Transformer Tubes (Formerly Steele Concept)
- Thread starter Steele Concept
- Start date
You got a Mobius Tube eh? Nice, dudes ion matrix is probably the dopest bub I've ever seen.
They stay cold for a pretty long time. If its just you using a tube taking a couple rips here and there I'd say at least an hour. The effect is most intense toward the beginning of this time frame of course. There are also many factors at hand here... Temp and volume of vapor/smoke, ambient temp etc.
Without going super nerd on this simple question I would say simply an hour. You are going to want to ensure the cubes are frozen for several hours beforehand as per the flight manual on my site.
They stay cold for a pretty long time. If its just you using a tube taking a couple rips here and there I'd say at least an hour. The effect is most intense toward the beginning of this time frame of course. There are also many factors at hand here... Temp and volume of vapor/smoke, ambient temp etc.
Without going super nerd on this simple question I would say simply an hour. You are going to want to ensure the cubes are frozen for several hours beforehand as per the flight manual on my site.
That's a great idea. That's why I recommend most people buy 2 sets of cubes for swappage and convenience with the SC. You are good to go if you can only fit 2 or 3 at a time.
lwien
Well-Known Member
Smooooooooooooooth. Smoother than my mini-beaker by a pretty margin. Perfect size. I think I like the diffy with the verticle slots and a bit more drag.............I think. I'll have do a blind test tomorrow.
. A bit stoned right now..........more later.
Laters.............. (poof)
. A bit stoned right now..........more later.Laters.............. (poof)
Hmm, well I'm very interested in hearing about the poly mold injections. The initial investment is huge if you are buying a mold, but the returns in the long run should be exponential. A very interesting time in the life cycle of the SC and a good evolution to the SC business model...smart Steve. Keep us updated as things progress as this is quite a big deal overall.
Lwien - Glad to hear you liked the experience. I was very surprised at first just how big a difference the frozen cubes make. I mean I think it's not rocket science but people these days are obsessed with Percs. If you have a perc, why throw a bunch in there... Seems kinda redundant, I think the issue after moisture conditioning should focus then on cooling the vapor/smoke, that's my 2 cents.
Hoops - It is a pretty interesting time for sure. I try to keep everything as American as possible but may go overseas for PC injection molding. We are talking around $25,000 if done in the U.S. from what I've heard so far. I obviously cannot afford this tooling cost. The cubes currently come from overseas as they aren't manufactured in the U.S. I am also actively speaking with a quality supplier that does excellent work for a well known water pipe manufacturer here in the states. More details will be reviewed as more is known.
I am mainly concerned with keeping my American dollars going to my local welder who has a wonderful business and family. He's not cheap but as you guys can see the stainless and welds are top notch. American Steel, American Glass. These higher cost parts mean a lot more to me coming from the U.S. than China. The Stainless base is by far the most expensive to produce for obvious reasons.
Well off to assemble and ship more units. Stay classy all.
Hoops - It is a pretty interesting time for sure. I try to keep everything as American as possible but may go overseas for PC injection molding. We are talking around $25,000 if done in the U.S. from what I've heard so far. I obviously cannot afford this tooling cost. The cubes currently come from overseas as they aren't manufactured in the U.S. I am also actively speaking with a quality supplier that does excellent work for a well known water pipe manufacturer here in the states. More details will be reviewed as more is known.
I am mainly concerned with keeping my American dollars going to my local welder who has a wonderful business and family. He's not cheap but as you guys can see the stainless and welds are top notch. American Steel, American Glass. These higher cost parts mean a lot more to me coming from the U.S. than China. The Stainless base is by far the most expensive to produce for obvious reasons.
Well off to assemble and ship more units. Stay classy all.
lwien
Well-Known Member
Ok, here's a bit more.
While I still maintain that the SC tube provided the smoothest hit that I have ever experienced using cold water and ice, I did notice a bit of a lack of potency from when I either dry vape directly from the vape, or vape through very warm water, which is what my preferred method of vaping has been for over a year now, so..............tonight I won't use the cubes and will try the SC with very warm water to see how that works.
The bit of lack of potency I'll assume has to be the added condensation that takes place when vapor hits something very cold along with the added diffusion that I wasn't getting from my mini-beaker.
Will report back again either tonight or tomorrow with the results.
But again, to reiterate, the workmanship is impeccable and the size, for me, is just about perfect and the size and angle of the of the stem holder is also perfect......for me. If one is looking for a smooth hitting indestructible bong that is virtually impossible to knock over due to the VERY heavy base, I recommend this highly.
Oh, one more thing. In the flight manual, Steve suggests priming the base of the vape with very cold water (water that has been put in the freezer for 10 minutes) for a minute, and then dumping that water and refilling which allows the stainless steel to get very cold and maintain a cold temp thru the vaping session. I would imagine that the same principle would hold true with hot water, and that the bong would retain the heat longer, which for me, could be a major advantage.
While I still maintain that the SC tube provided the smoothest hit that I have ever experienced using cold water and ice, I did notice a bit of a lack of potency from when I either dry vape directly from the vape, or vape through very warm water, which is what my preferred method of vaping has been for over a year now, so..............tonight I won't use the cubes and will try the SC with very warm water to see how that works.
