Volcano Hybrid UK

The VOLCANO HYBRID is the digital evolution of the device that has been the benchmark among desktop vaporisers for more than twenty years. It masters both operating modes — balloon via the Easy Valve system and whip for the direct draw — and controls the temperature over a touch display to within ±1.5 degrees. The double helix heat exchanger brings it up to working temperature in forty seconds, where the Classic still needs five minutes.

Features

• Convection heating with double helix heat exchanger
• Temperature from 40 °C to 230 °C over a touch display
• Temperature accuracy ±1.5 °C against ±5 °C on the Classic
• Ready for use in around 40 seconds
• Balloon operation via Easy Valve and whip operation in one device
• Web app over Bluetooth for temperature profiles and time intervals
• Balloons store the vapour for up to eight hours
• Stainless steel housing, aluminium heating block
• Stainless steel chamber with herb mill screen
• Mains powered, holds the temperature for as long as you like
• Dimensions around 200 × 200 × 180 mm, weight around 1,800 grams
• All wear parts available separately for years
• Balloons and valves available as spares and in sets
• Made in Tuttlingen, three years manufacturer warranty

Who is the VOLCANO HYBRID for?

For stationary use at home, for shops with a demo unit and for anyone wanting to serve several people. At 1.8 kilograms the HYBRID is a piece of furniture, not a device for the road, and it is deliberately built that way: it is meant to stand on a table and work there for years. In retail it is the device for the customer who has already had a portable and now wants something at home that is not empty after forty minutes — and for the shop itself the best argument on the shelf.

Balloon and whip in one device

The decisive difference from the Classic is the second operating mode. Using the built-in fan the HYBRID fills a balloon that can then be emptied at leisure without holding the device — practical in company, because it can be passed on, and the filling keeps for up to eight hours. Anyone sitting alone at the table takes the whip set instead and draws directly. Both systems are included; there is no need to decide at purchase.

Touch display and temperature accuracy

The HYBRID controls from 40 °C to 230 °C and holds the set temperature to within ±1.5 degrees. The Classic works analogue over a rotary control and lies at ±5 degrees. In daily use that means: set 185 degrees on the HYBRID and you get 185 degrees, and can reproduce a setting you liked. On the Classic you look for it again every time. The touch display shows target and actual temperature at once and is legible from two metres away.

Forty seconds instead of five minutes

The double helix heat exchanger is the second major innovation. It enlarges the surface at which the passing air is heated and brings the HYBRID up to working temperature in around forty seconds. The Classic needs about five minutes for that. Anyone switching the device on in the evening notices the difference at once; anyone demonstrating it in a shop saves four minutes of waiting at every demonstration, minutes in which the sales conversation otherwise stalls.

Easy Valve: changing balloons without tools

The Easy Valve system consists of pre-assembled balloons with mouthpiece that are pushed on and, after use, replaced as a whole. They are available singly and in sets; an adapter balloon can be refilled with balloon film if it needs to be cheaper. For retailers the balloons are the most reliable repeat business in the whole range, because they wear out predictably and the customer comes back anyway.

Web app over Bluetooth

The HYBRID can be connected by Bluetooth to a web app that runs in the browser and needs no installation. There you store temperature profiles and time intervals, for example a sequence of 180, 195 and 210 degrees across one balloon filling. That is a function for advanced users; the HYBRID works completely without a smartphone, and in a sales conversation the app should be named as an extra, not as a requirement.

Chamber, screens and cleaning

The chamber is made of stainless steel and is inserted from above. What needs cleaning is the chamber, the screens, the valve cap and, in whip operation, the whip set. Glass and metal parts can be fully soaked in isopropyl alcohol, silicone parts are rinsed out. Because the airpath is generously dimensioned, less clogs up than on portable devices — in practice a thorough clean every few weeks is enough, plus knocking out the chamber now and then.

Build, origin and spare parts

The housing is stainless steel, the heating block aluminium, and both are designed for continuous operation. Storz & Bickel manufactures in Tuttlingen and comes out of medical technology; the Volcano is approved as a medical device in several countries. For wholesale what counts most is that valves, balloons, screens, chambers and seals are available separately for years. A device still being repaired after eight years is a different product in resale.

VOLCANO HYBRID or VOLCANO CLASSIC?

The Classic is analogue: rotary control, ±5 degrees, five minutes heat-up, balloon operation only. It is considerably cheaper and technically almost indestructible — many devices from the 2000s are still running. The HYBRID brings the touch display, degree-precise control, whip operation, the app and the short heat-up. Anyone running balloon only and watching the price takes the Classic; anyone wanting both and liking reproducible settings takes the HYBRID.

The HYBRID compared with portable devices

A desktop device delivers a different volume of vapour from a pocket device, because it does not have to ration a battery and has the airflow of a fan at its disposal. Anyone moving from the MIGHTY+ to the HYBRID notices it immediately in the density. Conversely the HYBRID replaces no portable device, because it stays at the socket. In advice this is no either-or: most customers who buy a HYBRID already own a portable device and keep it.

How to use it

1. Fill the chamber loosely with ground herbs and put it in place.
2. Switch the device on and select the temperature on the touch display.
3. Let it heat for around forty seconds until the display reports the target temperature.
4. For balloon operation attach the Easy Valve balloon and start the fan; for whip operation draw directly.
5. After use empty the chamber, check the screens and clean the glass parts.