Zeal, Ω, and Epitome

Arawfish

Green Thumb
high heat can change the color of stainless steel. The color change is caused by the oxidation of the chromium in the steel. As the steel is heated, the chromium atoms react with oxygen in the air to form a thin layer of chromium oxide. This layer of oxide is what gives stainless steel its characteristic color.

The color of the oxide layer will vary depending on the temperature at which the steel is heated. For example, heating stainless steel to a temperature of 550 degrees Fahrenheit will result in a pale yellow color, while heating it to a temperature of 1100 degrees Fahrenheit will result in a dark blue color.

The heat coloring process can be used to create a variety of different colors on stainless steel. It is a popular technique for customizing stainless steel products, such as knives, jewelry, and home décor items.

Here is a table of the different colors that can be achieved by heat coloring stainless steel:

Temperature (°F)Color
550Pale yellow
650Light orange
750Dark orange
850Brown
950Purple
1050Blue
1150Dark blue

It is important to note that the heat coloring process can also weaken the stainless steel. Therefore, it is important to use caution when heat coloring stainless steel, and to avoid heating it to temperatures that are too high.

Yeah, see, I knew all that. Which is why I thought an hour at 950 would do the trick to get it sorta where I like things to be.
 
Arawfish,

slippery

Member
if anyone's been having trouble getting their zeal ss to hit, here's what's working best for me with the glass diffuser bowl the kit comes with:
510-540 depending on how moist the weed is and what hit i want.
fill the zeal with the most balls you can, don't worry about breaking some, metal screen on top can stop it from happening.
metal screen trimmed resting in the glass diffuser bowl.
heat soak the glass bowl. it should go down 25-30 degrees then back up.
load the bowl when it reaches temp again. you might want a wood/metal scoop.
heat soak the bowl for 0-40s.
instant milk 1 hit bowls with even extraction. works on my glass with both wide open and restricted airflow.
hitting it normal works great too, it just gets going a bit faster and gets more vapor density in your lungs if you take the time to heat soak the glass. hitting it with no heat soak works noticeably better on 18mm unrestricted airflow type glass for me. doing this has not made my bowl stick in any joints.

What inexpensive bubblers are you guys running with the zeal? Just dipping my toes in at this point

(or any other 18mm matrix bubbler)
here are some cheap 18mm bubblers that worked well with my zeal. if you can wait a bit for the new version of the fc-199 from popularglass to come out, that's probably gonna be the best cheap one.
 

iDRINKBLEACH

knowing is half the power - Gi-JOE
Accessory Maker
if anyone's been having trouble getting their zeal ss to hit, here's what's working best for me with the glass diffuser bowl the kit comes with:
510-540 depending on how moist the weed is and what hit i want.
fill the zeal with the most balls you can, don't worry about breaking some, metal screen on top can stop it from happening.
metal screen trimmed resting in the glass diffuser bowl.
heat soak the glass bowl. it should go down 25-30 degrees then back up.
load the bowl when it reaches temp again. you might want a wood/metal scoop.
heat soak the bowl for 0-40s.
instant milk 1 hit bowls with even extraction. works on my glass with both wide open and restricted airflow.
hitting it normal works great too, it just gets going a bit faster and gets more vapor density in your lungs if you take the time to heat soak the glass. hitting it with no heat soak works noticeably better on 18mm unrestricted airflow type glass for me. doing this has not made my bowl stick in any joints.



(or any other 18mm matrix bubbler)
here are some cheap 18mm bubblers that worked well with my zeal. if you can wait a bit for the new version of the fc-199 from popularglass to come out, that's probably gonna be the best cheap one.
Have you tried bumping up temps most that we’re having difficulty just didn’t have their temp high enough to really heat soak all the housing and balls since it’s got more to it than some devices like TiTi and it’s iterations? At 565-570 im white walling with no preheat. Two hits mocha cash that bowl everytime. I always choose higher heat pure convection “on-demand” vs preheat time of conduction.
 

Easywider

Simple is the way
How long are people leaving there units on for before hitting them? I notice if I just turn mine on and wait 5-6mins i need a much higher temp. But normally mine turns on in the morning and off just before bed. I run SS at 400-420 and Zerc in the high 300's if my material was any darker brown it would look like coffee. I never heat soak.
 

