The Tempest by Mad Heaters & Phatpiggie

[Tji89]

My Tempest is getting a little hot to hold, like not being able to hold it. Did two heat ups with the wand on 290c. Any clue what it can be?

Checked if I did something wrong reasembling it, but don't really know what I'm looking for. Thinking there's a part not in yet or oring perhaps.

 

[sansei]

How easy are others finding it to remove the ball retaining screen? I'm wondering if there's something wrong with my thread, it just won't go in without bending a "spoke" on it.

mine also slightly bends, but the balls stay put just fine. for reference, I have changed out balls 5 times.

 

[GnarlyVandal]

we should do a tempest configuration thread and name them something catchy, there are so many configurations and I'm having trouble remembering what I tried and what I still need to try. these face melting hits arent making it easier to remember

example:
how you are you running your tempest? I'm doing the free willy.
(which would be lets say the direct tube with the bypass setting and cap fully open)

That is hilarious. And this is actually how I have my tempest right now! I’m using a half closed stem Free Willy and I will now forever call it that.

Running 50/50 stainless steel balls and zirc which is nice. I am thinking of just going back to full zirc though.

 

[ezpz]

My Tempest is getting a little hot to hold, like not being able to hold it

This happens with the Ti stem and helix tube. Stem will be less hot with the direct tube, but harsher vapor. You could switch to the wooden stem (if you have one) and it won’t get that hot (barely even warm). Just know that with the wood stem, the heat will stay longer within the stem, so subsequent bowls will get harsher vapor than you would with the Ti stem.

 

[hazyy1]

same. 3 to 4 draws of 10 seconds or so.. mostly stem airport is closed and then feather towards the end of the draw and pull a little harder when feathering.. depending on how much heat you gave it initially means it could be done in 3 or 4 or you can reheat and go again for another 4.. if u pull it at the 1st faint click 1st round and do 3 draws.. open the bowl and take a look.. might be golden abv.. with 3 verrrry tasty whispy hits.. second go it will be brown and a lot more vapor.. if u heated to timeout and past 2nd click on first go it might be very dark or almost black after 3 hits.. and brutal hot native hits.. fine for bubblers or lungs and throat of steel lol

of course that depends on wand adapter depth.. a deeper adapter 550 is hotter roast then 550 when its level. I use level glass to bottom because it's easy to remove and re-set.. if you ever have to take it out.. good luck finding your perfect depth again..

the manual pic with tempest in wand view from below is deceptive ..as long as the rubber sleeve isn't low/sticking out having the adapter bottom glass level with wand bottom/bottom oring u can see the VI if you peek in at a slight angle with wand upsidown. the manual pic makes it look like it's sticking out 5mm beyond the bottom of the wand.. it's not.. it's a slightly angled view/pic and makes adapter look much deeper then it is.. can you have it 3-4-5mm past wand bottom..sure but you will have to adjust your wand temp accordingly! 475 might be like a 550 roast if that adapter is really deep.. so 550 would=combustion

still getting a top layer of riding the line roast with the bottom layer still very green... Can't seem to get an even roast. Doesn't feel like I'm packing too tightly. Maybe even less? I'm drawing in breaks which I'm finding is resulting in uneven roasts. But when I do long steady MTL draw, I get very close to combusting. My air port is about 50% wand 550 to time out and I'm set about middle based on the manual "the markings on the tip"

Thanks again. I mean its still giving me great rips and I like that I can take my time "relatively" but the uneven roasts are really throwing me a curve.

 

[Feyd2blak]

still getting a top layer of riding the line roast with the bottom layer still very green... Can't seem to get an even roast. Doesn't feel like I'm packing too tightly. Maybe even less? I'm drawing in breaks which I'm finding is resulting in uneven roasts. But when I do long steady MTL draw, I get very close to combusting. My air port is about 50% wand 550 to time out and I'm set about middle based on the manual "the markings on the tip"

Thanks again. I mean its still giving me great rips and I like that I can take my time "relatively" but the uneven roasts are really throwing me a curve.

Tried setting the wand adaptor higher? I found that helps with an even roast, just in case the top of the bowl is catching too much heat in the wand?

 

[hazyy1]

Ym

Tried setting the wand adaptor higher? I found that helps with an even roast, just in case the top of the bowl is catching too much heat in the wand

Yeah! Just tried that and adding the bud right up to the side holes (in the bowl) and found it to get a more even roast.
Also realized that these bowls are bigger than they look.

 

[n0tu2]

Ym

Yeah! Just tried that and adding the bud right up to the side holes (in the bowl) and found it to get a more even roast.
Also realized that these bowls are bigger than they look.

fill that bowl all the way to the tippy top.. loosely filled man.. past the holes.. finger tamp it down just a tad so it's just below the teeth

 

[BearFuur]

I'd study

Are you aware there is no linkage between the disks and the Vi at all, They operate in isolation. The disks will even change with use, while the Vi should remain pretty constant in behaviour (unless reassembled or overheated).

