Discontinued Thermovape Cera

[OF]

quick cleaning tip :
A normal tooth pick fits perfectly trough the holes of your mouth piece tip's air inlets
so you can just pull it trough from one side to another and taking all (if any?) debris
with it.

Great suggestion, while I use pipe cleaners, tooth picks are more common and cheaper.....

Two suggestions though, break the tip off one end first so you have a square end to push junk with rather than a point that will just 'iron' it into the side walls making it harder to remove. I'd also suggest the first passage to do is the vertical one that's blind at the bottom. Poke the junk in the center passage down into the junction so it can get pushed out, leaving it alone will catch up with you.

OF

 

[JCat]

Great suggestion, while I use pipe cleaners, tooth picks are more common and cheaper.....

Two suggestions though, break the tip off one end first so you have a square end to push junk with rather than a point that will just 'iron' it into the side walls making it harder to remove. I'd also suggest the first passage to do is the vertical one that's blind at the bottom. Poke the junk in the center passage down into the junction so it can get pushed out, leaving it alone will catch up with you.

OF

I use pipe cleaners like OF

I gotta' say ... I thought that the Cera was a step down from my other portable vaporizers when I was in Jamaica (harder to get good sized clouds quickly and efficiently), but did marvel while there at the smoothness and lack of throat/mouth irritation for no water conditioning.

Now that I'm back and have already mastered my Cera technique, but have tried some good ole' Canadian Cannabis in it, it might be my favourite portable for use with no water conditioning. It gets great Clouds and has great taste with no irritation when using high-quality meds! (ie. I might not have had any better luck with the INH004 or Solo creating good sized Clouds with the quality of the herbs in Jamaica).

The simple fact that I've used the Cera more than once today (because I like it and not because it's my only option ...) definitely speaks highly of it ... I'm a "go-with-the-flow" type of guy so am not thinking about it too consciously but do find myself going back to it ... we'll see if this persists after a month or so.

I can't remember off the top of my head which member felt his Cera worked better with a black O-ring around the heater core tight to the body, but I have a theory on why this might be ... if one puts the Cera cap on tight, and the tip is pushed down a little in the mouthpiece, then the only intake from bowl to tip is through the 4-slits at the top of the core which if the bowl is packed well would have minimal air-flow (if one ensures that the tip is fully pulled tight into the top of the cap, this wouldn't be the case, but I find mine does have a tendency to drift down an 1/16-1/8" when inhaling ... I avoid this by making sure my tip is covered to the mouthpiece with the silicone for cooling and also keeps the tip from sliding down). So long story short ... by adding the black O-ring it lifts the mouthpiece and tip up about another 1/16" which would prevent the restricting of airflow in the notches ... and would draw air from all around the bowl but more so in the notches ...) ... just my 2 cents on this matter long after the discussion is over

JCat

Edit:

Another thing I'm going to try, although I wish I could figure something out apart from the stainless stell screen, is to pack the bud down and add a stainless steel screen on top to prevent it from "sucking up" from the bowl after packing down (If one REALLY packs it tight this can be avoided maybe but then you're spilling herb all over while loading as it would have to be overflowing initially before the re-packing down after initial heating/drying). The biggest limiting factor I find in getting good Clouds is if the contents of your bowl "sucks up" to the top as one ... than more air goes around it than through it which prevents good vapor production so to get good production one has to inhale lightly or it gets sucked up although inhaling harder would yield more vapor if it didn't get sucked up ... man ... am I ever RAMBLING .... oh well ... hopefully everyone got something out of all that eh? (like my Canadian twist to end it )

 

[BLAZING OG]

This was posted today by TET.........

Closing In

Thanks for checking in with us here at ThermoVape! We are getting very close to being completely caught up with all orders to date! Tomorrow will be another shipping day for us with more Titaniums going out than anything else; so long as more batteries arrive!
​Next week will entail most of the January shipments, and if all goes well here, maybe even start on February back orders! ​
​As a side note, we will be putting up some guides on cleaning and troubleshooting of the Cera device soon. They will be located under the "Cera" tab on the homepage.
​Your support and patience is greatly appreciated.​
ThermoVape
​

 

[JCat]

... just continuing the thoughts from the end of the last post ... the main reason the air flows around the load when it is not 100% full and in contact with the top of the mouthpiece is that when the load lifts, since the bowl is "bowl shaped" as opposed to cylindrical at the top section, when it sucks up it results in a gap surrounding the load whereas if the top section (30-40%?) of the bowl were cylindrical as opposed to concave, it would prevent the air-space around the load and result in better vapor production at lower temperatures with more even vaporization ....