Grass Yes

Yes
Staff member
How long are people leaving there units on for before hitting them? I notice if I just turn mine on and wait 5-6mins i need a much higher temp. But normally mine turns on in the morning and off just before bed. I run SS at 400-420 and Zerc in the high 300's if my material was any darker brown it would look like coffee. I never heat soak.
I usually run mine for anywhere from 15 minutes to a 1/2 an hour before I hit it. Mostly because that's my routine with all my desktops. I consider that a heat soak of the rubies. I will often heat soak the bowl for about 5 minutes if I am using the metal CH shovelhead. I don't bother with glass bowls because I don't see any improvement from this.
 

coolbreeze

Well-Known Member
How long are people leaving there units on for before hitting them? I notice if I just turn mine on and wait 5-6mins i need a much higher temp. But normally mine turns on in the morning and off just before bed. I run SS at 400-420 and Zerc in the high 300's if my material was any darker brown it would look like coffee. I never heat soak.
I usually give at least 15 mins for these heavier heads; longer's better. I get an immediate whitewall with my DC SS Zeal at about 475f depending on the glass. I don't bother soaking the bowl.

There must be a lot of variation as a result of the differences in waterpipe restriction.
 

Bababouy

Well-Known Member
How long are people leaving their units on for before hitting them? I notice if I just turn mine on and wait 5-6mins i need a much higher temp. But normally mine turns on in the morning and off just before bed. I run SS at 400-420 and Zerc in the high 300's if my material was any darker brown it would look like coffee. I never heat soak.
Normally when I heat mine up I wait for it to do the typical ramp up past temp and then wait until it cools down to my set temp. I find it needs that time to really the head hot enough to give me the results I want without ramping up the temp

Forgive my ignorance, are the temps you are listing from taking a read off of the head with an IR thermometer or are you actually setting the PID that low? I run mine at 520-530 on the box my IR is dead currently so I do not know the actual temp.


Looks like my shovelhead and Ed’s tnt bowl will be arriving just in time for the weekend!
 

iDRINKBLEACH

knowing is half the power - Gi-JOE
Accessory Maker
Yeah, see, I knew all that. Which is why I thought an hour at 950 would do the trick to get it sorta where I like things to be.
Mine is blue. It’s very hard to do. You need to have a perfectly clean head. Almost washed with PBW and ISO to remove every last bit of oils. Then you need to use a torch because PID will not actually get the cap and diffuser hot enough to change those colors. Also if you try this it needs to be done all in a single go. You hit it with a torch until it starts to glow and brush the heat as evenly across. I fancy myself pretty handy and able to finesse aesthetics but I even ended up with uneven tones in a few spots and ultimately decided gold is the way 😂
Austin Powers Love GIF
 

Easywider

Simple is the way
. I will often heat soak the bowl for about 5 minutes if I am using the metal CH shovelhead.
I'm going to give this a whirl for science, I just need to find my two piece CH bowl.

Forgive my ignorance, are the temps you are listing from taking a read off of the head with an IR thermometer or are you actually setting the PID that low? I run mine at 520-530 on the box my IR is dead currently so I do not know the actual temp.

Haha yeah, no funny business here, my PID is this low. 400-420f for SS and 350-385f Zirc. I'm in the high 500's to low 600's with the same coil on a B1 or Ceroma for reference.

There must be a lot of variation as a result of the differences in waterpipe restriction.

Must be something in the water!
 

Arawfish

Green Thumb
Mine is blue. It’s very hard to do. You need to have a perfectly clean head. Almost washed with PBW and ISO to remove every last bit of oils. Then you need to use a torch because PID will not actually get the cap and diffuser hot enough to change those colors. Also if you try this it needs to be done all in a single go. You hit it with a torch until it starts to glow and brush the heat as evenly across. I fancy myself pretty handy and able to finesse aesthetics but I even ended up with uneven tones in a few spots and ultimately decided gold is the way 😂
Austin Powers Love GIF
I think you’re right, gold is the way. I like patinas when they form from normal usage, and not artificially induced from a torch. I think my Zeal head saw that post I made, because they day after it started to become a noticeably different shade.
 

slippery

Member
Have you tried bumping up temps most that we’re having difficulty just didn’t have their temp high enough to really heat soak all the housing and balls since it’s got more to it than some devices like TiTi and it’s iterations? At 565-570 im white walling with no preheat. Two hits mocha cash that bowl everytime. I always choose higher heat pure convection “on-demand” vs preheat time of conduction.
yeah 560 and no soak works great for me.
i've been finding at lower temps it works best to just heat the glass up and keep it hot between bowls instead of hitting it right from cold. but i stopped doing any actual heat soaking. i'm just heating the empty bowl up. its a bit more effort so i don't always do it, but it makes the temp stay more consistent during large bong hits, & makes the lower temp ranges milk up fast and instantly like the higher temps do.
 

