Curious Gorilla
Sounds like something smells purple.
Same as ruby they are both Corundum, ruby has a small amount of chromium added to the aluminum oxide, sapphire something else is added to the aluminum oxide. i think.
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Zirconia balls instead of rubies in ball vapes?
- Thread starter goldfinger
- Start date
I have 3mm,4mm & 4mm jewel cut ruby(sent in error and got for free), 2.778mm SiN, 5mm boro(not tried yet) and all I can say is do not bother with natural agate, heaps of poppers and just tasted 'off'.
I want to try some SiC in 3.5mm but they can get expensive when buying hundreds.
I want to try some SiC in 3.5mm but they can get expensive when buying hundreds.
I've been saying this for awhile but Zirconia /ZrO2 balls Rock IN A Baller, I run all Zirconia in my tiodw and I'm running sic in my ceroma at the moment
I find the ceramic like ZrO2 and Sic while looking similar to Boro or ruby on paper they don't perform anything like those materials
They dump there heat very fast and they're slower to build up, I'm using them in a butane ball vape and they give a killer unique experience
In my coil units they dump the heat so fast you get this fantastic terpy rip right off the bat, I was so impressed with the Zirconia and sic performance I bought multiple kilos in order to get people to try them and give a good price, I really think they blow ruby out of the water without any competition
I find the ceramic like ZrO2 and Sic while looking similar to Boro or ruby on paper they don't perform anything like those materials
They dump there heat very fast and they're slower to build up, I'm using them in a butane ball vape and they give a killer unique experience
In my coil units they dump the heat so fast you get this fantastic terpy rip right off the bat, I was so impressed with the Zirconia and sic performance I bought multiple kilos in order to get people to try them and give a good price, I really think they blow ruby out of the water without any competition
How do peeps get them, I have these in my watch...all those sizes!
Wdym where do people get them? I ended up with 2 kilos of ZrO2/Zirconia and about 600 sic in 3mm,i had some miscommunication and thought I was buying a kilo of Sic as well
No biggie, now I know for next time
Do you have yours for sale listed somewhere...prices, sizes etc?
Gomaruana
Well-Known Member
I'll be ordering some ZrO2's from Ali to test!
Although for my vape design I'm working on I'd prefer quick heat buildup.
Gomaruana
Well-Known Member
What do you think about zirconia vs sic? Seems like the sic is very expensive.
MGVSolutions
mgvs.company.site
I sell the Sic for the same price as my ZrO2 200-300 for $35 depending on size
What are you trying to get?
99sprts
New Member
Just ran about 45 3mm Zr02 balls in my butane elev8r with a half bowl mod, and my god it's a surreal vape. So perfectly terpy, full, cool, smooth, dense hits. Crazy how much it transformed.
As said it takes a super long pull but it milks up everything once it "spools up" so to speak.
As said it takes a super long pull but it milks up everything once it "spools up" so to speak.
99sprts
New Member
After more pulls I'm consistently getting better hits way more often and my heat up time is cut by half using a GT8000 on full heat with 3mm Zr02 balls. Hands down the most flawless vape I've gotten out of anything
Out of curiosity are you comparing to Boro, ruby, or something else?
99sprts
New Member
Good question, sorry.
Am comparing to 3mm ruby and default elev8r with no balls, all using the same torch.
I've hit it through 2 water pieces, 18 inch beaker and a small globe in all configs with the same bud from the same batch.
vapefritz
Well-Known Member
Whats up everyone! I just stumbled over this thread, it's so interesting I have to revive it!
I end up with something like this:
(according to this, this and this table at 200°C)
I thought when searching for materials for balls for ball vapes, everyone wanted high thermal capacity and conductivity. But zirconia is worse in both properties compared to traditional materials! Yet @tinctorus and @99sprts seem to absolutely love it and prefer it over both ruby and sic!
What's going on? Are my numbers off? Materials could actually be different, because of different additives etc, and I had a hard time finding out at what temperatures some of those measurements were taken. Or maybe all of those are just "good enough", as in they can heat a jet of air to a desired temp for the duration of a deep breath, and so zirconia with perfect taste and quick heat up just wins although it's so much worse in conductivity and slightly worse in capacity?
