The Firefly 2 vaporizer

[MinnBobber]

The swappable batteries is a good point. I only disagree with you because of what has been demonstrated in this thread. Some people don't get or connect with the FF2. In a group of friends, he may have a few of those. "This thing doesn't get me high" said no one ever about the crafty. Separately, I find that the FF2 takes a little more thought to operate than a crafty. (but, I like thinking, sometimes) I said in the crafty thread that the crafty is my "doing things" vape. (yes, a little OV marketing there) Don't stop what you are doing, just press button, wait, hit. No explanation necessary.

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good point. I was thinking the "group" would be as experienced/ as familiar etc. as you BUT that is rarely the case. FF2 takes some finesse and knowledge of FF2
Crafty is much better for anyone with any or no experience to get a maxi load, eazy peezy, hit and pass.

But, again that points to Mighty being like 10X better than the Crafty or FF2 for groups IF the medium size works for you

 

[flyfishwino]

....................................................................
good point. I was thinking the "group" would be as experienced/ as familiar etc. as you BUT that is rarely the case. FF2 takes some finesse and knowledge of FF2
Crafty is much better for anyone with any or no experience to get a maxi load, eazy peezy, hit and pass.

But, again that points to Mighty being like 10X better than the Crafty or FF2 for groups IF the medium size works for you

Someone else mentioned the Grasshopper? But read they get hot, not a good thing when passing around a small group.
My experience when passing a vape around is very few listen on how to work them properly. They just want to rip the shit out of it. So easy to use is a plus.
I can see the FF2 for sitting down and relaxing, not for out and about based on what I'm reading. Don't have time to teach when roaming.

 

[Mr. Me2]

Someone else mentioned the Grasshopper? But read they get hot, not a good thing when passing around a small group.
My experience when passing a vape around is very few listen on how to work them properly. They just want to rip the shit out of it. So easy to use is a plus.
I can see the FF2 for sitting down and relaxing, not for out and about based on what I'm reading. Don't have time to teach when roaming.

Then sounds like Crafty/mighty (or Boundless) is the way to go.

 

[NoCo970]

My little review of the FF2 combined with a comparison from FF1 to FF2.

• Like others I also felt like the FF2 was a piece of plastic when first picking it up and took some time to get used to vs FF1 which was heavy & robust and seems more solid.
• The chamber is much easier to load than FF1. FF2 has more of a deep pot style, where the FF1 had more of a bowl shape.
• FF2 doesn't get near as hot as the FF1 and cools off much quicker.
• FF2 vaporizes material more consistently than FF1. The FF1 had a tendency to combust the material, at least based on my experiences between the two.
• Battery life is improved beyond belief from FF1, I've been running on medium temp.

What I Don't like..

• FF2 seems to require a tighter pack than the FF1. Also FF2 requires lots of stirring where my FF1 I hardly ever stirred.
• FF2 doesn't seem to be able to handle coarse material like the FF1 could.
• The lid for FF2 is more difficult to get lined up due to the reduction in size and mine has some minor flaws. (The blue part of the lid is raised up on one little section almost as if too much glue was used to attach it to the bottom seal, expanded too much and therefore is slightly popped up, it doesnt seem to affect anything so not a huge deal, its cosmetic)
• Draw restriction is harder than FF1 which requires you to re-calculate the 30 second shut off vs FF1.
• Overall I feel as if the FF2 has a more difficult learning curve than the FF1.

And yes I love it. Forgot to add how different the flavor profiles are between the two devices. FF1 had different levels of flavor, but its nothing compared to the FF2. I tested same strains in each device, cleaned out as well. FF2 will give you more complex flavors that you can't get from the FF1.

 

[Elac]

For a group session I find the Firefly2 a poor choice as not everyone will always get a satisfying 'hit'. And it's not like awe I got the spanked bowl hit, it's more like damn I just missed my cloud while the next guy gets a major cloud. That sucks, especially if your the one whos herb is loaded. Plus it takes forever to make a circle with the need of stirring and trying to draw correctly. I tend to find the the conversation topic usually turns to correct Firefly2 operation with all having their sage advise but someone always leaving less than satisfied. Conduction type vaporisers I find much more group friendly. But to each their own.
@greenextinguisher....here is the pick of the coil and it's solder.