Momor

Well-Known Member
I pre-ordered the international kit. That's gonna be my first ball vape and I'm quite excited.
Is the glass bowl that comes in the kit 14 or 18 mm ?
Does anyone has advices on where to find a nice handle and stand for the head in EU ?
I know about, and where to find the CH one, the b2cvape one but they're quite expensive. I'm also aware of the DIY solution of cutting a slit in a ceramic mug but not sure how to proceed properly.
I also know where to find the CH or Qaroma handles but they're also quite expensive. I think b2cvape has a cheap alternative but if I could o would like to order within the EU.
Did I understand correctly that the preorders end on 6/23 and the kits should be shipped ~2,5 weeks later ?
 

nicknobody

Well-Known Member
I pre-ordered the international kit. That's gonna be my first ball vape and I'm quite excited.
Is the glass bowl that comes in the kit 14 or 18 mm ?
Does anyone has advices on where to find a nice handle and stand for the head in EU ?
I know about, and where to find the CH one, the b2cvape one but they're quite expensive. I'm also aware of the DIY solution of cutting a slit in a ceramic mug but not sure how to proceed properly.
I also know where to find the CH or Qaroma handles but they're also quite expensive. I think b2cvape has a cheap alternative but if I could o would like to order within the EU.
Did I understand correctly that the preorders end on 6/23 and the kits should be shipped ~2,5 weeks later ?
Check out vgoodiez for ideas. They might ship your way. Either way these are good less expensive options to look for locally








Edit my buddy got his zeal last night! Some of his texts consisted of “face melting” and getting “dumber by the second”

He loves it!! I can’t wait to get over there a huff on it
 
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encoderboy

Well-Known Member
So, my SS Zeal arrived today. I've got it setup on my Chinese PID, with 3mm Si C balls, and the CC glass diffuser bowls.

MAN. This thing has absolutely kicked my ass. For reference, I have pretty sky high tolerance at this point from several months of daily Tiodw use. But the Zeal is outperforming it, both with intensity, and with efficiency.

The hype is absolutely for real. Given the absurdly good price of the kits CC are offering, I would encourage anybody to get onto them. I really doubt you'll be disappointed!
 

cvs8floz

Well-Known Member
The Zeal is an amazing vape but in the end, it proved to be too much for my lungs and throat. After about 2 weeks of continuous use with the same PID, glass and material I had been using with the B1 and even tough I dropped temps by 100 degrees., a persistent throat tickle and cough set in, which I can only attribute to the change in vapes. I went back to the B1 last Thursday and by today Tuesday the cough is mostly gone and I feel back to normal again. My best explanation is that the B1 is wide open and less restricted than the Zeal and requires less lung effort, although I didn't find the Zeal very restricted either. I might have just hit my limit on what my body can tolerate in terms of vaporizer power. For people who struggle with throat/coughing issues, you might want to give the B1 a try, I also appreciate how much lighter it is than the Zeal.
 

Arawfish

Green Thumb
The Zeal is an amazing vape but in the end, it proved to be too much for my lungs and throat. After about 2 weeks of continuous use with the same PID, glass and material I had been using with the B1 and even tough I dropped temps by 100 degrees., a persistent throat tickle and cough set in, which I can only attribute to the change in vapes. I went back to the B1 last Thursday and by today Tuesday the cough is mostly gone and I feel back to normal again. My best explanation is that the B1 is wide open and less restricted than the Zeal and requires less lung effort, although I didn't find the Zeal very restricted either. I might have just hit my limit on what my body can tolerate in terms of vaporizer power. For people who struggle with throat/coughing issues, you might want to give the B1 a try, I also appreciate how much lighter it is than the Zeal.
Perhaps you have a sensitivity to stainless? Because I’m sorry to say but that makes no logical sense. Both the Zeal and b1 smack with ferocious intensity, the only 1 single difference is that the Zeal is made with stainless.
 

iDRINKBLEACH

knowing is half the power - Gi-JOE
Accessory Maker
Zirc heads will be in sometime end of next week, when I get definite date of arrival I will open a listing for those who want to reserve theirs. Waiting on tracking info but order is complete.
SS is en route also. PIDs are being worked on and international orders are being accommodated.

