So take one of your favorite convection-biased on-demand vapes. How do you like to hit it?
Take the Frolic for example. It’s a beastly on-demand vape with the most powerful heater in a portable I’ve ever used. To really enjoy the Frolic, I had to master my drawing routine.
I like to start with a few pipe-puffs to get the vapor started and smell the smells. Once it’s flowing, I’ll take a nice long draw but the key for me was when to kill the heater. Killing the heater at just the perfect time was the difference between a phenomenal tasting, powerful hit or a relative dud. Either too burn-y or too weak if you get the timing wrong. The problem generally is that you usually have to kill the heat while the vapor is tasting good, or even before this.
Is it just me or do you find this holds for most on-demand vapes like the TM2, Firewood, Bowle, etc? When you kill the heat at just the right time and keep drawing, it’s tastes amazing and is also easier on your throat with the drop in temps while you clear the hit.
For my logs, there’s an added bonus aside from pulling away from the heater at the right time before clearing the hit. I like to slightly vary the distance from the heater while hitting it to dial in the perfect temp on the fly.
Knowing when to kill the heater made a huge difference for most of my convection vapes. What techniques have you learned to get the most out of these types of vapes?
100% this for me on the TM2. I use it upside down on a J-hook and always release my finger from the trigger several seconds before finishing the hit. I time it by the vapor feel, which depends on how fast I decide to draw. One of the things that makes the TM2 (or now the crown) much more relaxed for me that the T2. The ability to pull off the heater or turn it off is kinda essential I guess and seeing that more clearly now because of your post. I will have to try the T2 again and then open the air-port fully at the end of the hit.
Switched my Frolic to demand on day one. When I use Lobo and have to wait for a warmup it’s a reminder demand is more convenient. Frolic on demand does wear battery, especially if you’re gazing off into the distance for minutes on end. Guess I am a “sipper” with Frolic and that may be bad for tolerance… Small amounts frequently. When I switch to Dynavaps there’s more effect, likely due to uneven heating.
Just realised that after all the time I’m still a bit confused about the exact technical background of on demand mode. Is it simply heating only while the button is pressed or does the heating power also increase somehow the longer you press as opposed to remaining the same when using session mode?
Yes that’s right, in on demand mode, the heater is only active while pressing the button. In session mode the heater is on all the time.
In both modes, the temp should never increase. It just stays at the temp you’ve set.
The weird thing about “session” mode in a relatively pure convection vape like the Frolic is that it won’t really “cook” your weed while you’re not drawing. A more hybrid vape like the solo 3 will however, since it has a significant conduction component given the bowl is heated. In the Frolic and other heavily convection biased vapes, this isn’t the case.
This is why I always use on-demand mode with the Frolic. I can still have a long “session” while only pressing the button to take a hit when I need to since it fires in seconds. I don’t see the point in having the heater on all the time.
Thanks for your vape lessons. I am already 10 years a session vaper and didn’t fully understood the demand mode or the need for one. Now it is clear and you gave me a good reason to finally buy me a convection vape dedicated to on demand mode. As a true vapegeek I have no choice, I never tried a full convection vaporizer.
Cool! I think you should definitely try a convection vape if you haven’t already. It’s a different signature and different experience. It’s also nice to be able to have a leisurely session where you can take a hit when you need to and not worry about wasting your weed.
When to kill the heater is a great phrase. It encompasses so much that I don’t have to fumble with describing like with the clamshells ( AVLP’s) I like a steady draw inhale until the terps start tasting and then I fiddle with the temps. It is totally worth holding the button down for the perfection but mostly I get lazy flip it off on demand and just let it roast the whole 4min cycle. I had to learn on my 2zm an unregulated heater the hold and time it with the buttons so I associate that muscle mem with “best” . I’m trying to think of the cigar puff tech I used… the Xmax v3pro 3 has on demand right?! Pretty sure I changed it up that way.
I keep trying others but the TM2 still wins when I don’t want to mess around and just want to chill with a friend. The on-demand feeds right into this cause there is no worry that the herb is getting cooked or any pressure to take the next hit (or worry that your friend isn’t taking it quick enough). On-demand is perfect for siping at the lower temps on the TM2.
I think I know what you mean. There’s a threshold where if you keep firing, the hit gets super dense and hot and gives you that “throat hit” feeling. I try and ride the line so I don’t get a hit that’s too hot, but it is dense and stays tasty while I clear all the vapor.
I played around with on demand with the Frolic, but usually I just use it in session mode. As someone said, it still stops heating the flower when you stop hitting, and by playing with it I discovered I get much better battery life in session mode.
I will on occasion microdose with the Frolic (not my preferred microdose, but most convenient) and when I do I tend to switch to on demand to get higher temperatures for a one and done hit. <0.05g at 463ºF is great!, but I tend to prefer larger doses.
Why would on demand be worse for battery life than session? If it’s the same temperature for shorter durations, shouldn’t it be less power usage? Or is the issue that it’s easier to maintain temperature that to heat back up? But in that case, would using on demand hits in quick succession not be an issue for battery life then?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot but never got around to actually finding out.
I believe it’s this. Especially if you stop the oven firing to finish your draw like I do for the final few seconds inhaling off the Frolic. The oven temperature drops fairly quickly from the target temp when it isn’t active, even if it takes a while to get to room temp.
I think it’s probably true that it takes less energy to maintain temperature than to heat back up after the heater is disengaged. But I also feel you need to consider the usecase.
If it takes you half an hour to finish a session because you draw once every ten minutes, I’m not sure all that idle time at temperature is energy efficient compared to on-demand mode for the same thing.
If I remember right for the Frolic, you can toggle the button in session mode to turn the heater off and on but then you’re really just using it similarly to on-demand mode. You just don’t have to hold the button down while hitting it.
If it normally takes you 3 min to finish your session, I’m guessing session mode is more efficient. I still don’t use session mode for convection devices though because I really like killing the heater entirely when clearing my hits. The taste of the cooldown is great and easy on the throat.
Indeed, killing the heater and finish the draw a few seconds after, give it something tasty and satisfying which I like a lot. And, I don’t think much about battery life after 10 years with the Crafty.
What you describe are exactly my thoughts on how I must hit my TM2.
Timing the heater release is key to get the balance of flavor, density, and smoothness out of the hit. The only thing to save your lungz if you screw that up is how much air you draw in with that last inhale.
The only time you dont have to worry about it, is if you’re low temp stepping so the vapor never gets dense enough to over do it.
Switched my Frolic to demand on day one. 
When I use Lobo and have to wait for a warmup it’s a reminder demand is more convenient. Frolic on demand does wear battery, especially if you’re gazing off into the distance for minutes on end. 
Guess I am a “sipper” with Frolic and that may be bad for tolerance… Small amounts frequently. When I switch to Dynavaps there’s more effect, likely due to uneven heating.