Vaporizer
wicke...@gmail.com
I've made a couple. They do give the best high when used correctly. The
problem is 'correct use,' since they generally require more presence of
mind to operate than a bong or a pipe.
High heat doesdestory most of the THC in smoked pot (estimates vary).
Vaporizers heat pot gently; the THC molexules decarboxylate and
evaporate in a whitish smoke that feels like (aaaah) water-mist going
down your lungs!
A problem with vaporizers is that only leaves in contact with the
heating element get hot. Most users, in an effort to heat-up curled
leaf edges and higher layers of leaf, tend to overheat and consequently
burn the stuff. This is not disasterous since you are now 'smoking' not
'vaporizing' the pot, releasing just as many carcinogenic tars as when
you light up a bowl.
Vaporizers sometimes fail to satisfy longtime smokers who associate
burning lungs with getting high. They distrust the incredibly smooth
taste of the vapors, and they don't like waiting 20 seconds to 1 minute
for each hit.
ANECDOTE ON:
My first vaporizer died after almost 4 hours of constant use at a
party. After I explained the theory and operation of the device, people
loved it! They were standing in line (!!) in the kitchen to use this
thing. I sat in the corner of the room watching them, stoned out of my
gourd and filled with happy engineering pride at my creation.
ANECDOTE OFF...
RECENT QUESTIONS
a) must the heat source be electrical, or is it possible to use a
butane lighter or other flame source as the heat source?
A butane lighter should work fine... Just build an enclosure around it
that allows air-flow for the flame, and keeps the 'bowl' high enuf
above the flame so that you don't begin burning the pot. The
'above-bowl' compartment should be sealed-off from the 'flame'
compartment. A piezo-butane lighter vaporizer would be portable, and
heat-up quicker than the car-lighter/electric devices. You could even
conceal one inside a soda-pop can! Imagine pantomiming drinking in
public while actually inhaling vaporized killer hydrobud! Would some
Mech. E. major please try to pull this one off?
b) will vaporization really work with leafy material directly or must
some oil preparation be prepared first.
It works, but it is very difficult to heat all of the leaf parts; those
that don't directly touch the heating element don't release their THC.
Powdering the pot helps, but in the process, breaks the resin glands on
the leaves, accelerating the oxidative degredation of the cannabinoids.
(anyone know how quickly they decompose?)
c) a previous poster suggested that it was MORE efficient than
combustion. if this is true, why would anyone still be smoking?
Because
Most homebuilt vaporizers are a pain to use when you're high.
Vaporizers are less portable and concealable than pipes.
You have to be MOTIVATED enough to build your own.
Poorly designed vaporizers fail to heat 1/5 to 1/3 of the pot leaves,
and lose even more to spillage.
I believe that vaporizers are a tremendous business opportunity, and
that they will explode in popularity as soon as they are commercially
available.
PLANS:
I'd refer you to the High Times article "Dr. Lunglife Builds a Better
Vaporizer," but your local library probably doesn't stock it. :-)
Designing vaporizers is a lot of fun. It's a great exercise in dealing
with basic design problems, and solving them with whatever materials
are available. I'm working on my third device now, and if it works
well, I will 'publish' plans. As for now, here are some tips you might
find helpful in your quest.
Typical Supply List:
120VAC to 12V(AC or DC) transformer rated at 1.5-2.0 amps
spring-loaded push-on switch
sealable plastic box (I used ones for displaying gemstone rocks)
plastic/rubber tube (to inhale through)
small alligator clips
car-lighter element
something on which to mount the car-lighter element
Design principle:
You want to heat pot/hash to a temperature where the cannabinoids
evaporate, but where larger 'tar' molecules don't. This is well below
the temp at which grass burns. You then want to trap those vapors and
let them accumulate into a nice big hit before you inhale from your
device. The car-lighter is mounted so that pot can be placed on it. The
enclosure should be airtight except for two openings, a mouthpiece (or
tube) and a 'carb' to let air in when you hoover-up the vapors through
the mouthpiece. The device should be rugged, and easy to use. It is
amazing how much of a buzzkill it is to have to re-connect shoddy
wiring, or scrape-up bits of precious fallen pot due to shoddy design!
Do it right!
Design problems:
You have to connect wires to a heating element that gets hot enough to
melt solder (which you should NEVER use in a vaporizer (lead
poisoning)). One solution is to use alligator clips to attach wires to
the element, but this looks bad and makes for a flaky, breakable
design.
Another is to bend strips of metal to form a 'docking bay' for the
lighter element that you slide it into. The metal strips should contact
the + and - parts (sides and bottom) of the element and hold it
tightly. Try salvaging a flashlight bulb-mount (slide in type) for
gripping the sides of the lighter element.
Another solution might be to braze wires directly to the heating
element, but this makes for difficult replacement when the heating coil
burns out.
Heat from the element can travel far down the mounting base and
connecting wires. Be sure that plastic parts that contact thest (like
the enclosure) are adequately insulated.
The top layers/sides of pot on the heating element often don't heat-up
enough. A possible solution would be a spring-loaded metal or ceramic
piece that presses the pot down against the hot element. I am building
a plunger-type press into my next design.
Most car lighter elements don't have a rim around the coils high enough
to keep pot leaves from sliding-off.
To prevent this, you could bend a strip of metal into a rim for the
element, but you'd need a brazing torch (0, radio shack) or something
similar to attach it. Remember, solder is poisonous and won't hold. (a
little bonus if you buy the brazing torch is that you can use it to
dispense nitrous oxide canisters :->)
The easiest solution is to simply search for a lighter element with
enough of a rim built-in. I know some auto stores sell a type with a
1-2 mm rim, which is just enough.
Another solution is to take the metal cap from those tiny testors
model- paint jars (1/2in diameter), clean it, and use it as a bowl
which contains the pot and sits on top of the lighting element. I tried
this but got poor results because the cap dispersed too much heat.
Vapors displace air, therefore as they begin to fill your enclosure,
they begin to creep out of cracks in box-hinges, etc. This wastes pot
:-( The only solution I can think of is to make your enclosure
air-tight, and to keep your mouth on the tube or mouthpiece as you let
vapors build. Seal the box by lining the edge of your box-cover with
rubber. Thin rubber tubing that has been slit open along its length
makes a wonderful liner.
That should be enough info for any creative, intelligent,
self-motivated pothead to work from. I hope to see postings from people
who read this and build their own lung-saving vaporizers! It's not that
hard; Just do it!
http://www.wickedroots.com (Best Vaporizer Company Award 2004)
http://www.phedor.com (Best Hash Vaporizer) Only Hash / Herb Vaporizer
available as of 2005
http://www.vapezilla.com (Vapezilla Herbal Vaporizer - Best Vaporizer
to date)