(just want to qualify those thoughts that this is all my hypothesis based on my observations/experimentation with the current LL core ... I'm trying to figure out a way to better test/validate the hypothesis )

Edit:

Ok ... just vaped a last bowl in my Cera for the night-cap (after quite a few MiniVAP bowls ...) ... loaded (and measured) 0.20g into the bowl at a mid-fine grind after a good heat up (about 1 minute than drew some air through by just sitting the mouthpiece slightly on and breathing in for maybe 10 seconds with nothing in there ... then loaded it up.

Started with a slow to mid-fast inhale (accelerating than slowing down trying to feel-out the temperature ...) ... than exhaled a good little bit of vapor.

Then proceeded to pack down a little and gave a good slow inhale for a good length of time and exhaled a significant amount of vapor (moderate cloud) ... this was maybe a 15-20 second inhale.

Slightly packed down again and poked a hole in the middle with a bamboo stir-stick first and gave another good couple hauls 2nd with much harder pull then the first and both resulted in LARGE vapor clouds. At that point the mouthpiece was getting hot (maybe a 5 minute session?) and I dumped the load and it was a nice dark chocolate brown.

Worked wonderfully for this little 0.20g 0f some pretty nice Jack Herer I put in!

 

[Savilion]

I m having trouble with restricted draws, a screw fell out at the bottom when the cart screws into the body is loose. I have boiled it and ISO bath and still it is really hard to draw from. Especially though glass. Any ideas? EO cart by the way.

 

[PB88123]

How many hits to a gram are people getting with high quality BHO? Say inhaling for 5-10 seconds at a time.

 

[darkrom]

I'm thinking of ordering the LL cera once I get a paypal payment I'm waiting on. Is it safe to say I should expect to wait a month?

If I order it WITH the charger and battery, will those hold up shipping at all? I can order a battery and charger somewhere else if it will.

 

[Savilion]

I am also having issues with long warm up times with full battery, I am getting wispy vapor before 3 or 4 mins then i get strong vapor for about a min or 2 then underneath the cart gets super hot . Any ideas


Also one side of my charger is not working. Its not lighting up at all.

 

[odogg]

I just hope those awaited for batteries at TET make it in today..I hope. I want to see the different wrapping on these new set of batteries

 

[xclarryx]

now that some ceras are starting to get out to the customers, seems like quite a few people are having problems with theirs...

 

[leetmode]

Having a lot of trouble this morning, for some reason the switch will not want to back into the body all the way. I don't know how this happened since prior to this morning it was very easy for me to screw and unscrew the switch but now it takes a lot of effort to get it to screw in and it will not go all the way. I've tried several times, cleaned both threads on the body and switch. I checked the threads and everything seems aligned, none of them are bent out of place. I really have no idea what else to do, I really don't want to send anything back after waiting for so long .

Can someone please help?

 

[Skeena]

It is probably the vocal minority making it seem worse than it is

 

[OF]

I m having trouble with restricted draws, a screw fell out at the bottom when the cart screws into the body is loose. I have boiled it and ISO bath and still it is really hard to draw from. Especially though glass. Any ideas? EO cart by the way.

There is no doubt about it, draw is restricted by design. If you look real close you can see that about half the vents are blocked in the oil cart (same connector part in both). Has this changed any from new? There is a possibility one or more is plugged inside I guess. How was in new (it will be more restricted than a LL core for sure. I'm not following the screw missing part, but if it's one of the four holding the base in the cart that will not keep it from working OK (in fact I think Tim was doing this on his personal one for a while), it actually increases airflow a bit.

I'm thinking of ordering the LL cera once I get a paypal payment I'm waiting on. Is it safe to say I should expect to wait a month?

