Powerful and remarkably battery efficient. Designed for use with dry herb material. The acclaimed portable vaporizer is beautifully-crafted, easy-to-use and low-profile.
PAX VAPORIZER TIPS: HOW TO GET MORE VAPOR & USE LESS HERB
In this post you’ll learn how to get the best performance from your PAX vaporizer and also how to use it with a very small amount of herb (like 0.15g).
This is the PAX 2 on the far left and both shiny vapes on the right are the PAX 3, and everything I’m about to show you applies to both models:
Question: I’m not getting enough vapor, how do I get better results?
Answer: Grind finer and pack tighter!
The main things that affect how much vapor you get are how fine you grind your herb and how tight you pack the oven. If you’re not getting the performance you want then this is the first area to look.
The grind consistency that everyone is used to from a common 4-piece grinder will work with most vaporizers, but if you really want maximum performance you need to grind your herb even finer than that.
These are pictures of the NewVape Fine Grinder (use promo code VAPECRITIC for 10% OFF), which is what I currently consider to be the best grinder for vaporizers:
I really can’t stress this point enough – I can almost guarantee that grinding finer will get you better results if you’re not doing it already, especially with a vape like the PAX.
If you don’t want to buy a new grinder there are a couple of things you could try with what you have. First thing to keep in mind is that you’ll get a finer grind and more vapor if your herb is fully dried out with very little moisture left in it. After you initially grind your material you can try spreading it out on a sheet of paper for a short while to dry even more, then you can try vaping as-is or re-grinding again to break it down a little more.
With a 4-piece grinder one thing you could try is holding it upside-down when you grind, this will mimic the action of a 2-piece model which can usually help get your herb a little finer.
It is also very important to pack your herb tight inside the oven, you don’t want it loose in there at all. What I usually do is pour enough ground up herb into the oven to overfill it so that there’s some extra on top, then I take the loading tool and pack the herb back down into the chamber until it’s even with the top edge.
The animation on the right shows me packing my PAX 2, notice how fine the herb is and how tight I pack it down.
Loose material in the oven and not grinding fine enough are the leading causes of poor vapor production and disappointing results.
Question: How much material do I need to use with this vape?
Answer: A minimum of 0.15g and a maximum of ~0.35g
The recommended way to use this vape for maximum vapor production is with a fully packed oven. Depending on how fine your herb is ground up the amount needed to fill the chamber ranges from 0.3g to 0.4g. When you fully pack it you can expect roughly 20 full draws before your herb is spent.
There is also a way to use the PAX with less herb, like as little as 0.15g. Using the method I’m about to describe you can get away with only packing the oven half full and still get great performance and vapor production.
The first thing you do is load your oven with about 0.15g and then pack it down so it looks like this:
For the next step there’s two ways you can go – you can follow my free DIY solution using a simple pipe screen, OR, you can buy the professional aftermarket parts from NewVape which I’ll show you below.
DIY OVEN REDUCER
You can easily make your own oven spacer with any small pipe screen, the ones that are the size of a nickel are just about a perfect fit.
What you want to do is bend up the edges of the screen so that it creates somewhat of a U shape – you can try bending it around a pencil to keep the curve uniform. Then, depending on the size of the screen you use, you’ll probably need to trim off the edges so that it will fit inside the oven properly, which you should be able to do easily with scissors.
Next you take the screen and with the bottom of the U facing down place it on top of your material in the oven. The screen’s job is to take up the extra space in the chamber while keeping some pressure on your material so that it stays pressed against the base and walls of the oven.
Here’s what the screen should roughly look like:
You may need to trim the screen a few times to get it to fit perfectly – you basically want the top edges of it to just reach the top of the oven. It’s important that the oven cover still closes completely with the screen in there so just make sure it’s not sticking up at all after you put it on.
NEWVAPE PAX ACCESSORIES
These parts are super high quality and I’d say significantly better made than the stock parts that come with the vape.
If you go to NewVape’s PAX accessories page you’ll see that they make a whole bunch of cool stuff for it, and if you buy anything remember to use my promo code VAPECRITIC for 10% OFF your entire order.
