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VapeNator

Hey all . . .

I'm not really a do-it-yourselfer but I feel like we as smokers, patients and citizens need to do something in the face of all these new units that are ridiculously over-priced for what they are.

Take for example your $150 dollar whip-style vaporizer. What would it typically be like?

1. Cheaply made box
2. Ceramic heating element from a soldering gun
3. Glass cover to go over the element
4. Glass whip and tube

And most $150 units will not have digital temp control.

So - to begin we start with the Tekpower 40watt Digital Soldering Station. You can get it on amazon.com for $50 bucks. It has a ceramic heating element. Digital temp control from 450-850. Since the herb will be several inches from the element, 450 should not be too hot.

Basically, this $50 device is same or better than the guts of the vapor brothers . . you just need to add the whip.

For the whip you will need an old glass on glass bong (you can buy new parts but it will drive up the cost unless you can get the parts cheaper than a headshop). The best parts for this, in my opinion, will be 14mm bong stems and bowls with wide openings - those ones that always let a little weed fall in the bong are perfect (for this).

You take the glass bowl and turn it upside down and place it over the element - so the element is poking out of the bowl stem. Insert a 3/4 inch screen down into the stem (like a whip). Then attach some tube to the diffuser end of your bong stem . .and you connect the bong stem to the bowl.

Easy and, if you already have a glass bong, then you have a whip-style vape for less than $60.

If you have to buy the bowl and stem it will drive the cost up to about $100. But it will still be better and cheaper than one you can buy . .especially because you can choose the glass bowl that covers the element best. And you can totally bring the soldering iron to the headshop to see which bowl fits over it. If you have to buy one, that is.

I wish I woulda figured this out before I bought mine . . but if/when it breaks it's getting replaced with a DIY version.

Good luck - please let me know if you do this (or have done it) and it works.

 

Buzzby

My VaporWarez vape has a very handsome and well-made teak enclosure.

My VaporWarez vape has a ceramic heating element specifically engineered for the machine it's in.

I hope, for your sake, that you're right. 450ºF is plenty hot enough to ignite marijuana. If the heating element is inside a glass enclosure, the hot air shouldn't lose that much heat over a few inches.

Except for the custom-designed heat source, and temperature control in the right range...

You could save a few bucks, but I'd rather have an attractive, compact machine rather than a jury-rigged contraption. But that's just me...

For $120, including free delivery, digital scales, a four-part grinder, and a pollen press, the VaporWarez is hard to beat, especially if it would cost you $100 to build a similar machine from scratch.

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VapeNator

I agree - 120 is not bad but I've never seen it for that price. I just checked the site now and it looks like it's $139 which is even still not too bad. A lot of stores sell them for as much as $199 (this style of vape - various brands). And that is whithout any digital readout, too.

I think the fair price should be something like 80-90 bucks. I'd say if the soldering gun companies can crank out thier products for 50 bucks then 80-90 bucks sounds about right for basically the same thing plus some glass in the form of a vaporizer.

I decided to go ahead and make one of these just for fun - depends on how it comes out I will either give it away or give away my vapor bros.

I'll post it here and I'll be honest which unit I end up liking best. I'm a slacker, though, so it might take me a week or so . .ha ha.

Vicki

Also, worth mentioning again ...Vapor Warez's 5 year warranty is worth it just for that.

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SpiralArchitect

I just ordered a Vapor Warez, it arrived last Saturday and I already loved it.

However its pretty cool you made one yourself, If you like it - and it works - isn't that all that counts?

I applaud you for your stoner ingenuity.

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Buzzby

There's an outfit call "The Vapor Hut" which sells on eBay. That's where I got the deal I mentioned. If you purchase from their website, you pay shipping. If you purchase from their identical offering on eBay, shipping is free.

I think the whole "digital" thing is mostly for show. I've never had a problem, after the first few tries, to dial in just the right temperature on my VaporWarez. I drive a stick shift. I have a manual espresso machine. I like the fact that it takes a bit of skill to get things to work just the way I want them to.

Thanks for mentioning that. I thought of it and then forgot to include it in my post.

VapeNator

Right on. I agree that digital is mostly for show . . so I shopped around some more and finally settled on this one - the Aoyue 936 Soldering Station. It has a rotary dial to control temp and no digi read out. It has ceramic heater and puts out temps from 392f - 896f adjustable in 1 degree increments. The best part is it only cost $33.

I already have the bowl and stem that I wanna use . .so as soon as it gets here I'll put it together and give it a test run. I'll snap a few pics.

As far as warranty goes - there isn't one but I wanted to get the cheapest ceramic unit I could find just to test it all out. If it works as well as I think it should then it might be worth considering some of the higher end soldering stations to get better features and a warranty - I'll have to see how this unit performs.

The purpose of this experiment is not to say any retail vape is bad or that people shouldn't buy one. It's just to give lower cost option that is much much better than the conduction version or the lightbulb thing. I hope it's better, anyway. We'll have to see how it works once I get it put together.

One thing is for sure . .the lightbulb and the "soldering iron/tin foil/soda bottle" methods are rubbish but they are all you see when you search home-made vapes on the net.

Hopefully this will be a new and better way for a DIY vape. It's not really home-made . .just "home assembled".

Delta

Especially if using a bong bowl (which is possible; I'm using one now after breaking the original whip), 450 degrees would be WAY too much. The weed is actually closer to the element than with a standard whip.

troublemaker_42

For my money, the Vaporwarez wins every time. I honestly doubnt you can build a comparable product without coming close to the $120-$140 (depending if hands-free or not) price range of the vaporwarez, scale, grinder, etc package thats always available on Ebay from Warehouse Goods online. The 5 yr warranty mentioned is also an awesome aspect.

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trc62

Do you guys think this is why 7th floor built "Da Buddah" ? Because they are starting to see people wanting lower prices for the vapors on the market today. I was also wondering how the supply and demand factor will take place in the future as the popularity of Vaporization is becoming more and more popular, and SLOWLY coming east. I live in Indiana and just the word " Vaporizing " is a word that nobody around here has ever heard about! But after I explain the process and benifits, now they ALL want one!! That is probably one of the reasons its taking me so long to decide on which Vapor machine to buy. I guess I kinda like to show off and impress. That kinda why I'm leaning towards Buddah because its basically an SSv without all the bells and whisels ( cant spell)