I think diffusers have more potential, especially with the ability to have the coil extend down past the rim of the bowl. The vape itself is my own creation. It's my test-bed for ideas right now, some of which will be filtering down to the Steamroller vape that I'm working on, which has a fairly similar form factor. These will never see the light of day beyond my house and as hand-me-downs to friends - just me tinkering!
This is the steamroller in its current form:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgfuzSu7Rkg
Some of the things that I've been experimenting with:
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How far down past the rim of the bowl the coil extends. This has an effect on the level of conduction in a hit. Too far down and the conduction will ramp up high enough that it's hard for the convection to keep up... and we get brownring.
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The distance from the rim of the bowl to the screen. This has similar effects to changing how far down the coil extends, but there are subtle differences since the proximity of the herb bed to the diffuser is also changing.
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Restriction. I have a cap right now with 15 holes and another with 5 and plan to make a few more in between so that I can play around with different levels of restriction. While I prefer the feel of a more open hit, I'm finding that I prefer the vapor when there's some restriction in the draw. Not entirely sure what it is... it feels smoother?
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Ball chamber size (total height). More balls = more calories. But more calories does not necessarily equate to better. Most of the ball vapes on the market right now can store significantly more calories than the typical user burns through in a bowl. "MOR BALLS!!!" seems to be the approach that a lot of makers are taking. I say "Less Balls, More Engineering!" :D
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Ball chamber wall thickness (also affects the size). This is the interface between the balls and the heater coil. The thicker the walls, the longer it will take for heat to transfer from the coil to the balls and the less responsive / more lethergic the vape will become. Responsive heads with thin walls will heatsoak much more quickly and can actually recover lost calories DURING a hit. I have a highly responsive head with ~150 3mm balls that can easily plow through 0.5g of herb with no problem; it'd likely do more but that's all I can comfortably fit into my rtiti bowl. With a responsive enough ball vape, it's possible to do temp stepping ( Ballcap Temp Stepping )
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Ball sizes. The smaller the balls, the more surface area inside the ball chamber, the more quickly the calories get released. The total thermal mass itself doesn't change that significantly, but the speed difference at which the calories get released DOES. a B0 loaded up with 1.5mm rubies is a scorchy mf'er that's hard to control because the heat is released so quickly! This is similar to what we see with different ball materials; size-for-size (and "more-or-less") sic behaves like smaller rubies while zirconia behaves like larger rubies and the effects on the roast profile (differences in flavor) will be similar.
Here's one last clip - this is the Steam Engine at 465F. I'd just done a "relaxed draw" bowl at 451 and almost combusted, so I was half sure this would combust :D :