Discontinued The Firefly Vaporizer

[Delta3DStudios]

Hey all! I wanted to let everyone know my silicone FireFly Waterpipe adapter (18mm) is now on sale.

The Firefly 18mm WaterPipe Adapter:



NOTE - I do not know how well the firefly operates in a vertical orientation (I don't own a FF). I'd appreciate if someone could do some testing and let me know how well it works when used completely upright.

 

[Mike M]

Well I can tell you what works for me. Kinda hard to truly explain because it’s more like a “natural oneness” now and I feel as though I’m just doing “what feels right,” as opposed to using a “technique.” Whatever the case, it happens to lead to light battery usage, it seems.

It’s all about timing, timing, timing (and additional timing). And a light touch on the trigger will sure go a long way as well. And of course, extra frosty herbs sure do help…

This is my manner of usage when using ground material.

I do almost zero preheat. The moment before I know the heater is going to begin glowing, I put the FF to my soft, pillowy lips because I know the heater will be ready for me by the time I start inhaling.

With ground material, my hit is pretty slow at first to let the heater get/stay caught up, then faster as it reaches full operational heat, and then I maintain this speed if early on in the bowl, or slow down a bit as the bowl progresses. This all happens very quickly.

I don’t ever lean on the button for the full 30 seconds until near the end of the bowl. Mine are more like 10 or 12 seconds overall, including the pseudo-warmup. IME, there is a significant couple/few seconds of residual heat after you release the button that can help you continue your hit, and should be put to advantage.

If near the end of the bowl, I do wait longer before I start inhaling, and I will also break from inhaling for a couple seconds, then inhale again, then break, etc., for a full 30 seconds. Using this method at the end, my ABV gets to about as dark as I’d want it to – to push it any further would mean I’d probably want some water to hit through, so that’s when I dump it out and save it to hit through the HI, these days. I'm a convection-only sort of guy now.

With a FF battery, every second of usage really counts. Something to keep in mind.

I think the real key here is controlling the level/speed of inhalation so that you don’t have to lean on the battery as much. I’ve said it before and I stand by it now – that when you’re learning, or training for better battery life, exhale next to a spotlight if you can. It really helped me get a better idea in the beginning of how much vapor I was actually creating as opposed to just depending on natural light or basic overhead lights.

I always end up with quite even ABV. As even as say using my HI. I usually stir it once, if using ground material.

The FF is really just a wonderful vape that syncs up perfectly with my style of usage. We were made for each other. Well, it was made for me, anyway.

And, when it comes down to it, I just don’t take nearly as many hits as the other regular posters here, it seems. Best not to forget that. I’m a total lightweight. Use about 0.25g per day, often less, never more. And I’m medicated all day, from the moment I wake up to the moment I stumble drunkenly to bed.

When away from home and using the FF, I usually vape only three bowls worth, with battery to spare.

If I have forgotten anything or you’d like some clarification, let me know. I’m pretty blitzed right now. I’ll probably add to it tomorrow.

And don't forget that it seems just about all FF users use theirs a bit differently...

Wonderful post! I have had trouble getting my ABV to dark, and will try your technique for the end. I have an Alfa for combustion (which I LOVE), but love the process of using the FF. I love the fact i can hit it, and pause, and not worry about it being cooked.

The only real issue I have is how it handles finely ground material, which tends to get sucked up into my mouth and clog the vapor channels. I just wish it had a screen to use for that. I constantly have to open the unit and brush the material back down into the bowl.

I find it does much better with nugs.

 

[mitchgo61]

The FF is really just a wonderful vape that syncs up perfectly with my style of usage. We were made for each other. Well, it was made for me, anyway.

Hey, no fair stealing my proposed headstone text!

 

[TNT_error]

If you guys are using whole nugs, how much are you putting in? I'll try this method today

 

[Mike M]

If you guys are using whole nugs, how much are you putting in? I'll try this method today

Something about half to 3/4 size of the bowl for me

 

[JoeKickass]

Got my firefly, but they shipped it with a dead battery

Measured the voltage and read 7.4v (it's a double 3.7v battery) that means the low voltage cutoff is actually set at the nominal voltage!

