Most helpful customer reviews

95 of 98 people found the following review helpful.
Flawed but Promising [Upgraded 10 March 2010]
By Slugg
3.5 stars.

Great concept... But the plastic mouthpiece broke off almost immediately... And the screens clog up real quickly, reducing draw to a drag.

If IOlite comes out with a next-generation product which addresses those flaws and resolves them, I'll buy another one.

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10 MARCH 2010: UPGRADE TO 4 STARS

The Iolite still works, and the design of the pipe-stem has been changed so it DOESN'T break off anymore.

BTW, when I heard the problems with the plastic pipe-stem had been addressed, I e-mailed the company about the problems I'd had. They quickly mailed me two of the new ones: no charge. That shows a lot of class and consumer awareness. Kudos.

Two tips:

(1) It's important to use a high-quality, triple-filtered butane [Definitely Not Ronson's!!!!!]... otherwise the Iolite will spit, sputter... and occasionally won't ignite.

(2) Grinding down the herbs to a fine powder is a bad idea. Dust quickly clogs up the Iolite's heating chamber so it won't draw at all.

Summing up: based on THE IOLITE'S relative durability [compared to the other portable vaporizers I've tried]... and the fact that the company rather responsively recognized, addressed, and fixed the gizmo's major flaw...

UPGRADE TO 4 STARS!!!!

73 of 75 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent Vaporizer, when properly used
By J. Green
As far as vaporizers go, I've seen none better for the combination of quality design and portability. The company has been making catalytic combustion butane products for various industries since the early 1980's, and they have the technology down. (Google Dehorner II)

The design is excellent. The octagonal herb chamber on the end of the stem slides snugly into the round heating chamber. When you draw through the herb chamber external air flows between the herb chamber and the heating chamber, preheating the air before it hits the herb for less cooling of the herb as you draw. Both screens are easily removed with a sweet little brass tool that came with my unit, and clean with a little soaking and swishing in Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol (I just pour a bit of alcohol into the bottle cap.) According to the web site, the plastic is a high-tech grade designed for use at high temperatures in the food industry.

As a high-tech product, you need to know how to use it.

1. Use a premium quality butane fuel, not the standard butane you can buy at Walgreens. Mine came with Vector, and I've had no problems. The web site lists approved fuels. If you have problems starting, you are likely using an inferior fuel. Or your are living too high. (I mean, like above 7-8000 feet).
2. Keep it clean - carry it around in the zippered pouch it comes with, don't just stick it in your pocket.
3. Make sure your herb is dry. If your unit gunks up quickly, it is too moist and will also harsh your throat.
4. Iolite redesigned the stem. The original had plastic threads. Mine came with extra stems, and you can also buy replacement herb chamber / stem assemblies on their web site.
5. Know how vaporization works. When you heat vegetable material, the volatile organics evaporate, so you need to allow the herb to heat. This takes less than a minute after firing it up, when you hear combustion stop. It takes only a small draw to clear the chamber of vapor - more simply cools the chamber and stops vaporization. Allow the chamber and herb to re-heat between draws.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful.
Mouthpiece replacement
By Beer and BBQ
There is now a metal threaded version of the mouthpiece. I had complained to the wholesaler, pointing out the fact that nearly everyone that had this item had complained about the fragile mouthpiece, and they sent me the new part for free. I don't know if they're replacing all of the ones in new packaging, but it does appear they are well aware of the problem. Make sure to contact the seller to find out if you can get the new mouthpiece!