Pax by Ploom Questions from a new user

Discussion in 'Vaporizers' started by undertheshade, Nov 9, 2012.

  1. Hi everybody!

    I'm fairly new to smoking, and just recently got the Pax vape. I've used it about 6 times now, and have it down pretty well, but I had some questions/was looking for some advice from other users.

    One of my biggest questions is about how much the fullness of the oven matters. I don't use very much weed, sometimes just a very small amount. I often times fill the oven just about 1/4 full, if even, and while it definitely gets me high, I was wondering if this was in any way bad, or less efficient for both the Pax and the high. Any ideas? I know, I should just smoke a full oven and find out, and I will, but I'm curious to see what others have to say. Would you recommend that I continue smoking small ovens one at a time, or just pack it all the way and use the oven for several sessions.

    Along that same line, when the weed is heated, is it bad for it to cool down, and then be reheated? Is the THC released when it is heated, or when I inhale? I've read quite a bit about the function of vaporizers, but I'm still unclear. Is it my breath that actually creates the vapor, or is the vapor made inside the Pax, and then I'm just removing it?

    My other question is about knowing exactly when the weed is cashed. I know it's done when it's mostly brown/black, and smells like burnt popcorn, but I'd still like to hear some others feelings about when its time to empty the oven. As I understand it, the most THC comes from the first few hits, and then after that it goes down with each hit, is that right? Does black necessarily mean combustion occured? I typically vape at the highest temperature, the thought being that way I can get the most THC in the least amount of time. I'm more concerned with efficiency than pleasure/taste, for the time being at least.

    Sorry to ramble...pretty high! Haha. Thanks everybody!
     

  2. Glad to hear you're enjoying your pax fellow blade.

    Now onto your questions:

    1) As far as oven packing goes, I find the more tightly I pack it, the better vapor I get. From what I've experienced, the pax can vape smaller amounts, but it really shines with a full oven. I tend to pack it until my herb is just about up to where the metal of the oven ends and the body begins. The thing that really take an oven load further is stirring the herb around and repacking it every five hits or so. I just pop open the oven, use a toothpick or paper clip to mix thing up a bit, then just tap everything back down with the end of the lid and I resume my session.

    2) Regarding the heating up and cooling down. The vapor you inhale is released when the herb is heated up, so you do end up loosing a bit while waiting for the unit to cool down and then heat back up. Not enough to really fret about, for me it seems to be just one or two hits worth. But it is what it is lol

    3)When to stop. This is really all up to personal preference. I know a lot of people who swear by stopping at golden brown. I tend to keep vaping until its coffee colored. So long as there is vapor coming from your bowl, theres a good chance that you're getting a decent amount of THC and other cannabinoids. The first few hits may yield the most THC dense hits, but with the pax you can really get a lot out of your plant. And now, black does not necessarily mean combusted, as combustion tends to lead to ash. Black is usually just a bit scorched. I can't say I've heard of anyone combusting with a Pax, so I wouldn't worry about that too much. :D

    Hope this helps
     
  3. Fullness doesn't matter. Like almost everything else in life, this is a matter of taste. Do what you like, for whatever suits you.

    When weed is heated. Anything that is in contact with parts of the oven that reach a certain temp.. since you use the highest setting (210C).. i found this.. it may help..

    THC has a boiling point of 200C (392F). However before the THC boils, other parts of the oil evaporate and boil.

    Here are some important temperatures: At 21C (70F) the most volatile terpenoids start to evaporate, lending a pungent odor to the air.

    At 31C (87F) the less volatile terpenoids start to evaporate, lending the air even more pungent odors.

    At 39C (102F ) virtually all of the terpenoids undergo evaporation fairly rapidly.

    At 50C (122F) THC-Acid decarboxylates as the water molecule held in the carbonate form evaporates. This activates the THC.

    At 66C (150F) Cannabidiol (CBD) melts and starts to evaporate.

    At 185C (365F) Cannibinol (CBN) boils.

    At 200C (392F) THC boils. Clear vapor from a vaporizer.

    Finally, as for knowing when its done, I go simply by the taste. I can actually taste when it has turned brown. I do not like to let it get black as that is a sign of combustion and do not want to inhale smoke if I can avoid it. If the bud you placed in your oven dries up enough and you pull on it long enough, even with the PAX you will achieve combustion. You can just as easily open the magnetic lid and peek inside (even while its hot), until I got the hang of it I used to peek inside.