As you can see, normal battery capacity is measured from 4.2 to about 3.0v. And at high discharge level the voltage drops significantly:

Unfortunately this absolutely explains how the Firefly gets such bad battery life. It's simply only using half of it's capability, which for how heavy it is I find a bit annoying...

I have an Alfa for combustion (which I LOVE), but love the process of using the FF.

What? lol the Alpha is a vaporizer...



1st try edit: Woeful vapor production, hot taste, bits in mouth. Why do people like this vape again?

 

[Mike M]

Got my firefly, but they shipped it with a dead battery

Measured the voltage and read 7.4v (it's a double 3.7v battery) that means the low voltage cutoff is actually set at the nominal voltage!

As you can see, normal battery capacity is measured from 4.2 to about 3.0v. And at high discharge level the voltage drops significantly:

Unfortunately this absolutely explains how the Firefly gets such bad battery life. It's simply only using half of it's capability, which for how heavy it is I find a bit annoying...



What? lol the Alpha is a vaporizer...



1st try edit: Woeful vapor production, hot taste, bits in mouth. Why do people like this vape again?

Meant Conduction, my bad

 

[Shit Snacks]

@JoeKickass Bits in your mouth and poor vapor, all hot air, sounds like your packing too little without a screen. Try packing a more full bowl, and tamping it down gently with you finger to help prevent herb flying up and blocking the channels (never got herb in my mouth once though...). I also slap the top a few times after a hit, to knock any stuck piece back into the bowl. I try not to open and stir mid session if I can avoid it.

My battery levels seem worse than it was before, like fast degradation (and I never leave it charging overnight, usually unplug when its solid and try not let them die all the way either). Its mangeable though bc I have two and plenty of other vapes, but if this was my only vape I'd have trouble. Its also not my favorite, but it is pretty fun to use so its seen plenty of action! Brought it along with two indicas and a solo for my thanksgiving road tripping with my brother. Also worked really well having 4 packed vapes for the lengthy car ride alone, though I actually would've been fine bringing only one Indica...

 

[TNT_error]

For me, I pack a little over the bowl then create a mound using the bottom of my Chapstick (advise from buzz). From there, it's all about technique. You'll get it down fast after a couple sessions, and give it a shake or 2 after a few hits so the heat can spread.

 

[hoptimum]

Well I can tell you what works for me. Kinda hard to truly explain because it’s more like a “natural oneness” now and I feel as though I’m just doing “what feels right,” as opposed to using a “technique.” Whatever the case, it happens to lead to light battery usage, it seems.

It’s all about timing, timing, timing (and additional timing). And a light touch on the trigger will sure go a long way as well. And of course, extra frosty herbs sure do help…

This is my manner of usage when using ground material.

I do almost zero preheat. The moment before I know the heater is going to begin glowing, I put the FF to my soft, pillowy lips because I know the heater will be ready for me by the time I start inhaling.

With ground material, my hit is pretty slow at first to let the heater get/stay caught up, then faster as it reaches full operational heat, and then I maintain this speed if early on in the bowl, or slow down a bit as the bowl progresses. This all happens very quickly.

I don’t ever lean on the button for the full 30 seconds until near the end of the bowl. Mine are more like 10 or 12 seconds overall, including the pseudo-warmup. IME, there is a significant couple/few seconds of residual heat after you release the button that can help you continue your hit, and should be put to advantage.

If near the end of the bowl, I do wait longer before I start inhaling, and I will also break from inhaling for a couple seconds, then inhale again, then break, etc., for a full 30 seconds. Using this method at the end, my ABV gets to about as dark as I’d want it to – to push it any further would mean I’d probably want some water to hit through, so that’s when I dump it out and save it to hit through the HI, these days. I'm a convection-only sort of guy now.

With a FF battery, every second of usage really counts. Something to keep in mind.

I think the real key here is controlling the level/speed of inhalation so that you don’t have to lean on the battery as much. I’ve said it before and I stand by it now – that when you’re learning, or training for better battery life, exhale next to a spotlight if you can. It really helped me get a better idea in the beginning of how much vapor I was actually creating as opposed to just depending on natural light or basic overhead lights.

