Someone told me to turn on the pump for 5 seconds, then put the chamber on for 5 seconds, then connect the bag but I've found the more herb is in the chamber the longer I have to leave it on before connecting the bag. Sometimes even 10-15 seconds for a full, slightly packed solid valve chamber before noticeable vapor comes out.
New to the site, and still fairly new to the volcano though I've used it quite a bit over the past month but I registered mainly for this thread. A little background - I switched dabbing to probably 95% of my intake 4 years ago. Finally dabbing has become too intense for me, the coughing and throat/lung stuff in the 30 seconds to few minutes after a decent dab, how much it raises my tolerance, and the fact that a lot of states are making concentrates felonies, and the anxiety it causes sometimes (even paired with CBD) - I decided to switch back to flower. Broke out the bong and immediately regretted the decision because of the combustion. After using an enail on low temps for so long it was disgusting.
I had hit a volcano when I was like 16 or 17 (10 years ago - sheesh), and it was fun but I didn't think much of it. Had whip vapes around then too and hated how they would slide off the end of the element and shatter so even though I liked the concept of vaping they never really seemed practical. I have a vapirone - vapirs first vape that blows up bags, but i got it second hand off a friend back in like 2010 and it had been stored in my friends garage for like 2 years and is in my storage unit now so its kinda nasty at this point. In the past couple years I have become much more health conscious and figured now was the time to get a volcano, as it is kind of the standard and has been since before I started toking in 05 so being in a legal state I figured CraigsList would be a good place to start.
I bought a classic off CL here in Denver for 240 about a month ago. There were cheaper, 200 was the cheapest when I was looking but only if I was willing to drive an extra hour each way - a couple weeks after I bought though one popped up for 150
. But I chose it because the seller had it posted for like 2 months and had dropped the price from 400 to 275, and I figured I could use the ones listed for 200 to my advantage, so it dropped more. It came with a solid valve, and 2 barely used bags, 1 3.5ft(my preferred), 1 1.5 ft. Checked with S&B and its from 2012, the previous owner had barely used it, and I believe he was the original owner but I forgot to ask. Everything seemed very new/clean and it works perfectly! It really seems like he bought it originally, used it for like a few days as a novelty and then put it back in its box and left it for 5 years before he listed it, it even has all the replacement filters, stickers, screens, brushes etc...
I fucking love this thing. FUCK COMBUSTION!!! This whole experience solidified it. I used to smoke amongst friends and stuff but I'm done with that thanks to the Volcano and a want to start clearing my lungs out after years of combustion of herb and tobacco. I have since bought an easy valve starter kit (puffitup let me use a 15% off code so it was only 85) and an Xmax V2 Pro for a cheap on the go option, but because I'm taking a big road trip in like 9 days I haven't touched these as I have to drive through UT and ID to get to the legal states and I figured taking brand new/clean stuff is the best option to get through these states without issues. This is killing me though because I have recyclers with 14mm male joints, which supposedly fit perfectly with the easy valve and holding the solid valve on a glass piece just isn't all that great....but I have to wait to be a lil bit safer.
Up here in CO I read we have to use slightly higher temps - I usually put about .3-.5 ground finely into the solid valve chamber, with 20-50mg of CBD isolate sandwiched in the middle, and DONT push the plunger down tight. Then run it at 6.5(AM) or 7(PM) for the first bag, and shut it off, and come back and do 7.5(AM) and 8(PM) for the second bag - both 3.5 foot bags, sometimes a third if the pack is big at 8.5, but only right before bed, and then dump the AVB into a jar - eventually I'll make edibles with MCT oil and lecithin. For now I'm using the 8g of shatter I had left over from deciding I was done dabbing to eat
.
For me, I'm fortunate enough to live in Denver and having been around since the beginning of rec weed here I know my way around and keep a close enough eye on deals to where I rarely pay more than 120/oz, even for bud that is up to my standards (I am anal - used to grow a lot) and I have enough of a surplus to where I'm not worried about waste or anything, however I think I'd like to try some of the dosing capsules, because right now I pack such big bowls so I don't have to repack it every time I go to hit it, but with those I could sit down and fill a bunch, even make them strain specific and put them into jars for future use with the 40 pack, and then every time I'm ready I get a fresh bag - that sounds enticing!
Okay now my real reason I'm here - I've been looking at magma industries...you guys have been talking about them recently, and eliminating the big bulky piece from the equation would be awesome. My question is, is the Obsidian really worth the extra? I could buy a red plastic magma, and a clear glass magma for clost to the same as the Obsidian - which means I could take the plastic one on the road trip so not to worry about glass while still getting the water filtration benefits, and having the glass one to come home to. Do they really leak back into the herb chamber that much that the Obsidian is worth the price of both? Also I read that someone used iso to wash out the plastic magma, and the welds dissolved and it fell apart.....is this a common thing? Does the Obsidian offer anything other than the backwash protection?
Thanks!
tl:dr - new, love my volcano....personally run the pump for 5 seconds, then leave the chamber on til visible vapor comes out and then bag it...is the obsidian worth the extra, do the magmas leak into the chamber often, and does the plastic magma fall apart with an iso wash? thanks again!