The Herbalizer

[Tex]

-- Clean your screens. This fixes most problems. I just cleaned mine because it seemed like my bud just got half as effective and I know I hadn't cleaned them in a while. They looked fine, too, but it doesn't matter. If performance is lowered, clean the screens. And I know you just got yours, but it sounds like it got gunked up quickly due to how you might have been packing it.

This is something I forgot to mention, and I wanted to add that one of the other ways I've found to clean my screens is to take a pair of needle-nose pliers and hold the screen, then use a lighter to burn all the junk out. I have used ISO plenty of times, usually 91%, but after soaking and shaking and scrubbing for 10 or 15 minutes my screens still look dirty. Using the lighter, they get very clean. I always give them a rinse after using the lighter, too.

If your screens aren't too dirty, the simple fix can be to swap the screens and crank it up to 445 with the fan on, and let the hot air blow everything out. The top one is always the dirty one. Usually when I do this, I swap the screens, but I don't put the lid back on the bowl. I don't want the fan to burn all the gunk out of the dirty screen and blow it directly into the cleaner screen that is in the top portion of the bowl. If the screens are really dirty, this won't work as well. It will still remove some of the gunk but not all of it.

-- And this last one is huge for my use. After my first whip hit I always open up the bowl and knock off the bud that is sticking to the upper screen. When filling a bag, turn the fan off after about ten seconds and do this. Then go back to filling it up. Most of my bud is just sticky enough to stick to the top screen, and this is a session killer!

Again, this is great advice. That fresh bud LOVES to clog the screen on the first hit. I have found that usually, several quick taps of the bowl on the table loosens almost all of the material from the top screen.

I'll definitely do my best to get a picture posted of my grind. I'll also see if I can get a picture of a full bag.

@MikeRoOrganix - Keep us updated with your latest Herbie experiences!

 

[MikRoOrganix]

@Tex

IT sounds like your unit is working great for you, and it's amazing the amount of high vapor hits you are saying you are getting... 20+? srsly?

That 395 hit looks good, I will show you what my bag looks like at 405, not milky at all. I ground my bud to powder too.

I always get medicated greatly, just no clouds.

@sticksstones I packed this last pack pretty well up to the flare loosely. I went to 405 and the vapor was sad. I took the video at the end after the bag was filled up, but we ge tthe idea. I don't think my expectations are "off" I just keep hearing how amazing something is (even now) yet I am not experiencing the awesomeness.

I'll try to clean my screens and see if this fixes anything.

My bud is always clogging up the top screen. I am using Gorilla Glue #4 and Alien OG, so they are sticky. The thing is, even when I knock it off, it just goes right back up there with the fan, so how do I stop this cycle?

I find my bag shut off randomly, and I find that the more bud I pack, the shorter the fan time is.

I'll try and see what's going on, and I appreciate the help! Cleaning the upper screen and getting it to stay clean seem to be the biggest tasks.

@Tex, I usually use the needle nose and torch when I would have screens so I will do that. I'm not a big fan of iso. I might try the 445 blast (I've done this before once).

Yeah it's not just fresh bud, it just seems like a lot of the bud like to get up there regardless. I wonder if there is a quick fix... The aroma pad doesn't stop anything. I've noticed people said bigger htis from the aroma pads, but I don't know if they block the bud from going to the screen or what....


In this video it shwos me packing a bag after doing 1 little hit in my glass piece. The bag is tiny, but the abv looks pretty decent.

The bowl is packed well tooo...

 

[Tex]

@MikeRoOrganix

I see what you mean about the thin vapor. It has been quite some time since I used the actual Herbalizer bags. They are way too small for my needs, so I use the turkey bags now. However, I will say that when I was using the Herbie bags, I recall my first bag off a fresh bowl being fairly thin. The next 2 bags were always very thick and milky, then the 4th would be thin vapor again. I recall getting 3-4 bags off one bowl.

With the turkey bags, I do one bag per bowl.

