RCCtools logo

How To Keep A Dab Rig From Tipping Over With An Enail

Keep It Steady Using Simple Physics!

There are a few ways to keep your dab rig from tipping over. The first thing that most beginner’s don’t think about is what direction the heat coil is facing. If the heat coil is facing outward and away from the rig, there will be more gravity on the end, and more leverage to push it down if anything touches the coil. Here is a quick step-by-step to fix this in under a minute:

Time needed: 1 minute:

1- Center the weight

  • The main thing is to understand how the balance works with your specific piece. Some have a stem that extends further away and a base which is relatively small which both contribute to tipping. E-nail coils may contribute to this by adding weight and leverage. If the base is not heavy or sturdy enough this matters even more. Also, a stem which makes the nail extend too far outward could be contributing. The good news is this is usually a simple fix.
how to prevent small dab rig from tipping diagram-01
  • Most people will naturally point the coil neck and cable away from the rig instead of turning it inward (see diagram above). This causes your dab rig to become unbalanced and tip over. Sometimes it may not immediately tip over on you until something moves it or until the cord gets yanked. In most cases if you just point the e-nail coil back towards the rig it will fix this completely.

2- Use a glass adapter:

If re-positioning doesn’t quite do it you can go a step further and get a $10 dropdown glass adapter which can help to further bring the nail inwards towards the rig center. You can point the coil neck and cable back towards the rig so that it’s close to parallel to the drop down adapter. If the coil and neck are rotated close to parallel, they are pointing back toward the rig the same way that the drop down is pointing away from the rig. This goes a long way to counteract the extension of the banger from the rig and restores balance. This type of placement makes it less likely that the rig will tip over if the cable or neck are pulled or impacted.

14mm adapter
dropdown adapter
A 45 degree adapter may be helpful if the rig has an angled joint — or if you are actually using a bong for your rig (which normally has a 45 degree stem piece for the bowl). A 45 adapter brings the dab nail back upwards and inwards, instead of protruding outwards and out of view.

3- Base size & proportions

Of course the height of the rig is going to effect how easy it tips over, but you can get around this with one other factor: a thick base. Selecting a rig with a nice solid base will offset the likeliness that a smaller or tall/slim rig will tip over. Using a small strip of double sided adhesive or hot glue may also help give that extra bit of hold to the dab mat.

clear recycling dab rig
Conner Goertzen

Conner Goertzen

I am a DIY electronics enthusiast who has been 3D printing since 2018, making custom e-nail controllers since 2016, and putting together custom electronic instruments since 2011.

All Posts

More To Explore

What Are Dab Pearls And How Do You Use Them?​

What Are Dab (Terp) Pearls? Dab/terp pearls make both quartz (and even SiC) way easier to clean — on top of increasing the flavor and efficiency compared to using a bare banger.

3D Printed Dab Gear Showcase

3D Printing Is Becoming More Accessible For The Daily Dabber Since Stratasys’ 1992 patent for 3D printing expired, companies such as MakerBot and others began making it more affordable to the masses.