ArGo Teardown - Ripping Arizer's Newest Portable (Apart)

February 2, 2018

The ArGo (Arizer Go) is the newest portable vaporizer from Arizer, one of the most popular names in herb vapes. The ArGo's form and style are unique from any other Arizer pocket vaporizer but what about the internals?

WARNING: Do not attempt this vape teardown, removing any parts other than the mouthpiece and battery will void your warranty.

The Arizer Go - Alive and Well

Our Arizer Go resting peacefully in its final moments of life. The ArGo's 3.5" x 2" x 1" shell is made from anodized aluminum and rubberized plastic to maintain durability without passing 5 ounces of total weight.

On the far left you can see the OLED screen and three buttons for activation, temperatures, notification volume, screen brightness and other settings. The sides of the ArGo are textured and vented for heat dispersion and the Micro-USB port is also located here. On the back of the ArGo you can see the release button for the protective push top.

argo portable vaporizer top bottom

Pop and Lock

Here's a better look at the top and bottom of the ArGo vaporizer. On the left you can see the mouthpiece opening and push-top, in the right picture you can see the slide lock for the battery compartment and the air intake point on the base of the unit.

ArGo Mouthpiece and Battery

Our first disassembly step is removing the Arizer Go mouthpiece and battery. The mouthpiece is made from borosilicate glass and slightly slimmer in diameter than the previous Solo / Air stems. The battery is a Panasonic brand high output 18650 NCR Li-ion with a 3200 mAh (12.2 Wh) capacity. Based on our testing the ArGo's stock battery lasts roughly an hour and a half of usage per charge.

Quick reminder: Do not follow along past this point if you value your warranty.

argo screw plug

Shameless Plug

We had a difficult time finding any points of entry at first but we spotted this little rubber plug above the battery door and decided to remove it using our trusty PuffItUp Paperclip for a look below. Below the rubber cylinder is a recessed screw that we can only assume is used to hold together the ArGo's shell; we'll test that hypothesis after taking apart the battery compartment cover door.

Battery Door Disassembly

Before we solve the mystery of the hidden screw let's take care of the easy ones. The ArGo's battery cover is comprised of 4 components held together by 3 screws: the hinged door, the base plate, the battery connection plate and the locking mechanism. The base plate is made of aluminum and lists your unit's serial number along with patent and certification info. The connection plate is made out of conductive metal (our guess is brass) and the spring acts as the negative pole, completing the electrical current between your battery and the Arizer Go.

Internal Screw Removal

Now that the battery door is taken apart let's get back to the main event: the mystery screw. We didn't have a single screwdriver slender enough to fit down into the opening so we had to thin down the end of our smallest with a dremel before we could get all up in there.

Split Open Like a Coconut

With the deep set chassis screw removed we can now pull apart the upper and lower segments of the Arizer Go. With the two sides separated we get a sneak peek at the internal circuitry, heater assembly and airpath. Beneath the PCB you can see the conductive pin that completes the electrical connection in the battery compartment.

Gotta Keep 'em Separated

Another four screws and we've got the entire chassis pulled apart into sections. On the far left the circuit board and heater are still attached to the push-top mechanism. The push top is made of rubberized plastic while the middle section of the shell with the screen opening is made of anodized aluminum. The piece to the right of the midsection holds the air path, heater assembly and battery in place. On the upper right are the screen and button covers.

Like a Glove

In our Air 2 Teardown and Solo 2 Teardown blog posts we took note that Arizer is adept at making use of tiny amounts of internal space; here we see the ArGo following family tradition. The open space beside the circuit board and heater is where the battery would be seated.

Push-Top Disassembly

With the rubberized top piece removed we can see the stainless steel spring that pops it into position. The gold colored plate and spring in the upper body connect to the upper pole of the battery and form the positive connection. The metal piece on the lower right is the retention mechanism that holds the push-top down and releases it when the button is pressed.

ArGo Airpath and Heater

A closeup of the ArGo's heater assembly and airpath with the entire shell removed. The black silicone piece seals up against the heater and the air intake vent at the base of the unit.

Here's what Kevin from Arizer Tech had to say about the Arizer Go's air path: "For all intended purposes the air-path is isolated - Air flows through the air intake holes on the bottom of the device into the heating system. Please note that forcing air into the device through openings which are not intended for such use can compromise air-path isolation, and doing so is not recommended."

Arizer ArGo Brain

A closer look at the Arizer Go's motherboard - the brains of the operation. The left picture displays the back of the PCB where you can see the positive connection spring, Micro-USB connnection, battery port connection pin and the wiring that was once attached to the heater assembly. The right picture is the front of the circuit board, home to the OLED display, button actuators and most of the motherboard's electrical components.

Disassembling the Air Path

With the connecting wires snipped we can now disassemble the entire air path. We took the silicone spacer off the base of the air path and then removed the heating chamber assembly from the metal containment piece. The silicone ring on the right acts as a spacer between the heating chamber opening and the top section of the shell.

ArGo Heater Removal

The heating chamber is housed in what appears to be dense thermoplastic. A threaded ring at the top holds the stainless steel chamber in place. Once we removed the ring securing the heating chamber it slid right out. At the base of the heating chamber you can see two ceramic discs being sandwiched by a metal disc; this is the Arizer Go's heating element.

Heating Chamber Disassembly

Here's where the real magic happens. As far as we can tell the slightly thicker ceramic disc on the left is the heating element, the ceramic disc with two clear wires appears to be the temperature sensor and the textured metal disc that sandwiches the heating element and temperature sensor seems to help prevent heat from escaping. We're not positive if the metal disc serves any purpose other than insulating the heating element; if anyone has any other thoughts we'd love to see them in the comment section below.

New Deep Dish Chamber

Here's a comparison of the Arizer Air 2 and ArGo stainless steel heating chambers. The Air 2 is the more shallow chamber on the left while the deeper chamber with larger air jets belongs to the Arizer Go. It's difficult to tell from a glance but the ArGo's heat chamber is a bit narrower in diameter which is the reason Solo and Air mouthpieces aren't compatible.

Closing Thoughts

The Arizer Go's components all seem well chosen with plenty of time and effort put into placement and internal layout. Connections are precise, wiring is thick and a removable 18650 battery is always appreciated in place of a fixed battery that isn't user serviceable. We would have liked to see a fully aluminum body like Arizer's Air II and Solo II, though it would have added some extra weight and cost. Like all Arizer portables the ArGo is a heavy hitter that tastes great and the new push-top style is definitely more pocket friendly than the exposed glass mouthpieces originated by the first Air and Solo portables. We're glad to see Arizer still innovating with new designs, keep it up!

We'd love to hear any thoughts, feedback or questions you may have on this teardown - please let us know in the comments section below.

We're expecting the ArGo in stock soon, if you'd like to be added to our ArGo arrival notification list please click THIS LINK.

Want to know more? Hit up our new Arizer ArGo Review Video on Youtube:

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3 comments

Please help. In section “gotta keep ’em seperated” it says" Another four screws and we’ve got the entire chassis pulled apart into sections." For the life of me i can only find 3 screws. Please can you tell me the location of these 4 screws. Thanks

Luego de estar buscando por toda la web, di con este excelente articulo!!! justo lo q necesitaba para desarmar mi argo!!

First I want to thank you for a view inside. I have been using the ArGo for 2 weeks and I have tried many. Up until now the Arizer V-Tower was my favorite but that has changed. This unit lives up to it’s price.