VaporGenie

[OF]

Uncle Vito it is.
When a piece is going to go to a community member that is in a position of need, I always feel best giving the item over with all new parts, to lessen any potential feeling of receiving a vape that less than new. (A patients pride is as important a part of a person to keep healthy as their body)
I kept the ceramic piece and ring for my "parts" drawer, as it was still very functional, and I will use it in my replacement artillery for when one of a community member's gets abused!

Outstanding! Once again, Vito, you've made my day. Thanks.

We need an army of Vito's, until everyone in real need it taken care of. Sorta like Obamacare was supposed to be, only very different too.

Thanks again, Bro. Time for me to select an old friend or two to clean up and pass on. Not at all sure about passing on the ones I didn't like. How to get them to a good home I'm not sure yet, but I bet the answer presents itself if I look enough......

You remain, the Sage of the High Desert.

OF

 

[Egzoset]

Salutations Vitolo,

...got me in the mood..

About mood...

FC: VaporGenie, page 116 (2013-Nov-3)​

It's probable i may get the hang of it with my blue torch lighter of April 4th, in association with my PVC tube extension of March 29...

I'm starting to enjoy my blue flame even in daylight, with sunrays and Wind in my veranda...

When i begin pre-heating the ceramic filter my modding structure behind acts like a heat sink at first. Then there's so much energy in the foamy rocks they begin to glow dim red: at that point the heat sink feature fades away and gives rise to some convection/radiant heat source i believe! Euh...

Like the levers of a balance it tilts easily between sides, in my veranda! Pre-heating only takes a few seconds and inhalation appears to last much longer without fire than i got used to using a yellow flame Xikar Ressource. The Slick "Gun" had me worried as a result of water condensation in previous sessions but my PVC tubing which had become opaque from exposure to excesive moisture is now returning to its translucent oily state, a clear indication that i've improved my operation skills.

In my veranda!

 

[basement farmer]

Broke out the teak HC that's been unused for a few months. Definately a different experience than the other two vapes that I use frequently.

My kid decided to enlist in the army, so had to give up one of life's simpler pleasures. He was a smoker and preferred this piece over the more refined pieces I have in my possesion. It was offers a compromise that I can see a lot of combusters are able to live with. Turned him away from combusting anyway

 

[Egzoset]

Salutations A Train,

I've found that a torch lighter is indeed the best way... ...the greater, more focused heat will give you bigger clouds faster, but...

Blue flames worked for me once...

...a significant enhancement in comparison to ballons.

I feel like i've got news to post today.

For starters: Wow! Just wow!! This is the word i got in mind when i tried another moddification which i'm about to describe later...



It was tempting to revisit your comments about using a blue/jet/torch lighter, actually i believe it was the thing to do since i enjoyed giving it another try eventually, for the most part, expecially now because my modded Classic VG pipe finally works in ways i didn't imagine were possible even in my dreams!

Champion tokes is the next exclamation i had, twice, in my veranda, a moment ago... Right now i'm still tasting the 3rd test. Ritual has become much more replicable, visual feedback through the front puck is evident practically anywhere, but such convenient dim red spot would probably imply that this foamy stone is subjected to additional stress since it now works like a delayed heat-storage device, made of ceramic. So, where would that lead?...

Anyway, don't take my word for it: try it and see by yourself!! There's no need to epilogue for long... The improvement is obvious to me so i'll bet there may be something in this that can benefit some of the readers. At least i found the experiment was a necessary step, so to speak it was like simply turning up the volume, like flipping a switch!

All i needed was to begin with heating up the ball repetitively, after a few days the fume related issues started to vanish. Likely because i didn't leave much varnish/paint finish to be torched... By chance an aquarium pump can deal with that.

What's been roasted once doesn't easily get toasted again i noticed.

So, if i'm reasonable the wooden ball can handle my Slick "Gun" jet lighter after all!!



Not only that, if i add a 3rd stone on the bowl side of the ball then i have access to a whole new range of application which i'm only starting to appreciate as of this writing.

