Vitolo said:I have done a similar "tactic' with my NO2. After filling the chamber, I have placed a pair of very tiny "twiglets" (stems) criss crossed in my chamber, to block the powdered herb from collecting on the top screen... and restricting flow.
This is the importance of repeating this procedure after EVERY chamber full Clean Top Screen After Every Load!
The criss cross stems do help if weed is too powdery...
as I am sure a piece of screen could.
I resolved this entire issue with grind and freshness. You can not always get the perfect herb though.
If you use herb that is medium grind (like oregano flake) it will not gather at the top screen...
anything more powdery will gather there.
One more factor concerning why there could be more heat- This is conductive heat... the chamber is a small oven that gets warm around the herbal matter... then you breath air through that chamber.
The metal screen is touching the "oven" (chamber) wall.. and so it it actually could be transferring a small amount of extra heat around the chamber full of weed.
I think you're right about the effect on conduction, thanks! I was quite curious about what was being changed. I did have another thought - that perhaps it helps regulate the ratio of 'speed of breath vs pulling power'
I don't always find it necessary to put in the extra screen, but it certainly does feel most important to me when the cream soda is ground to a powder. I have always preferred my soda powdery as possible for its cure though; more surface area means more getting vaporized, right?