IT sounds like your unit is working great for you, and it's amazing the amount of high vapor hits you are saying you are getting... 20+? srsly?

Yes, between 15 and 20 hits usually, but this is mainly through the glass. I don't notice this kind of vapor production when I use the whip alone.

My bud is always clogging up the top screen. I am using Gorilla Glue #4 and Alien OG, so they are sticky. The thing is, even when I knock it off, it just goes right back up there with the fan, so how do I stop this cycle?

I am so accustomed to taking the bowl off after every hit or every 2 hits, tapping it, shaking it, and putting it back. I notice that as I take more hits and my material dries out even more, less of it sticks to the screen. However, I've taken huge hits, then pulled the bowl off and noticed a good bit of bud on the screen. I still blew a huge cloud.

Your grind looks good, but your bowl looks pretty dirty. I'm really thinking your screens need to be burned out. I will say that I keep my bowl extremely clean. I noticed some finely ground bud on the "cool grip" (rubber part) of your bowl, and stuck to the flared portion of the bowl. You may just have lots of material clogging your screen. Another thing to do is pull the top screen out and inspect the "throat" of the bowl lid. I have found that a large amount of very fine bud will pass through the screen and stick to the metal behind the screen. You can't really tell it is there until you remove the screen, but I think it restricts the airflow to an extent.

When was the last time you thoroughly cleaned your bowl? I think you should take it apart and soak it for awhile, and burn your screens out too. Then try again. Also, consider starting your bag out around 395, then as it reaches about a half fill bump it up to say 415 and see if you get thicker vapor.

I have to help a buddy move today, but I am sure we will need to medicate before and after. I'll see what I can do video/picture wise.

- Tex

 

[MikRoOrganix]

@ Tex, oh okay, so you only get a few bags, but a bunch of hits from glass.

I usually take off the bowl and then tap it a little to get the bud mixed.

Yea, my bowl is dirty, but I've only had this unit for a few days, and I'm not a heavy vaporist. I took out the top screen and burned it., At first it was getting all charred, but now it looks like a normal cleaned screen with a little gray char on it. I noticed there was some bud behind the screen and such so I will try to clean that out more. Yeah the bud goes everywhee on the grip and all when I try to knock out the top screen. There also were a couple of times the bowl opened up, and bud flew everywhere.....

I rather not iso soak, so I will keep trying to burn them out. I did have a hard time putting the top screen back in, part of the side is sticking up, but I got it in. Also the bottom bowl has popped out a couple of times when I was packing it down, so I guess that's not good.


I will continue to test, but so far still not that satisfied...

 

[stickstones]

@Tex already said this, but after the first hit the bud dries and is not so sticky. I have had some bud get stuck a second time, but not a third.

 

[Tex]

@ Tex, oh okay, so you only get a few bags, but a bunch of hits from glass.

I usually take off the bowl and then tap it a little to get the bud mixed.

Yea, my bowl is dirty, but I've only had this unit for a few days, and I'm not a heavy vaporist. I took out the top screen and burned it., At first it was getting all charred, but now it looks like a normal cleaned screen with a little gray char on it. I noticed there was some bud behind the screen and such so I will try to clean that out more. Yeah the bud goes everywhee on the grip and all when I try to knock out the top screen. There also were a couple of times the bowl opened up, and bud flew everywhere.....

I rather not iso soak, so I will keep trying to burn them out. I did have a hard time putting the top screen back in, part of the side is sticking up, but I got it in. Also the bottom bowl has popped out a couple of times when I was packing it down, so I guess that's not good.


I will continue to test, but so far still not that satisfied...

Correct, a few bags off one bowl and tons of hits off the glass.

When cleaning the material out of the top part of the bowl, try using a q tip with some ISO on it. You can kind of scrub the area and clean the part of the bowl where the whip attaches. I notice lots of accumulation there. I never have bud get all over my bowl. I just pull the bowl off and tap it on the table. I make sure I hold it together so it doesn't come apart and make a mess.