I always end up with quite even ABV. As even as say using my HI. I usually stir it once, if using ground material.

The FF is really just a wonderful vape that syncs up perfectly with my style of usage. We were made for each other. Well, it was made for me, anyway.

And, when it comes down to it, I just don’t take nearly as many hits as the other regular posters here, it seems. Best not to forget that. I’m a total lightweight. Use about 0.25g per day, often less, never more. And I’m medicated all day, from the moment I wake up to the moment I stumble drunkenly to bed.

When away from home and using the FF, I usually vape only three bowls worth, with battery to spare.

If I have forgotten anything or you’d like some clarification, let me know. I’m pretty blitzed right now. I’ll probably add to it tomorrow.

And don't forget that it seems just about all FF users use theirs a bit differently...

I'm doing something similar. I wait for the bowl to start to glow and start hitting it. Once I feel like I'm getting vapor, I back off the button and sort of let it coast until my lungs fill up with vapor. I can get several very good hits this way, each a little different as the flowers cook. Thanks very much for your thoughtful and articulate response

 

[mitchgo61]

Got my firefly, but they shipped it with a dead battery

1st try edit: Woeful vapor production, hot taste, bits in mouth. Why do people like this vape again?

Speaking only for myself, I love the FF (despite its many flaws) precisely because I get cool, great flavor and big hits. It's weird that you're experiencing hot hits...I find the vapor unusually cool, even at the end of a bowl when the flavor isn't at its peak.

A couple things I would try: make sure you don't press the heat button more than once per hit to avoid overheating...keep your grind medium or even unground to start to minimize bits flying...make sure the lid is always making a tight seal with the magnet (off even a little and you'll pull hot air but no vapor)...and I personally pack the bowl very densely, but others have good results with looser packing.

Good luck...when you find the sweet spot you may come to love the FF yourself! (And then we can share stories of all the other bizarre FF quirks...) Like...

@JoeKickass

My battery levels seem worse than it was before, like fast degradation (and I never leave it charging overnight, usually unplug when its solid and try not let them die all the way either).

They get worse over time for sure, but I'm also experiencing the thing EDA was talking about above...my Silver throws a red light earlier than you'd think...toggle it off and back on and it's green and you can keep getting several more full hits like that. Alas I fear it's the early sign of the FF about to do something more fatal, but for now I'm riding the wave where it takes me.

 

[JoeKickass]

Here's a ground bowl with a screen on top:

Here's a nug bowl with no screen:

This vape clearly has problems evenly heating. I remember the SSV had similar uneven heating and people said that tasted good as well... but why did someone say this had better flavor than the VapeXhale Evo? Sorry but I have to disagree.

Don't get me wrong: the Firefly is beautiful, a pleasure to hold, fun to open and close, and exciting to watch heat up.

But it's just too much work holding buttons and stirring, that's how things used to be. Remember stirring your old whip vape? Modern vapes are load-and-go, and the Firefly feels dated in that respect.

And now I have to completely disassemble it to clean it!



Sorry for the double post but this is a fun one:

mod note: Not too fun to merge.

While charging the Firefly I was filling the bowl when I felt the familiar tingle of electricity (I've been shocked a few times, if you aren't grounded you just feel a light tingle)

Probing the Firefly revealed the tingle was not my imagination

The power supply seems to be the culprit

Now I should mention that every DC supply has some AC ripple, for example the charger from my Alpha vaporizer has a respectable 6 volts of AC

But while you can't feel 6 volts, 40V is flirting with dangerous...

Maybe it's good thing they don't let you use it while charging, imagine 40V to the lips!

 

[Stu]

But it's just too much work holding buttons and stirring, that's how things used to be. Remember stirring your old whip vape? Modern vapes are load-and-go, and the Firefly feels dated in that respect.

Convection vaporizers require stirring and will heat the bowl unevenly due to tunneling. Portables like the FF, VG, ESV do not cook the load constantly like your "load-and-go" devices. That's the tradeoff you make with convection vapes (including desktops) IMO. And I am more than happy to make that tradeoff myself.

