Discontinued VapeXhale Cloud
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Purpl3_Haz3
On a Permanent Vakation
It isn't plastic. It's metal. Anodized aluminum IIRC?
For some users, that wouldn't be enough. When my Cloud has been on for more than 3-4 hours, holding it by just the bottom is too hot.
Mail me your sleeve? PM for address, etc.
SD_haze
Well-Known Member
When you can't pick up your cloud by the bottom, is it in a corner of a room with no air circulation?
I noticed mine would get similarly hot, but then I started opening the window in the room right next to my desk. After the cloud had been on at 1pm-3pm for few hours I could still pick it up by the bottom.
Might not be ideal if its super cold where you are though. Certainly not here
Purpl3_Haz3
On a Permanent Vakation
When you can't pick up your cloud by the bottom, is it in a corner of a room with no air circulation?
I noticed mine would get similarly hot, but then I started opening the window in the room right next to my desk. After the cloud had been on at 1pm-3pm for few hours I could still pick it up by the bottom.
Might not be ideal if its super cold where you are though. Certainly not here
I live in Maine, so this time of year a window is a no-no. I tried the fan idea too, but can't get enough airflow to the Cloud without blowing other things away
And my Cloud pretty much stays stationary, so no other part of the room really works. As it is, when I pull it out for use, and set it on my little 'drawer - table' it is as close to the center of the room as possible/in the best spot for airflow.It's all good though, until I get a sleeve, I can vape without touching the Cloud, using the HT as shown in my video. If I want to use the Cloud in my other piece, I just do it in the morning, before the Cloud is hot enough to be a bother. Kind of pointless though, really, where that piece is better for bigger/hotter hits, lol. I do bust out the oven mitt/glove occasionally, but I don't like the lack of grip...makes me anxious. I'm excited about the FC bubbler by PV, as I could use the Cloud, in conjunction with the Cloud Buddy, and only have to touch the Cloud to pack/remove ELBs.
Edit* It's too bad there wasn't a paint/paint like coating that had great thermal insulation properties...I'd take the shell off my Cloud, and paint it.
oldiebutgoodie
Apostle, Church of Vaporization
Black anodized aluminum.
oldiebutgoodie
Apostle, Church of Vaporization
Conceivably, but to me it looks more like the shield is burnished before taking the dip - that's a very common technique that's been around for almost as long as
.By the way about the heat: The shell is both a shield and a heat-sink. The housing (which is thinner than it looks) throws off a lot of heat which the shield absorbs and dissipates. Pure speculation, but I'm guessing that in the design it wasn't anticipated that the user would leave the unit on at high temp for a lengthy period of time; the 1 hour shut-off may have even had that in mind. Later when the heat off the shield became a concern for some, two ways to reduce that heat would have been re-calibration of the heater itself and an improvement in the heater/tube's thermal jacket. My guess is that both were done (maybe that's why some have posted that the new units run cooler?), but that still did not bring the shield heat down as far as desired. The sleeve is definitely a work-around.
This is a tough challenge. Active cooling has a lot of negatives, additional passive cooling usually means more weight and size. The alternatives are more fundamental and probably costly. From a technical perspective, I really admire the problem.
Slightly Medicated
(SliM) Iron Lungs
I just cleaned my cloud for the first time since I owned it. I have done some minor cleaning for the photography i did a couple months ago... but this is the first time I saw down and decided to "clean" everything. Normally my cloud is always running and hot, so I can't clean it. I happen to let my cloud power off on accident, so I decided to take advantage of the mistake and clean it out.
I used paper towels, q-tips, pipe cleaners, and ISO. The inside of the glass tube was pretty messy. It cleaned up pretty well though. I just used the various tools and a little ISO to scrub out the inside of the bamboo. The outside sleeve was pretty dirty as well. It gets dirty from collecting dirt and other particles from handling the device. I had some extra ISO and I was not really thinking. I started to rub the black shell with the ISO. It cleaned up really nicely, but the towel turned black where I was rubbing... so I think it was taking off some of the paint. It did wear off any paint though... so it kind of confused me. Just to be safe I finished cleaning the black part with hot water. It was still kind of rubbing off a little black... so I think it was just really dirty.
