Proper Nectar Collector E-Nail Heating: How to Get Consistent, Even Heat

Nectar collector enails are very different from a standard quartz banger enail, the visual differences are noticed immediately. The most notable differences might not appear to be instant but they contribute to a completely different experience when it comes to heating, dabbing, and temperature.

First you might notice that most nectar collector enails come with a titanium nail and a very small barrel enail coil. The titanium nail has a two-piece design that is unscrewed; the coil is slipped over one side of the nail, and then the other piece of the nail is screwed back in. In our experience, this is the best dab nail design for an enail coil connection on a nectar collector tip.

The titanium tip that comes with this type of setup provides a smaller surface area to dab off of, and the enail coil included is slim with only 4 wraps extending upwards.

How Does a Nectar Collector E-Nail Heat?

Now that we've got all the basics out of the way, it's time to talk about how a nectar collector enail heats up to temperature. Just like a quartz banger enail, the controller box powers up the enail coil, the coil heats the titanium tip (which is attached to the nectar collector body, glass, or silicone), and you use the tip to vaporize your dabs.

Why Choose a Nectar Collector Enail over an Electric Nectar Collector

The reason why nectar collector enails are preferred over standard electric nectar collectors is because they offer more consistent power and are more robust, sturdy, and long-lasting. You also get precise temperature control instead of just three temperature settings, giving you more control over your dabbing temperature.

Electric nectar collectors utilize a lithium-ion battery. These batteries will have their power output degrade after a few dabs and will not vaporize as well as when they are fully charged. In addition, over the lifespan of the battery, it begins to degrade. This means the battery will not hold its charge for the same amount of dabs and will require more frequent charging. An enail nectar collector always has the same level of power because it is plugged into an outlet.

Many electric nectar collector devices are made from plastic. This design does help them remain relatively inexpensive; however, it also makes them less durable and more prone to breaking. This results in the device needing to be replaced more often. Enail nectar collectors can last years if treated properly.

What Proper Coil Contact Should Look Like

Your enail coil should fit securely around the titanium tip, it should not feel loose or wobble around. However, it shouldn't be so tight where you are having a lot of trouble getting the enail coil over the tip. If the coil is really close to fitting but it's just not quite there, you can always heat the coil so that the enail coil metal expands and is able to slide over the titanium tip. You can also utilize our coil tightening and loosening guide to help achieve the perfect fit for the coil.

Where Should My Enail Coil Sit on a Nectar Collector Tip?

The nectar collector tips that we carry here at e-nail.com have a specific slot where the enail coil is placed. For those of you that are working with a different type of nectar collector enail that has a different coil connection point, the enail coil should always be closer to the tip, farther away from the glass bubbler.

Why Did my Glass Nectar Collector Crack at the Nail Joint?

Titanium heats up to high temperatures quickly thanks to its heat absorption and heat transfer properties. Since borosilicate glass is sensitive to high heat and liable to break when heated, you should keep your coil away from your glass so that it doesn't crack or break on you.

Even when the coil is kept away, the titanium nail can reach high enough temperatures to crack the joint of the borosilicate glass nectar collector. This is due to thermal expansion. There is another reason nectar collectors crack: thermal shock, which is most prominent with freezable glycerin-style nectar collectors. Thermal shock is when the temperature of something drastically and rapidly changes.

When utilizing a freezable glycerin-style nectar collector, it is crucial to slightly warm the joint area of the nectar collector before turning on the enail and heating the titanium nail. This can be done by simply wrapping your hand around the joint for a minute or two to warm the joint. This helps prevent thermal shock while still maintaining the coolness of the glycerin with the nectar collector.

How To Protect Your Nectar Collector Glass Top from Breaking

We always recommend using some sort of silicone component between a titanium nail and a glass bubbler. This is why we give a free silicone reclaim catcher with every titanium enail purchase. With a nectar collector, the connection points are pointed downward, so using a reclaim catcher in this instance might not be as helpful as it would with a dab rig.

We do have silicone bubbler attachments, which can theoretically be used with a nectar collector; however, it does prevent the usage of a keck clip. The screw-on nectar collector-style glass utilizes a metal connection which helps prevent thermal shock and minimize the heat transfer from the nail to the bubbler; however it does not eliminate the risk of cracking the glass.

This is why we highly recommend shutting off the enail after you finish dabbing with a titanium nectar collector tip to prevent the glass from breaking. The maximum session length should be approximately 10 minutes.

If you are concerned about your glass and are worried about keeping it safe from titanium, you can check out this silicone adapter and use it as a safeguard between your ti nail and glass nectar collector. You may also want to consider utilizing a hybrid nectar collector or silicone nectar collector, which practically eliminates the thermal shock and thermal expansion issue.

What Temperature Should You Set a Nectar Collector E-Nail To?

