Staff member
max said:
Warranty? What warranty? You mean the warranty on all that expensive labor? Yeah, it takes so much time to open a box and swap out a sub-assembly. :/
Huh?

Wicked Roots said:
Our products can be repaired if there are any problems. Simply purchase the broken part in our online store, and send the unit back to us. We will not charge any labor on repairing the units for the lifetime of your vaporizer. No other manufacturer offers this type of vaporizer support.
:rolleyes:

Hehe, I love quoting their bullshit.

For what it's worth, here's the ceramic heater Vaporizer_Reviews is talking about. Snap shot from their website today.

svzceramicpy1.jpg
 
vtac,

ozwiz

owner Vaporiser World NOW live Australia
I have been enjoying the herborizer so much I haven't had time to expand on my 1st post .I'll get around to it the next few days,definitely. I've got to say though as long as you don't mind the glass this vape is the best i've got by quite a bit .Yes I think the ape vape would be very very similar .This unit is so smooth consistent & economical. Sebastien who is the main man behind the herborizer I think has also been great with the service angle to.

:cool:I think the ape vape with a 7 mm little sista roor would be a pretty good combination. I would like some advice from you guys is there anything you would add to this combination?

If all keeps going well with my business I might invest in an ape vape roor combo . What do you reckon.:lol:
 
ozwiz,

vtac

vapor junkie
Staff member
ozwiz said:
...I think the ape vape with a 7 mm little sista roor would be a pretty good combination. I would like some advice from you guys is there anything you would add to this combination?

If all keeps going well with my business I might invest in an ape vape roor combo . What do you reckon.:lol:
I reckon you have a vaporizer addiction! :D

Hehe, I'd love to build my collection too if it wasn't so expensive.

As for the Ape Vape / Roor little sista combo... The bong costs as much as the vape... lol. Gotta have the good stuff I know. :)

It looks like the Ape Vape has a really good temperature regulation system from looking at the youtube vid. Got a 20mhz cpu for fuck's sakes. :lol:

I imagine you've seen the Verdamper, it's a similar style system.
 
vtac,

max

Out to lunch
vtac said:
Wicked Roots said:
Our products can be repaired if there are any problems. Simply purchase the broken part in our online store, and send the unit back to us. We will not charge any labor on repairing the units for the lifetime of your vaporizer. No other manufacturer offers this type of vaporizer support.
:rolleyes:

Hehe, I love quoting their bullshit.

For what it's worth, here's the ceramic heater Vaporizer_Reviews is talking about. Snap shot from their website today.

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/9805/svzceramicpy1.jpg
Yeah. No other manufacturer offers such a crappy warranty. "... lifetime labor and support (parts not included). ...The consumer is responsible for the cost of replacement parts if any are needed to repair the unit." :/ Just guessing, but any component or sub-assembly could probably be switched out in a matter of minutes.
 
max,

Purple-Days

Well-Known Member
I could hardly believe it. I thought I threw this piece of crap in the garbage. But a cleaning spree found it. I guess I just couldn't pitch it. Not sure why. But it's for good purpose, here's a pic of the inside of this 'black box'. What's under the hood. No mods, jast as I saw it after I first drilled the rivets out. Puchased in 2005, delivered new from WR with a single hole heater element.



I have no idea why the caulk is red, but it's some sort of silicone type by the feel of it.

The 'light leaks' under the divider are mirrored at the top when the lid is closed and unrestricted at two through holes (one with a rubber grommet one without).

Plenty of wiring insulation seen on the 'warm side' of the divider and nearly up to the glass openings. All the wiring is neat and orderly.
 
Purple-Days,

vtac

vapor junkie
Staff member
Thanks, Tom. Always interesting to see what's inside the box.

So that controller costs $200 today?

Looks dusty. :ninja:
 
vtac,

Purple-Days

Well-Known Member
I've really got no idea what they would charge for repairs but have heard figures of $200 and more quoted by others. It wasn't even worth looking into. I had no further desire to use the product. I suppose a simple rheostat circuit . . . but have no need.

Dusty. Yeah the fans had an open weave permanent dust filter. Their advice on cleaning the non replaceable filters was to use a can of compressed air to blow them clean. Now figure this, I use a filter to keep the dust out, and then have to clean the filter by blowing the dust into the box? SayWhaaa???

So the filters clogged pretty easy and that did the system no good (restricting flow). And blowing the dust inward anyway didn't make sense. They got ripped out pretty soon. Stupid design !
 