I can only testify of my experience by relating it as the words come. So, i'd say the 2-stones version required more lung effort and thick clouds would translate as coughing, etc., possibly with some intolerance to low-temperature vaping. Ha, and i was about to forget the 3rd item of my last modding: the screen support can be pushed down in order to put more distance between the bowl's screen and the 3rd stone facing that bowl's top, on the ball piece. The new version allowed me to enjoy excellent expirations, perhaps in part because i've possibly avoided some low-temperature irritants, the other part being self-moisturization.



In short the pipe layout has become:

1 Front stone
1 Heat-Sink/Heater assembly made of 2 aluminium supports and 1 stone
1 Top-of-Bowl stone​

While i turn my front puck dim red there's an aluminium "tripod" support behind, on which it sits, that sinks/dissipates heat. Past the metal bits hot air, water vapor and carbon dioxyde diffuse again, through a middle stone before it reaches a second "tripod" used to hold a shielding glass "deflector" (tripod shaped too)... The 3rd (and final) stone keeps the glass shield in place by closing my bowl-side aperture.

In use it's practically child's play: aim at the front puck and heat up its center until luminescent. The force of inhalation controls intensity. I found this configuration was much more forgiving than ever before, the problem is it may fail to work well with yellow flames, euh...

Hummm...

More testing to be done! I just wish moisture condensation in my PVC extension tube won't cause me worries, it has happened before!

...

In a way it's too bad the new modding depends on my Slick "Gun" torch, as i figure the Xikar Ressource ain't strong enough anymore - but that remains to be determined...

Well, that's all i can tell for now.

Good day, have fun!

 

[A Train]

Cool mods egzo! How did you get the extra stones? I've been thinking about building something from scratch but the VG folks make getting replacement filters a huge pain in the ass.

 

[paytonpenn]

Cool mods egzo! How did you get the extra stones? I've been thinking about building something from scratch but the VG folks make getting replacement filters a huge pain in the ass.

Would something like these work? I'm not sure on the VG filter size.
http://silversurfervap.com/ceramic-flavor-disc.html

 

[A Train]

Would something like these work? I'm not sure on the VG filter size.
http://silversurfervap.com/ceramic-flavor-disc.html

I've seen those before and wondered. They appear to be pretty much the same thing. Size isn't really a big issue, since I'll be going from the ground up. I'm trying to find a local head shop that has them so I can have a look up close, but if I can't I'll probably just order a few and hope

 

[Egzoset]

Salutations A Train,
Salutations PaytonPenn,

How did you get the extra stones?

I owned 3 Classic pipes, this is my 3rd stone shown below:

It got eroded to a point it now fits neatly in the ball's aperture...

Would something like these work?

They appear to be pretty much the same thing.

For all i know this could very well be the same material indeed:

​

I'm not too sure yet but that's a potentially great finding, it might come quite handy!

Some closer views should help clear the doubt.

 

[Vitolo]

Those are infinitely more porous.
Here they are next to a VG Ceramic Filter:

Flame finds it's way past these holes very easily!

 

[OF]

Those are infinitely more porous.
Here they are next to a VG Ceramic Filter:

Flame finds it's way past these holes very easily!

The heat exchanger in VG is a long way from common ceramics. First off, it's Silicon Carbide (SiC), one of the very hardest and toughest stuff around. Serious abrasive, long used in industry, makes a great 'cutting tool'.

Take a careful look at it, you'll note it's made of very tiny yet precise and uniform pieces sintered (fused in a second step under lots of heat and pressure) together. A very special, precise material.

The other appears to be fired foamed clay. As a guess, Alumina? Kaolin even? Much larger pores as Vito points out, quite random and I suspect not very tough? The genuine article can be depended on to have a very uniform and predictable hot air flow, not so the proposed substitute.

It might work OK, but IMO nothing like the same stuff.

OF

 

[Egzoset]

Salutations Vitolo,

...next to a VG Ceramic Filter...

Oh, now this is what i needed to see all right!! Excellent picture, it reveals the VG Ceramic Filters have nice geometric cells joined by their tiny edges to form a highly homogeneous but irregular structure. In comparison competitors such as Vapor Buddy will offer a foamy-rock which i felt to be more fragile as i recall.