If I order it WITH the charger and battery, will those hold up shipping at all? I can order a battery and charger somewhere else if it will.

I think a month is realistic, maybe optimistic by a bit but not much. The backlog is being worked down at an increasing rate it seems. Yes, it seems batteries at least have been causing temporary delays (a few days the last few times?). One could, as you suggest, buy a little insurance against that with a separate order today........

I am also having issues with long warm up times with full battery, I am getting wispy vapor before 3 or 4 mins then i get strong vapor for about a min or 2 then underneath the cart gets super hot . Any ideas

Also one side of my charger is not working. Its not lighting up at all.

Which cart are we talking here, please? LL I assume? Do you have experience with T1 or Evolution? It could be technique or hardware (or I guess it could even be both?), let's see if we can sort it out? They seem to work awfully well for owners once the problems are sorted, no reason why we can do that.

The charger sounds like a problem for sure, you want both channels I assume..... I'd open it up and poke around as is my nature, I think maybe you should ask TV for a replacement and not worry?

now that some ceras are starting to get out to the customers, seems like quite a few people are having problems with theirs...

I guess 'quite a few' is a subjective term. How many do you think there are out of how many? How hard/long is it to get them resolved? How many never are? What would you consider normal for such products and owners?

I haven't kept count, but seems to me that most every problem that's come up here has been fairly quickly resolved through either technique, better understanding or repair (in more or less that order). I don't think there's a single guy who hasn't gotten sorted out pretty quickly, could be wrong there? LOTS of guys report that while they had problems at first, now, with no change of hardware at all, things are just fine...... Pretty hard to blame Cera for that.

IMO this is very normal for a new product of this sort and lots of users not yet familiar with it. I deal with it with Omicron/Persei and others.....new user problems are not unique to this product. Lots of unrealistic expectations out there.

Readers are encouraged to consider those direct owner reports over speculation (now that we have more of them to work on). The good side is I guess I'm largely off the hook for having misrepresented Cera? There's too many of us now to secretly pay us all off IMO.

Having a lot of trouble this morning, for some reason the switch will not want to back into the body all the way. I don't know how this happened since prior to this morning it was very easy for me to screw and unscrew the switch but now it takes a lot of effort to get it to screw in and it will not go all the way. I've tried several times, cleaned both threads on the body and switch. I checked the threads and everything seems aligned, none of them are bent out of place. I really have no idea what else to do, I really don't want to send anything back after waiting for so long .

Can someone please help?

We can try. Please, which version?

You cleaned the threads on both sides.....are they dry now? Both SS and Ti are famous for galling when dry.

TIA for the additional information.

In keeping with the topic above, I note "prior to this morning it was very easy for me to screw and unscrew", always a troubleshooting clue worth following. What's the old joke? "What was the last thing you did before the lights went out?"?

Hang in there, we'll sort it out.....I bet.

OF

 

[Sonics420]

It is probably the vocal minority making it seem worse than it is

idk bro seems like a lot of people, i still dont have a working unit after i threw down about 400$ last month.. thats some MONEY freal right?

 

[OF]

idk bro seems like a lot of people, i still dont have a working unit after i threw down about 400$ last month.. thats some MONEY freal right?

I guess I missed this one? What's the problem with it, please?

OF

 

[Savilion]

Ok I will explain my situation. (EO Cart) Yesterday I loaded around a .4 into the Cera from clean. The draws seemed more restricted then when i bought it new. I let the wax melt into the wafer and got some pretty decent hits after about 3 mins, Shut it down and charged the battery. When i woke up i figured the that i put in last night .4 would be enough for me to have another session. Put the battery in and timed the warm up time.

1:16 - first hit , wispy

1:50- not as wispy but no where near the hits i was able to get on my first load ever.


5:00- Still rather wispy , struggling to take hard hits , tried softer pulls as well nothing but wispy vapor. Underneath the cart could brand cattle, the switch starts to get warm but not hot. Same with the battery , Warm but not hot.

Do i really need to keep this thing that full? it seems to me that a .4 should go a bit further then 1 session that trails off at the end.

 

[leetmode]

We can try. Please, which version?

