How Does A Portable Vaporizer Work?

A portable vaporizer is an electronic device that uses heat to produce a vapor or aerosol that contains the active ingredients of the blend that it is used to heat.

Portable vaporizers are also called portable vapes for short. There are numerous classifications of portable vapes, including pen vapes and vape mods. While the variations differ in one way or another, there’s a common theme shared between them: they’re all cordless, meaning they’re capable of operating without the necessity of being plugged into a power source.

While some portables rely on butane and similar gas-type sources of power to provide energy to their heating elements and electronics, most modern portable vaporizers rely on the power of batteries. And for the most part, most utilize rechargeable batteries.

Lithium-ion is likely the most popular type of battery in use today with modern portable vaporizers. These types of batteries power portables like the Pax 3, DaVinci IQ, Crafty, Mighty, and many others.

While many portables are designed to be compact, often small enough to fit in a pocket, not all portable vaporizers are designed to fit in a pocket. The Hydrology 9, as an example, is not designed to fit in most pockets. Although larger than most portables, it is still, technically, a portable vaporizer due to its ability to be operated on battery power alone. So while it might not be a pocket-friendly portable vaporizer, it is still a portable vaporizer.

What Are Portable Vaporizers Used For?

While some portable vaporizers are designed to vaporize liquid blends such as nicotine containing e-juices, which are also known as e-liquids, others are designed to heat other types of blends, such as dry herbs and other forms of concentrates. Even among the concentrate vaporizers, there are variations in supported blend types as some are designed to support liquids, while other concentrate vapes are designed only for thicker, waxy concentrates.

Some portables are used for direct inhalation of the aerosol or vapor that they produce, whereas others are used for ambient aromatherapy – filling a space with fragrances for the sake of aromatherapy.

Electronic cigarettes are one type of portable vaporizer and are generally designed to support liquid blends known as e-liquids, which may or may not contain nicotine.

Dry herb vaporizers are designed to vaporize dry herbs, either ground or not ground depending on the vaporizer’s design. Some support both.

And then there are the multi-function vaporizers that are designed to support concentrates as well as dry herbs. One such vaporizer is the Haze V3. The aforementioned Pax 3 also has this ability thanks to its concentrate lid, an insert that transforms it into a portable concentrate vape.

How Portable Vaporizers Work

The notion of vaping, which is short for vaporizing, entails the heating of a blend to the point at which vaporization occurs. Vaporization occurs at a lower temperature than combustion, resulting in vapor instead of smoke. While many vape users are under the impression that their vaporizers are producing vapor, the reality is that many “vaporizers” are actually producing an aerosol, not a vapor.

While scientists continue to research the health implications of vaping, there is a growing body of evidence which suggests that vaping is less harmful than smoking. This is, for some users, one reason to vape instead of smoke.

The method used by portable vaporizers can vary from one model to the next. One method of heating the blend is conduction. With conduction, the blend comes in direct contact with a heated surface, such as a coil or plate. Another method is convection. With convection, super heated air is used to heat the blend in a somewhat indirect fashion.

While some portable vaporizers utilize convection and others conduction, there is yet another type that uses a combination of the two. These are known as hybrid convection/conduction vaporizers, as they utilize both to some degree. Some vapes that are touted by their manufacturers as convection based are, in reality, hybrids that utilize a combination of the two.

An electronic cigarette is an example of a conduction vaporizer. With an e-cig, the liquid blend is heated via a coil that comes in direct contact with the liquid that’s designed to heat.

The Volcano Vaporizer by Storz & Bickel is an example of a convection vaporizer as it uses heated air, which is moved via an internal fan, to vaporize the contents of its oven.