Oh my god. I had absolutely zero clue to be honest with you. Thanks you for that information!! I feel VERY dumb at the moment but I'm really happy to learn something new. This vape seemingly never ceases to keep amazing me at how amazing this thing was engineered. It feels as if every single tiny aspect that be could me thought of, down to the mm has been thought of to maximize the efficiency of tasty clouds and super fast reloads.

I was also doing quite a few back to back bowls when this had occurred. This is (hopefully) the cause of the VI riding "faster" then what I'm normally used to.

 

[ZC]

I'm really on the fence about the tempest. On one hand it provides a very even roast, and good cooling. Design is beauiful, etc.

But it really does seem inconsistant to me. I've combusted several times at this point when previous attemps with the same technique did not.

When I hit the sweet spot it's great, but that simply does not happen all the time.

I also was lead to believe that there was very little conduction on this device from reading this thread, and in my experience that is simply not true. Huge amount of conduction heating happening.

 

[sansei]

I'm really on the fence about the tempest. On one hand it provides a very even roast, and good cooling. Design is beauiful, etc.

But it really does seem inconsistant to me. I've combusted several times at this point when previous attemps with the same technique did not.

When I hit the sweet spot it's great, but that simply does not happen all the time.

I also was lead to believe that there was very little conduction on this device from reading this thread, and in my experience that is simply not true. Huge amount of conduction heating happening.

Are you using the wand? If so, I recommend making your adaptor more shallow. This will help with combustion and also provide more convection.

 

[.d]

I'm really on the fence about the tempest. On one hand it provides a very even roast, and good cooling. Design is beauiful, etc.

But it really does seem inconsistant to me. I've combusted several times at this point when previous attemps with the same technique did not.

When I hit the sweet spot it's great, but that simply does not happen all the time.

I also was lead to believe that there was very little conduction on this device from reading this thread, and in my experience that is simply not true. Huge amount of conduction heating happening.

100% consistency for me, but I've only had it for 2 days, around 20 or so bowls with a friend on different stem/cap settings with zirconia balls.

One thing to keep in mind - you can't avoid conduction when doing back to back bowls, there is just too much heat all around not to warm up the bowl. However - after every hit I do i empty the bowl straight away and it is a little warm, while the cap can easily burn me.

With back to back bowl, you have to keep in mind all the retained heat so if you wanna keep on hitting this thing, either account for the heat you built up until then and keep your eyes on the indicator, following the instruction to stop heating one mark earlier than you would with a cold cap (click wont help you here in my opinion, my cooldown click happens 5 minutes after laying it down)

After a week I might try the glass balls, should punch even harder according to descriptions

 

[GnarlyVandal]

Feeling a little disappointed right now. As I’ve mentioned before, this is my favourite vape. I love the incomparable convection with great extraction in a dyna form factor.

That being said, damn these bloody visual indicators! It came working perfectly, and I stupidly did a double burn off in the wand which massively over-compressed the spring.

After some helpful tips from Brenyo, I was able to disassemble, fiddle with the spring and put it back okay, it just didn’t work like it used to, getting stuck on middle VI during cool-down.

Got 2 new springs and they don’t seem to be working either, so not sure where I’m going wrong. Meticulously followed the manuals instructions for the install. Think I overtightened one of my new springs before putting it in, but the second one went in perfectly.

After a little fiddling with the 2nd spring, it now doesn’t heat up properly, getting stuck on the VI marker during heat up.

When the VI and click housing is loose from the tempest, both springs seem to work perfectly! Which is so frustrating

I think someone mentioned they buffed their housing and that fixed a similar issue? I’ve looked for dirt or anything that could be getting in the VI’s way and don’t think there is. I’ve used the tool that comes with the case to scrape the housing as well and pretty sure there’s nothing blocking it.

All this being said, it really only affects a reheat whilst the clickers haven’t cooled down, and with the wand most bowls are mindless with timeout, not needing the clickers or VI, but still…

Rant over. Gonna go have a bowl with this marvellous (-Ly frustrating!) vape.

https://imgur.com/a/FjCeDHd

 

[Brenyo]

When the VI and click housing is loose from the tempest, both springs seem to work perfectly! Which is so frustrating

Try to move the VI pointer with a pin to the maximum position, that might clear any small burr.
Do you feel it's getting stuck on something? It should move smoothly with increasing tension.

 

[General Disaster]

Oh my god. I had absolutely zero clue to be honest with you. Thanks you for that information!! I feel VERY dumb at the moment but I'm really happy to learn something new.

Don't feel dumb at all! I've been running one since March, so I've a little advantage over you! One could almost consider it cheating?
I also had the advantage of having to replace the bi-metal strip that 'powers' the Vi so got to see how it all fits together inside. The disks sit above the Vi so lag behind a little in terms of the heat getting through to them.

This vape seemingly never ceases to keep amazing me at how amazing this thing was engineered. It feels as if every single tiny aspect that be could me thought of, down to the mm has been thought of to maximize the efficiency of tasty clouds and super fast reloads.

I was also doing quite a few back to back bowls when this had occurred. This is (hopefully) the cause of the VI riding "faster" then what I'm normally used to.

It is indeed a beautifully crafted device in all ways. Extremely sophisticated and top quality build. I doubt there's much if anything that hasn't been carefully thought through. Many vapes that look all futuristic n' shit are mainly down to the aesthetics, this baby it's functional all the way (but still looks beautiful too).