Purple-Days,

max

Out to lunch
vtac said:
Thanks, Tom. Always interesting to see what's inside the box.

So that controller costs $200 today?

Looks dusty. :ninja:
I emailed Wicked Roots over a year ago and asked what the parts cost to replace, since their great warranty doesn't cover the parts :disgust:. The price I got on the digital controller was $200-250. I think the fans were $50 each and the heating element was $75.
 
max,

vtac

vapor junkie
Staff member
That's gouging pretty deep. You could likely get a 20mhz cpu setup like the Ape Vape has for $100 or less.

$50 for a computer case fan... must the the mysterious "vapobearing technology". :rolleyes:
 
vtac,

buck824

Well-Known Member
I bought the regular Vapezilla 3-4 years ago, and my experience has been a little different, maybe because it's not the SV version. My Vapezilla is very quiet, and always heats up within 5 minutes, even when it's set up in my garage in the winter. I agree that the cool down is frustrating sometimes, but again, it's never taken longer than 5 minutes for mine to cool down.

I've been very satisfied with my vaping experiences--very good taste, and simple to use. I am inexperienced with other vapes---the only other one I have used is the old Vapir, which everyone seems to hate (but it always worked for me).

About six months after purchasing the Vapezilla, I dropped it. the glass broke, the heating unit was dislodged, and I was ready to cry. I emailed Wicked Roots, and they said to send it in, and for $65 they would repair it and send it back. I was very happy to hear that, because I expected I would have to buy another one. It took about three weeks, and I received my Vapezilla, and it's been going strong ever since.

I've had a couple so-so experiences with the Wicked Root company, but mostly they answered my emails and questions pretty quickly, and their information was always helpful. I haven't had the occasion to contact them in a couple years, so maybe things have changed. I do believe that they were doing some shady marketing things by spreading negative feedback about other vapes. But I have to say that overall, I've been pretty happy with my product and services from them.
 
buck824,

max

Out to lunch
Glad you've had a good experience with your unit buck (and welcome to the forum). I do think the analog Vapezilla is a much safer bet than the Super, considering the lack of warranty on parts. And there's no doubt that Wicked Roots was very wicked when they put up multiple fake review sites, pretty much trashing all the competition.

If you're in the market for another vape (replacement or portable, now or later), hang around and read up. You can find the good ones here. ;)
 
max,

skippymcware

Well-Known Member
This thread is like deja vu for me. This one, however, has progressed a lot farther than the last one of vaporizer-reviews posts I came across. Thanks for letting people know about this unit, btw. Keep fighting the good fight. On the forum I linked to in my other thread, one of the users there did a survey of everyone who owned a SV. Many people responded and not a single person had the larger heating element with all the holes. Honestly, I am starting to wonder if that thing ever existed. Looking at it, it doesn't even have a ceramic texture to it. It looks more like plastic. All speculation, of course.

Another interesting tidbit I came across is that, according to the founder of high-temp industries (a large electric heater manufacturer), there are only three companies in the world that make a hollow cartridge heater like the one found in the SV. The only reason I bring it up is that it would suggest someone put some serious work into making this device. It's sad to see that they stopped short of making a good product. He also mentioned that, given the specs I told him, he thought the heating element should be around 600 watts (off the top of his head). Although not overwhelming support, it gives a little bit of credence to the fact that the heater is too small.

Oh, almost forgot. Before I even knew there was such a thing as a hollow cartridge heater (I just gave up trying to figure out what was in the SV), I started the conversation with that heater engineer by asking if I could use a cartridge heater in this type of application. He, and many other engineers I have talked to, said that cartridge heaters like that hate being out in the open. The original intent of that design is to heat the metal around bolt holes for press fits and other assembly processes. Anyway, they all specifically told me not to leave that type of heater without anything to absorb the heat because it would significantly shorten the heaters life span. Being stubborn, I asked him if this could be avoided by using an embedded temp sensor in the cartridge heater (very much like what wicked roots did by putting that thermocouple lead on top of the heating element) to make sure it didn't over heat. He conceded that it would help a little, but that the heater would still have a much shorter life and if the temp "got away from you at all", it would be all over for the heater.

Great thread. Very interesting comments on insulating the heater and glass tube. I confess that I have spent a lot of time wondering why they didn't make more of an effort at that. Anyway, this thread gives me a lot to think about for my own project.

