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Vaporizing, healthy use of medicinal cannabis.
Taking in your Cannabis with a vaporizer provides many advantages compared to the usual "smoking" of a joint. We are used to smoke our marijuana in a joint, purely or with some tobacco. Smoking comes with large health risks that are easy to avoid.
Recently, vaporizers have become very popular. The (medicinal) use of vaporizers among cannabis fans has ballooned.
Yet, from the questions we receive at our Customer Service, it appears that there are still some doubts about this way of 'smoking'. Actually, it is not smoking, but vaporizing, without the adverse effects resulting from burning your weeds.
The benefits of vaporizers
Based on the many questions we receive, we thought it a good idea to elaborate on the benefits of different vaporizers. The mutual differences are very large, in fact. Touching this, already many questions come to my head you might want an answer to before using a vaporizer.
There are many ways and possibilities to use a vaporizer. The reason to use a vaporizer, can be different for each of us.
- For which herbs the vaporizer is suitable?
- What temperatures can you set?
- What's inside the burning chamber?
- Is the vaporizer portable?
- How to warm it up?
- Do you use a balloon to catch the vapors?
- How long does the battery last?
- How much does a vaporizer cost?
- Does it ask a lot of maintenance?
- Is it easy to clean?
- Are spare parts available?
- Can you simply change damaged parts?
Buying a proper vaporizer
A vaporizer might have his price, but when you carefully choose one, you can enjoy it for a long time. Realizing you can use your vaporizer for many years, the cost of the vaporizer is not that high. The healthy benefits start counting immediately.
The moment you know what you want, the choice is not so difficult anymore. You probably understand, buying a vaporizer that fits your needs, requires self-knowledge, and that's not always so easy. We are therefore glad to give a hand, and highlighted the most important aspects that are relevant for all vaporizers.
The vaporizers can be used for the different types and appearances of cannabis, marijuana or weed.
Q: What is vaporizing cannabis (marijuana)?
Vaporizing is a technique in which cannabis isn't burned to release the active substances. The cannabis is heated up just below the burning point, whereby also the required smoke is produced. Vaporizing instead of 'smoking' is to prevent the uptake of harmful substances and avoid irritated airways. These substances are only released by burning cannabis, not when cannabis is vaporized.
Vaporizing is heating
This is realized by heating the cannabis up to a temperature of 180-200 °C. The result is the release of active cannabinoids, free of carcinogenic tar and other harmful polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are normally released in e.g. cigarette smoke.
Many medicinal cannabis users that experience negative effects after smoking cannabis, report excellent results when using a vaporizer. A vaporizer is therefore extremely suitable for users that worry about the harmful effects of smoking on the airways and lungs. Alternatives such as water pipes or marijuana pipes are not nearly as effective as a vaporizer to reduce the negative effects.
Q: What is the difference between a portable vaporizer and a desktop vaporizer?
When you are looking for a vaporizer, at a certain moment you will need to choose between a portable or a desktop vaporizer. In a perfect world, where money is no issue, you simply buy both. Yet, most people have a limited budget and do have to choose between the two.
So, what's best to purchase here? Well... both have their pros and cons, so let's have a look.
Portable vaporizers
First we look at portable vaporizers, some of the big names are Davinci and Arizer. Most manufacturers keep discretion in mind, when designing portable vaporizers. Therefore, most portables are pretty small. They often fit in the palm of your hand. The small size is a pro, because you can easily bring it along without calling attention.
Instead of publicly smoking a spliff, which can directly cause a lot of fuss, you can simply take the vaporizer out of your pocket and take a few hits without anyone noticing anything. Furthermore, the smell produced by the vaporizer is much milder than the smell of a joint. That facilitates the use in public spaces.
Unfortunately, portable vaporizers only function when the battery is sufficiently charged. When the battery has run out, you are stuck. Most portables need to be connected to an electrical outlet to charge. When you are enjoying your vaporizer at some place and the battery runs out, you often have no option to quickly charge the vaporizer. So when you have a vaporizer working on batteries, it's always smart to bring along a few extra batteries. Is your portable working on an internal battery, charge it well before leaving your place.