 

[TvsP]

Anyone in UK ordered from Vaposhop? If so how long did it take?

 

[greenextinguisher]

For a group session I find the Firefly2 a poor choice as not everyone will always get a satisfying 'hit'. And it's not like awe I got the spanked bowl hit, it's more like damn I just missed my cloud while the next guy gets a major cloud. That sucks, especially if your the one whos herb is loaded. Plus it takes forever to make a circle with the need of stirring and trying to draw correctly. I tend to find the the conversation topic usually turns to correct Firefly2 operation with all having their sage advise but someone always leaving less than satisfied. Conduction type vaporisers I find much more group friendly. But to each their own.
@greenextinguisher....here is the pick of the coil and it's solder.

dude! awesome pic. I really appreciate it, but I'm not sure I appreciate what we have going on there.

 

[stickstones]

FF2 doesn't seem to be able to handle coarse material like the FF1 could.

Nice review comparison! I never had the FF1, so I can't comment on the differences, but my favorite way to vape with the FF2 is with whole nuggets. I hit it a couple of times, flip the nugget and repeat. Then I dump it out, crumble it up and put it back in for some punch.

 

[mitchgo61]

....ghost train haze...firefly2...tasty shit...for a tough day..

Dude....literally, like right this second, I'm enjoying some Ghost Train Haze. (Not to stray off topic but damn, anyone who hasn't tried this strain...it might be my favorite sativa ever...)

here is the pick of the coil and it's solder.

I don't wanna get into this again, in part because we beat it to death many pages back, and mostly because I'm not an expert on this exact subject and my risk of saying something stupid is fairly high...but it's worth noting (and you can see it in your pic) that the airflow path is over the very front half of the bowl, where the coil itself is (you can see the vents in the pic) and removed from the solder on the other side of the bowl assembly. But yes, it's not actually isolated, and air molecules aren't known to stay in one place for long...but I don't think there's really any significant airflow over that portion of the bowl. (FWIW I never noticed any "electronic" taste myself....)

 

[greenextinguisher]

I don't wanna get into this again, in part because we beat it to death many pages back, and mostly because I'm not an expert on this exact subject and my risk of saying something stupid is fairly high...but it's worth noting (and you can see it in your pic) that the airflow path is over the very front half of the bowl, where the coil itself is (you can see the vents in the pic) and removed from the solder on the other side of the bowl assembly. But yes, it's not actually isolated, and air molecules aren't known to stay in one place for long...but I don't think there's really any significant airflow over that portion of the bowl. (FWIW I never noticed any "electronic" taste myself....)

I don't recall seeing a pic quite like that before and I find it very fascinating. I agree though, any discussion of the safety of this configuration and materials is best kept to a dedicated thread about material safety in ask FC.

 

[Elac]

Air is drawn over the solder as there is a ceramic cap that covers the coil and air has to come over the solder.
Here is a pic of all the bowl components.edit: in order from top to bottom of bowl.
As you can see by the burn marks air comes in that manner.

 

[greenextinguisher]

Every vape deserves a teardown! Good show.

 

[mitchgo61]

Air is drawn over the solder as there is a ceramic cap that covers the coil and air has to come over the solder.
Here is a pic of all the bowl components.edit: in order from top to bottom of bowl.
As you can see by the burn marks air comes in that manner.

Interesting. So thanks to that cap, those notches at the bottom are the only points of ingress for air over the coil? That seems odd, design-wise....but again I'm not an expert on this.

I don't think the burn marks are from air flow but from radiant heat off of the coil (the air isn't hot when it comes in through the notch, only after it flows upward over the coil....convection....)

But if the cap seals off the coil except at the solder points....can you post any pics of the coil with the cap in place, either from the top or the sides? Be interesting to see that. (And thanks again for the pix!)

 

[Amplifix]

Just tried my new FF2 with some MJ. Must say that the taste is like no other vape, really outstanding. Gonna try mixing some peppermint in there, the taste must be amazing.