Regarding the ISO soak - I only soak the ceramic/metal parts for 10 minutes to help loosen the material on the top part of the bowl, but if you don't like soaking it just use a q tip or paper towel instead.

I am wondering if you are packing the bowl too much. I have never had my bottom screen pop out, ever. Try sprinkling the bud in, and not packing it at all. I rarely pack mine, and when I do I am using significantly less pressure than it takes to press a key on my Mac. I just gently press down on the material if I do it at all.

I'm determined to help you achieve excellent results.

 

[MikRoOrganix]

So I ended up cleaning out the bowl fully and the screens, then took a video for everyone.

I did what @stickstones said and to wait 10 seconds, stop the fan, clean off the top, and go. I noticed a lot of vapor production after this, but I figured I should have stopped it, cleaned it again, and then kept on filling. I will be happy to see the next bag, if what @Tex said that the first bag beign weak, and the next being stronger. I'm super medicated now though .

@Tex I think the last video was packed too much, and it kept sticking regardless. It might be because of other stuff that was already stuck in the bowl, but yeah it was filling up the entire bowl area with stuff. But that also might have been due to over packing.

I tried packing it in all amounts, this time I didn't pack down at al and just filled to about half way to the lip. AS for the screen coming out, yeah I packed down too much doing a test . It wasn't hard, but hard enough to pop the screen.

I also noticed that sometimes it smelled like vapor was leaking and I wonder if overpacking/having the top screen clogged would do this?

I will try to reuse my ABV from my other batches, even though it looks spent, it seems I can still get more with the unit (at least that's how it was before the cleaning). I hope a lot of the goods weren't leaking, but I definitely was medicated.

I also want to let everyone know that you should hear the cooling fan through the video, and you can see the screen saver come on which I believe happens at 10 mins.. I close the vape at 5 mins after the video started, and it was on for 20 mins before I shut the lid. I feel there is some sort of error going on, but this happens randomly, but this is the second time. The cooling fan has probably been onf or 6-10 times total.

Video coming soon

 

[Tex]

@MikeRoOrganix

Glad to hear you are super medicated and seeing more vapor. That is great.

Try weighing your material so you know exactly how much you are putting in. I put my bowl on my scale and tare it, then add material to around .2g or so, usually.

I've tried using ABV again, and I'm personally not a fan. I get great extraction and feel that I'm getting as much out of the bud as possible.

 

[Vicki]

I just had a fairly long session with my Herbie, about 10 minutes. I took before and after pictures. (see below) I am really over medicated, but it doesn't take much "Cindy" to affect me. I actually had to force myself to finish this. I kept vaping until I saw no more vapor, and I was vaping through a glass bubbler at 445 degrees from start to finish. The bowl is less than half full of ground flowers.

I dumped this out into my hand and crumbled it up a little finer, and will give it another go a bit later, just to see if I can get a little more out of it. I was getting HUGE clouds the first 5-8 hits, then they started to get thinner, but it took a while. I lost track of total hits I took.

I hope you can see the pictures. The ABV is darker than it appears, actually.

Before:

After:

 

[Tex]

Working on my Herbie session now. I got some pictures of my grind, and my bowl fill. Also gave the bowl a nice clean before starting. Running through the glass at 390 degrees, and we are about 5 hits in. HUGE clouds.

In a little while we are going to try to hang a dark backdrop and take some video for Mike to show him some clouds at different temps.

It is amazing what a few hits will do!

14 minutes later....and words are hard.

WOW.

@Vicki - I should not have followed suit with a half-full 445 bowl (through glass) of my own. Again, WOW.

 

[Vicki]

@Vicki - I should not have followed suit with a half-full 445 bowl (through glass) of my own. Again, WOW.

IMO, with Herbie, less is more. I never need to fill my bowl more than 1/2 full, usually only 1/4 full. I can't really add much more to the wonderful advice that has already been given, except maybe one thing. Brush the screens off while the bowl is still hot. It's a lot easier.