You cleaned the threads on both sides.....are they dry now? Both SS and Ti are famous for galling when dry.

TIA for the additional information.

In keeping with the topic above, I note "prior to this morning it was very easy for me to screw and unscrew", always a troubleshooting clue worth following. What's the old joke? "What was the last thing you did before the lights went out?"?

Hang in there, we'll sort it out.....I bet.

OF

Thanks for the quick reply OF, I have the Ti CEO.

Yes I did dry them down immediately after cleaning them, I used a damp cloth to clean BTW.

I'm sorry I'm not familiar with what TIA stands for haha.

Yeah before I used the Cera this morning, it was pretty easy for me to screw the switch in, it wasn't effort less but I had no where near as much trouble as I am having now. Yesterday afternoon I switched in a new battery, no problems with the switch then, and had a quick session then ran some errands and hung out with a few friends. I came back later on in the night and found the Cera on my desk right where I left it, so I'm sure it did not fall on the floor or something and no one was in my room to mess with it. I had another session before I fell asleep. This morning I opened the Cera to load it up with some oil, once that was done I unscrewed the switch to put in a fresh battery and found it difficult to unscrew. Since then I have not been able to get the switch back in all the way.

The best way I can describe what is happening is like this, if I turn the Cera upside down and place the unscrewed switch on it, I can give it about 1 or 1 1/2 turns with very little effort. After that it's almost as if something is blocking its way to go any further, it feels like metal grinding on metal, like I'm creating the threads for the screw for the first time by hand lol. I can get a few more turns like this before it is impossible to go any further.

 

[OF]

Do i really need to keep this thing that full? it seems to me that a .4 should go a bit further then 1 session that trails off at the end.

Yes, I think that's likely the cause. It sounds like you're a heavy user, how much of that .4 do you figure you used? I find .25 over dry is basically empty.

For sure something is out of whack. A good fill and charged battery should be giving you good vapor inside of 10 or 15 seconds, more than most can deal with by 20 or so. Running low can double those times, you're more than that by a long shot it seems.

How does the ceramic look? Does it look wet? Fully loaded it should not be at all easy to find the pores with a magnifier.

I also remain concerned about the unit not pulling like new. The only answer that I can see right now is fouling. The metal has not changed, at least I think that's a safe assumption?

Thanks for the quick reply OF, I have the Ti CEO.

I'm sorry I'm not familiar with what TIA stands for haha.

The best way I can describe what is happening is like this, if I turn the Cera upside down and place the unscrewed switch on it, I can give it about 1 or 1 1/2 turns with very little effort. After that it's almost as if something is blocking its way to go any further, it feels like metal grinding on metal, like I'm creating the threads for the screw for the first time by hand lol. I can get a few more turns like this before it is impossible to go any further.

You're welcome, thanks for the additional information. I was 'smelling' Ti.....

TIA is Thanks In Advance, OM (Old Man).....sorry too much time at sea in the days of abbreviating radio messages I guess......FWIW.

I think we're looking at galling, not uncommon. I don't know what TV uses, but IIRC the usual lubes are wax based. How about an experiment? Maybe candle wax even, or paste floor wax? Not ideal lubes but handy and easy enough to clean off if it does no good. Motor oil or even cooking oil is worth a try IMO. I'm betting it makes a big difference.

Forcing it is not a good idea, once galling gets going it can be a bugger to clear. You might even be able to see a rough section part way into the threads?

Please KMA (Keep Me Advised). Is that enough TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) for one post?

Thanks and good luck.

OF

 

[Savilion]

Yes, I think that's likely the cause. It sounds like you're a heavy user, how much of that .4 do you figure you used? I find .25 over dry is basically empty.

For sure something is out of whack. A good fill and charged battery should be giving you good vapor inside of 10 or 15 seconds, more than most can deal with by 20 or so. Running low can double those times, you're more than that by a long shot it seems.

How does the ceramic look? Does it look wet? Fully loaded it should not be at all easy to find the pores with a magnifier.

