Apologies if i repeat info or questions asked earlier, skimmed through the posts but there are too many to read all. Just want to share my experience with the Vapexhale Cloud EVO.
First time firing it up i set it to 12 and got very light vapor. Slowly dialed it up until i found the sweet spot for dark brown to borderline black, coffee looking abv to be around 3-4. At first i had the new heat shield on, i think it somehow occasionally puts off a weird smell which can sometimes effect my hit. So i ended up just taking it off and using the wristbands. The unit gets quite hot after being on about 15-20 minutes, eventually it gets too hot that the wristbands don't help much. Only 2 came with it, I suppose
if I stack up a few more it might work better. I cant find them on the vapexhale website, maybe someone can point me in the direction of where to get some, or a similar product.
The Cloud EVO is my third 'big' vape purchase. First was a log vape, then the sublimator, now the EVO. I'm quite impressed by the heating element on the EVO, the all glass heating path concept seems to work nicely, it gets to temp pretty quick. Prior to purchasing the Cloud EVO, my daily vape was
the log vape which i had to keep on 24/7 for it to maintain temp and be ready to use when needed. The Cloud EVO i can turn off and turn back on when i'm ready to use it. The log and the Cloud EVO produce similar amounts of vapor i've found, and both produce a similar taste. The Cloud EVO has the edge on the log though as I like being able to turn it off and just turn it on when needed. One thing i've found is that you have to be careful when holding the EVO at the bottom with your hand while hitting it. Must be careful not to cover that intake hole or you get instant combustion. Once it combusts it really ruins the taste of everything after that so you have to clean it out. Even ruins the taste of the hydratube which then also needs a cleaning which is not easy with the showercap hydratube. Once I learned that i just leave it on the table now. Can even crank it up to max heat and it wont combust. For friends who are used to smoking they prefer that setting and it doesn't combust and ruin the taste of the hydratube. The EVO will fit nicely into my rotation, for now its the daily driver.
The vapexnail I have not had a lot of success with. In the youtube and ig videos I see them turn it all the way up or to at least the 3 mark when doing concentrates but whenever i turn it up that high i get an extreme burning taste. I thought at first maybe i just needed to do some kind of burnoff on the glass nails as they were new. So i cranked the EVO up to max and left the nail in for about 10-15 mins. I could smell some burning and saw some smoke creep out slowly and eventually stop. Figured that would be ok so i tried again, and same result. So I figured I would do it the stoner way and start it at the 9 o clock range and slowly turn it up from there. Found that the 10-11ish range will give me good clouds without any burning, but leaves a lot of weird residue at the bottom of the nail. I have to then turn it up to max and 'burn it off' after every dab. Makes a burning smell which is very unpleasant. Not sure what I'm missing here, i guess practice and further temp adjusting is needed. The hits I do get at 10-11 range are very nice though. Just the residue and smell from the burnoff after is the prob.
All in all its a nice little machine. Will be a fun weekend playing with it on different glass/percs. I've got the showercap hydratube at the moment, but have found i get much better hits inverting it and using my own cheap china glass. I see the hydraline tube is in stock on the site. Wish i could find that Hydrafoot 2.0, doesnt seem to be available anymore.
Oh well, any advice on settings for the vapexnail or if you can point me to the page where its discussed it would be appreciated. thanks
Welcome to the FC forum and the EVO thread!
A virtually universal experience for all new owners is a "break-in" period. Not for the machine mind you, but for the user. There are a lot of subtleties with the EVO. It takes some experimenting to find what works best for your unique combination of setup/material/style/preference. Many if not most find themselves changing something in how they've vaped before. The patience getting there really pays off, though.
Re the wristbands, these are intended to tell you where the hot upper section begins. They should be placed at the point of the middle screws or maybe a tad above that. The EVO should be gripped below the wristbands or, if comfortable, your forefinger/thumb on the wristbands. They aren't intended so much to act as a heat shield to enable holding the unit by the top section, but rather as a guide for avoiding that hot area. After using the unit for a while your preferred grip will become second nature. Personally, since I frequently use mine inverted, I like the shield because it provides more flexibility in gripping the unit. All that said, the routine for some users (e.g., lower heat settings) is such that adding wristbands and gripping higher works, too. If you want to add some, or do some decorating as others have done, silicone wristbands are very inexpensive; see Amazon/eBay/Google.
Re the nail, the key there is that less is more, both less material and less heat. The extraction efficiency is phenomenal. You might search on posts in this thread about the VXN by
@Enchantre. She is very experienced and has done a lot of great experimenting with the VXN and various concentrates. Once you get the routine down, it actually is quite simple. And, you'll be getting a higher output ratio too, making for greater economy. (I find the same is true with flowers.)
Capping the bottom air intake is called "throttling." It's a technique some of us used with the earlier generation Clouds to change the air ratio. With the EVO's new firmware, not only unnecessary but a bad idea, as you discovered. If the EVO combusts, something is amiss with machine and/or technique.
About the ABV . . . The EVO is strictly speaking a combination conduction/convection machine but with the convection doing by far most of the work. (Note that proper loading of the ELB and keeping it clean is very important.) Depending on your herb, it is not uncommon for the herb to be fully extracted and yet not that very dark, almost burnt, color that other vapes produce. In other words, with the EVO more is at work than just raw heat. Many of us have tested this by taking ABV from the EVO and vaping it through another machine, only to find no more vapor being produced.
Finally, re the glass. Due to the "craft" nature of glass-blowing outfits, it's difficult for VXL to be sure what they can replenish and when. Consequently they apparently now only show what they have and what they anticipate is coming. The HF 2.0 may be restocked at some time (as it has before), or not. If you're interested in a piece, just send a query to Support.
Hope some of that helps. Keep us apprised of your progress. And again, welcome.
--OBG