Wax Vaporizers and Dab Pens

What are Wax Dab Pens and How Do They Work? from CannabisNet on Vimeo.

Vaporizers have been all the buzz in the cannabis world recently. From the MacGyver's of the world who try to get a puff off homemade easy to use smoking devices to those looking to be more stealthy, discreet or healthy. Well with vape pens, all those go down the drain and up comes a magical electronic unit that makes life easier. Wax vaporizers or sometimes commonly referred to as dab pens are portable vaporizers that are specifically used for wax or concentrates. The difference between a dab rig and a dab pen is where you would need to lug around a torch with the dab rig and worry about it since its glass, with the vape you won't have a care in the world, except for wondering which pocket you should put it in.

Concentrate vape pens can come in two different kinds of vapes. The first one are considered triple use, dual use or multi-use vaporizers. They generally come with different atomizers which let you use different material. You can use them for dry herbs, concentrates or oil. Then there are dab pens specifically for wax which the coil in the atomizer will not let you vaporize any other material.

What’s a Wax Vaporizer?

A wax vape pen is a pen like design made to be portable and vaporizes your favorite oily wax concentrates. The vaporizer consists of a battery, a chamber where the coil is in, and a mouthpiece. All this is enclosed, usually in a steel casing. The casing definitely matters since some vape pens can get too hot from the inside and resonate the heat to the exterior casing which can get too hot for your hands. The mouthpiece is on top and generally made from glass or steel but sometimes plastic or rubber which you don't want since there will be a lot of heat going through it. Different concentrate types will require different ways to load your chamber like with a dab tool or just your fingers.

temperatures for vaping

Temperature Control Setting

Temperature plays a big part when it comes to vaporizing. Not all materials are the same so one may heat up too much which will cause combustion or conduction heating, which simply means it burns it rather than vaporizes it. Knowing the temperatures your vaporizer ranges is useful especially when you are dealing with triple use vaporizers. Different forms of wax generally are going to vary but the more oily concentrates will vape at a higher temperature like around 440℉ to 500℉. Other types can be lower of around 360℉ to 400℉.

Different Types of Coils/Heating Methods

There are different kinds of coils and heating methods that vape pens use but for these specific ones, you can find them in quartz, ceramic and titanium. You can also find them with different heating methods like conduction or convection. When your vaporizer has a convection heating method, the wax will be placed in a chamber not touching any coils. It will vaporize from the surrounding heat that comes from coils in the chamber where as a conduction heating is where the concentrates gets placed directly on the coils. The coils are usually titanium and wrapped around a ceramic, titanium, quarts or even a wick. There are also ceramic heating plates that sits in the base of the chamber and heats your oil. This is one of the most preferred methods.

Leo vaping weed

How a Dab Pen Works?

Wax vaporizers are very easy to understand and better yet, easy to use. They usually come with a dab tool which is a metal pick that is sharp on both or either side. Take some wax and dab it into the wax chamber. If it has coils like most do, just lightly smear it across the coils. Make sure not to hit it hard or you might damage the coil. The more you use it, the more brittle they get. Close your mouthpiece and choose your temperature. Different pens will have a different way of changing temperature and color coordinating them. It is usually done by clicking the power button 3 times. You can read the instruction manual on your specific pen. Hit the button to activate the coils and give it about 3-4 seconds to let the wax heat up and turn into vapor. When you start taking a hit, it cools down the coils so they drop from their core temperature. Always remember to draw slowly and pace yourself.

Depending if your vaporizer is a 510 thread which is a universal thread connection from the battery to the chamber, you can use an eliquid tank. You can turn your dabs into e-juice and fill it into an atomizer for liquids. Simply fill your eliquid tank with the liquid, screw it onto the battery, and vape away.

vape pens

Benefits of Using a Vape Pen?

Vaporizers have many benefits to them from ease of use, cleaner effects, and portability but we have a few more benefits that we think are more important.

Health – Nowadays with everyone trying to be greener and health conscious, health is on everyone’s mind. This is why vaporizers have become more popular recently as more people using them with open minds. Using a dab rig, you can be inhaling wax that is burning at 900℉ and sometimes more which means you’re burning the wax and inhaling toxins. The whole point of vaping is to get away from that.

Save on Money – Vaporizers main cost is an upfront cost of a vaporizer which isn’t always cheap but is cheaper than glass. It’s also cheaper than refilling your torch with butane all the time. It also uses much less wax as a small dab can last you a few hits. This is especially true once the coil as soaked in some concentrates from previous dabs.

Discreet – Many vape pens don’t even look like a vaporizer or anything you can be using to inhale wax vapors. This can be great in many areas where you are trying to be respectful but still be able to medicate in peace.

What Is a Wax Vape Pen or Dab Pen?