-skippy

Edit 1: You can find another set of pictures of the internals of the SV at the following link. It is an interesting study to see what is different. The two have a few significant differences that I can see.

http://www.wrug.net/forum/showthread.php?t=152

*the thread containing the user survey is in the same forum by the same poster who started that thread. He has a lot more comments about his interactions with wicked roots as well. Let's just say they were not pleased by him posting all those pictures.

Edit 2: Ok. I just spent way too long staring at the wiring diagram on page 7 of the manual for the CAL3200 (a slightly nicer, slightly newer version of the CAL32E (E for economy) controller that the SV uses):

http://www.advindsys.com/Manuals/CALManuals/Cal3200.pdf

The only reason I started looking at this was because I just noticed that there wasn't a SSR (solid state relay) in those pictures. The only reason I noticed this is because designing one of these blasted things is all I have done for about two weeks now. Anyway, an SSR is an external device that should be somewhere in that box if they want to use a powerful heating element. It is essentially an external switching device that gets a control signal from the temp controller to turn on when the heater is too cold. When it turns on, it then sends power to the heater. Anyway, there isn't one of these:

http://www.omega.com/pptst/SSRL240_660.html
*They look the same no matter where you get em.

Since one of those isn't in there, they must be using the SSR that is built into the CAL3200 controller. Which means that, according to the manual, they have a 2 amp cap on the current they can send to that heater. Well, since they don't have an external SSR, the voltage going to the heater must be the supply voltage to the controller (120V since it is coming from an outlet). Looking at the pictures confirms that there is no trickery, and the ground goes through the switch but the hot side goes straight to the controller. Anyway, in conclusion, the most they could be putting out to that heater is (power = voltage*current) 2*120 = 240 watts. What this means is that either I am confusing something or they are lying about the wattage of that heater. I know that was probably really confusing and poorly presented, but anyone have any thoughts? Tom, you wouldn't be willing to fire that beast up and put a multimeter on those leads would you? =)
 
skippymcware,

Purple-Days

Well-Known Member
Skippy if I can find the damn thing, sure. We just moved, and like I said it was a cleaning spree that found it last time. Might have pitched it in the move, but think it is in a box somewhere.

BTW Skippy, the heater and whole setup worked well when it worked. Worked well at making vape and staying at the right temp. Lots of other things with the SV that I hated, but it worked well.

The major difference that I see is more red caulk, but I am nearly blind and not an electrical expert. I did notice the two holes in the divider, one is grommeted one stiil is not. :/ The grommet is there to protect the wires fromchaffing against the metal. Why is it needed in one hole and not the other?
 
Purple-Days,

Logic

Old Skool Member ‘10
Exactly how good are these vapes for anyone who has used one or actually owns one? I have heard a lot of great things about them and are supposed to be very efficient and good tasting. I noticed there is a very cheap one for sale on eBay right now and was wondering if it was worth it to buy it... Ends in 8 hours. Thanks for any input on this particular vape.

Cheers,
Logic
 
Logic,

max

Out to lunch
You don't need to own a Vapezilla to know it's a bad choice. The company has no warranty on parts, just labor. If the digital controller goes, it'll run you $200-250 to get it fixed. They've also put up fake review sites in the past that praise the Vapezilla models and pretty much trash all other vapes. If you really think it takes $500+ to get a top quality whip vape, Vaporfection would be a better choice. Good performance and you get a 2 yr. warranty that includes both parts and labor, as any decent warranty should.
 
max,

makisupacurtain

Well-Known Member
Hey there yall, just acquired a super vapezilla from a friend of mine. The whip that he gave me with it seems to be some sort of shitty tubing that turned brown. I was just wondering if there was anywhere that I could get a replacement whip for the super vapezilla besides the reg silicon tubing offered on the wicked roots website. I would really prefer to be able to use a nice whip with high quality tubing and a mouthpiece if possible. After doing some research i came across the evolutions vaporizer whip at gotvape, considering they were both made by the same person and have a similar design, I was wondering if anyone knew if the evolutions whip would work on the vapezilla, if not any other suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks.
 
makisupacurtain,

druminfected

Well-Known Member
I would just get new tubing from wickedroots. It's really great tubing but, I tried to just contact them with all of their emails they provide and they all bounce back, but I ordered some new tubing, and that went though ok, so that's weird.

I think my digital controller is going on my super vapezilla and I'm trying to figure out if there is a possible fix to it, which after reading this thread and others, don't seem like it's possible.
 
druminfected,
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