I wouldn't call it "dated", it's just a different variety of vaporizer.

 

[fernand]

The only real issue I have is how it handles finely ground material, which tends to get sucked up into my mouth and clog the vapor channels. I just wish it had a screen to use for that. I constantly have to open the unit and brush the material back down into the bowl.

Then stop being AC and overcleaning your FireFly! let some gunk build up on the inside of the porthole, in the channels. A bit o' reclaim left on the cow-catcher is like magical fly-paper. I say magical, because finely ground or drying particulate matter doesn't stick to the cow-catcher. After a thin layer of would-be kieff deposits, the fly paper loses its stickiness, and does its filtering job while releasing the good stuff back into the heat of the moment. Yeehah!

 

[TNT_error]

Had a session with little nugs and filled it a little bit more than the bowl but still had a mound. It definitely works just as grinded materials, but it's a lot more contained and no worries of stuff flying around. Idk if it's just me, but it feels like I'm using even less materials. Good method

 

[fernand]

They're all good methods, as long as the herb or oil are sweet, and ya get 'em in da bowl to meet da heat.

Here's another FireFly Living recipe. Press a tiny popcorn nug into a tortilla. We, in California, have a lot of Mexican ideas. A tiny tortilletta, like the head of a thumb tack, held together with trichomes like a sticky Velcro, and place it (where else?) in da bowl. Then convection bake it, releasing righteous redolent vapor. Do the French chef bit and flip the tortilla over with a deft shake of the FireFly. If that fails, break it up with a pointy something.

They're all good methods. In the end, since it's very hard to burn stuff, and it doesn't leak out, as it does in SOME vaporizers we know, you can't readily waste anything; it's maybe the fourth law of thermodynamics, as long as there's someone at the mouthpiece to catch them little molecules, sooner, or later the entire contents will find their way into yer nugg ;-)

FWIW, I usually put 0.05 to 0.1 g max in the FF. At 20% actives in today's top shelf, the resulting 10-20 mg happens to be a good sess for many people. There's no question that the "stuff can fly around" school has advantages. You don't need to stir, just shake. You don't get localized heating in a wind tunnel.

The more immobilized the load, the more uneven the heating. If you can't shake it, you'll have to stir it.

 

[studmuffin]

Golly, I am somewhat disheartened by the trials & tribulations experienced by many of you who post here. I have been a dedicated daily Firefly vapedaddy for about six months, and I would like to share my method, which is devastatingly simple. Forthwith, . . , I only use cannabis with a minimum THC of 20%. I use a Sharpstone grinder, which yields a medium-ish grind consistency. I loose-pack the bowl until it is not quite full. I begin my session thusly: I depress the heat button, and count three flashes of the green light. While continuing to keep the heat button depressed, I begin a LSD (long, s l o w draw) until the green light stays on. I slowly exhale through my nose. Next, I press the "go" button, wait for two flashes, and begin my second LSD, until the green light is solid. Nasal exhalation. Next, I depress the heat button for one flash, and LSD. Finally, I press the heat button and begin a LSD immediately until the green light is solid. I now have reached a blissful state of PFT (pretty fucking toasted, my friends). Never do I lift the lid, nor do I bother with stirring. And, I clean the bowl and lid with isopropyl alcohol only every twenty bowls or so, using a cotton swab and a few sheets of toilet paper.

I hope that this method is helpful for my "Firefly friends. Vape on !

 

[Trogdor]

Been messing around with @Ratchett's WPA for a little while, here's my experiences with it. When I first got it I had issues with getting vapor production, but I've found a couple things that help get it working like it should. I like to take the first and second hits dry, both for that beginning taste and to get the bowl a bit more stuck together. This way when you hold it upright it won't all fall towards the bottom. Putting a screen on the top also helps, but doesn't seem to be necessary. Alternatively you could just use a 90* adapter if you have one. I also chose to put a little o-ring around the mouthpiece so there would be less air leaks (diluted vapor) even when it's not being pressed in.

