The Universal Heater is a torch alternative for heating quartz bangers. D-Nail makes it, and it’s PID-powered, just like a traditional e-nail. The D-Nail Universal Heater, or DUH, specializes in heating Terp Slurpers. These bangers have a more complicated design unsuited for a conventional e-nail coil. The D-nail heater uses radiant heat rather than conduction through contact, allowing it to heat all quartz bangers thoroughly. The Universal Heater, or DUH, is silent and keeps the banger hot and ready.

How the Universal Heater Works

It’s like a little oven! It connects to a small temperature controller or PID. This small box powers the heater and controls its temperature. The heater takes 6-10 minutes to heat up with a banger and about 3 minutes to heat a banger when the heater is already hot.

Bangers and Terp Slurpers can hang gently into the Universal Heater, or the banger can remain inserted in the rig’s joint with the nail itself hanging into the DUH. I prefer to hang my banger directly in the heater. My big Terp Slurpers rest on the bottom, and the smaller ones on the side. This does not affect heating.

The Universal Heater is best-used session style. It keeps a Terp Slurper hot and ready at the perfect temperature for dabs-on-demand. The slurper is cleaned after each use and returned to the DUH to reheat.

Removing the torch makes the dabbing experience less abrasive. Torches are scary, loud, and dangerous.

Torching is an attentive process. Dabbing with the Dnail heater is stress-free and easy.

Dialing in the Temps

The Universal Heater’s temperature can be dialed in and tuned so the nail is ready to dab as soon as it’s pulled from it. Alternatively, the PID can be slightly hotter to allow more time to prepare the dab.

PID temp does not equal Dab Temp. My Dnail Universal Heater is usually set to 920. Terp Slurpers come out of the DUH at 670ish, which gives me a whole minute to put the topper on, scoop my glob, and fix my posture to get a better inhale.

I tried running the heater at a lower temperature, but the experience felt rushed, and the time stress ruined it. Try it out both ways and see which way you like it.

The DabRite is still part of my dab routine with the Dnail Universal Heater. My dab temps often vary slightly depending on the strain, size of the glob, or the time of the day. The DabRite enables precise control of my dabbing temperature.

Universal Heater vs. Dab Torch

Torching has been a fundamental part of dabbing since the beginning of cannabis concentrates. Dab torches heat quartz nails quickly and thoroughly, but they’re noisy and dangerous and must be refilled with butane regularly.

The D-Nail Universal Heater is silent and uses electricity. It’s also a passive and detached heating experience. The Terp Slurper or quartz banger is placed inside the DUH until ready. The Universal Heater heats a banger in about 3 minutes, which is slower than a torch.

With torch heating, the banger is heated until white-hot, often upwards of 1000F. It begins to lose heat as soon as torching stops, and it’s up to the smoker to keep a timer or use a temperature monitor to know when it’s time to drop the dab.  

The D-nail Universal Heater keeps the banger hot and ready at a customizable pre-set temperature. A torch dab with a slurper requires a minimum 2-3 minute wait.

The Universal Heater is more convenient for dab sessions and all-day dabbing. Having a hot and ready Terp Slurper just waiting to serve up the perfect dab is a divine luxury and a life-changing upgrade.

Since receiving the D-Nail heater, my torch has been completely retired. I keep it around in case I need to torch-clean a banger, but that’s a sporadic occurrence.

Universal Heater vs. Terp Sous Vide

The Terp Sous Vide uses a hot air blower to heat quartz nails and Terp Slurpers. The TSV is quite loud, as it’s a heat gun in a custom housing. The TSV offers a workflow similar to that of the Universal Heater. The banger hangs into the TSV, and hot air blows up around it. The TSV heater needs to run at about 1200 to heat a banger as quickly as a torch, but it can also be tuned closer to the ideal dab temperature with a bit of adjusting.

The most significant difference between the TSV and the DUH is noise. The D-nail is silent, while the TSV sounds like a vacuum cleaner.

They’re both quite expensive but do an excellent job heating Terp Slurpers.

The D-nail can be used at church or during a conversation. The TSV is almost as loud as a dab torch, and the high-pitched whine may trigger those sensitive to sounds.