I get good clouds on light, gonna try higher temps later. Nice and cool vapor. Guess I got the technique down in just 3 draws, which makes me wonder why people say they have a hard time getting clouds.
So far i've been stirring after every draw. Gonna try not stirring and see what results I get.

The smell is almost non existent, my pax2 is way worse. Even though I have to fill the bowl up with more material, I feel the FF2 is more efficient as well. Mostly because i'm not forced to vape the whole bowl in one session.

So far i'm really liking this vape. Have to test it out a bit more, so it'll be my daily for a while. Hoping i'll be able to test it with the new version of the app that's coming out.

 

[greenextinguisher]

Interesting. So thanks to that cap, those notches at the bottom are the only points of ingress for air over the coil? That seems odd, design-wise....but again I'm not an expert on this.

I'm in the same boat. The simplest explanation is that they didn't think it was important to not have air go over solder or at least having a visually seamless bowl design was MORE important. Which is totally fine and their prerogative. I may have a different opinion and that's my prerogative, but I'm not an expert.

I mentioned this in a PM with @Elac, from an engineering standpoint, I am a bit offended by the solder-to-clip method they did here. Seems like a very weak, worst-of-both-worlds approach. Further, I don't see why they had to let solder get into the air heating chamber. There is no doubt that solder is getting hella hot. He has a great idea that seems like it would have been much better. Maybe he will offer FF2 mods at a fair price.

 

[stickstones]

Thx for the pics, @Elac! In the second one, bottom left, is there a hole in the center for the air path?

 

[NoCo970]

For a group session I find the Firefly2 a poor choice as not everyone will always get a satisfying 'hit'. And it's not like awe I got the spanked bowl hit, it's more like damn I just missed my cloud while the next guy gets a major cloud. That sucks, especially if your the one whos herb is loaded. Plus it takes forever to make a circle with the need of stirring and trying to draw correctly. I tend to find the the conversation topic usually turns to correct Firefly2 operation with all having their sage advise but someone always leaving less than satisfied. Conduction type vaporisers I find much more group friendly. But to each their own.
@greenextinguisher....here is the pick of the coil and it's solder.

From my perspective the air ports are on the NW & SW aides of the photo away from the solder. Air intake is in the center hole...so I guess unless the air swirls in there a lot I dont see that as being a big problem. And if Im not mistaken there is a bottom plate that has ridges to block flow to the backside of the devcie which doesn't seem to be shown here. Am I wrong?

Edit* no im not mistaken if you look in the second photo you can see the second plate bottom row third item in....dont think the design is flawed you can see there would be a miniscule amount if it were. I think the smell is actually the batteries. I got the same smell. Smells no different than a very warm new battery

 

[mitchgo61]

Thx for the pics, @Elac! In the second one, bottom left, is there a hole in the center for the air path?

From my perspective the air ports are on the NW & SW aides of the photo away from the solder. Air intake is in the center hole...so I guess unless the air swirls in there a lot I dont see that as being a big problem. And if Im not mistaken there is a bottom plate that has ridges to block flow to the backside of the devcie which doesn't seem to be shown here. Am I wrong?

Edit* no im not mistaken if you look in the second photo you can see the second plate bottom row third item in....dont think the design is flawed you can see there would be a miniscule amount if it were. I think the smell is actually the batteries. I got the same smell. Smells no different than a very warm new battery

I think you guys are right. I was looking at the pix wrong. The piece third from the left in pic 2 is the cap....the piece on the far left is the base. You can see in pic 1 that the base has a center hole. That's where the air comes in, not over the solder clips. It goes directly up from the center into the bowl....or so it appears to my eyes. The burn marks on the ceramic pieces are clearly from radiant heat.

So, not so weird design after all. Thanks to @stickstones and @NoCo970 for figuring out what we were looking at.

 

[Elac]

@stickstones: Yes you are correct.
@mitchgo61: Here are more pics of the bowl and internals.