What I’m specifically showing you here is the PAX Vented Oven Lid 2.0 & Pusher Bundle and their PAX Replacement Screen:
You would use these parts in place of the stock oven screen and lid, and they actually accomplish a few different really cool things.
First of all, NewVape’s oven screen (the one on at the bottom) is way more robust than the OEM screen – night and day difference – and it improves airflow as well as reduces maintenance.
The vented oven lid also lets extra air in to reduce draw resistance even more, and the “pusher” part is basically just like the bottom screen, so it sandwiches your herb between the two plates.
The pusher is adjustable and you can change how far it’s screwed onto the lid, so you can pretty much load any amount you want in the chamber and you can easily adjust this thing to fill up the rest of the space.
It also pushes down on your herb to create a tight pack which is very important for maximum vapor production. The lid is recessed a tiny bit too so that you can still stand the PAX up and have a flat bottom.
Now you’re ready to rock and roll ;-)
Head over to the forum if you have any questions about what to do or if you wanna share your results!
Stay up!
-Bud
-Bud
The comments section is now closed on this page – please visit the forum if you have any questions or need advice!
First the smaller size is a plus, no sliding out mouth piece, reaches even the highest temp in 30 seconds or less and the fact you have two oven size options (half pack or full pack lids)is very convenient, I usually go with the half pack lid for a faster session. Way easier to clean than the original PAX with the elimination of the sliding mouth piece and better lid design, like it alot, it’s pricey but well made and I’m sure it will last
I have noticed that the draw is difficult and the vapor production minimal if I pack more and attempt two sessions on the same pack.
Obviously more work for your couple of hits at a time.
Thanks. With so much disinformation out there, it is refreshing to find your candid reviews.
Questions please.
1 For a partial load which items are required from newvape? The combination vented/non-vented lid and pusher accessory OR just the pusher accessory? (confused!)
2 Is CBD extraction optimised on one temperature over another: 1 or 2 instead of 3 or 4?
3 Somewhere in the comments you mention mixing concentrate in with the flower. Works fine? And is it true that an e-liquid accessory is coming onto the market in 3/2016?
Bud, thank you much.
1 From newvape picked up Pax2 Non-vented Lid 2 with pusher combination. Expensive but excellent.
2 Please edit indiscretion above. I suspect the extraction depends more on the specie. Normally start on level 2, 3, then 4.
3. Still unsure about this e-liquid accessory.
Thanks Bud for this forum.
Thanks and great post !
Why is only half the material turning dark brown ? The top half of the bowl only turns a light brown and the bottom of the bowl is a very dark brown…..it completely stops vaping 3/4 of the way thru the material it seems…am i packing it too tight ? Not sure what causes it not to fully vape all the bud closest to the top of the bowl ? Other than a little wasted material theres no issue. I like the screen on top idea for half bowls..if anyone has any info on this i greatly appreciate it….
Doing a lot of camping with no AC plugs available.
What is my best choice for recharging ?
Something that can be hooked to an external back up battery or batteries that come out all together
thanks,mackie
Thanks for any input on this.
Is that normal? We’re new vapers.
Great tips and reviews, keep them coming. I plan on buying a Pax, and wanted to get your best recommendations for cleaning? 1x week? More than that for daily usage? I want to be able to enjoy it without having to clean every day.
Is this a new policy?
I then ordered a Magic-Flight finishing grinder.
Is the PAX supposed to be used with herbs grinded fine like with this grinder?
Chris
Do I need to buy another mouthpiece?
Any suggestions?
You have a great thread here and offer great advice
So I can already kiss my guarantee goodbye, but anyway!
Not only with vaporizing instead of smoking (huge taste difference), but also with the frequency, length, and quantities you use.
– Packed chamber (tight)
– Red temp (for couch-lock effect, but orange is best overall)
– Grinded material
– Trick with the grid for 5 to 8 quick draws
– Get a car charger
After charging I filled it up with finely ground herb, turned it on and was able to get several lite to medium draws but the mouth piece became uncomfortably hot. I turned it off for awhile and tried a second session about 1/2 an hour later, but got little to no vapor until I turned it up to high setting and than there was a little more vapor, but again the mouth piece got very hot.