Now my cloud looks almost brand new. Everything seems to be working like normal after the cleaning. If I had more time to clean it, I would have plugged up the bamboo and let it soak for a few hours. I did not want to wait any longer, so I dried everything out and turned the cloud back on. I might avoid rubbing the outside of your cloud with ISO... I am not 100% sure, but I think it is not good for the paint.
I used paper towels, q-tips, pipe cleaners, and ISO. The inside of the glass tube was pretty messy. It cleaned up pretty well though. I just used the various tools and a little ISO to scrub out the inside of the bamboo. The outside sleeve was pretty dirty as well. It gets dirty from collecting dirt and other particles from handling the device. I had some extra ISO and I was not really thinking. I started to rub the black shell with the ISO. It cleaned up really nicely, but the towel turned black where I was rubbing... so I think it was taking off some of the paint. It did wear off any paint though... so it kind of confused me. Just to be safe I finished cleaning the black part with hot water. It was still kind of rubbing off a little black... so I think it was just really dirty.
Now my cloud looks almost brand new. Everything seems to be working like normal after the cleaning. If I had more time to clean it, I would have plugged up the bamboo and let it soak for a few hours. I did not want to wait any longer, so I dried everything out and turned the cloud back on. I might avoid rubbing the outside of your cloud with ISO... I am not 100% sure, but I think it is not good for the paint.
oldiebutgoodie
Apostle, Church of Vaporization
After SliM's post, and my earlier claim that the shield is black anodized, I took a closer look. I was wrong, it is not anodized. I used a high strength solvent, and the black finish will indeed rub off (with a lot of elbow grease). The finishing strokes that look like brush effects, are as suspected the result of burnishing (or similar), there are actually fine grooves in the aluminum. I can't determine exactly what the surface application is though, it looks like a baked on coating of some sort, perhaps a ceramic, or some kind of industrial "paint".
Slightly Medicated
(SliM) Iron Lungs
My guess... I figured it was applied using electrostatic painting. Totally wild guess. I am probably wrong. It just looks like such an even coating of paint, that I thought it might be.
Purpl3_Haz3
On a Permanent Vakation
That's all I can think of, inspecting the area that is 'chipped' or flaked off from mine.
Thanks for sacrificing some of your paint/coating OBG
Slightly Medicated
(SliM) Iron Lungs
One thing is for sure... it is a sexy paint job. I love how evenly it is applied.
HERBavore
Member
I don't want to upset stonemonkey55/troi/vxl owners by saying this, but I think I might go with the VHW instead of the VXL, since the VHW has had 3 models to work out any technical kinks. I really don't mind sacrificing ease of use if I'm going to get equal vapor quality. Don't hurt me.
No one is going to begrudge, much less hurt you for making your own decisions.
Many people come to this forum for opinions and guidance. We then can all make our own informed decisions. At least that's how it's supposed to work, yes?
I'm sure you will enjoy your VHW as many before you have. It's a great device to be sure.
SD_haze
Well-Known Member
With that said, is there any real functional purpose to the black paint/coating? Perhaps it would be even hotter to the touch without it.
Still, I think a "naked" cloud would look pretty neat. I'm at the very least curious to see what it would look like.
Slightly Medicated
(SliM) Iron Lungs
There is nothing wrong with your decision. I have both and still use the VHW from time to time. I don't get as satisfying as a hit as I do with the Cloud using the VHW. There is allot of ritual familiarity between smoking a water pipe and using the VHW.
There is more technique involved to get the proper hit out of the VHW. As long as you master the technique, you should enjoy the device. Be extra careful about the glass. I was not paying attention once and my wrist touched the outside glass... that was 4 months ago and I still have the scar. I consider it a permanent reminder to be careful while using the device.
I broke my first wand after about a month and a half of use... well my dog knocked it over. Make sure you treat it extremely carefully. Always have a secure place to put it. Follow those rules and you should enjoy it immensely.
