Desktop Vaporizers and Portable Vapes Explained
Desktop vaporizers are stationary devices used to consume dry herbs and concentrates in a way which eliminates many of the risks associated with smoking and combustion. Desktop vaporizers like the Silver Surfer Vaporizer and the Volcano Vaporizer use the principles of convection heating, conduction heating, or a hybrid of the two to convert the essential oils and alkaloids contained within the dry herbs or concentrates into a vapor which the user inhales. A desktop vaporizer draws power using a traditional power cable which plugs into your home's wall outlets.
Desktop vaporizers heat dry herbs or concentrates while giving the user full control over the temperature of the heating element, this allows the user to dial in a 'sweet spot', the point at which the herb starts giving off inhalable vapors without actually combusting or smoking the plant material. This allows the user to inhale a clean and flavorful vapor without inhaling any of the harmful carbons or carcinogens which are contained in smoke. Elev8's desktop vaporizers like the Silver Surfer Vaporizer, the Da Buddha Vaporizer, and the Super Surfer Vaporizer all achieve this by allowing a controlled amount of air to pass around a ceramic heating element before it reaches the dry herb, but other desktop vaporizers like the Volcano have heating elements that make direct contact with the dry herb.
Portable vaporizers have many limitations in their design which desktop vaporizers simply do not have. Portable vaporizers, by definition, are limited by their power source. Most portable vaporizers like the SideKick are powered with batteries, while some portable vapes like the Elev8R are heated with a flame from a torch. Desktop vaporizers like the Silver Surfer Vaporizer, by comparison, are able to use their power much more efficiently, so it doesn't make sense to use portable vapes at home. Desktop vaporizers are the perfect solution for home use, and portable vaporizers are the perfect solution for vaporizing on the go.
The difference is in how the heat energy is transferred into the plant material. In conduction vaporizers, the plant material makes direct contact with the heating element. Convection vaporizers, on the other hand, have heating elements that do not make direct contact with the plant material; instead, users draw air through the device, and that air is heated by the heating element before it reaches the plant material. Convection vaporizers like the Silver Surfer Vaporizer and the Elev8R are able to heat the plant material more evenly, and the user has significantly more control over the temperature, decreasing the risk of accidental combustion. Hybrid vaporizers use a combination of both conduction and convection heating, this is most commonly seen in battery-powered portable vaporizers like the SideKick.
Most desktop vaporizers use either a whip system or a balloon system (sometimes called a bag). The Silver Surfer Vaporizer is a classic whip vaporizer; it has a glass heater cover which sits over the heating element, a glass wand which holds the dry herb in place, a flexible vinyl tube which extends from the end of the wand to the user's mouth, and a glass mouthpiece which connects to the end of the vinyl tube. Together the wand, tube, and mouthpiece are referred to as a "whip". The Volcano is the classic example of a balloon or bag vaporizer; it has a fan which forces vapor from the heating chamber to fill a plastic bag. Once the bag is full of vapor it can be detached and then the user can inhale the vapor out of the bag. Most vaporizers only use one system or the other, but the Super Surfer Vaporizer has both a whip system and a balloon/bag system included.
Some desktop vaporizers like the Silver Surfer Vaporizer have an analog or manual temperature control knob, and some vaporizers like the Volcano have a digital temperature controller. Digital temperature controls are nice but they only measure the temperature of the heating element itself, so they do not provide an accurate representation of the temperature of the plant material. Digital temperature controllers also cannot account for the changes in temperature that occur when a user draws air more slowly or more quickly. Analog temperature knobs make it quick and easy to adjust the temperature as needed to find your 'sweet spot'.
When you vaporize dry herbs, the herb or flower is 'roasted' by the heating element on the vaporizer and slowly darkens from its original bright green color to a dark tan or brown, and this is typically how users determine whether they are done vaporizing. It's really up to you to decide how dark you want to 'roast' the herb, and this all part of the process that we call 'the Art of Vaping'. As the herb darkens it will start to give off less vapor because many of the alkaloids have already been vaporized and inhaled. Experienced users will often start at a low temperature and then slowly increase the temperature as the herb darkens, but if you aren't experienced with using vaporizers then you could accidentally combust the plant material this way, which you absolutely do not want to do. When the dry herb combusts in a vaporizer it gives off a characteristic and unpleasant flavor which permeates the glass, vinyl tubing, and/or balloon bag, and that characteristic combustion flavor indicates that you are inhaling smoke and all of the unhealthy particulates which come with it. Check out this great blog which discusses the difference between vaporization and combustion.
Absolutely! The Silver Surfer Vaporizer, Super Surfer Vaporizer, and Da Buddha Vaporizer can all be converted to enails if you buy an Essential Oil Kit (also known as an EOK). Each vaporizer has its own unique Essential Oil Kit, these are basically quartz dab dish assemblies which we specially designed for our vaporizers. In addition to the EOKs, the Silver Surfer and Super Surfer can be used with a 17mm Flavor Disc installed in the bowl of the Spherical Wand, and this allows you to vaporize concentrates directly through the dry herb wand which is included with the vaporizer, without needing any additional attachments. The Elev8R Portable Torch Vaporizer can also be used as a desktop enail with our Elev8R Enail Kits, or you can just buy the PID and Coil if you already have an Elev8R!
