hazy said:
Sounds good, I like things as simple as possible (and as cheap as possible!). The more you can get rid of, the better! Looking at the earlier photos, it seems that you line the inside of the wood with steel. I was wondering if you could get rid of that as well? I know that some people don't like having wood in the vapour path, but I don't mind it, it's a pretty subtle flavour that diminishes over time. The HI effect should work better with even less thermal mass to keep hot.
I thought about reducing the height of the metal sleeve since it doesn't have to be that tall to support the screen anymore. I decided to leave it the same height. It provides covering for the wood plus it provides friction / surface area to hold the center tube in place. Since the only conduction path from the center tube to the outer sleeve is the bottom washer, the highest heat for the wood will be at that point. The heat is less for the wood the farther you get away from that point. The only wood exposed to the air path is right at the very top where the wood is relatively cool. The air moving past the wood is still room temperature. The air does not get heated until it enters the holes in the bottom of the center tube.
This vaporizer is still fairly new so I'm not certain how the wood will react under the hottest part. The wood under the outer sleeve farthest away from the bottom washer (hottest part) will not see the high heat and therefore should not be changed. The sleeve should hold the core in place regardless of the wood becoming brittle from exposure to heat. The wood should be altered only at the hottest points under the sleeve.
Thanks Beezleb. I will have to give a travel case some thought. The HI would be nice for travel due to the small size and light weight.
Thanks max. It seems tall because it is so skinny at 1-1/2" diameter. The pieces of wood on which it is setting is just under 3" square. I am making toasty tops from them.
The variable power supplies arrived yesterday. They are just what the HI needed. I can fine tune the temperature to exactly what I like. It reacts very quickly to voltage changes so I can start out low and then finish with a higher temp.
Hope you enjoyed the videos mistergyro. It is really at home with a big water pipe. Thanks for posting the links mom.
Had better get to work on that walnut unit SirTokesAlot. Can't wait to see a video and how she / you like it. I will be sure to include hammered screens.
I have come to the conclusion that it is a combination of dirty screens and too much herb above the screen that causes combustion in vaporizers. Heat will build within the herb mass if there is not enough airflow as a result of too much herb above the screen and/or a dirty screen. My hammered / shiny screens don't appear to be allowing any build up. This should ensure that airflow is always adequate provided that the proper amount of herb is used. The times I have combusted with my heavy hitter is when the screen is dirty or I put too much herb in the bowl.
Airflow is a must so that you don't combust.