There are a few factors to consider when choosing the right nectar collector enail temperature. You would want to look at the coil connection to the tip, the amount of wraps of the enail coil, the tip material (quartz or titanium) and more.

Some enail controller boxes can be calibrated to work best with your specific coil size, so you can calibrate your controller to work with 25mm enail coils, or 30mm enail coils. However many enail controllers do not have specific calibration settings for nectar collector enail coils. This will ultimately change your calculation for your temperature setting.

You should start at a moderate temperature and then gradually increase your temperature until you find your ideal sweet spot. Start at a slightly higher temperature than you are used to with your quartz banger enail (if you're experienced with this setup), and adjust by increments of ten from there.

A nectar collector titanium nail has two pieces that are screwed into each other, this requires the heat to transfer from the outside titanium pieces, across the threading of the inner titanium piece, and into the interior of the dab nail. In addition, nectar collectors have a rather large amount of airflow passing through the heated titanium element, which can cause it to cool quickly. For these reasons, we recommend starting at a slightly higher temperature when working with this type of setup!

Use our e-nail heating calculator to help you understand what would be the best temperature for your nectar collector enail, based on your previous or preferred dabbing experience.

What Temperature Should I Set My E-Nail To?

Why Nectar Collector Tip Temperature May Differ From Your Controller Reading

We have a full blog on the difference between your coil temperature and the temperature reading of your dab nail. As well as the temperature reading differences between IR temperature readings and touch dabbing thermometers.

For the sake of keeping this short and simple, you might find a difference in temperature if the coil is not fitting properly to the nail, the dab nail thickness might be the cause of a temperature difference as well. The dab nail is also completely exposed instead of having a heated inner chamber with a carb cap on top to keep the temperature steady (like you would see on a quartz badger enail). How cold or how warm the room temperature is will always affect the temperature of your dab nail.

E-Nail Dabbing 101: How to Mimic Your Torch Dabbing With an E-Nail

Allow the Nectar Collector Dab Nail to Fully Heat to Temperature

Some people call this process a “heat soak”, this is needed with every enail setup. Once your enail controller reading reaches your desired temperature, you must wait a few minutes for your dab nail to reach this temperature.

Dabbing Temperature Guide

With most bucket bangers the wait time is approximately 2 minutes; with Terp Slurper bangers 3 minutes is recommended. Dab nails rely on heat transfer, so if the enail coil temperature is reading 500 degrees, it will take a few minutes for your dab nail or banger to reach 500 degrees as well.

For the reasons listed above, we recommend waiting around 3-5 minutes with a nectar collector enail.

Signs Your Nectar Collector E-Nail Isn't Heating Properly

The Enail Coil is Hot, But I'm Not Getting a Hit

• Check the coil contact with your titanium nail, make sure the coil is fully connected with the dab nail so that it can heat up to temp properly.
• If you are using an older setup with a standard titanium nail, your coil might be too far from the tip so the tip isn't getting to temp.
• Attempt raising the set temperature on the enail controller box by 10-25 degrees.

Temperature Keeps Fluctuating

• This most likely has less to do with the nectar collector part of your enail and it might just be your controller box. Most controllers have a slight temperature fluctuation by a few degrees +/-. If you are noticing your controller jumping around in temperature by hundreds of degrees, you might need a new enail coil.
• If the temperature fluctuation is noticed in between your dabs this might be a loose coil connection or the starting temperature of your concentrate.

One Part of the Tip Gets Much Hotter than Another

• Uneven heating again might be from coil contact, or it could be because of your coil placement. If the coil is uneven or sitting funny, you'll get uneven heating, or if the coil placement is wrong you'll get one side of your dab nail to a much hotter temperature than the other.

Don't Overheat the Nectar Collector Tip

Like with any enail, starting at a temperature that is too high will produce a ton of burnt residue all over your nail. This is why it's recommended to start off at a low/med temperature and work your way up. Remember that you are working with a titanium nail, which heats up to super high temperatures rather quickly, but a smaller enail coil.

It might take some work to find the perfect temperature for you because of these two conflicting components. If you are used to using quartz and not titanium, there will be a bit of a learning curve with your temperature adjustments!

Most nectar collector attachments paired with an enail come with some sort of cooling function, like a water bubbler or a glycerin top. The attachments that do not come with a cooling element might produce harsher, heavier hits. This is where temperature adjustments are crucial, especially since we're working with higher temperatures.

How Long Should You Let a Nectar Collector Enail Warm Up Before Dabbing?

We recommend waiting a full 3-5 minutes after your controller box reads your set temperature. Although the tip is made of titanium, the enail coil that's used with this enail kit is a lot smaller than the standard enail coil sizing. Waiting 3-5 minutes really ensures that the tip is heated to proper temperature so that you're not wasting your dab as it gets sucked up through the tip instead of vaporizing.