Nowadays, there are universal battery packs with a USB connection you can also use. TIP! These are often much cheaper than buying an extra battery.
Desktop vaporizers
With a desktop vaporizer, you don't need to worry about your vaporizer running out of energy. Desktop vaporizers need supply from an electrical outlet. This means it is not really portable, the length of the cable determines whether you can reach the garden, for example.
Although not discrete, and difficult to bring along, desktop vaporizers still have some extra advantages. They often count with more temperature settings, and this makes it possible for the user to experiment and find the heat setting that exactly fits your personal desires and preferences.
Vapor production is another aspect where a desktop vaporizer, thanks to its direct connection to the power grid, has an advantage. Desktop models in general produce more vapor than portable vaporizers. When using a desktop vaporizer, you will notice that vapor production is not only higher, but also of better quality.
When looking for a powerful vape that doesn't need to leave the house, opt for a desktop vaporizer. You want to vaporize always and everywhere in a discrete manner? Than a portable is what you are looking for.
In the end, it all comes down to personal preferences. One of these two vaporizers will fit your needs better than the other. Price shouldn't be an issue, there are expensive portable vaporizers and economic desktop models. And the other way around. Anyway, we are sure you can find a vaporizer that fits your budget.
Q: How to maintain your vaporizer
If you wish a long life for your vaporizer and the best performance, then it is important to regularly clean your vaporizer. The resin that is left behind is extremely sticky and makes the parts very dirty, also it can negatively influence the vapor's taste. Continue reading below for handy tips on 'how to properly clean the most important parts of the vaporizer'.
Herb chamber / meshes
These parts can best be put in alcohol. Soaking a few hours is enough to dissolve the resins and the remaining dirt.
- Put all the metals and glass parts in a box with cleaning alcohol.
- Shake the parts and let the alcohol do its work: dissolving the dirt and resin.
- Remove the meshes after one hour.
- Leave bigger parts soaking during the night.
- Then rinse all parts thoroughly to remove the final dirt.
Tubing
The tubing (whip) can also be cleaned with cleaning alcohol. Yet, this can produce discoloration and even leave behind a bad taste.
Other options:
Push a screw or nail with a slightly smaller diameter than the inner diameter through the tubing. Use a piece of iron wire to create something like a plunger.
Use a bent paper clip to clean the part of the tubing that connects with the heating chamber.
Replace the tubing, rubber hoses of medical quality can easily be found.
Take into account that you buy the right diameter and length.
Temperature settings
To set the right temperature for a vaporizer is very personal. The available different vaporizer models are often as diverse as our tastes.
But why taking into account the temperature when other qualities such as discreteness and build quality are also important?
As you might expect, as fans we want the best taste and best vaporizer possible. The right temperature setting has an important role here. Let's have a look at the most difficult part of the selection of your favorite vaporizer.
Why the vape temperature is important
When the heating element of the vaporizer reaches a temperature of 230 degrees or more, dry herbs start to burn and with that the largest benefits of the vaporizers are gone in one stroke. Namely, to quit smoking. Furthermore, the vape, which now more resembles smoke, will taste like burnt popcorn. So you do not only breath in toxic substances, but also your expensive weed tastes ugly.
When you inhale dry herbs this way, you will inhale more toxic substances that resemble the waste that e.g. tobacco produces. These toxic substances are released through burning. A few of these substances are carbon monoxide, tar, benzene, ammonia, naphthalene and formaldehyde. While some substances might cause symptoms such as sleepiness, decreased appetite and headache, it is even possible that these substances cause mutations at cell level. This can result in the cancer. You will understand that vaporizing right below the burning point is the best way possible.
Vaporizers contain heating elements to heat up the herbs to a point where no burning takes place, while it does release substances such as THC and CBD. You know that your materials are vaporized well when an orange/brown residue is produced.