Since i've adopted a new ritual requiring my front puck to become dim red then i've got to wonder how the differences would affect that pipe's final behaviour, because some heat has to get stored before wood and paint started to generate fumes... One has to wonder how contact surface would affect the result using a non-VG item, etc.

Actually i've asked around for these products too, exactly, but no smoker shop in Montreal seems to offer them. I hope maybe i'll be luckier next time.

 

[jambandphan03]

you can get healthstones from ALT glass, I've been using those as an alternative stone, they are wider and a bit thicker but made from the right material (looks identical to the VG stone, not the cheap stuff) They are kinda pricy, but on sale for 4/20 right now... http://aqualabtechnologies.com/conc...alth-stone-glass-replacement-vapor-stone.html for single, they sell a 5 pk too.

 

[Egzoset]

Salutations JamBandPhan03,

...healthstones from ALT glass...

Actually i remember this once was on topic months ago and it was my hope at the time we'd see more of it!

...they are wider and a bit thicker but made from the right material...

No worries, i've worked with it sufficiently to know this structure is relatively easy to trim using an ordinary file and/or fine sand paper. I suspect i migh even be able to split a cylindrical unit in 2 parts if i could manage to find an appropriate cutting tool...

Anyway, the linked photograph shows what i wanted to see with even more details, thank you!

Good progress was made today!!

ADDENDUM



Now i know that 3rd stone addition was the right thing to do.

​

I had 4 tokes on this bowl, at least as i recall... Each one ended with 2 or 3 visible expirations and density was about ideal for me, so i could easily have enjoyed 2 or 3 more tokes before it really starts roasting - which i thought it had in this particular case while there was no such damage apparently. One funny finding with this picture is that i can recognize the shadow of my tripod-shaped glass deflector & metal support! It happens the "light" which produced this triangular print has come through my 3rd ceramic filter, by the way.

Hummm... Somehow i knew 4 mm (as for my front puck) was a minimum when it comes to radiative heat vs this material's "opacity".

Anyway it's the sort of fun-experiment i find most appropriate in a sunny veranda!...

 

[Egzoset]

UPDATE





Two items to cover: 1) Power varies with combustible level in butane tank and this affects operation; 2) Stirring & re-Blending ritual renders my whole pipe appreciation experience even more enjoyable.



Reconfiguration of the pipe apparently required that i re-adjust my lighter flame. So, instead of the need for annoyingly frequent refills i can now expect to have sufficient butane gas reserve under normal circumstances. That's important because the lighter is a major part of this vaporizer concept, although 3rd-party it's quite essential nonetheless. So, a good lighter helps a lot and hence it was necessary to ensure that the Slick "Gun" will be suitable.

A toke feels as brief as it can be. I may prefer to start with a pre-heat shot, then my jet-flame allows quick 'n easy extraction in a multitude of possible manners - which is what makes the pipe so attractive: it doesn't get boring, when i dump a bowl the dry content falls off conveniently and leaves behind some sticky vegetal particles that i add to a fresh load in order to obtain a mixed blend - both parts complementing each other nicely, well... It's all fun!

Without the mixing process added to the stirring one my present ritual would lack features, since stirring after a couple bowls is recommended anyway i've decided to play with it a bit further. Hummm... I should refrain after 3 tokes instead of 3 bowls but it got me captivated lately.

The only trade-offs i had to conceed were the initial wood/paint burning and then loosing use for a yellow flame as that's the item carrying my pipe tools, for the stirring & re-blending ritual.

...

Things have improved anyway.

 

[A Train]

Those are infinitely more porous.
Here they are next to a VG Ceramic Filter:

Flame finds it's way past these holes very easily!

you can get healthstones from ALT glass, I've been using those as an alternative stone, they are wider and a bit thicker but made from the right material (looks identical to the VG stone, not the cheap stuff) They are kinda pricy, but on sale for 4/20 right now... http://aqualabtechnologies.com/conc...alth-stone-glass-replacement-vapor-stone.html for single, they sell a 5 pk too.

