Arizer AIR 2 Disassembled - breaking vapes down and gettin' all up in there!

Arizer is one of the most trusted names in the vaporizer industry and their vapes are known for top tier build quality and performance. Their first portable on the scene was the Arizer Solo which quickly gained a huge following for being one of the first pocket vapes capable of producing clouds on par with desktop vaporizers. A couple years after the Solo's release the Arizer Air was created to provide the same thick, flavorful vapor in a slimmer and more pocket friendly form. This year Arizer dropped the Solo 2 and Air 2, upgraded models with improved battery life, quicker heat up times and LED displays with full single digit temperature control. This Summer we did a full teardown of the Solo II and now the Air II is getting the same treatment.

Reminder: Disassembling your vape will void the warranty, do not follow along with us.

Cap and Battery Removal

The first step in disassembling the Air 2 was removing the top cap, battery cap and battery. The battery cap is meant to be removed for easy access to the battery but never take off the top piece, there is a warranty voiding seal in place between the top section and body. The Air II's battery is a Panasonic NCR18650B, a high output Li-ion with a 3400-3600mAh capacity. Panasonic is the same brand that Tesla uses for the Li-ion cells in their battery packs and the NCR18650B is in the top range of charge capacity for 18650 batteries.

New Screen and Controls

Here's a closer look at the Air 2's face. The original Arizer Air had a dual button control scheme with a single LED light displaying a color corresponding to one of five temperature choices. The Arizer Air II offers single digit temperature selection from 122-428°F (50-220°C) controlled with three buttons and a digital screen. The screen provides temp and battery info and a new settings menu allows changes to the volume of the notification beeps, session timer and a bunch of other options not available in the first Air.

Heater Cover Removal

The next step was removing the heating chamber cover from the top of the unit. The heater cover was held in place with two very small screws; a longer screw in the base and a silicone retaining ring on the top keep the internals snugly secured in place. We removed the chamber cover before the aluminum chassis because we thought the electronics would slide out from the bottom of the shell; turns out the guts pull out from the top, pumpkin style.

Chassis Removal, Heater Detachment

The next part to go was the outer aluminum shell. Friction fit inside the shell is the protective enclosure that houses the circuit board and wiring. Once the chassis is removed we were able to detach the heater assembly from the electronics enclosure by removing 4 retaining screws and a small metal retention plate.

Circuit Board Front and LED Screen

After removing the inner enclosure piece we have full access to the inner workings of the Air 2 including the PCB and the LED screen. The wiring connection points are all very clean and secure and you can also see the three button actuators are made of metal instead of plastic that could wear down over time.

Circuit Board Back and USB Port

On the back of the Air II's primary circuit board you can see the Micro-USB connection. The USB port is on a secondary PCB connected to the main circuit board. A strip of padding acts as a protective cushion between the circuit board and the electronics enclosure sleeve.

Heating Chamber Removal

Here we take a closer look at the Air 2's heater assembly. The stainless steel chamber is friction fit inside this beige retaining piece and the three silicone o-rings at the base of the metal heating chamber isolate the airpath from the electronics.

Heating Element

The heating element is sandwiched between a retaining plate and the stainless steel heating chamber using a heavy duty screw. The heater and temperature gauge wiring is nice and thick to hold up to years of electrical transfer.

Heating Element Disassembly

With the heavy duty screw and retaining plate removed we now have access to the good stuff. The ceramic ring on the right with the thicker blue wire is the heating element. The ceramic disc on the left is the temperature sensor. A small piece of thermal putty cushions the temperature gauge's connections and shields them from the heating plate. The heater assembly has the retaining plate on the bottom with the temperature sensor on top and the heater sandwiched directly between the temp sensor and the heating chamber base. The heating disc raises the temperature of the entire stainless steel bowl section which in turn heats the material loaded in your mouthpiece.

Different Generations, Different Chambers

The Arizer Air's heating chamber has evolved quite a bit over time for the sake of more open airflow. The chamber on the far left was the original release with four small air jets. The middle chamber with the expanded air wells was released in 2016. The grooves surrounding each air hole ensures the mouthpiece can't sit flat against the base of the chamber and obscure the jets. On the right is the Air 2's heating chamber with air wells and expanded air jets which provide a noticeable improvement in flow. A thin layer of high temperature thermal paste helps heat transfer more efficiently between the ceramic heating disc and the base of the steel chamber similar to the thermal paste between a CPU and heat-sink in a computer.

Closing Thoughts

The build quality and materials used in the Air II are very sturdy and high quality which is to be expected from Arizer. The heating design is simple but gets incredible results; thick clouds and better flavor than most any other conduction vape due to the material being enclosed in the glass mouthpiece rather than making direct contact with the hot chamber. We're huge fans of the entire Arizer lineup and recommend them nearly daily. If you'd like to grab one for yourself give these links a click: AIR 2, AIR, Solo 2, Solo, Extreme Q, V-Tower