Trying to dial in on the new liquid pads:

* didn't like the sitting "loose", so started bending and opening the pad radial wise to increase the diameter, not easy but it succeeded anyway. Can turn gvg upside down (without ceramic filter) and paddy keeps on location nicely. There's also no more air gap, the metal UFO now touches the glass at its circumference. It is also not too snug: to remove it just tap the pipe upside down in your hand palm and it flips in your hand, euh my hand that is.

* Thermal inertia is tons higher than my previous chore-boy-toy. Here I'm still dialing in to get it "right", and it seems to evolve that way. Oh man I can (must) really red that ceramic in a way like never before, huge torch fine blue pin hitting that darn stone filter merciless hard without any trace of burning the dreams-key. I really think a BIC cannot reach enough power level to get good ole everything in one hit with some spare, I like to have some spare in the inhale breath stroke, makes it easier to keep smiling and prevents me from arriving at the ballroom in an overdone mode, entrance presence matters

The liquid pad has a tendency to tumble. But if handled with care it should do well. No need to disfigure.

I do agree with your words about heating the ceramic filter. Certainly I have the tip of the flame touching it for some seconds. It takes quite a long time before the liquid pad glows with heat.

[quote=strtman]The liquid pad has a tendency to tumble. But if handled with care it should do well. No need to disfigure.

quote]

I set a couple screens in the bottom to put the pad on. That way you don't get any tumbling. It might slide around a little bit, but nothing that should cause and problem.

Well actually it was not the tumble potential itself that motivated me to make it more size-fix. But the way I like to load the ship.

I just want to poor in the load and would not like to see a part of the load collect in the air-gap at the outer rim. Call me anal about this, no problemo. Now that I made it no-gap-at-outer-rim, all my load stays on top surface of the liquid pad just where I want it to be.

I better had that explained in my posty.

Hey ehud, that might explain why VG added some (unasked for) screens with my pads

Makes sense. I usually just melt mine in to the pad before hand. I can see how just dumping it in would be more convenient.

Doesn't doing this clog up your ceramic filter with soot? I've never seen the liquid pad glow with heat before but it still seems to all vape.

Strtman must have had a typo-thinko-error, the liquid pad never glows, it is the ceramic filter above that can glow IMO.

Clogging up the ceramic filter due soot:

that mainly happens when you use yellow flames, like BIC lighters. Those yellow flames are susceptible to perform incomplete combustion which is the soot forming cause. To prevent that from happening with a yellow flame, you are obliged to NOT let the flame tip touch the ceramic filter at all. Touching yellow flame tip on ceramic filter surface equals soot building as an inescapable effect.

The blue flames of torch lighters have extra oxygen applied from within the lighter tip itself, forcing the combustion to be as complete as possible. Therefore these lighters are quasi non soot producing and you can safely touch the blue tip onto the ceramic filter without building up clogging soot. Just don't overdo this, there's only lower temperatures (very counter productive & incombusted gas) when you cut the normal blue flame length in half on the ceramic filter surface.

It is near impossible for me to let the ceramic filter glow with a BIC or any yellow flame lighter, if it does its not much at all.
Compared, the blue torch flame can cherry red quite easily the ceramic filter, this has a huge effect on potential soot:

Glowing soot cannot maintain to exist, it simple de-cokes, "decarbonizes". So a blue torch flame redding your ceramic filter is actually un-sooting (de-coking) your filter at the same time. This in contrast with a yellow flame that is near impossible to reach the desired temperatures to "decorbonize" formed coke (soot), and actually yellow flame is only able to add soot if improperly operated (flame touching filter top surface).

This is good news for fellas who accumulated soot already: remove ceramic filter from the glass, put it on a stone, scorch it red with a big blue flame ( e.g. a "plumbing gas torch" ) that has the power to do so. Done, filter de-coked.

Is my experience/2cents.

Jees, woody, thanks for your responses. Of course the liquid pad does not turn into red heat. It is the ceramic filter.

Just dropping in to vouch for the VG steel pad. I melted 20mg of freebase into it and kept it stored the past couple weeks while I waited for the proper time to take it. I don't use psychedelics casually and after my one experience *sorta* breaking through on changa, I've been in too much sheer awe of even that one near-breakthrough to really try DMT since then. It wasn't scary, but it was POWERFUL, and that much power put a heavy responsibility on me I wasn't sure if I should carry.

Well, last night the time was right. I lit some candles, incense, propped up an icon of Jesus, loaded the steel pad into my GVG, fired up with one huge toke. It was insane how easy and clean I broke through.

I'm honestly not even sure what to say about the actual trip. In my entire life I've never felt such pure love and beauty and hope with what I encountered in there. Still working on the trip report.

So yeah, steel pad is the way to go.

My lovely partner just purchased me a GVG, and she got me these liquid pads to boot!

Instead of pre-melting, is it possible to place freebase on top of the liquid pad while in the GVG, then put the ceramic filter unit over it and vaporize from there? Also, are you supposed to use extra screens underneath if you are using the liquid pad?

i never pre-melt the freebase onto my liquid pad.
as a result of this the first time i inhale i do not get as much smoke, so instead of 3 inhales it takes me 4 inhales for a breakthrough. but i think this way i do not waste any product.

also i do not use any additional screens just the one on the very bottom. it does work fine with just the liquid pad

Thanks jiva! Couldn't you just wait for the freebase to melt in the pad before starting to inhale, thus taking only 3 inhales total? Or are you saying you don't miss any because you inhale first?

i inhale when the flame is over the VG the first time. as the flame of the the torch lighter should not be held into the VG this is necessary since otherwise no heat would enter the VG and heat up the spice

I think we have waited long enough .