Why do my vape pens break so easily?

September 11, 2021 5:16 AM

Over the past 18 months, I’ve bought two $70-$90 APX Vape pens from my local smoke shop in TX. I even sent them back to get fixed after they broke the first time and they broke again.

I don’t want to keep spending so much money on new vape pens or waiting for so much time to have them fixed and mailed back.

They work great at first, but then eventually they get in this state where they don’t cook the weed. Either they blink out and just won’t cook at all, or they show that they are cooking but it never heats up. And that’s with them fully charged.

What’s the deal? Are vape pens usually unreliable like this, do I have bad luck, or am I just not purchasing the correct kind of vape pen?

posted by ggp88 to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (11 answers total)

APX is on this reddit list of brands to avoid.
posted by flabdablet at 7:02 AM on September 11, 2021 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Thank you. What are recommended vape brands / models?
posted by ggp88 at 7:06 AM on September 11, 2021

Surprised to see Grenco/Gpen on the list as I've heard nothing but love from folks who use them. It looks like you're using a dry herb vape pen. If that's the case, I'd invest in a Pax 2 (get the 3 only if you also use concentrates). Sure, they're spendy AF, but I've had mine for nearly three years and it's going strong.
posted by Kitteh at 7:07 AM on September 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

What are recommended vape brands / models?

Scroll the same page up for a big list.

Edit: Pax 2 is on it.
posted by flabdablet at 7:11 AM on September 11, 2021

My bad, flabdablet! I just looked at the avoidy ones, not the recs.
posted by Kitteh at 7:16 AM on September 11, 2021

Can vouch for healthy rips fury edge, except the name is ridiculous. Metafilter suggested and I upgraded from a Grenco elite (there are a few plastic parts on the grenco that cannot withstand the temperatures that the unit produces; it’s a good design but executed poorly). The fury edge has very good build quality, good battery life and is damn easy to clean. I use the little cages, which reduce the amount you can load at one time, but it’s really not a problem.
posted by furnace.heart at 7:24 AM on September 11, 2021

It isn't exactly a pen, but the Storz & Bickel Crafty+ is very well-regarded and has a three year warranty (albeit at ~3x the price of the APX).
posted by pullayup at 7:53 AM on September 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

So disappointed that 'vape' pen is now synonymous with 'dry herb vaporizer' pen. If you were doing the 510 connection concentrate weed vaping I'd get to tell you about the best ~$120(US) hunk of metal that uses old-school 18650 rechargeable batteries that has lasted over a decade without a scratch and that you could run over with a steam-roller and it would be just fine. Still using it, it will probably outlive me and still be fully functional far into the future.

And yeah, have a Gpen, didn't like it, would give it away to anybody who wanted it while telling them 'meh'. But it didn't break or anything, it just sucks.
posted by zengargoyle at 9:53 AM on September 11, 2021

> If you were doing the 510 connection concentrate weed vaping I'd get to tell you about the best ~$120(US) hunk of metal that uses old-school 18650 rechargeable batteries that has lasted over a decade without a scratch and that you could run over with a steam-roller and it would be just fine.

Inquiring minds want to know...
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:00 PM on September 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

Looks like they've gone out of business. It's ancient, " *** The House of Hybrids product line is no longer in production! What you see here is all that remains. All sales are FINAL! ***"

He was an old grey beard (I met him a decade ago) so it's not surprising. Sorry.

Start with a solid cylinder of aircraft/medical grade stainless steel and bore out a hole the hard way on a lathe. Put big fat threads in there. Make the end-caps the same way. Vapor deposition powder coat with the same stuff the Navy uses on torpedo bearings. Lovingly created by an ex-Navy machinist who ran a fabrication shop after retirement. It's so well engineered/made that it passes my "fine piece of craftsmanship" pride meter.

It's just an extremely well designed and made by human in a shop hunk of metal that's nothing but a tube to hold an 18650 battery. Worth it. Sorry it seems to be a relic of the past. It's a pretty purple color but looks like any other old bottom-button tube thing. It's just built very well.

Surprisingly enough (or not) he went by the name Zen. But yeah, sorry seems those days are over.
posted by zengargoyle at 5:59 PM on September 11, 2021

If you are talking about the simple kind of cartridge pen that you just inhale on and don't press a button, they break really easily if you screw the battery on too tightly. It's a super easy fix. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cmI6BwLog8
posted by bink at 12:36 AM on September 12, 2021