I am getting little to no vaporUpdated 10 months ago
I am getting little to no vapor
There are specific vapor production tips and tricks that relate to each specific brand and model of dry herb vaporizer, and that’s because every vape has its own unique learning curve.
However, there are certain things you can do to aid vapor production, no matter which dry herb vaporizer you’re using, and in this article, we’ll explore what you can do to thicken up your draws.
Quality of your herbs
The most important factor in improving the production of vapor from a dry herb vape is the quality of the herbs being used.
Sub-standard herbs will have fewer compounds coating the surface, and those compounds are the source of the vapor. Fewer compounds will mean less dense vapor, at any temperature.
Similarly, using herbs that haven’t been cured (dried out) sufficiently enough will produce less vapor, and they’ll take longer to start producing visible vapor. So make sure that your herbs are of good quality, and fully dry, and we can go from there.
Grind your herbs
You can put whole herbs in most vaporizers, and they’ll vaporize. However, it’s always better to grind your herbs for bigger, faster clouds.
Why? It’s all about the available surface area. Whole herbs are more densely packed than ground herbs, as that’s how Mother Nature made’em. Breaking up the herbs in a grinder drastically reduces the density of your herbs, and in doing so, increases the surface area, allowing hot air and heat to radiate through your herbs, and more effectively releasing the good stuff as vapor.
The pack of your herbs
Filling the oven is important. Some vapes prefer a lighter pack, but all vapes should be filled entirely, with no big air gaps.
However, there is no ‘one pack fits all’, and each dry herb vaporizer comes with specific tips and tricks to help achieve denser vapor. If we group together vapes in terms of their heating method, we can identify some truisms, depending on which style of vape you’re using.
Convection vapes (eg. Tinymight 2, POTV Xmax V3 Pro, Volcano Classic)
Convection vapes typically prefer a medium grind and a light-to-medium pack, to allow all of that hot air to get up, in, and around your herbs, and to facilitate maximum convective heating of your dry herbs.
Conduction vapes (eg. PAX, DaVinci)
Conduction vapes prefer a fine grind and a tight pack, for optimum vapor production. Heat radiates throughout the herbs from the oven walls, and so air gaps reduce the effectiveness of this heat transfer. Grind fine, and pack tight.
Hybrid (convection + conduction) vapes (eg. POTV ONE, Mighty+, Crafty+)
There’s more room for nuance with hybrid vapes. A tightly packed oven will mean a higher count of draws per session, but the draws may be smaller, to begin with, before thickening up towards the middle and end of the session.
Conversely, a lighter pack will generally translate to larger draws of vapor early in the session, which thin out more quickly.
Temperature vs. Time
Aside from the quality of your herbs, the temperature you’ve set your vape at, and the amount of time your herbs have been heated, are, arguably, the next two most important factors in vapor production.
Think of it like baking a cake. You can put the oven on and the cake mix straight in the oven, but ideally, you want to preheat the oven, before you insert the cake. If you have the heat too low, the cake will take longer to bake, and may not bake as fully as if you had the temperature notched up a little.
Similarly, a high or maximum temperature will result in a fast bake and instant results. However, if you’re not careful, your cake may burn, and you may ruin its flavor. A medium temperature with a preheated oven typically takes one or two priming draws before producing vapor, and the flavor will last longer than an overly hot oven.
Draw speed
How you inhale greatly impacts the quality and density of vapor production, but it’s important to remember that draw technique varies significantly from vape to vape. However, a long, slow draw will most often produce the biggest, most potent clouds.
Remember that initial draws will most likely be wispy with nearly all dry herb vapes, and that is totally normal. If you don’t want the initial wispy draws, giving your herbs time to pre-heat before you take your first draw is important.
A key takeaway is that sucking too hard or fast will most often produce disappointing results.
How recently did you maintain your vape?
A poorly maintained vaporizer isn’t able to produce vapor, as the vapor path can become obstructed, so make sure to give your vaporizer regular cleans and an occasional deep clean. Each vaporizer has its own maintenance ritual, and we’ve produced cleaning guides for all of the vapes we list, which can be found here.
Are you using dosing capsules?
Some vapes produce more vapor with the introduction of dosing capsules, as surrounding your herbs with an extra layer of metal will add a little more conductive heating and help keep the oven clean, thus reducing required maintenance, which is also good for vapor production.
The trade-off is that the heat will take longer to conduct through the dosing capsule and throughout your herbs, which will mean that it takes more ‘priming draws’ before you see visible vapor.
A way to counteract this is to leave the herbs preheating in the capsule, in the oven, for an extra minute before you take your first draw, to give everything that extra time it needs to get to temperature.
The orientation of your vape matters
Are you vaping while standing up, sitting down, or lying down? Most vapes prefer to be held upright, allowing optimum heat transfer throughout the oven. The reason for this is that heat rises. If you’re lying down, chances are your vape is also in a horizontal position, which can inhibit vapor production.
If it still ain’t hittin’, hit us up
There are a lot of factors that go into making sure your vape continues to belt out the biggest clouds of vapor, and while we’ve tried to cover all the bases in this article, if you’re still having issues, please reach out to our skilled Vape Experts via our contact form who will be happy to provide you with more vape-specific information to get you back up and vaping, A-SAP.