The bit of lack of potency I'll assume has to be the added condensation that takes place when vapor hits something very cold along with the added diffusion that I wasn't getting from my mini-beaker.
Will report back again either tonight or tomorrow with the results.
But again, to reiterate, the workmanship is impeccable and the size, for me, is just about perfect and the size and angle of the of the stem holder is also perfect......for me. If one is looking for a smooth hitting indestructible bong that is virtually impossible to knock over due to the VERY heavy base, I recommend this highly.
Oh, one more thing. In the flight manual, Steve suggests priming the base of the vape with very cold water (water that has been put in the freezer for 10 minutes) for a minute, and then dumping that water and refilling which allows the stainless steel to get very cold and maintain a cold temp thru the vaping session. I would imagine that the same principle would hold true with hot water, and that the bong would retain the heat longer, which for me, could be a major advantage.
Nice report and observations Lwien. I use an LSV myself at 3:00 o clock. My method when vaping is to use the higher heat setting and rotate the vape around the herbal material. I use frozen cubes and just cold water from the faucet and generally get a 1 hit TKO using high end herbal material with Afghani x Hindu Kush genetics. Perhaps just try cold water from the faucet or warm water as opposed to freezing water.
I'm interested in hearing your experiments. Some variables here... Frozen cubes vs no cubes and freezing vs cold vs warm water. The cubes even when not frozen act as a splash guard of sorts so they are nice to have in there. I'd like to try some warm water myself, I remember reading that thread about warm water rips being more potent and sometimes more pleasing. Hehehe thanks for your contributions Lwien they are appreciated.
EDIT: I was just thinking in addition to warm water in the base one could also soak the cubes in hot water as well, ahhhh so many possibilities lol. Someone will have to start a log of their observations and preferences.
I'm interested in hearing your experiments. Some variables here... Frozen cubes vs no cubes and freezing vs cold vs warm water. The cubes even when not frozen act as a splash guard of sorts so they are nice to have in there. I'd like to try some warm water myself, I remember reading that thread about warm water rips being more potent and sometimes more pleasing. Hehehe thanks for your contributions Lwien they are appreciated.
EDIT: I was just thinking in addition to warm water in the base one could also soak the cubes in hot water as well, ahhhh so many possibilities lol. Someone will have to start a log of their observations and preferences.
I'm definitely interested in hearing how this worked out. It's PM vape time in Cali 
lwien
Well-Known Member
I think I just confirmed to myself last night that vaporbonging with hot water is the ONLY way..........for me. I've found that the difference between vaping with cold water and ice versus hot water is not subtle but major, both in the terms of potency as well as smoothness. It was true from my mini-beaker and is even more apparent with the SC.
The SC tube did amazingly well. It not only didn't fog up as much as my glass mini which is a MAJOR plus for gauging ones hits, but the length and angle of the downstem holder allowed me to actually see the bud being vaped away in the WPA............something that I could never do with the mini.
Question for Steve. The base is extremely heavy, which is a good thing, but it raises a question. Can the tube be handled by holding the tube without any concern of the base detaching from the bottom of the tube?
Great bong. Like it a lot.
The SC tube did amazingly well. It not only didn't fog up as much as my glass mini which is a MAJOR plus for gauging ones hits, but the length and angle of the downstem holder allowed me to actually see the bud being vaped away in the WPA............something that I could never do with the mini.
Question for Steve. The base is extremely heavy, which is a good thing, but it raises a question. Can the tube be handled by holding the tube without any concern of the base detaching from the bottom of the tube?
Great bong. Like it a lot.
Glad to hear the SC is serving it's purpose, imma have to try some warm water when vaping for sure! The base weighs ~3 pounds and is sealed with a medical grade sealant with ~3,000 psi tensile strength. The PC slip fits 1" into the base so it has plenty of grip. This means it is safely handled from holding just the tube. That being said my preferred grip seems to be a pistol grip on the base with my forefinger on the SS downstem near the glass. I find it to be the most ergonomic grip.
I have stood over the unit with both feet on the base and grasped the polycarbonate attempting to deadlift it out of the steel. It's locked in. I even have curb stomped the polycarbonate attempting to free it from the base... No go. I'm an active 6 foot, 180 pound guy and could not break it so I'd say it passes the indestructible test.
It took me a while to find an appropriate strong FDA sealant but it does the trick. I'm not going to market something as indestructible if it breaks easily, hehehe. Along the way my machinist and I went from 1 to 3 welds on the bottom base and bored the stainless a full inch instead of the half inch we initially had for increased strength. I didn't want there being any ambiguity at hand as to whether this thing was tough or not
I have stood over the unit with both feet on the base and grasped the polycarbonate attempting to deadlift it out of the steel. It's locked in. I even have curb stomped the polycarbonate attempting to free it from the base... No go. I'm an active 6 foot, 180 pound guy and could not break it so I'd say it passes the indestructible test.