Would really love to hear what you think!
I end up with something like this:
| Al2O3 | SiC | ZrO2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thermal Capacity in J/g-°C | 1 | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Thermal Conductivity in W/m-K | 25 | 125 | 2.7 |
(according to this, this and this table at 200°C)
I thought when searching for materials for balls for ball vapes, everyone wanted high thermal capacity and conductivity. But zirconia is worse in both properties compared to traditional materials! Yet @tinctorus and @99sprts seem to absolutely love it and prefer it over both ruby and sic!
What's going on? Are my numbers off? Materials could actually be different, because of different additives etc, and I had a hard time finding out at what temperatures some of those measurements were taken. Or maybe all of those are just "good enough", as in they can heat a jet of air to a desired temp for the duration of a deep breath, and so zirconia with perfect taste and quick heat up just wins although it's so much worse in conductivity and slightly worse in capacity?
Would really love to hear what you think!
GoldenBud
Well-Known Member
probably the vapor tastes a bit better with zirconia beads
lazylathe
Almost there...
I found the opposite to be true for myself.
Swapped out my rubies for Zirconia beads and felt a drop in flavor.
Went back to rubies.
YMMV though...
vapefritz
Well-Known Member
Maybe it's related to the temperatures people select?
Feg. I always wondered if people saying SiC has worse taste than ruby just didn't realize they had slightly higher temps than before. Because SiC has so much better conductivity it gets more energy into the air as it is sucked through, making it hotter.
Similarly when switching from rubies to zirconia the air temperature should be lower leading to more flavor... Or, if you were already at low temperatures to begin with, it could lead to it dropping too much and not delivering good vapor at all.
Feg. I always wondered if people saying SiC has worse taste than ruby just didn't realize they had slightly higher temps than before. Because SiC has so much better conductivity it gets more energy into the air as it is sucked through, making it hotter.
Similarly when switching from rubies to zirconia the air temperature should be lower leading to more flavor... Or, if you were already at low temperatures to begin with, it could lead to it dropping too much and not delivering good vapor at all.
SixStringToker
Naked member
I think the flavor differences between the filler materials has more to do with the roast profile (can you tell that I'm also an espresso snob? lol!) than anything directly related to the material itself. The rate at which the heat calories are released from the different materials can vary quite a bit.
With zirc, the temperature of the air at the herb bed is going to ramp up more slowly, spending more time in a lower / potentially more flavorful range before reaching the peak temp. SiC, on the other hand, will release the heat much more quickly and potentially blast right past those lower temps during the hit (assuming the same draw speed), reaching the peak temp much more quickly. The resulting mix of vapor may not be definitively better or worse, but it'll definitely be different even if the roast looks exactly the same.
Edit: These differences are not all that dissimilar to the differences when simply changing the diameter of the balls/gems. The temp @ the herb bed will ramp up more slowly with larger diameter balls.
With zirc, the temperature of the air at the herb bed is going to ramp up more slowly, spending more time in a lower / potentially more flavorful range before reaching the peak temp. SiC, on the other hand, will release the heat much more quickly and potentially blast right past those lower temps during the hit (assuming the same draw speed), reaching the peak temp much more quickly. The resulting mix of vapor may not be definitively better or worse, but it'll definitely be different even if the roast looks exactly the same.
Edit: These differences are not all that dissimilar to the differences when simply changing the diameter of the balls/gems. The temp @ the herb bed will ramp up more slowly with larger diameter balls.
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Piecho
Active Member
I like your way of thinking. Better to be aware of the differences and choose the best fitting for your needs/setup.
So if my goal would be to add some balls inside the glass mouthpiece steam for the vapour cooling I should go with borosilicate glass?
Radwin Bodnic
Well-Known Member
Air only doesn't triggers taste buds. You need particulates flowing through the air to taste something.
If your vaporizer does have a taste when hitting empty it's either reclaim or offgasing from the vape material, which is not desirable.
I was just being a smart ass. Just ignore me