@cvs8floz i get this throat tickle from CH products. If you need more airflow I’d suggest 4mm balls and lowering temp more. Zeal will operate at much lower temps than b1 because of its more mass and more efficient use of power.

I would think SS sensitivity, which people who order Zeal are trying to get away from Ti (like myself) because of allergies that’s sound very similar to your scenario.
I hope you find an answer to your irritation, this would be a first for me besides some one who isn’t use to the dry heat of vapor or how terps can irritate your throat also.
 
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Bababouy

Well-Known Member
So last week I picked up the bowl below and and shovelhead from CH.


This bowl did not allow the zeal to seat inside the 22mm edge stock but with some wood carving tools and a bit of patience I widened the edge to allow me to seat the head instead of resting it on top. Apologies if this incompatibility has been talked about before I tried to search but it appeared prior comments were on the v2.5 injector bowl. I’m loving the flavor and full convection hits with the zeal ss at 560-570 and my b0 at 615. The zeal gives me a bit more flavor while the b0 ensures a one hit roast. I’m already wanting the mangowood diffuser Bowl to compare.

I have enjoyed the shovelhead as the heat soaks are quicker than the CC glass bowl imo however I do not enjoy how many times I have burnt the hell out of my fingers on this thing or how much it binds to glass joints while hot. No blisters yet but I’m still trying optimize this one to my ritual. The bowl is huge which does not make it conducive to weeknight use for me but damn it’s pretty with the Ed’s handle. More testing is in order and the dnail PTFE sleeves mentioned elsewhere may be on my shortlist to prevent sticking.

The Zeal SS is still winning my reach test and I look forward to testing with 3mm zirconia when it gets here tomorrow.

@iDRINKBLEACH I’m excited the zirc heads will be back in stock. Definitely looking forward to snagging one and testing a 100% zirc setup!👍🏻
 

encoderboy

Well-Known Member
Awesome info @Bababouy ! I'd been trying to figure out how to get a CH shovelhead bowl to Australia (disgustingly expensive lol). Now I'm not sure I'll bother.

I'm liking the CC glass bowls a lot more than I expected to. The holes in the filter are large enough to not clog too quickly, especially with a screen in place.
 

shroomi

Well-Known Member
Zirc heads will be in sometime end of next week, when I get definite date of arrival I will open a listing for those who want to reserve theirs. Waiting on tracking info but order is complete.
Great news! Will the 6-wrap coil be available too?
 
shroomi,

cvs8floz

Well-Known Member
Zirc heads will be in sometime end of next week, when I get definite date of arrival I will open a listing for those who want to reserve theirs. Waiting on tracking info but order is complete.
SS is en route also. PIDs are being worked on and international orders are being accommodated.

@cvs8floz i get this throat tickle from CH products. If you need more airflow I’d suggest 4mm balls and lowering temp more. Zeal will operate at much lower temps than b1 because of its more mass and more efficient use of power.

I would think SS sensitivity, which people who order Zeal are trying to get away from Ti (like myself) because of allergies that’s sound very similar to your scenario.
I hope you find an answer to your irritation, this would be a first for me besides some one who isn’t use to the dry heat of vapor or how terps can irritate your throat also.
Thank you for the suggestions, I have the standard titanium Zeal so it's not the material that is the issue. I have been vaping 1-2g nightly in the B1 and previously the Weedeater for years at around 590 without any throat irritation. I was using the Zeal at 480 with the 3mm balls, I am sure going to 450 or lower with 4mm balls would help, I might try that again in a while once I feel my throat is 100% back to normal.
 
cvs8floz,

Arawfish

Green Thumb
Thank you for the suggestions, I have the standard titanium Zeal so it's not the material that is the issue. I have been vaping 1-2g nightly in the B1 and previously the Weedeater for years at around 590 without any throat irritation. I was using the Zeal at 480 with the 3mm balls, I am sure going to 450 or lower with 4mm balls would help, I might try that again in a while once I feel my throat is 100% back to normal.
The Zeal is not Titanium.
 
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