chillAtGVC
Well-Known Member
My concern was water dripping into the oven. I tried what you said tonight after giving the stem a good blow to ensure there was not any excessive moisture. I am a convert, thank you!
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will round cubic zirconia gems, like 6mm, work a cooling heat absorber in glass vape stems or a heat accumulators balls in ball vapes?
- Thread starter seedy53
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Old Moderate
Well-Known Member
Yes. You got it. Blow out all the excess you can and then dry the rest with a sesh.
TigoleBitties
Big and Bouncy
Yes, I've experienced this after cleaning my glass recently. I never went through the trouble of drying with a hair dryer or waiting hours so there was always some moisture in there and it was nice. Did you ever consider just adding a drop of water with an eye-dropper before every session? Maybe you could reproduce the effect every time.Yes. You got it. Blow out all the excess you can and then dry the rest with a sesh.
I've always tried to use dry pipes to maximize flavor but getting the AE recently with the tiny little bubbler has made me more open to small amounts of water in the airpath. Maybe it's because the AE is so flavorful already but I find using that little bubbler with the waterline just barely above the diffusion downstem adds a nice bit of humidity without killing the flavor.
This whole idea of using gems sounds really interesting to try, but now I'm torn because it's so easy to change the water in the little bubbler that I'm happy with just that. The turbulence seems to cool the vapor well for me and it'll be less maintenance. Maybe if I ever want to try any of the straight stems I'll try the gems. I'm guessing you remove the screened gaskets that hold the gems in place when you clean them?
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chillAtGVC
Well-Known Member
When I cleaned the stem yesterday I just dropped the whole thing, caps, balls, and all, into my ETH tank. I let it sit bit less than 10 min, sloshed it around a couple of times, took it out, rinsed it well, blew out the water and, uh, got high. That is as low maintenance as the Solo stems, so a win for lazy me.
I don't think it makes any different but I use ethanol not isopropyl for cleaning as I have gallons around my wood shop for mixing shellac and general solvent cleaning.
TigoleBitties
Big and Bouncy
Nice. Was just wondering about gasket damage but maybe for such a short time it's a non-issue. I'm finding the AE different enough than the Solo to appreciate what it brings. They're both awesome modern vapes though. Top tier imo.
What's cool about ethanol is that you could conceivably use it to mix drinks with or just take a shot of it and it would be infused with (God knows how much!) THC. Do you make use of it from your cleaning tank? You could even just evaporate it and be left with concentrate. I have no idea whether it's any less damaging for gaskets though.
chillAtGVC
Well-Known Member
I am not sure how much of a real life concern alcohol and silicone gaskets are. Venty gaskets are cheap and plentiful so I just dissemble the cooling unit and drop all of the pieces in my tank overnight. So far, since March, I have not noticed any degradation in the four o-rings. That is with alternating two cooling units though.
It is ethanol but not drinkable. I get is a bio-furnace fuel from Canadian Tire so it has some ISO and probably bittering) agents added. I've tried some high proof rum (Wray and Nephew), but it was not high enough to clean well. I can report that reclaim in rum tastes awful. It ruined a tasty rum. You would have to be desperate. There is no shortage of weed in BC
so I prefer to discard the reclaim and vape tasty fresh bud. I do keep my AVB, but I have no idea why.
TigoleBitties
Big and Bouncy
Good to know. I'm lazy about cleaning so efficiency is king. If I can just leave the gaskets in there then I'd give it a try. However, is there any reason to use the gems over just a bit of water in the bubbler? Do they really cool that much better or does the vapor taste that much better vs. a bit of water?
Ah that's too bad. Pretty sure someone on this forum uses high proof drinkable ethanol for cleaning and then drinks it either in a shot or mixed.
Lol same. I also order my bud from BC. Why would you not in Canada?There is no shortage of weed in BC
.chillAtGVC
Well-Known Member
My big thing against water is that the devices are electrical, and lithium battery powered to boot, and I am clumsy. I also felt at the time that water steals terps and dry pieces tasted better. I have not repeated that now that I have more devices and more glass options. I probably should. Personally, I don't like side bubblers as I find them less comfortable to use. That is a purely personal thing.