Thanks for the info guys! I'm glad I didn't spend the money sight unseen on the flavor stones. I'm going to need it for the health stones :-)

 

[as]

You could use this for a second stone
http://www.shivaonline.co.uk/shop/v...porizers/products/alivi8_spare_parts_kit.html

 

[Vitolo]

The Alivi8 stone is very porous, and somewhat fragile.
It is only a minor effort to get VG filters
To get VaporGenie Ceramic filters, just use contact form on the VG website. Tell them you want to buy filters.
They will write back to you with a link to a page to, order them.
They explained that this was to prevent people from buying parts they did not need, and to add an extra step so that folks just wanting VG filters to experiment would be discouraged.

 

[OF]

So I took the big Bronze one for another spin last night......

I'm telling youse guys if you're a VG fan and don't seriously consider this one you should. You get a great view of the bowl (easy to aim and control the fire), all that metal cools the vapor nicely, and it has a great heft.

Mine is picking up a lovely patina that's becoming distracting in itself. The only issue I had with it was solved with some stick on felt, now it 'sits nicely' on the deck.

Regards,

OF

 

[Egzoset]

Salutations everyone,

Time to revisit!

1) Power varies with combustible level in butane tank and this affects operation; 2) Stirring & re-Blending ritual renders my whole pipe appreciation experience even more enjoyable.

Now that i've experimented with the new configuration for a while i can say it probably was suitable to re-adjust flame height on both lighters again, in an attempt to optimize their specific assets if/when possible. The yellow flame tool requires more lung work and provides access to lower temperatures with better nuance, while the torch is most appreciated for pre-heating tasks - though i occasionally managed to obtain memorable tokes using it.

My ritual improved, there even are a few pleasant moments when it would seem this pipe works similarily to some musical instrument extending the body... It can become so relaxing i vaguely thought of Japanese tea ceremonial imagery at some point! Well, i'm sure you get the idea.

In any case the self-moisturizing nature of this VaporGenie based concept continues to manifest itself in a visible and durable manner:

At first the PVC plastic near my teflon straw looks pretty much transparent and slightly covered with oil internally, then a transition takes place which leads to a cloudy semi-opaque translucent appearance: droplets of condensed water often accumulate past the cotton ball...

...wood/paint burning and then loosing use for a yellow flame...

That's not an issue anymore. Anyway i switched to the mapple ball (with no paint) and my Slick "Gun" torch still didn't leave new marks on it so far.

 

[Jeff-K]

Right on OF.


I've had a carved one before and loved it. But because I lost it I had to replace it. And I 'm so glad I went for the bronze one! That and my solo is what I use and I use them about equal, depending on the mood. All the other vape stuff I have stays in the drawer.

Cheers

 

[OF]

Right on OF.


I've had a carved one before and loved it. But because I lost it I had to replace it. And I 'm so glad I went for the bronze one! That and my solo is what I use and I use them about equal, depending on the mood. All the other vape stuff I have stays in the drawer.

Cool. What ever you do, don't get a Vapman. Especially not one of the new exotic (American) Walnut and Oak......as if Pear wood wasn't exotic enough for your tastes......

Glad you like the Bronze one, mine is responding to handling quite nicely. The patina is fun in sun light.

OF

 

[Egzoset]

Salutations OF,

...if you're a VG fan and don't seriously consider this one you should.

It's been on my mind for a long time and since i appear to have reached the conclusion of my recent moddings this may be a fine opportunity to require specific information about the bronze model.

...great view of the bowl...

Yes, that would be one reason that made me like it right from the start.

...(easy to aim and control the fire)...

The late modding has rendered my sphere almost blue-torch friendly, which means it's now more stealthy and since this looks like the same ball as with a bronze unit i foresee some more creative experiments ahead. In particular i seem to require a 10 cm extension path for my Classic which i divided as 2 consecutive chambers (See "Sticky"/"Moist" in previous post)... The hottest one is about twice the length of the other where i've installed a tiny amount of cotton fiber, for particles filtration.

...all that metal cools the vapor nicely...

Actually i'm ready to bet the bronze format affects taste positively by its length, which brings my next question...

Would it be possible to cut the goose-neck part close to its base, in order to obtain a termination which is mechanically equivalent to that of a Classic so i can insert a teflon straw as well?