Here's a little video I shot of it in use. Unfortunately I couldn't get the bubbler all milked up, but all the same it gives a nice lower temp high

Overall it's a great little thing if you want to run your firefly through water, maybe with practice and improved technique it may even be possible to milk it.

 

[JoeKickass]

Golly, I am somewhat disheartened by the trials & tribulations experienced by many of you who post here. I have been a dedicated daily Firefly vapedaddy for about six months, and I would like to share my method, which is devastatingly simple. Forthwith, . . , I only use cannabis with a minimum THC of 20%. I use a Sharpstone grinder, which yields a medium-ish grind consistency. I loose-pack the bowl until it is not quite full. I begin my session thusly: I depress the heat button, and count three flashes of the green light. While continuing to keep the heat button depressed, I begin a LSD (long, s l o w draw) until the green light stays on. I slowly exhale through my nose. Next, I press the "go" button, wait for two flashes, and begin my second LSD, until the green light is solid. Nasal exhalation. Next, I depress the heat button for one flash, and LSD. Finally, I press the heat button and begin a LSD immediately until the green light is solid. I now have reached a blissful state of PFT (pretty fucking toasted, my friends). Never do I lift the lid, nor do I bother with stirring. And, I clean the bowl and lid with isopropyl alcohol only every twenty bowls or so, using a cotton swab and a few sheets of toilet paper.

I hope that this method is helpful for my "Firefly friends. Vape on !

I began the LSD but then this happened:

Lol, good tips! So it seems like the key is to finish a bowl quickly before it has a chance to cool?

 

[mitchgo61]

I began the LSD but then this happened:

Lol, good tips! So it seems like the key is to finish a bowl quickly before it has a chance to cool?

Another hallmark of convection vaping...hits flow more freely when the material is warmed-up. I try not to let the FF idle for too long between hits...otherwise I spend a hit or two getting the material warmed up again.

As we have all mentioned many times, the FF takes some getting used to, but once it gives up the goodies for you it is a pretty fabulous experience.

 

[TheDudeNextDoor]

I know this has been discussed, probably ad naseum, but I am lazy Dude today...just got my new toy in from the Black Friday sale. Charging the first battery now, and it has already turned solid blue. Is it a good idea to let it charge longer the first time like I've heard for other battery vapes?

 

[hoptimum]

I know this has been discussed, probably ad naseum, but I am lazy Dude today...just got my new toy in from the Black Friday sale. Charging the first battery now, and it has already turned solid blue. Is it a good idea to let it charge longer the first time like I've heard for other battery vapes?

I think youre good to go

 

[Shit Snacks]

Unfortunately I haven't had so much luck with my SonG and the firefly @Ratchett, but it could need more practice. I just feel like I'm not getting enough of an airtight seal, and the using upright isn't working too well. I think if the bottom part were just longer that would help keep the firefly flat like a tiny whip hose, and maybe having the actual mouthpiece part fit in more snugly like with the indica SonG. I don't have a right angle adapter (or want to buy one). I imagine it'd work better in a bong with an angled down stem though

Side note though, the silicone does stretch over a solo stem (and I'm sure would fit with many other vapes) so I was able to try that effectively through water finally. Thanks again dude!

 

[Trogdor]

Unfortunately I haven't had so much luck with my SonG and the firefly @Ratchett, but it could need more practice. I just feel like I'm not getting enough of an airtight seal, and the using upright isn't working too well. I think if the bottom part were just longer that would help keep the firefly flat like a tiny whip hose, and maybe having the actual mouthpiece part fit in more snugly like with the indica SonG. I don't have a right angle adapter (or want to buy one). I imagine it'd work better in a bong with an angled down stem though

Side note though, the silicone does stretch over a solo stem (and I'm sure would fit with many other vapes) so I was able to try that effectively through water finally. Thanks again dude!

See if you can find an o-ring that will fit around the mouthpiece, that should let it seal better. I used a paintball tank o-ring, although I imagine anything around that size would work

 

[wax]

@Ratchett Why don't you make the adapter come up at a right angle so the ff can be level when you hit it