I'm trying to make it work?
@DDave seems to have figured it out?
Thank you for your encouragement!
I thought more would help?
Also unsure as to what you are experiencing. Are you trying whips, balloons or just anything that works? Cyclone or elbow packs? Pretty much all the points I've mentioned before apply.
@Justpassedu 's method is pretty much the baseline to get everything to come together. I'd try all these steps together to get the most thermal heat effect with less effort.
Make sure the fittings are snug and touch the top of the elbow to see if it is indeed getting warm for you. If the glass and the inside air is getting fully heated, the vapor will want to rise a little on it's own. Think pre-heated oven. When the cyclone glass starts to get a little cloudy or forms condensation on its own, then you can believe the inside air is heated. And you can then add your materials. Just do it quick enough so the glass doesn't lose heat in the process.
For me medium grind, gently packed seems to work well with the cyclone. Finer grind for the elbow. If you are still having difficulty. Hone on the elbow packing with the baseline mentioned.
Once you have mastered this, then some of the other mods people have mentioning will make more sense. They are to oversimplify, playing around with a larger set of variables.
For example, I'm trying to get more thermal heat into the mix. So for me that means a straight thick glass tube wand and an F/F adapter that I handpicked (DDAVE) that gets the materials closer to the heating element (more direct heat and radiant heat). So I get the chimney effect as soon as I add the materials.
@DDave figured out the materials will get more heat being closer to the element. So he used a shorter 18mm F/F instead of the standard cyclone bowl. That was the big 'Eureka' moment for the EQ.
Others tried different 18mm F/F and shared their results with FC and DDave himself. Everybody developed and built better setups building on that idea. Now DDave himself offers an ALL-IN-ONE kit complete with tubing, screens and a 14mm setup.
So there is some additional excitement for those of us who had to venture out on our own.
Also it is much easier to refer to the mod being sold on
ebay, then having to explain to a new user what the whole DDave "concept" is about. Here's the link.
ddave kit.