I have posted in the past that I change my EZ Valve bags once a year.
That means I build a new "BIG" bag, and start a new regular sized EZ Valve bag into daily usage.
I recycle and get the goods out of the old bags, and where applicable pass the cleaned used bags along when not damaged.
Procedure is at
http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/volcano.220/page-45#post-550843
The actual giant bag construction procedure is at:
http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/volcano.220/page-46#post-569774
Back then I had never cleaned my actual EZ Valve, and after 3 years I found quite a large amount of buildup:
http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/volcano.220/page-46#post-571059
These days, I clean the valve and change the bags out at the same time.
A yearly ritual that I can live with, considering the impunity with which I push Volcano to it's limits much of the time.
Today I decided to tackle the job once again, as I see tiny wisps of vapor along the outside of my bags... coming from microscopic holes unseen to the naked eye, in areas where the condensates gather.
They harden to the consistency of a thin layer of hard candy when the bags cool.
If a user handles the bags a great deal when the bags are rich in sublimate coating then the layers, like candy will crack and break.
This is the same as candy on cellophane... which when cracked often makes the same small tears in the cellophane that I mention, although the Volcano bags being stronger take longer to damage.
I handle the older bags gently when they are well coated, to prevent this.
Sooner or later it starts to happen, and I have found that to be at about the one year point for me.
Here is what the bags look like after I popped off the mouthpieces:
Above: I will not be recycling the regular Volcano Bag, as it shows signs of wear.
The long bag will get cleaned and trimmed, and given as a spare to a local patient that
had requested a giant bag like this.
Above: Longer home-made bag is on the left.
Above: You can see that my home made bag (now on the right) lacks the perfect evenness of
"spread" where I bunched and distributed the bag material. Their bag's excess looks
almost like a flower in it's symmetry.. something I hope to do better at this time.
*On an aside note, I was able to re-use the same thin coated wire I used the last time.. while a bit worn it seems OK for the job.
The two images below are from last years "build"... showing the wire I was able to re-use this time around.
All deleted images here can be seen at:
http://s1132.photobucket.com/user/VitoloVaporizes/library/Volcano?sort=3&page=1