The TSV is only 30mm wide, drastically limiting compatible terp slurpers. Without its $125 add-on, it won’t fit any of my favorite Terp Slurpers. The TSV upgrade expands the opening to 42mm. The D-Nail Universal heater is 42mm, and the XL DUH is 50mm.

The TSV is more expensive, less compatible, and more noisy than the D-Nail heater.

Universal Heater vs. Dab Ready vs. other coil housings

The Universal Heater specializes in Terp Slurpers and other connoisseur-level dab nails. The Dab Ready uses a 25mm axial coil and a standard 25mm quartz banger. Most coil housings use a 25mm axial coil, but a few 20mm units exist.

While the Dab Ready and other coil-based devices will only work with bucket-style bangers, it heats bangers faster than the DUH and can be dialed into a more precise temperature because the coil makes contact with the banger.

The DabReady was the first device of its kind and a revolutionary pivot for both dabbers and dry herb ball vape users. Since its launch, several others have moved to stationary coil design. Most of these “hot hole” devices are designed around cordless ball vapes as a primary and 25mm bucket bangers as an option for dabbing. 

The D-nail Universal Heater has followed the ball vape revolution and added a ruby-filled ball vape to their lineup. Axial coils still work better for heating ball vapes, but the DUH and the Quartz Lotus are amazing.

The DabReady and Terp Hammer are an ultimate desktop for daily users wanting a great cannabis experience with both dry herb and concentrates. The D-Nail Universal heater is the ultimate heating method for connoisseurs who demand the best dabbing experience.

More Info: Terp Hammer & Dab Ready Review

Cannabis Hardware is an American company that makes badass metal coil housings and ball vapes out of their machine shop in Florida. A Cannabis Hardware PID powers my Dnail Universal Heater, and I use their ZenLeaf coil housings and their ball vapes as my daily.

The ZenLeaf and DabReady are top picks because they’re compatible with the best cordless ball vapes.

The D-Nail Univeral Heater isn’t compatible with any of the ball vapes on my best-of list, but Dnail does have a ball vape made for the heater. The Quartz Lotus is a ball-filled vape similar to many of the top-performing dry herb vaporizers. Please check out my full Quartz Lotus Review before dropping $450.

Do I Still Need My Dab Torch

My torch only comes out for an occasional cleaning. I recently traded a few Terp Slurpers and wanted them spotless, so I torch-cleaned them.

With the D-Nail Universal Heater, torch cleaning is not required as long as the banger is well-cleaned after the dab. I use the spray-tek method to clean my Terp Slurpers thoroughly.

The D-nail heater has dissolved my dreams of owning the complete collection of colorful Blazer Bigshots.

D-Nail XXL Universal Heater

If the standard-size heater won’t fit your crazy huge Terp Slurpers, D-Nail now makes an XXL heater! This heater is a little bit slower and less efficient than the smaller one, but it will fit bangers with larger melt dishes or extra-tall columns.

The standard DUH has a 42mm opening that is 50mm deep, while the XXL DUH is 50 mm and 70mm deep. I have some huge bangers, and only one is too big for the standard size.

Unlike the Terp Sous Vide, the standard-size DUH fits most bangers.

I do not have the larger version to compare and rely on information directly from D-nail.

Why the Universal Heater WINS

The Universal Heater simplifies the dabbing experience and removes the obtrusive torching. At first, having a hot-and-ready Terp Slurper next to me all day felt like a luxury. Dab after dab was done without delays.

The convenience is completely life-changing, at least for an all-day dabber. 15 dabs per day is 20 minutes of torching. Now I can dab without everyone in my house knowing that I’m dabbing!

No more butane! This means no more running out of butane mid-heat-up! No more going to the weird smoke shop once per month to buy butane.

No more chazzed bangers! Torch dabbing heats the banger to white hot every time it’s used. This extreme heat is abusive to the surface of the quartz, and over time, the quartz will fog and devetrify. The Universal Heater doesn’t overheat the banger, which leads to longer-lasting quartz.

The Dnail Universal Heater looks badass on my desk. It’s safer and quieter than all of the other solutions.