Air comes in the front 2 ports and circles around back and comes in over the coil leads. The 2 ceramic pieces fit toghether and are compressed tightly together by the bottom disk and a rubber o ring and the bottom plate of the unit. Then the air goes up the center hole, through the metal screen and through your herb.

 

[greenextinguisher]

The first photo he posted is from the bottom. That center hole is not the air intake, but the air path to the bowl. From there it goes through the screen and onto your vapeables. The air comes into the oven through the holes for the leads.

 

[mitchgo61]

The first photo he posted is from the bottom.

Oh I see...yeah I was looking at it from the other end. See, this is why I didn't wanna get into it.

 

[Icon13]

Always with the cloud talkers. Dem's the real kool-aid drinkers, my man. Yeh, it's cool feedback when you're medicating, and the Fly can produce clouds, but it's not the end all be all to determine quality of a unit.

To be fair though, is this Dawsonator a table top and what temp do you tend to set it on?

Lemme guess " all the way up to 11..."

I set it to 408. The air cools about 20 by the time it reaches the bud. Pure convection. In about 10 years I have never burned or singed a single bud, ever. The byproduct is a little lighter than tobacco and crumbles to dust in your hand. The clouds are so big you swear you are combusting. Not even close. The rips are absolutely delicous too. The magic is in the fuzzy logic temperature controller. It compensates during and after your draw by increasing or reducing power to the heating element in order to maintain a constant temperature. I love it. People make me offers on it. Not for sale. There is nothing like it.

Yes, it is a desktop. No, I never expected the FF2 to keep pace with it, but I did expect the FF2 to be exponentially better than it was. I would rather use my combusting Magic Box, lol. Combustion, meh. Over it. One session on my Daswonator and you'll be saying, "More Kool-Aid, please.”

Air is drawn over the solder as there is a ceramic cap that covers the coil and air has to come over the solder.
Here is a pic of all the bowl components.edit: in order from top to bottom of bowl.
As you can see by the burn marks air comes in that manner.

Interesting and a poor design IMO. This design actually may explain the poor performance that I and others have reported. If the only air flow is coming in at the solder then perhaps some units suffer from air flow restriction due to excess solder and/or the dimensions of the air flow path around the solder. This makes perfect sense to me based on the experience I had. No matter how hard puffed, or quantity packed, or various materials could I produce satisfactory results. Not being able to pull adequate warm air through the bud would absolutely lead to my results, and was what I had suspected all along. Instead of pulling warm air through the bud, the element would just brown the bottom of the bud and give two initial very small, barely visible vapor and then nothing after that. An airflow restriction would most likely cause this. Why no air is drawn through the front of the unit is beyond me. Why only rely on two tiny internal air paths that already have electric components running through them? This may be a design flaw which leads to lesser QC.

 

[greenextinguisher]

The air does mostly come from the front, gets a little pre warmed by wrapping around the glass before it goes into the oven intake around the backside of the bowl. Its then channeled along the coil for maximum heat exposure, circles around to the center and goes up through the screen material.

Its a pretty smart and functional design as far as heating air in a small area goes. I think if there were a restriction like you said, it may actually make the air hotter. Not sure its related to your problem.

 

[stickstones]

@Icon13 - I think you'll feel differently if you get a properly functioning FF2 in your hands. I think your unit is the problem, not the entire Firefly design.

Firefly is telling me there is no lead in their solder, and they use a proprietary material for their heating element that they will keep secret. But they claim it is safe for us in this application.

@Elac - Can you tell which of the pieces in your second picture are in the air path?

 

[mitchgo61]

@Icon13 - I think you'll feel differently if you get a properly functioning FF2 in your hands. I think your unit is the problem, not the entire Firefly design.

Firefly is telling me there is no lead in their solder, and they use a proprietary material for their heating element that they will keep secret. But they claim it is safe for us in this application.

Theyve been tight-lipped about their heating element material since day one....there were multiple interesting discussions about it in the FF1 thread.

If there were really a basic design flaw I'd think more people would have performance issues. I've used several 2s myself and they all were remarkably efficient at generating vapor and extracting nearly completely from whatever material I used, irrespective of this airpath issue.