Discontinued The Venus Apollo

[Alan Partridge]

I'm still trying to figure mine out as well. The problem is after 2 sessions of tinkering with it I'm completely wrecked. It has put me to bed early the last 2 nights. I feel like there may be too much outside air entering the air path by the herb chamber. I'm in the process of hollowing out a wooden door to cover the herb chamber while in use. I'm hoping it will add a little draw resistance

YES! Lol this is the problem, I tried four full bowls the very first day and had to go bed early as well. The effect is definitely there, and the taste, just not the clouds yet.

 

[marduk]

I'm still trying to figure mine out as well. The problem is after 2 sessions of tinkering with it I'm completely wrecked. It has put me to bed early the last 2 nights. I feel like there may be too much outside air entering the air path by the herb chamber. I'm in the process of hollowing out a wooden door to cover the herb chamber while in use. I'm hoping it will add a little draw resistance

And you'll get the added bonus of preventing burns from accidentally touching the hot chamber.

 

[Fission]

Of all the problems to have, this doesn't sound like the worst haha. Depending on how cooperative my post office is in sorting the mail quickly, I may be picking my Apollo up today. If not, then tomorrow. Very excited for what Ville said might be the most beautiful dark oak unit so far.

 

[radiant34]

I'm still trying to figure mine out as well. The problem is after 2 sessions of tinkering with it I'm completely wrecked. It has put me to bed early the last 2 nights. I feel like there may be too much outside air entering the air path by the herb chamber. I'm in the process of hollowing out a wooden door to cover the herb chamber while in use. I'm hoping it will add a little draw resistance

Tell me how that wooden door works out! I was thinking of many ways to make this better ( like I do with all vapes ) and you're right there is more airflow from the opened Up part but that brings in colder air too (I think, functions as a cooling mech?) speaking of cooling units you can use this thing with the snb cooling units just prop it up on the tube connects really well and cools the vapor considerably more (if using short mouthpeice)

 

[mrbonsai420]

Damn Smokey, Is the Apollo so good that it made you sell your Minivap?? I might take that off your hands until I get this I actually wanted the Zeus but I waited too long so my sister pre-ordered me the Milaana.
So, If I get one of these ordered for my birthday now about when does it ship? I'm assuming before the FF2 that I am also considering (may). They are bout the same price too. Hard to compare such different beasts especially when 1 doesn't exist yet but I wonder how these 2 will compare?

I want a new toy!!!! I may just have her buy me a freakin' Mighty and be done with it? But I hate buying several year old tech when these new techs are coming out. Or have her pay full price for the Cloud evo and quit waiting for the 4/20 sale. Man deciding on birthday presents is stressful!

So Back to the Apollo. Someone tell me when I can get it and why I must have it over the others. I need to be pushed!

 

[sasNW]

I haven't seen it mentioned(apologies if I missed it) but I'm curious what the bowl size is? Anyone know the max ground material that can be used without over packing it? Hoping to get one ordered today

 

[Alan Partridge]

The bowl is MASSIVE. Somewhere between the volcano and the Mighty.

So far after limited testing I'd rather a mighty or MiniVap. This view may change when I figure this batshit insane device out.

 

[Nssl]

When using small loads I'm getting better results by putting a domed screen on top to keep it held down.

 

[villekille2]

I'm having a hard time getting this dialled in.

Firstly if you leave it on max with stuff in there, it'll combust without even taking a draw!

I've been trying it around 6-8. It seems too cool to get decent vapour to start. After a while, no matter what level it's on it'll get really hot, and you have to dial it right back.

Any tips?

You must remember that the power level setting 1-10 is not a a choice of temperature. Actually, after the warm up is done, vape buzzes and signals that it is ready for vapors, the power level setting doesn't make ANY difference, it is all about the warm up at that point and those two settings are not connected in any way, perfectly independent. Warm up is done always at 100% power which with the default bulb means about 23W power and the temperature reached is all about the time setting of warmup. What happens then, if the temps stay at that point, go lower or higher, that is dependent on the set power level, and the amount of boost.

It has three dimensions, warm up, maintenance power 1-10 and the boost. And the results are a combination of this. If your vape is not hot enough to start with, and then gets too hot even if you use it normally and take hits, then I think your warm up is too short and your maintenance power is actually way too high, as you would then use it to reach the level you should have already in the beginning. And this way your temps are rising and go past the point you would need, and as the session goes on, things get too hot as you wrote. It's not really that complicated once you get the idea and principles how it works. And in Apollo I added two extra setting options for warm up to have different ones easily, with a press of a single button to choose when the Apollo is turned on.

 

[Fission]

Just got my Apollo, and just like Ville said, she is indeed beautiful. Can't take her for a test spin quite yet, as I've got a big assignment to finish tonight before I can vape at all, but I'll definitely be posting some pictures and thoughts soon.

One thing though that might be worth noting is that the wall plug for the included charger is for the european style of outlet. I know a lot of you have 18650 chargers already so that won't be an issue, but for some this might be an important consideration. I'm enlisting my German friend who has an adapter for the moment while I order one of my own.

