Control Tower w/ SE Pillar FAQ
1. When is the next scheduled drop?
Limited scheduled drops will occur Thursday at 2pm PDT.
2. How should I heat the Control Tower?
Apply the flame to both the dish and the chamber with the SE Pillar inside the Control Tower. Keep the flame moving from both side to side as well as top to bottom. Heat the item up evenly and past the recommended usage temp. It is important that the SE Pillar is brought to temperature. Once you feel confident the item is past the recommended usage temperature and that the heat is distributed evenly, you may stop heating the tower.
3. What's the recommended usage temperature?
This will be dependent on both load size and material type. For medium to smaller size loads, the recommended temperatures are 450F for solventless extracts and 550F for hydrocarbon extracts. This temperature is measured from the side of the chamber and not the dish. An uneven heating can result in different temperatures from the dish and chamber, and since most of the work is accomplished in the chamber that is our preferred measuring spot.
(NOTE: We had originally made claims of 375F for solventless that were incorrect. That was an error we made due to an uncalibrated thermometer, we apologize for this miscalculation on our part and have since updated this recommendation to 450F.)
4. How do I clean the Control Tower?
A. Solvent Baths:
If you are trying to keep it absolutely pristine then the recommended way to do that is with multi stage solvent bath. This is where you have two solvent baths both containing isopropyl alcohol, one bath for a soak that will ultimately become saturated, and the other for a rinse. After the rinse, dry the items with a lint free cloth to remove any excess alcohol and avoid burning fibers on the surface.
B. Cotton Swabs:
A regular sized cotton swab can be pressed in between the pillar and the chamber, and if it is rotated in the upward direction the cotton swab can remove the majority of the remnant oil from both the chamber and pillar.
However, the downside to only using cotton swabs is you will eventually experience devitrification. If the cotton swab is used without the aid of alcohol (soaked or squirt bottle) then micro traces of oil will remain both on the pillar and in the chamber. If you are heating up your nail, and you see any sort of vapor or smoke rising, it is a sign that not everything was cleaned from the surface. This is very typical with "cotton swab only" maintenance. Another con to using only cotton swabs is that the maintenance of the neck and joint either gets skipped over, or requires more cotton swabs and additional alcohol to address. This isn't the case with a solvent bath. The last con to cotton swab maintenance is that they introduce a lot of fibers into the chamber and occasionally one gets left behind to burn on the surface. So yes, you can get away with only using cotton swabs, but prepare to experience devitrification over time if they are all that you use.
5. What size marble should I use to cap the Control Tower?
We actually do not recommend you use a marble at all. Caps that insert into the Control Tower will be way less problematic. Marbles tend to slip off, get your fingers dirty, and even cause potential damage to the product. If you must use a marble, we recommend a small marble (11mm-12mm). This smaller size creates a better seal, prevents the marble from wanting to fall from the tower, and has less mass so that if the marble does fall off the tower it is less likely to break the dish in the process. If you do use a marble, prepare for the untimely demise of your product.
6. Is the Control Tower only for large dabs?
Quite the contrary. While the Control Tower w/ SE Pillar can do fairly well with large dabs, it really shines with medium to smaller sized ones. Some users report making half the load go twice the distance. This is how the Control Tower is most efficient and can eliminate waste by evaporating the entirety of the dab. Smaller dabs can be vaporized at even increasingly lower temperatures than the recommended usage temperatures.
7. Will you be selling the SE Pillars individually?
Yes.