I now have buyers remorse and will try again tonight with your half filled screen suggestion. I tried to read and look at as much as I could find on the Pax, but have not noticed anyone else complaining about the mouth piece gettting real hot. Can you please let me know what is up with this, am I doing something wrong? Thank You.
-The metal screen that comes with the pax should have a slight bend to it. I found that by increasing this bend a bit to give the oven hole more air space helped my vapor output considerably
-clean and lube the pax often. every session I clean up with ISO and pax lube the mouthpiece/connecter
My question, I just bought a Pax Ploom & it seems to work great but I do not get the strong vapour I see in your vid. I’ve packed it high, not full about 3/4 to top with ground material. I believe I do not get anywhere near 20 draws. I’m just thinking if mine is faulty, 1st & only vape I’ve tried. Btw I use a cleaver and cutting board to grind mine and it looks more ground than your pix using the grinders.
When it comes to packing I see in the pix you have it just covering the base. Is that fully packing or packing to the top where you cannot fit any more material in? 2 other things, the bottom gets a little hot, not sure if normal? Also the vapour has no taste.
Finally the material looks all “burnt”, brown colour, after the system heats once. Is that normal or is the material done? That was more than 2 questions I think ha
Love your posts, it helped me to my decision to buy the Pax. I love it!!
Just had a little tip for Pax users who want to conserve a little bud. I like to pack my pax halfway full with the good herb, then fill the second half of the bowl with other various herbs like peppermint, damiana or pretty much whatever you want. This saves bud, tastes amazing and it stops your oven lid from getting that sticky res on it! Just though some other people would appreciate it, it has changed my vaping experience!
Thanks!
Love your posts, it helped me to my decision to buy the Pax. I love it!!
Just had a little tip for Pax users who want to conserve a little bud. I like to pack my pax halfway full with the good herb, then fill the second half of the bowl with other various herbs like peppermint, damiana or pretty much whatever you want. This saves bud, tastes amazing and it stops your oven lid from getting that sticky res on it! Just though some other people would appreciate it, it has changed my vaping experience!
Thanks!
Really appreciate everyone’s comments and ideas, btw. Will be a huge help to me.
Just ordered the Pax and haven’t tried it or any Vap yet….odd after 49 years of the other method of ingestion.
Thanks
Doug
I made a decision to [try vaping]. An e-z vape had been for sale was no longer available, it had been the only vape I ever used. Decided I wanted something portable (car friendly) instead anyway. High times gave atmos raw a good review, how could they be wrong? LoL actual user reviews disagree. USA made thermo vape, how could you go wrong? User review calls it out for tipt temperature problems. Also it looks like fallic. Not excited :/ LoL @ 300$ for a hot dildo. Stumbled upon a video of you vaping w/ the pax, your review good, user review good. Put my chips down. Got it 3 days ago. Wasn’t sold day 1. Moisture was an issue. Tip was slightly hot. Once dry and ground fine still very little vapor production. Watched a video on dual wielding screens as you suggest. Was skeptical about it. I took it to a friends to use and show off… hoping I would be able to get it to work properly or surely get laughed at for spending a wad on a paper weight. We threw in on a pile… more than I had been using. Thought what the hell. Packed it and set it at red. Here goes nothing. Green light, waited 7 seconds to make sure it was gonna vape something… and I got a lung buster. Now I had gotten clouds, thin clouds, but this was much thicker. Not smoky, just robust. Wow said my friend… he took a draw, and he got same thickness. I explained I must have packed it right finally, and that some people use a regular screen to do a half session. By the time we vape the whole thing we were both plenty good. He gave me a screen to try, and said people do a half sesh cuz that’s all 1 person needs. Gave it a try yesterday, and between packing it good and using another screen this thing is a beast. Wanted to say today I’m defo sold and enjoying my pax.
thanks for the lift_
I tried the screen trick and am now getting twice as dense a vapor with less herb. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Mike
Is it okay to take 4-5 draws, and then switch off the pax and then after an hour or 2 switch it back on, and start vaping again?
I have no idea why it took three times… I did exactly the same thing every time.
Love your blog and you videos!
dave