OK so I finally ran out of screens for my glass stems and had to start on the ones for the vinyl stem. (Not literally RAN OUT RAN OUT, but when they get too clogged up, I drop them in a little jar of alcohol until they're all gone and then clean them all at once)
All I can say is, I get a much stronger hit for some bizarre reason.
The downside is that the vapor doesn't cool down nearly as much in these. It's harsher and makes me cough - not from smoke, its not combusting, its just hotter vapor.
There must be some way to get the same effect from a glass stem. I must be doing something wrong. Does anybody have a link to some videos showing packing the various types of stems, hopefully some discussion on grinding a little bit or a lot or NOT grinding at all?
I have noticed when dumping vaped herb out (of the glass stems) that I get some left behind that is kind of soggy, which I usually hit again until it is dry. EG the dry stuff drops out into my ABV jar and there is residue left along the screen that seems dampish. When I hit it again, it dries it out and finishes cooking it. Is that a sign of something wrong? I don't see this so much in the nylon stem, but then the screen for that is teensy so it wouldn't be as noticeable.
Yeah everything sounds like it's running properly.. the glass stems will run cooler than the SS tipped Nylon ones by design (like KidFated said).
You can always put a SS tip in a glass stem to combine the best of both worlds.