Vaporizers of inferior quality leave behind ashes or darker residues. This indicates burning. Also modern vaporizers have an efficient heating system with temperature settings that can be regulated precisely. This allows the user to select the temperature that fulfills his/her personal preference and experience.
Because more and more people become aware of the health risks that come with smoking, ever more people switch to vaporizing. Up to now, only few studies have been done on the long-term effects of vaporizing. Probably due to the still existing fear of cannabis use and the lack and support from the government.
Alternatives
Of course, there are many alternatives to cannabis use without smoking, such as foods or tinctures. Brownies, sweets and normal looking cakes are the way to use cannabis or cannabis extracts. But the biggest problem of cannabis foods is that the effect is not directly noticeable due to the slow break down by the body of the active substances. Often you don't exactly know how much you took in before it starts to work.
In practice, this means that vaporizing is the safest and best way to enjoy the benefits of the cannabis plant. Whether for medicinal purposes or recreational use. We cannot think of a better way to directly enjoy the taste and effects of cannabis.
The perfect temperature to vaporize cannabis
We tested all vaporizers ourselves and also looked at the vaporizing experiences of other cannabis fans. The favorite temperature varies when it comes down to the best temperature for vaporizing cannabis. But there is a certain temperature range where most users agree on.
In case of vaporizing cannabis, a temperature in between 175 and 190 degrees is optimal. This temperature range allows a narcotic and relaxing effect. This also depends on the type of cannabis one is using. Everything above 190 degrees will probably cause a direct high feeling, especially for starters. As we mentioned earlier, everything above 230 degrees burns your herbs, so stay well below this.
Although we indicated exact temperature settings in degrees Celsius, not all vaporizers have this option. Keep in mind that especially pen vaporizer do not count with an exact temperature setting. In fact, most pen vaporizers work with a ceramic coil that often is in direct contact with the herbs. This means that burning almost always takes place. This is a long-standing issue among users and manufacturers. Many vape experts acknowledge that vaporizer pens with a ceramic coil are not true vaporizers. The advantage of the pen vaporizers is their low price.
Vaporize temperatures of cannabinoids
Although we mentioned the best temperature range to vaporizer dry cannabis, the herb itself literally contains many hundreds of cannabinoids. Many of which the power has not yet been revealed. We do know that the diverse cannabinoids, each have their own, unique vaporize temperature. But no worries, the earlier mentioned temperature range vaporizes the most wanted cannabinoids without any problems.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
THC vaporize temperature: 155°C to 160°C
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is probably the most essential and wanted cannabinoid among medical but also recreational cannabis users. In the right amount, THC can reduce pain complaints and other physical discomforts. Some studies even indicate that these cannabinoids protect brain cells and stimulate its growth.
THC and other cannabinoid levels differ per cannabis type. The indicated amount of active substance is always an indication. Sativa strains normally have the highest THC levels while Indica strains often contain extra cannabinoids such as CBD, CBG and CBN.
Cannabidiol (CBD)
Vaporize temperature: 160°C to 180°C
This cannabinoid is also well represented in the cannabis plant. While the use of cannabis is still a controversial subject and most focus on the effects of THC, CBD has more promising benefits for medical use.
In contrast to what most people think, CBD is not psychoactive. This implies that CBD has no effect on exercising sound judgment and on the coordination of the user. But possibly even more interesting are CBD's therapeutic benefits. We will never make any medical claims about products on our website. We refer to Google and your common sense for more information about the medical properties. We think there is a need for more scientific research to confirm these claims.
Cannabinol (CBN)
Vaporize temperature: 160°C to 180°C
This cannabinoid is perfect for people that suffer from insomnia. Cannabinol is not present in fresh cannabis, but is a byproduct created out of THC when cannabis is stored for a longer time. So the longer you save cannabis, the more CBN is created. Fresh cannabis gives a more powerful high, while old cannabis will have a more seducing effect. So if you want to take advantage from cannabis to sleep better, then save the cannabis for a number of weeks in a cool and dry spot.
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