It took me a while to find an appropriate strong FDA sealant but it does the trick. I'm not going to market something as indestructible if it breaks easily, hehehe. Along the way my machinist and I went from 1 to 3 welds on the bottom base and bored the stainless a full inch instead of the half inch we initially had for increased strength. I didn't want there being any ambiguity at hand as to whether this thing was tough or not
I came home to nice surprise waiting at the door. Received my floor model version of the SC and couldn't be happier! I can pretty much see how this weekend is going to go...starting in about an hour. 
Lwien's review and opinions are detailed and accurate IME. I'm a bit more inclined to listen in than to try and add anything to what he's already said.
However, with my currently small (yet highly diffused) glass collection, I can try and provide some insight from a diffusion perspective in the next few days.
Out of the box the piece is well thought out from an engineering standpoint. I love the welds on the base itself, like a stack of coins toppled over in orderly fashion. Just as it should, very clean.
Steve - I'm assuming this is your newer perc plate? And, thank you one more time, gonna be a fun weekend...may just lock myself in the office with the SC.
Lwien's review and opinions are detailed and accurate IME. I'm a bit more inclined to listen in than to try and add anything to what he's already said.
However, with my currently small (yet highly diffused) glass collection, I can try and provide some insight from a diffusion perspective in the next few days.
Out of the box the piece is well thought out from an engineering standpoint. I love the welds on the base itself, like a stack of coins toppled over in orderly fashion. Just as it should, very clean.
Steve - I'm assuming this is your newer perc plate? And, thank you one more time, gonna be a fun weekend...may just lock myself in the office with the SC.
Glad to hear you appreciate the piece Hoops. It is indeed the newer perc plate, have a very lifted weekend 
Wow lwien, that's a great idea. It should be no problem at all as the sealant seals the PC into the Stainless is significantly above that heating point. The sealant is good up to 329 degrees fahrenheit according the manufacturer. Water boils at 212 and you'd be heating WAY below that temp as your ass would probably be headed to the hospital if you were taking boiling water pipe rips lol.
Have you looked into a hot plate? I like your solution as it's super clean and looks efficient for $29.99 w/ Amazon Prime.
This Mr. Coffee Warmer is a plug in warmer and a bit more Ghetto for $9.99 Amazon Prime shipped.
You could probably place the cubes seperately on the plate until you are ready for vape action as well.
Damn, +1 for clever thinking lwien.
Have you looked into a hot plate? I like your solution as it's super clean and looks efficient for $29.99 w/ Amazon Prime.
This Mr. Coffee Warmer is a plug in warmer and a bit more Ghetto for $9.99 Amazon Prime shipped.
You could probably place the cubes seperately on the plate until you are ready for vape action as well.
Damn, +1 for clever thinking lwien.
lwien
Well-Known Member
The Coffee Warmer looks cool, but I didn't want to have something else that I needed to plug in, plus the temp is not variable, where as with the Orka, I can vary the temp by how long I keep it in the microwave. I like the water very warm, but water heated up to what to what hot coffee would be at may be a bit too hot for my lungs.
Or.........it may not get hot enough and only get mildly warm which was some of the complaints on the Amazon reviews.
Or.........it may not get hot enough and only get mildly warm which was some of the complaints on the Amazon reviews.
Good point, the ORKA Magma looks like a great choice for this application. You should pull the trigger and let us know how it works out for you.
BigDaddyVapor
@BigDogJunction
Yeah, let us know. What I've been doing lately (this is all part of my RezBlock testing to)... is filling up the sink with HOT water. As the sink is large enough, I can place most any of my glass in it, w/o worrying about breakage. I then sit the piece down in there, while I get my ritual vape session together and just pull it out, whenever I want a hit.
Pretty ghetto and I'd like an alternative. Was looking at the coffee cup warmers. Interested to hear how that thing works.
I shot over an aesthetically imperfect unit for these guys review and we got a nice little mention on the following medical state sites:
AZ Marijuana
MA Marijuana
It appears they like the unit as well. This is good
AZ Marijuana
MA Marijuana
It appears they like the unit as well. This is good
lwien
Well-Known Member
Ok, update.
Have had the SC for about a week now.
I'm FARRRrrrrrr from being a glass-head in that the only glass piece I have to compare it to is the HVY Mini-Beaker which comes with a diffused downstem that looks exactly like the one in the SC.
Did some A/B comparisons over the past few days, using the same strain, grind, temp, draw speed, etc in each to compare. Here are the results:
With the LSV and a fresh bowl in each, I can totally milk the Mini-Beaker in about 5 sec. With the SC, that time is about cut in half. I mean, almost by the time your eyes adjust to look inside the tube, it's almost totally milked. Kinda shocking, really. If I drew any longer than 3 seconds, I'd have coughing fits.
Secondly, with the beaker, I got a burning harshness in the back of my throat. Not major, but noticeable. Absolutely no harshness what so ever with the SC. I'm going to assume that the main reason for this would be the added dispersion from the bottom plate, but here's kinda of a surprise. Typically, with more dispersion, you experience a lost of taste. With the SC, there was no loss of taste at all.
Logically, I should part with the mini-beaker, but I've had that almost as long as my 1st PD, and for some strange reason, I can't part with either of them, even if I never use them. 