The Vaporizer
The Unit:
This sheet contains information about the inexpensive vaporizers that are very widely available under many brand names (with slightly varying features and quality) and can relatively easily be home-built from readily-available parts. Your vaporizer consists of a power cord, body, heating element, bowl, glass lid and plastic draw tube.
Before using your vaporizer:
The heating element of your vaporizer may have been treated with lubricant that you should burn off before use by leaving the vaporizer turned on, with the lid aside, for around ten minutes (until it stops smoking and stinking).
Instructions:
Turn on the unit by plugging it in. While the unit heats up, spread a thin, loose layer of finely cut-up, not-too-dry herb into the bowl and immediately replace the glass lid on top of the unit. The heating element and bowl get very hot, so be careful not to touch any metal parts until they cool down. The unit will produce an invisible vapor which can be sucked out through the draw tube. After the vapor comes a thin smoke that some people inhale as well. Since the properly-used vaporizer produces a tar-free vapor rather than smoke, you may want to hold the vapor in for longer than you would hold in smoke. You should turn the unit off between bowls to cool the bowl down. Remember, you want to mostly be sucking in the clear vapor that appears before the smoke does. You should obviously not leave the unit plugged in when not in use.
Benefits:
The vaporizer is designed to (a) decrease the amount of harmful chemicals in your smoke by heating your herb to temperatures that release the active ingredients into the vapor while leaving most of the tar and other crap normally associated with smoke in the bowl, and (b) efficiently deliver the active ingredients without destroying that portion of them which would be destroyed by the vigorous heating of traditional flame-based smoking methods. It also conserves your herbs by trapping all of the vapor in the jar, allowing you to take it all in with none just drifting off into thin air. Another benefit of the vaporizer may be seen as a disadvantage to some; that the vapor smells and tastes quite unlike regular smoke does.
Cleaning:
The glass lid will get quite resin-covered with use, as will the bowl, the part of the body where the lid sits and the draw tube. All parts can be cleaned with a mild detergent and warm water, the glass lid and metal bowl might appreciate rubbing alcohol (but keep alcohol away from the guts of the unit), and resin can be recycled if you so desire. The clear flexible vinyl tubing costs at most a couple dollars to replace.
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