Slightly Medicated
(SliM) Iron Lungs
I find I can get thicker/denser hits from the cloud with little to no effort. The hits just feel more "substantial" and more reminiscent of how smoke would expand in your lungs. The cloud requires less hits per session to finish off the material inside each device. I am all about efficiency... so that extra 1-2 minutes it saves me is a big deal. In order for me to get the VHW hot enough to get the kind of "milky" vapor that I enjoy. I would have to turn it all the way up, and leave it inside of the glass stand so it would build up excess heat. If I do that, I could get some pretty satisfying hits. The issue I was running into was that excess heat kept drying out/cracking the silicone ring around the glass. I was replacing mine every few weeks. If I did not have the cloud it would be my next in line in terms of regular use. Either way you are making a good choice.
oldiebutgoodie
Apostle, Church of Vaporization
Cannabinaut
Cannasseur and Glasshead
I hope you love your VHW, Herbavore. I know I loved mine. 
I'm still tempted to resurrect it every time I see it, broken, on my shelf. See how I still keep it close? I'll share my opinion on the VHW to make you feel better about your decision. It's a wonderful vape. It offers an experience very different from the Cloud, and any other vape. Once you become familiar with it and learn how to use it optimally, it'll become a really pleasant ritual similar to smoking, as Slim said. Filling a glass on glass bowl with your ground herb is really the easiest and nicest loading method, and applying the heat wand to the bowl like a lighter to begin vaping just feels right where every other vape felt wrong to me. The VHW can taste amazing when used right. It's much lighter and thinner than the Cloud, and cooler to touch. IMO the VHW mates with most waterpipes more comfortably than the Cloud. I like that heat is kept away from your bud while you're not vaping. It really does give an exceptional experience for the money. Now, a few pointers. Almost everyone uses mason jars or mugs to hold their hot VHW. I don't recommend this. Get the special stand. It supposedly helps the wand heat up a little faster, it has a hole in the bottom so as to not touch any glass at the tip of the wand, the wand is held securely and won't knock or roll around. And it looks a lot nicer. It's actually quite beautiful, and really thick. If you already got the stand, good for you. Also get an extension cord with an on/off switch. You will get tired of yanking the plug out of the wall to turn it off very quickly. Good luck. 
I'm still tempted to resurrect it every time I see it, broken, on my shelf. See how I still keep it close? I'll share my opinion on the VHW to make you feel better about your decision. It's a wonderful vape. It offers an experience very different from the Cloud, and any other vape. Once you become familiar with it and learn how to use it optimally, it'll become a really pleasant ritual similar to smoking, as Slim said. Filling a glass on glass bowl with your ground herb is really the easiest and nicest loading method, and applying the heat wand to the bowl like a lighter to begin vaping just feels right where every other vape felt wrong to me. The VHW can taste amazing when used right. It's much lighter and thinner than the Cloud, and cooler to touch. IMO the VHW mates with most waterpipes more comfortably than the Cloud. I like that heat is kept away from your bud while you're not vaping. It really does give an exceptional experience for the money. Now, a few pointers. Almost everyone uses mason jars or mugs to hold their hot VHW. I don't recommend this. Get the special stand. It supposedly helps the wand heat up a little faster, it has a hole in the bottom so as to not touch any glass at the tip of the wand, the wand is held securely and won't knock or roll around. And it looks a lot nicer. It's actually quite beautiful, and really thick. If you already got the stand, good for you. Also get an extension cord with an on/off switch. You will get tired of yanking the plug out of the wall to turn it off very quickly. Good luck. 
John Lewus
Well-Known Member
Do you stir your bowl while it is in the cloud? I used to do that and noticed the inner part of the tube collected a lot of dusty residue. I decided to take out the bowl first and then stir over a clean piece of white paper (or any smooth clean surface). I was shocked at how much dust fell through! I don't know if it contained any actives but a quick finger swipe over it and then back over the edge of the elb knocked it all back in. That sam bit of dust was falling through when I would stir while the elb was in the cloud. I always take out the elb and stir on a clean smooth surface, collect dust residue, and my cloud has stayed really clean after a month of no cleaning. Just my 2 cents..
Edit: My English is not as good as normal and my excuse is that I am cloudvaked and listening to trance on high quality buds before bed.