Following the advices regarding upheating times I got some flavours but really no vapour. The blue flame is around 10-15mm after preheating the copper pan and an upheat time of 9 sec I finally got some whispy vapour. Is that normal? Don't want to upheat until combustion. What are your advices?
There is a very large difference in heat output (gas burned) with lighters, even discounting flame adjustment. And you're not using the 'standard' lighter? Forget what others are getting time wise until you're 'calibrated'. More over, there are two lengths of flames (inner and outer cones) to further confuse things. Sounds to me like you're running cooler than I do, I adjust so the outer flame is as long as the mouth of VM is wide, FWIW.
Not all lighter flames of the same size deliver the same heat.
You clearly need more heat if you're not getting the results you want. Only two ways to fix that, bigger flame or more time.
My advice for new owners continues to be 'be brave' with the heat until you really understand what's going on. Combustion is pretty hard to do and gives plenty of warning (taste wise) as you 'sneak up on it' from below. And combustion a time or two for education purposes is unpleasant but hardly fatal to you or the VM. After cleaning what little 'taste of combustion' that's left is rapidly covered up by fresh condensate from normal use that coats and seals the surfaces inside. And remember that while overheating the load is possible,
real combustion cannot happen if you don't hit it and draw fresh Oxygen in to support it.
I suggest you wind the flame up a bit and press on. Try slightly longer reheat times, then longer still, until you get the results you want. Open it up and inspect the herb as you do. You'll get black spots before things get too far out of hand. I also recommend changing loads if you reheat it several times (you can use it later once you sort it out) as you want to learn how to make vapor with a fresh load?
"Don't be shy with the heat" is my advice for new owners. Your call.
OF