Old Moderate
Well-Known Member
I’ve tried to just dribble it in and that does work but not a well as getting a fine coating across all of the balls. Also it is just too easy to pull out the herb screen and rinse with water then blow out all the excess. There is a bit of flavor loss as you might expect, but not that much and I really appreciate the moister air. I’m using the TM2 and either a short straight stem filled with balls with a mouthpiece or a WPA filled with just a few balls connected to a OGB J-hook. It use to be that when sharing a sesh on the sixth pull the vapor would get really harsh, but if recently cleaned with residual moisture even the sixth hit is smooth. That works for me as I often like to crank up the temp on that last one to finish things off.
I should try an actual eye dropper of water and report back….science!
seedy53
Well-Known Member
i like cz gem cooling and it cleans up easily and i do not remove them from bubblier i use stem lockers on each end of bubblier after put iso in there soak for 3omin agitate gently a couple times, empty then rinse out with hot water, then dry with hair dryer or lay it down and let it evaporate over night.
then 5 min max temp burn-off, when hot ,gently blow cool air from bottom vent thru 430f oven and into the bubblier to finish drying and sterilize. remove stem ball locker pieces
then 5 min max temp burn-off, when hot ,gently blow cool air from bottom vent thru 430f oven and into the bubblier to finish drying and sterilize. remove stem ball locker pieces
old-fart
Maybe not the oldest, but possibly the fartiest!
Thoughts on these CZ gems. I like that they ship with a variety of sizes. Not sure I'll even use the 1mm or 2mm, but seems like a good deal for the other sizes. I would use then for downstem diffusion on a bong
or this one
or this one
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seedy53
Well-Known Member
these are excellent cz
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Have you tried them ? Do they stand the heat ?these are excellent cz
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I have some that cracked under a small torch flame...
seedy53
Well-Known Member
i only tried them for stem cooling excellent. don't own pid/coil ball vape.
these cz's grade 5 the much better than grade 3
only buy white for heat
There was a white that cracked. I don't know the grade though...
seedy53
Well-Known Member
fairly cheap to find out
I guess it wouldn't suit a torch powered ballvape then...
old-fart
Maybe not the oldest, but possibly the fartiest!
these are excellent cz
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What size do you recommend for downstems?
seedy53
Well-Known Member
6mm to 8mm bong down stems
Cheebsy
Microbe minion
Personally I wouldn't use cz for either cooling or heating, especially heating, there is just too much variance in the manufacturing and I can afford purer choices.
As for the size for downstems, don't bother! If it's intake for a wp then just let the water, or the geometry of a dry piece, do the work. Size in any cooling stems should be pretty subjective. The larger the balls the less draw resistance, but also less surface area meaning warmer vapour. If you're considering them for a restrictive vape, then go smaller because they will have less impact, if you're considering them for a hot vape, then consider how the vapes resistance is for your preference. If it's too open, choose smaller balls, if you like the openness, choose larger balls but use a longer stem.
As for the size for downstems, don't bother! If it's intake for a wp then just let the water, or the geometry of a dry piece, do the work. Size in any cooling stems should be pretty subjective. The larger the balls the less draw resistance, but also less surface area meaning warmer vapour. If you're considering them for a restrictive vape, then go smaller because they will have less impact, if you're considering them for a hot vape, then consider how the vapes resistance is for your preference. If it's too open, choose smaller balls, if you like the openness, choose larger balls but use a longer stem.
seedy53
Well-Known Member
as far as i know, grade 5 cz white gems are is about as good as you get in bulk. balls/gems in bong downstem are there to create agitation and disturbance to cause different bubble patterns, like different gurgling sounds-not cooling, per se , though it may help the cooling too. cz balls/gems in water bong belly can be used to replace the water, this way you can use for cooling, esp dry bong, not in downstem. some people use 12mm marbles in bong bellys of at least sizes 250ml but 500ml is better
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