    I lovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvve my PAX and have had 0 issues with it. Well except that I forget to charge it sometimes. :smoking:
     
  4. i pack my pax full then hit it lighter if im trying to save for some time.

    when its done throw it out if it is brown, but some people just throw it out early on the taste. going from brown to dark brown might get you a little but the taste aint worth it
     
  5. Wish I could afford the Pax right now. It looks great. It seems to be great quality, and actually be portable. (instead of something like the vaporblunt which is pretty huge) It seems so well designed and user friendly. I really appreciate that it looks like an mp3 player or other nerdy gadget. I also want a vape for the stealth value, health benefits, and saving weed.

    My broke college student ass can't afford it right now though.
     
  6. Ordered my Pax on Thursday expecting it Monday or Tuesday. Got a Da Buddha so not new to the vape world but new to the portable vape. Hope it works well! 250 bones is alot of mula.
     
  7. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I've loved having it myself, and I've shared with several of my much more experienced friends and they've all been blown away by this device.

    Thanks for the responses, everyone, they've been really helpful. I think I'm going to switch to using the medium temperature, instead of high. When I open the oven to check how much green is left, it's typically smoking in there, with a fairly strong odor (for a vape). Does that mean there might be some combustion occurring?

    One other question - I've been having this strange thing happen where sometimes after I take a draw, the Pax turns red, and stays red until I shake it. Any ideas why that happens? It happens fairly often where I'll take a draw and it turns purple, which I assume means I cooled it down a bit with my draw and now it's reheating, but why would it turn red? Not really that big of a problem, I just shake it as you would to display the battery life and it goes back to purple, but still a bit strange. I hope nothing is wrong.
     
  8. It has a 10 day warranty..Id send it in.
     

  9. The warranty is actually 10 years - maybe that's what you meant. I don't think I'll send it in, as this is an intermittent issue that doesn't really bug me, but it is a bit strange. Overall, I love the Pax.
     

  10. Whoops meant 10 years.
     
  11. The smoking you are seeing is actually vapor, not smoke.

    As for the intermittent red light problem, what is happening is the Pax is thinking that the mouthpiece is out and is showing you what temperature setting you are on.

    This is caused by a build up of oil/resin in the spring mechanism. Ploom recommends cleaning the unit with a pipe cleaner while it is still warm to remedy this problem.

    I have found that by wiggling the mouth piece back and forth, I can get my unit to function when it does this.

    Ploom also says you can dip your mouthpiece in some Isopropyl Alcohol, very carefully without getting any drops of ISO in the temperature button, put the mouthpiece back in and click it up and down a bunch of times. This will break down any material causing the unit to malfunction.
     
  12. You're gonna love it. I never get that spring problem because I clean the spring with a pipe cleaner as has been mentioned.

    I dream about using it sometimes... :smoking:
     
  13. how much bud ground up fills a pax about?
     

  14. the general consensus is 0.25g - 0.4g
     
  15. Thank you so much for this. Just fixed my pax. I now have zero complaints with it. Keep it clean.
     
  16. I had my PAX for a couple of weeks when I received an email from Ploom stating they would like to replace it for not meeting their standards. I called them to verify. They paid all costs both ways along with free screens, lube, and charger. I have no idea what the problem was, but a nice company to deal with. FYI I also own an Arizer ExtremeQ. Back to my PAX. I fill the oven area full with finely ground herb. My ExtremeQ came with a little glass poker thingy that's pointy on one end with a small knob on the other that works perfectly to pack my PAX oven. The knob end fits in the oven to pack my material firmly and the pointed end works to stir product in the oven after each batch of vaporizing. After experimenting, I don't inhale to the degree I would using a pipe, bong or such, it's more of a drag or suck on the mouthpiece like a cigarette. I found a small candy container (like a Tic Tac box) that makes filling both vaporizers much easier. Just grind the herb, dump it into a small rectangle box, remove the lid of the candy container and scoop the herb in, replace the lid and voila!! Ready for the next mission. I'm pretty much a geezer and have tried all sorts of things over the years, I've had my PAX for a bit over six weeks now, use it many times a day and am still as intrigued with it as I was my first iPhone!
     
  17. I just bought a pax, do i have to clean before first use 
     
  18. Buying my Pax was the single biggest game changer in my smoking career to date. GAME CHANGER
     
  19. So I've found a lot of places that say THC's boiling point is 157C, others that say 200C but wikipedia says it's 250C on the THC page but says 157C on the Cannabis page so which is it? Can't find any published literature with thc boiling point
     

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