 

[lazylathe]

@Vicki - I should not have followed suit with a half-full 445 bowl (through glass) of my own. Again, WOW.

You mean there are other temps than MAX??
LMAO!! Mine stays at max temp all the time except when a new strain arrives and needs to be analyzed!

Dry or through a WT, MAX temp works great for me!
My ABV comes out very dark after a session! Will try and take some photos tonight!

 

[Vicki]

@Vicki - I should not have followed suit with a half-full 445 bowl (through glass) of my own. Again, WOW.

You mean there are other temps than MAX??
LMAO!! Mine stays at max temp all the time except when a new strain arrives and needs to be analyzed!

Dry or through a WT, MAX temp works great for me!
My ABV comes out very dark after a session! Will try and take some photos tonight![/QUOTE]

@lazylathe

I was really close to being sick, so I thought I'd go for broke. Max temp with fan assist, and the nausea was completely gone. I usually use max temp too because I can medicate quicker, and I always filter through water.

 

[Tex]

You mean there are other temps than MAX??
LMAO!! Mine stays at max temp all the time except when a new strain arrives and needs to be analyzed!

I like to work up from cooler temps to hotter temps. I never go below 377, though. Lately I'm working from 400-445 and its a great range.

Early in the morning I prefer the lower temp hits. I usually take a few low temp hits before I go for a run. It makes running way more fun.

 

[MikRoOrganix]

Hello all, So the first bag got me very medicated about 3 hours ago. I didn't even finish the bag. I just did another 3 bags after going to the chiro, but they weren't all that big. I am pretty medicated now, but it wasn't all that great. The abv is still sticking hardcore to my screen so that is probably the problem.... I keep doing the sticks method, but it still is sticking to the top.

I also believe that less is more at some point as more just blocks the fan/screen, but you still get really medicated, which is what was happening to me the first day. I still feel I can reuse some of the ABV, because I did it at lower temps.

Any advice for keeping the bud from sticking to the top screen so I can get better vapor output?

Also can someoine people link me to the better whip tuvbing?

And did anyone else have an issue with their fan? Like I said 20 mins+ is too much imo.

I'll post my vid shortly. here's a pic

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img905/1076/1R9kWk.jpg

This is the abv that gets stuck each time I clean the screen. I take the brush and brush everything out and it looks good, but once I start taking a hit it clogs back up.

 

[Tex]

@MikeRoOrganix

Wow! That is a ton of material stuck to the screen!! I have never had anything that bad. I wonder if your bud may need to dry out. I know you said it was pretty sticky, and that really may be the problem. I too have noticed lower vapor production when using bud that wasn't dried out yet.

I think that might be the issue here. That screen is definitely clogged. Do you have any older bud that is nice and dry?

 

[lazylathe]

@MikeRoOrganix

My bud also sticks to the screen but it does not affect vapour output at all.
All i do is brush it off after the session and it is good to go again.
Once the holes get clogged a quick reversal of top to bottom screens and i am good to go again.
The heat blasts the screen clean again.

Going to have a session now and will take pics of the steps.

Okay back with photos!
Silly me decided to try a relatively new strain that i had not used in Herbie before...
Results were not the norm but effects are medicatingly good!

Okay, here we go!
First some ground up bud, used my SCS so medium fine grind.
Bowl not even half full.

Temp set at MAX! LOL!
Go big or go home! Since i am home i go big all the time!

And a nice cloud on the first hit using a WT!
The ceiling is 8 feet above me.

Second hit is always a bit denser.

Stop for a quick look see.
Bud stuck to the top screen as always with my unit since day 1.

A quick tap on the side of the bench at it loosens and falls down into the bowl again.
A quick stir and extract the last cloud!

And this is what i managed to cook it down into!

A very quick medication session but thorough extraction by Herbie!

 

[stickstones]

yeah, my screens never get that covered. When I get sticky bud I leave it out to dry up for a couple of days.