I also remain concerned about the unit not pulling like new. The only answer that I can see right now is fouling. The metal has not changed, at least I think that's a safe assumption?
OF

Thanks for the speedy reply OF,

I am a heavy user but not a experienced one with Thermovape, I m unfortunately able to blow bigger clouds off my modded gpen then the cera. I really wanted to get away from the Gpen.

The ceramic looks dry as of now, I can see pores and when I do put a load in it melts into the ceramic.Its just really black.

The cart where it screws into the body seems to be kinda loose, is this a concern?

Kinda scared to waste more wax...

 

[OF]

Thanks for the speedy reply OF,

I am a heavy user but not a experienced one with Thermovape, I m unfortunately able to blow bigger clouds off my modded gpen then the cera. I really wanted to get away from the Gpen.

The ceramic looks dry as of now, I can see pores and when I do put a load in it melts into the ceramic.Its just really black.

The cart where it screws into the body seems to be kinda loose, is this a concern?

Kinda scared to waste more wax...

You're welcome, glad I have the time right now. Let's see if we can get a handle on this.

No, don't worry about play in the connector, it has to be there so stuff can changes size with heat, otherwise the ceramic would probably crack.

Given reasonable concentrate you too should get scary big clouds with the right technique. Did you see the 'Noah videos'? I don't blame you for wanting to get away from G Pen, IMO you've got the tool to do that big time, it's just not there yet.

Looking dry is a problem I think. I wouldn't put too much stock in color, some concentrates stain the ceramic right off it seems, performance is still just fine usually. I just looked at both my EO cores (both working just fine right now). One looks wet, almost like wet enamel paint wet, the other looks more like it's been dipped in wax and hung up to dry.

Another marker is slight overfilling shows up as minor plugging if the oil settles down to the bottom (if you stand it up to cool, not lay it down). I assume you don't see that?

I'm working around to suggesting just what you don't want, add some more wax. Push it up to the point it starts to flood or even a little more. No worries, you should be able to vape it out again. I know a guy that loads a whole gram in his, seriously. He showed me the other day. Standing hardened wax over the top of the ceramic. Solid plug. It takes him 'about a minute' to get it all melted so he can draw on it.... I would not suggest anything like that, but I mention it to say I don't think there's a danger in overfilling (past leaking of course).

But it should be wet looking and get to vapor much faster. I think what you're doing is using the very last of the goods burried deep in the ceramic. It's taking a long time to heat enough to get to it and get it out. More oil 'closer to the fire' will fix that I think?

Good luck.

OF

 

[leetmode]

You're welcome, thanks for the additional information. I was 'smelling' Ti.....

TIA is Thanks In Advance, OM (Old Man).....sorry too much time at sea in the days of abbreviating radio messages I guess......FWIW.

I think we're looking at galling, not uncommon. I don't know what TV uses, but IIRC the usual lubes are wax based. How about an experiment? Maybe candle wax even, or paste floor wax? Not ideal lubes but handy and easy enough to clean off if it does no good. Motor oil or even cooking oil is worth a try IMO. I'm betting it makes a big difference.

Forcing it is not a good idea, once galling gets going it can be a bugger to clear. You might even be able to see a rough section part way into the threads?

Please KMA (Keep Me Advised). Is that enough TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) for one post?

Thanks and good luck.

OF

Aghh too many TLAs!! Brain overload!! haha

OF you're awesome man, if I could buy you a beer I would. I used some olive oil, all that I could find, and was able to get the switch in a bit more. After realizing what the word galling meant, and after being thoroughly pissed off that this damn switch would not get back in, I considered an old trick I used to use in my high school band days (I played a tuba, yes I was/am a nerd, but I was/am the coolest of them all). Any instrument with a sliding valve/piston has the tendency to get stuck when it's not properly lubricated and/or stored away for a while. We used to just hit the bottom of the valves with rubber hammers till they become unstuck. Anyway I hit the bottom of the switch with a hammer, and some Bounty in between, until I was able to get the switch all the way back in, works like brand new again.

Some words of advice: if you encounter the same problem as I have and plan to do what I did to get it unstuck, do not hit the switch and Cera on their side, you could end up popping off the bottom metal portion of the Cera which would break the wiring inside. Hit the bottom of the switch, just be careful not smash the thing, I'm not responsible if you do lol.

