How Do Recyclers Work?

Dab rigs, because they can usually pack a really powerful punch in a relatively concentrated hit of vapor, are often kept relatively small in size by glassmakers. It can be hard to get the same amount of filtration in a small dab rig as you would in a bong over a foot tall, which would be able to fit a number of percolators and diffusers into its neck. Or at least it used to be before recyclers came onto the scene.

What Is a Recycler?

A recycler is a type of water pipe that’s more often than not used to vaporize concentrates like waxes or oils. A typical oil rig will pull concentrate vapor from the nail, down through the joint and downstem, into the base, and up and out the mouthpiece past any features in the rig’s neck. A recycler builds on this concept, incorporating a second chamber on top of the water-filled base and connecting it back to the main reservoir via a glass separation tube.

Typically, recyclers are made using borosilicate glass. This kind of material is also referred to as “scientific glass” because it’s what they use to make laboratory equipment like beakers as well as Pyrex cooking dishes. Borosilicate is more resistant to heat and physical stress than typical “soda” glass and therefore less likely to break if knocked over.

How Do Recyclers Work?

Like with any rig, the first step to using a recycler is to heat up the dab nail using either a butane or propane torch. Meticulous dabbers will use a laser thermometer gun to check the temperature on their dab nail, with low-temperature dabbers aiming for roughly 350-400 degrees Fahrenheit and high-temp dabbers generally hitting the nail at 450 degrees or above. Another option, of course, is outfitting your recycler with an e-nail in order to ensure that it always easily reaches and stays at the right temperature.

Once the ideal heat is achieved, the dabber then lowers a tool loaded with concentrate onto the nail, depositing a bit of concentrate and swirling it around if necessary (as is the case with banger nails). Some dabbers prefer to use a carb cap in order to lower the pressure within the dab rig and allow the concentrate to vaporize more consistently and at a lower temperature on the nail. This can help lower the likelihood of concentrate puddling instead of vaporizing and therefore lessen the need for waste-diverting accessories like reclaim catchers.

Whether using a carb cap or not, once the concentrate is vaporized it travels down the recycler’s joint and downstem. More often than not with recyclers, the downstem is connected to the water base using a Dewar’s joint. This adds an extra glass connector between the two in order to stabilize the attachment and protect the joint from breakage. The downstem leads into the main (bottom) chamber, either directly or via a percolator. After breaking up through the holes of the percolator, the vapor streams up into the second (top) chamber at which point the water that has come along with it travels back down the separation tube and into the bottom reservoir. Some of the vapor is knocked back down into the main chamber along with the water but most of it, broken up by the constantly cycling water, continues up the neck of the recycler and out of the mouthpiece.

This basic functionality can be multiplied by threading together more than two chambers and separation tubes in an infinite number of complex and visually striking combinations. Some newer recyclers partially or entirely use the incycler design, which trades external separation tubes for a recycler system built into the body of the bong. Incyclers, like the Circ Perc Incycler Bong, are less likely to break than external recyclers and can also be easier to clean.

What additional features do recyclers have?

Because they’re small but rely on a strong pull to get the vapor all the way through both chambers, recyclers also often feature a splash guard on top of the second chamber. These are in place to keep the gurgling water from making its way up and into the neck and out the mouthpiece.

Though most basic recyclers have two chambers and a single separation tube, heady recyclers are constantly pushing the boundaries by integrating multiple sections together into stunningly powerful little filtration machines. The “Twincycler” Dual Chamber Inline Perc Recycler is a great example of miniature ingenuity, standing barely 8.5 inches tall while still managing to incorporate three chambers into an inline system.

Glassmakers pull out all the filtration stops when it comes to recyclers and, because it’s a relatively niche class of glass, tend to put more of an emphasis on aesthetics with these kinds of rigs than with typical non-heady glass. Even scientific recyclers can tend to look playful and incorporate less common filtration systems like Swiss percs or vortex-style filters more than typical rigs or bongs, making them some of the more conversational pieces of glass to have out for guests.