 

[MikRoOrganix]

@Tex, yeah that's my problem haha, it's ridiculous! It's dry It seems, but Idk what's up... I can knock all the abv out and the screen looks okay, but I just need to constantly brush it to get all that gunk out!

@lazylathe I don't know man it seems to be an issue fo rme. I try to brush it off each time, but it gets annoying tbh. I aslo blow back into the bowl and that usually does it.


@stickstones, yeah I have been keeping it in the freezer, so that might be the issue... Took it out and letting it to dry.. I will aslo keep my grinder open and let it dry out.

Here is the video. I basically had the cooling fan on for the entire time I was trying to do this video, which was 5 mins, until I closed it. I was originally going to show all this, but found it wasn't important.

Again the cooling fan was on for 20 mins before I manually closed it. I figured if it needed to come back on, it would have went I opened it again.

So what's up with this crazy cooling fan time?

 

[Tex]

@MikeRoOraganix

That vapor looks totally normal. Those bags look like mine. Were you pleased with the vapor in that bag?

 

[lazylightning]

@MikRoOrganix

Engineer answered the running fan question a while back:

http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-herbalizer.9116/page-185#post-674969

The fan operation is understandably confusing due to the audible feedback, and what may seem like random behavior. The simple answer is that, the cooling fan turns on when needed, or a little sooner, and will remain on longer than needed. The reason the cooling fan turns on sometimes sooner than needed and stays on longer than needed, is for reliability. It's an ingrained NASA thing. If your cooling fan is not running, or you 'tricked' your Herbie into turning off the cooling fan before it stops on its own, that is totally OK. If the system needs the cooling fan it will turn it on.

The slightly less simple answer is that the cooling fan control is based on three variables: measured temperature, setpoint temperature, and time.

For the vapegeeks like me (that's everyone here.. right?!), here's the logic behind it. We would prefer silence, but in a closed system the cooling fan is simply a necessity so it is programmed to turn off as much as reasonably possible. The cooling fan is activated when the computer board (i.e. sensitive electronics) exceeds a particular temperature threshold, and remains on until the temperature drops below a slightly lowered temperature threshold plus three (3) minutes (this is called hysteresis and operates with similar logic as a common home thermostat); or, if the temperature is 421F or higher for more that three (3) minutes the cooling fan will turn on and run continuously, until the temperature is lowered to 420 or less for three minutes or more and the computer is cool enough. 420 is the highest temperature that won't cause the cooling fan to automatically turn on after three minutes.
So you cloud chasers get to listen to the cooling fan more than the rest. Remember what I said above - if you 'trick' your Herbie into turning off the cooling fan before its stops on its own, that is totally OK, because it will turn on when needed. There are several ways to 'trick' the cooling fan off: switch to aromatherapy mode and then back to vaportherapy mode, or tilt it dizzy for a moment and then back again.

 

[John Lewus]

I wonder if the lack of vapor production is because the Herbie is more convection vs. conduction. I get thinner hits than my cloud but the effect is just as good if not better and the ABV is always lighter. I remove my bowl between hits to keep the metal in there from heating up too much so my hit is more convection based. The effects are what I am chasing... not clouds.

 

[Tex]

The effects are what I am chasing... not clouds.

I agree, but blowing huge clouds is always fun!!

 

[Vicki]

I have noticed that a finer grind will clog the screen a lot quicker than a course grind will.

 

[MinnBobber]

I wonder if the lack of vapor production is because the Herbie is more convection vs. conduction. I get thinner hits than my cloud but the effect is just as good if not better and the ABV is always lighter. I remove my bowl between hits to keep the metal in there from heating up too much so my hit is more convection based. The effects are what I am chasing... not clouds.

X 10
I find this to be very true with the Herbie AND miniVAP. The convection can extract all the goodies without making a lot of vapor clouds. Plus, I believe other vapes ABV comes out darker than the Herbie or miniVAP, due to not as precise temp control and convection.
For me, exhaling vapor means goodies are getting away so I'm 100% ok / prefer lesser vapor BUT maximum effects.