Thanks again OF.


BTW does anyone have any advice on getting rid of scuff marks on the body? I want my baby to look brand new again lol.

 

[Skeena]

Got my extra batteries from here and they only took a week http://www.fasttech.com/products/1420/10001980/1233700

but I am still waiting to try them out

 

[Savilion]

Ok did another test, Full battery. DMM reads 4.6V or somewhere around there. I am using the TET 3.7V 2900mah battery.

Did a warm up , put my ear up to it at about 20 seconds and could hear movement in the cart.

Loaded it up with a nice size piece of wax about a .2 It started melting into the core.


Took a hit after 40 seconds...super tasty but not much vapor

second hit same thing....Third Hit BOOM ....big cloud. This is after say 30 seconds after it had melted. I pop the cap off to see whats happening and the wax is bubbling over the ceramic ....close it and take a few more good hits. After about a min it starts to tapper off again and get really wispy.


After about 5 Mins I take the battery out and check the DMM and it reads 3.9, I am holding the switch down the entire time.

I m not sure if this is normal, but I feel I can stretch my wax out longer with the Gpen or even My solo with the wax in a Rolling paper. It could be I have a bad cart, It could be the way I m loading it , or it could be my pockets saying wow this thing eats way to much wax to keep consistent vapor.

 

[OF]

Thanks again OF.

BTW does anyone have any advice on getting rid of scuff marks on the body? I want my baby to look brand new again lol.

You're welcome. Glad you got it sorted out, a bit drastic, but it seems you have the touch and results count. Congrats.

The scuffing I had was metal ground into the surface. I had good luck with lots of lather and the plastic 'Scotchbrite like' scrub pad in the sink. The one I used isn't abrasive as real Scotchbrite is, it's the version normally sold for doing dishes. But the combination of soap, hot water and a bit of scrubbing did the trick for me. Strip it down (no battery, cap or cart) and dry it off well of course. I hope this helps.

Did a warm up , put my ear up to it at about 20 seconds and could hear movement in the cart.

Loaded it up with a nice size piece of wax about a .2 It started melting into the core.


second hit same thing....Third Hit BOOM ....big cloud. This is after say 30 seconds after it had melted. I pop the cap off to see whats happening and the wax is bubbling over the ceramic ....close it and take a few more good hits. After about a min it starts to tapper off again and get really wispy.

I m not sure if this is normal, but I feel I can stretch my wax out longer with the Gpen or even My solo with the wax in a Rolling paper. It could be I have a bad cart, It could be the way I m loading it , or it could be my pockets saying wow this thing eats way to much wax to keep consistent vapor.

Cool. It still sound like you're running too lean, but adding more improved things a lot it seems? No other changes?

From the description above it sure sounds like it finally got melted in properly but I still don't think it was enough to keep it going long.

IMO you shouldn't "hear movement in the cart" when it's properly loaded. You should just get vapor, lots and lots of vapor. That's the common experience anyway.

I understand the cost/economy idea. But Cera is not 'eating' oil, leaking it or making it disappear. You're getting back out what you put in. I think you're just not properly charging it with enough to keep it well fed. Thick clouds cost more than thin ones. Gotta feed the Bulldog you know.

I'm glad it's improved, IMO there's still a ways to go to get to 'the sweet spot', but it's your call if you want to press on or abandon the effort.

Best wishes.

OF

 

[Savilion]

Let me correct my self, If I put my ear up to the cart during warm up I hear small crackling.

I understand I get out what i put in, It just feels like I was getting a lot more per load 2 weeks ago when it was bran new.

I just inspected the cart when it cooled down, I now see a bit of oil coming out of the bottom where it screws in to the body, also I see oil on the threads that the cart screws into VERY MINOR but I do see it.

I m not convinced it is a problem with me not loading it enough, as I have had 2 sessions and ran though a .6 and both sessions I have been left kinda disappointed with maybe 5 hits of strong vapor between the 2 sessions.

If you suggest I try to load it up even more I will do so. Just letting you get the full picture before I do.

Again thanks for your help...If your ever in Canada I owe you a beer or a bottle of maple syrup.