Heating it up from cold (room temp) will give different readings on the Vi (and different click timings) than when doing a reheat or back-2-back. This is all to do with the conductivity of the various parts of the cap, and how long it takes for the heat to both equalise within the matrix, and for it to bring the Vi & disks to temperature. As a really, really rough guide with the Vi (I don't get on with click disks), on reheating I go one notch down than if it was from cold, but experience will dial you in on what works for you.

 

[GnarlyVandal]

Try to move the VI pointer with a pin to the maximum position, that might clear any small burr.
Do you feel it's getting stuck on something? It should move smoothly with increasing tension.

Okay, had a quick chance to push the VI across, weirdly, it moved smoothly when pushing one side, but not the other.
When I get home I’ll disassemble completely and give it a good clean and buffer.
Hopefully it’s just a random tiny piece of dirt

 

[Brenyo]

Okay, had a quick chance to push the VI across, weirdly, it moved smoothly when pushing one side, but not the other.

It's also possible that the pointer is bent along its length, which could cause similar issues. Make sure when you remove it to rotate it where there is a cut on the inner side of the wall.

 

[General Disaster]

People talking about the wand adapter depth like it is tricky to get it right - am I missing something?

I found just going "ball's deep" was the answer! (fnarr fnarr!)

Yeah! Just tried that and adding the bud right up to the side holes (in the bowl) and found it to get a more even roast.
Also realized that these bowls are bigger than they look.

Try going to the half bowl setting. The 'pest often works best when the bowl is filled up to the top, and when tamping start off with the lightest tamp possible (i.e. to stop bit's falling out and to level it with the rim of the bowl but not much more).
If you notice little bits in the avb are lighter yet surrounded by a 'sea' of dark roast, that may be you need to grind those small harder lumps down a bit more.

Just as a general rule the Tempest, in my experience at least, is very dependent on it's airflow profile - from the stem setup to the intake restriction; the nature of what's in the bowl (fineness of grind, dryness, density (tamping), quantity, etc; the little sidewall holes not being blocked); even (especially?) the speed and duration of drawing on it.

If it won't extract the flower as it should, especially in terms of consistency of roast then it's very often some factor that's affecting that airflow, be it directly or indirectly.

 

[Musikchen]

click housing is loose from the tempest, both springs seem to work perfectly!

Could the clickdiscs be in a wrong orientation?
The head screw toqued making the VI stuck should indicate that there is something creating pressure that shouldn't.


For a less gritty VI action without complicated disassembly this can help too.
Gently do this little twist for a few minutes to break in where the spring has to rub on itself and where the VI rides in the slot. (Watch the tweezer position, one is behind the leg, one infront of the leg)

https://imgur.com/a/kqsiAQ8

https://imgur.com/a/gOOaAga

 

[Brenyo]

Okay, had a quick chance to push the VI across, weirdly, it moved smoothly when pushing one side, but not the other.
When I get home I’ll disassemble completely and give it a good clean and buffer.
Hopefully it’s just a random tiny piece of dirt

I’ve had the same happen just now, and it was a long burr along one of the slot. It was working fine if I loosened the screw slightly.

https://imgur.com/a/LjkivqS

 

[akp55]

Got my upgrade kit yesterday and swapped out my parts. The VI already came assembled with the click discs installed, thanks for that @Brenyo. Getting my first click around the second vi and the second at the 3rd. Used the insert from MH for the first bowl, then swapped over to the black silicon one for the next 3. Now I just gotta wait for tempest cooling units to come back in stock.

 

[BushRanger]

Really enjoying this setup! Dangerously easy and good...

Watch Wand-Tempest tray | Streamable

Watch "Wand-Tempest tray" on Streamable.

streamable.com

 

[Corvoed]

As someone who read the manual like 10 times, I can't get a single bad hit so far.

Same here, I feel for the people who are apparently having struggles, but I've been soaring with ease since day 1 with my tempest with both the wand and my torches (though I'm heavily preferring the wand). As far as manual vapes go, it's without a doubt the easiest one I've ever used. I just plop it in my wand and let it time out at my preferred "temp", or I simply use the VI/Disks as intended and I'm getting fantastic hits with ease. I am actually really surprised to see some people struggle with this, and I hope they can figure it out soon!

 

[Custom Flower Hardware]

 

[AndyO]

Crazy how quick your impression on something can change.

I've been salty on the Tempest since I got it. I had the disc/spring issue and had to wait for replacements. My wooden stem was eating o-rings. I was combusting a stupid amount. I couldn't get the ball retaining screens in.

As of today though I think I've got it sussed. I don't know for certain whether there was a burr in bowl retaining screen thread - but I "scraped" it out using the same method that I was advised to scrape the wooden stem with, and bugger me if I can't now screw the bowl retaining screen in.

I think I've also got the Wand sussed a little better, and I'm quite happy with the hits I'm getting now.

This is easily the happiest I've been with it since it arrived! I'm still using it about as basically as you can, but I'm encouraged to keep playing with it. Thanks to everyone who had advice about the bowl retaining screen.