 

[villekille2]

I received the EU -> US adapters same moment as your package was shipped. So from now on there will be a simple adapter included. I didn't remember this difference in the connectors in time and it took some 2 weeks to receive them.

 

[GTAVaper]

I am very happy that a quality charger was included in the package...... Xtar makes great chargers!

Edit: Can anyone with an Apollo, who also has a Mighty, try the Mighty's stainless steel oil pad in the Apollo chamber and report back on how this works for smaller load sizes?

 

[Techn!d0n]

I want one so bad!

 

[AtomicPB]

Tell me how that wooden door works out! I was thinking of many ways to make this better ( like I do with all vapes ) and you're right there is more airflow from the opened Up part but that brings in colder air too (I think, functions as a cooling mech?) speaking of cooling units you can use this thing with the snb cooling units just prop it up on the tube connects really well and cools the vapor considerably more (if using short mouthpeice)

@radiant34 this sounds extremely interesting. There has been a similiar mod suggestion in the Grasshopper Thread and it seemed to have worked out extremely well. Especially interesting since there is no adapter for water yet and it would be easier for on the way use. And one can buy the Storz & Bickel cooling units seperately for a reasonable price. Thanks for the idea, I am really considering a snb cu now.

Did you modify the cu in any way and which one you think fits better (crafty or mighty)? And of course ... ... would you mind sharing pictures? Would be really interesting to see this great mod idea.

 

[stickstones]

ima slap the next fucker who comes in here and says they just got their Apollo but can't use it right now...waaaaaay too much of that in this thread!

 

[smokey_da_vape]

I'm still waiting for my tracking number
Can anyone say if the size affects portability at all? I'm always on the go and am hoping that the Apollo fits in an inside jacket pocket comfortably.

 

[Nssl]

Ok so I just finished a session with the wood cover on. Huuuge difference. It doesn't make a perfect seal and still let's in some air but it definitely restricts the airflow enough to make a big difference in vapor production. I was consistently getting much bigger hits than before. Here's a few pics. The color is way off. Thinking about sanding it back to bare wood to match the button panel.
http://imgur.com/a/mqJwQ

 

[Techn!d0n]

Did you make that door?

 

[Nssl]

Did you make that door?

Yeah. Unfortunately I don't have the skill or tools to make it seal completely but it definitely make a big difference and it's nice not having to worry about how you hold it

 

[Fission]

That's actually a really neat mod! With that cover, I'm guessing there's a bit more draw resistance, right? That would force the hot air to move more slowly over the herb which gives better extraction. I suppose then you could probably accomplish the same thing by self-regulating the force that you draw with, but that's still a nifty way to help fix things!

 

[Mister G]

If you hate clicking away off the forum for pics like I do:

Really nice looking mod!

 

[Joel W.]

I was playing around with some old atty fittings and I found one of these off the rose v2 clone that I don't use. This piece seats really well over the outside of the topless herb chamber.

The other end lets the LSV wand's basket screen almost touch the herb chamber screen.

It is the same diameter as the stock glass and looks like it was made for the Apollo when installed.

I can get vapor in about 45 seconds with cooler hits. It lets me remove the wand from the heat in between hits. Keep it on 3-4 power in between hits and fire the boost when hitting the stem.. Adds a bit of restriction.

Just another option. .

 

[villekille2]

Interesting things. If the draw restriction is something beneficial, maybe you can try just to cover the back panel hole with a tape for testing purposes as then it would get the air from the side slot and this would be much more easy. And that is also a very easy mod then to add the draw restriction, just to unscrew the back panel and insert a piece of metal to restrict the back panel air flow. There is 2 meshes covering that hole at the back, maybe a piece of aluminum drink can sheet between these meshes will look just fine to the outside and this will restrict about as much as restricting the side slot, as I feel it is about 50/50 how much air comes from the side and from the back. Just make sure you remove batteries before opening the back panel, and make sure you have a correct screwdriver PZ1.

One customer explained to me that he had tried minivap flexicones and baskets and he got very good vapor production with only 40 s warm up and power level 2. So probably there is room for improvement in that area to make the Apollo even better.

"
I had the idea of taking the minivap flexicones and baskets and put them on top of the bottom part of the ss chamber, as you can see in the pictures. "
"
And wow! I reduced the heating time to 40 sec, heat to level 2 and use the boost at standard strength only when drawing, it makes huge clouds with no effort from very little material...
The flexicone adds an orange color to the glass tube that looks amazing, the fact that the air is forced to pass through the material that remains blocked in position on top gives a more forced extraction, huge clouds until the end"

 

[YungLeaner]

How did the vacuum test work if the vapor is hard to get densely? I want one so bad. So pretty.

 

[villekille2]

I think the only difference technically in that prototype (vacuum video) was that there was no hole at the back panel, all air entered from the side cutout.

here are some photos of the earlier mentioned mod