My motive for asking is that i'd want to fine-tune my tube's length and sticky/moist ratio, because it affects many variables simultaneously including aroma/taste. It's no option unless the tubing can be reworked and it turns out that PVC plastic has proven to be adequate for my purpose:

I used to like my longer 2-sections set but since recently i've progressively switched to a shorter rationalized version (not photographed here) that still offers the same features although in a more compact format that induces significant ritual/appreciation changes for me. The short (blue) version of the present image was too short for a number of reasons.

So, if it's bronze only 1 length is available. Hence my question...

 

[Egzoset]

UPDATE



Sometimes it seems to me there's simply not enough "love" for the VaporGenie, hopefully this photograph will relate a different story:

​

2 tubing sets, trying to determine if i'm ready to trade a bit of airflow for the somewhat narrower inside-aperture of some refurbished Arizer glass straw/mouthpiece (see blue stripe), e.g. for glass on my lips. Since i feel i'm about done with sphere modding then the PVC tube work finally goes up on my to-do list, searching for the ideal sweet mix of trade-offs i guess.

Both strategies include a cotton ball. It's not visible for the yellowish unit but right on the right side of the teflon bridge (in the middle) of the clear set (with blue/orange stripes) we do have a hint of cotton ball sitting on teflon. Its location alters between the "Sticky" vs the "Moist" sections of tubing depending on the option chosen; in one case the glass mouthpiece being damaged it was difficult to install but the pipe interface can be removed conveniently on another hand. The later is on the orange end where a teflon straw inserted into a home-made heat-resistant plastic adapter (which is from a refurbished HA ballon mouthpiece cut accordingly), euh... Well, it mates with the mapple wood handle and that's where i access the cotton ball while the yellowish set has its cotton ball right under the black mouthpiece of which it cut the base to ease removal (with a tiny bit of oil added).

The middle teflon flow restrains correspond to the transition point between "Sticky" and "Moist" zones. I expect the moist cotton ball to require less frequent replacements, but i could be wrong as i'm thinking the hotter the cavity the less water vapor should remain to be condensed.

Hummm... This might take more attention before i can come to conclusions though...

 

[Egzoset]

Salutations everybody,

Each time it seems i can't think of what to try next and then something pops up, so here it is:

On top we have my previous PVC tubing extension with its cotton ball in the "Moist" zone, in the center this is a new version that allows access to my cotton ball from the hot side (orange) since it's contained in the "Sticky" section instead (to avoid water condensation trouble)... Arizer's refurbished glass stem from a broken Elbow Adapter makes a nice mouthpiece but then i thought the Glass Straw might be even more fun, which corresponds to the last item (on the bottom). The glass tube was slipped inside a straight section of PVC tubing to provide flexible support for its interface with wood; that later part is made of a refurbished HerbalAire Ballon Mouthpiece cut around the symetrical "X" section so the teflon straw inserted into the wooden stem has a layer of high-temperature synthetic material to better insulate PVC plastic from heat coming out of that modded pipe. Since a teflon straw is facing the glass straw there's even less proximity to PVC plastic than before, though this was nearly a trivial concern to me so far - but using glass also means i could replace cotton with stainless-steel. Now that's a potential improvement because i expect SS filters should require less maintenance while they are semi-permanent as a bonus. We can see the glass tube version shown above has such an SS particles filter, near the tiny blue rim where PVC plastic ends to form a mouthpiece.

That's 3 different extension setups and there's even a 4th one actually: my PVC tubing with glass happens to interconnect to create a long tube and this later configuration may help to limit incidents caused by clouds which are just too dense to handle. Aroma/taste is affected as a trade-off though.

So far my 3rd (bottom) tubing extension feels promissing and i like the idea that its materials are finally put where they're most appropriate. It's all fun!

 

[cat420]

So I took the big Bronze one for another spin last night......

I'm telling youse guys if you're a VG fan and don't seriously consider this one you should. You get a great view of the bowl (easy to aim and control the fire), all that metal cools the vapor nicely, and it has a great heft.

Mine is picking up a lovely patina that's becoming distracting in itself. The only issue I had with it was solved with some stick on felt, now it 'sits nicely' on the deck.

Regards,

OF

I am considering buying a VG, I v seen there is an alluminium option is this similar to the bronze model ?