@THC SCIENTIFIC If I recall correctly both
@DieHard and
@SamuraiSam struggled to use the prototype units with oils. Can you speak to improvements in this space?
I'm a Trek fan and would love to add one of these to my collection. However, I have zero interest in vaping flower. I 100% use concentrates.
Also just a general comment to people asking about the price point. From my standpoint this is a total vanity piece. When you buy an expensive worked glass bong in the shape of an octopus at the head shop you aren't asking whether it somehow smokes better. It's about the fact that you want to drop a wad of cash on a beautiful piece. In this case you're buying a limited edition USS Odessey e-rig. Just my two cents!
I did not have any success using the "spoon" oil attachment and feel strongly that the tendency of the herb bowl to become coated with flower and resin residue from said flower made for a messy and off-tasting experience compared to a vaporizer which had separate herb and flower attachments, such as a Cloud EVO. Having owned and used one of those for several years, that became my benchmark for comparsion.
Having multiple herb bowls on hand negates the need to completely clean the herb chamber after each bowl. and the EVO's design is easy to brush out and doesn't have any parts to get coated with oil as it is the last component of that vaporizer's airpath, while the Odyssey design trapped herb inside a part that could not be disassembled, requiring multiple ISO soaks/rinses to fully clean. When I vaporized oils off the spoon, cloud production was weak; the spoon only took up 15-25% of the air path, while with herb; the entire hot air flow had to pass through the herb. Less of the heat energy produced by the heater had a chance to heat (and therefore vaporize) those oils. Unfortunately as the hot air began to heat the oil and spoon, the oil would get thin enough to simply run and drain before much vaporization took place. The spoon simply did not hold oils for enough heat to be transferred to them, and did not get hot enough from contact with heated air to heat the oils via conduction either.
Compared to herbs which I tastily vaped many bowls with (although I also did many bowl cleanings and many bong cleanings due to small bits of flower always being drawn down into the water pipe) the oils had a strong tendency to be drawn 'down' through the bowl assembly, towards the joint instead of producing vapor. Using the Hercules coil as a wick to hold oils in place was very effective at producing MUCH more vapor than the spoon as it held oils in place via capillary action, and it helped the oil to cover much more surface area so more hot air could heat it. the thin gauge Ti was able to heat up more easily with the hot air, and thusly enough heat was transferred into the oil for proper vaporization to occur. And, a lower temperature could be used, so the hits (off a fresh Herc coil) tasted better, However after repeated uses the flavor would go 'off' and a new Herc coil would have to be used. Didnt have to saturate the coil, could even place a single dabs worth of oil on to the coil and drop the coil into the bowl, during the hit the coil heats and oil runs down throughout the coil and is vaporized as the coil heats up as the hot air passes over it,
Having joined UP Tech with the desire to apply my mechanical and engineering background to product development and refinement, I was ecstatic to test and supply feedback to help better this next-generation vaporizer. My only intent in turning in honest feedback was to help deliver a better product. I am sure some of my feedback and intended help was met with less than total enthusiasm, as it was my strong suggestion to continue experimenting with different bowl designs for both oil and herb. For herb, finding ways to minimize or eliminate particulates being drawn through the bowl into the water pipe was the main goal. Secondarily, making the bowl easier to brush out / clean out quicker, would be optimal.
For oils I suggesting trying instead of a spoon, a wand made of a quartz frit, or a bowl using a fritted quartz disc, or even a 'basket' that could hold a small amount of loose quartz frit (which could also serve as an 'ashcatcher' to prevent particles of herb from making it into the piece. I submitted a few drawings of bowl designs and a made videos discussing various points, but never had the chance to test any of these ideas (nor any others such as trying to reduce the size/weight of the Odyssey air channel/heatsink via tighter 'folds' etc) saw the next step as I was let go and asked to return my tester unit.
In THC Scientifics latest video it does appear some changes have been made to the lower section of the bowl which might help with that herb contamination, I am just not sure how easy it will be to clean the bowl out.
Despite the state of things between myself and UP Tech, I stand by my earlier statements - if this powerful, flavorful performer can be refined into a less cumbersome (smaller, more friendly to operate) product, I will happily purchase one.
