Thank you Seana so much :)… I checked craigslist, and for whatever reason I have been unable to find a machine close by. It is so weird. Everyone has them to sell everywhere but here it seems. Though I could be mistaken.
wtf
Alright :
Note to Andrea’s Techie: I just had a huge post disappear when I edited for spelling. I re-submitted, and now the post is gone. I’ll try and remember my points and re-write it, but the board is still acting strangely.
Seana
Ok to RESTATE ( most annoyed look) what I had said :
I had noticed some areas dont seem to have much on craigslist. That’s true of here too. I use Kijiji, but it’s local to canada. I’m not sure why more dont appear on craigslist, I think maybe because of the lousy search capability of that site.
You COULD use kijiji in Ontario or quebec to find machines, but as stated earlier might run into some of the following issues:
Speaking the language of the seller
Cost of shipping
Cost of customs or duty if you are importing an item.
Finding a seller willing to ship.
I would suggest other local online classifieds than craigslist, but I do know some Americans have had success buying from there.
I’m in agreement with Sigma that you should be looking for a machine capable of blend thermolysis and galvanic. Thermolysis on oneself is not all that safe or practical, and here is why. When working on others, I can see the angle of insertion , depth and the hair, and accurately ( I hope ) judge where the root and bulge are and target those areas for a successful removal. When working on myself, I am guessing a little bit more as to some of these factors. So I use blend. I’m targeting a larger area, the saline at the bottom of the follicle, and exactly where I hit that saline doesnt matter as much, the reaction with the thermaland DC energy still converts saline to lye, and that gets spead around all over the follicle. It’s just a bigger “target”. I’m not saying positioning isnt important, it absolutely is, but if and when I DO screw up and say, maybe only hit the top of the saline pocket, then often times I still get a good removal with no scarring anyway. I’m not as confident I could do that with thermolysis and get it right with the same kill rate.
Now Michael can tear my assertion apart that it’s actually visible.
Seana
Thank you Seana 
… I keep looking periodically on Craigslist, but its so weird, no one close by seems to have a machine for sale. Everywhere else, but here.
Okay…you do have some great points. I think I may just end up getting the Uniprobe blend machine. And get the chord so I can use any probes. However, I am a little confused about the sizing probe I would need. How do you make the decision on what probe sizes to get like F2, F3, and so on?
Ideally the probe should be as large as or larger than the hair being treated. I used a lot of f3 probes but really should have been using f4 or f5 for my applications and did eventually learn to do so after being told to by just about everyone here. .F2 are just useless to me, they bend like tissue paper and I dont get more than a few insertions before destroying a probe. I dont think them practical, but it is what I started out with because I reasoned I would have easier insertions.
F3 and f4 are good sizes to start out with. If you have extra money for probes then go larger, not smaller. Get some f5’s or f6’s and learn to insert themm, but this does make magnification, even more important. For me f3 and f4 are basics though. Anything smaller is a waste of time, they destroy too easily and dont give the same even distribution of thermolysis energy.
Alright now I’m going to piss off Michael by answering what he pestered me to before and wouldnt. I’ve been fighting severe depression because of a relatively nasty situation in my personal life related to divorce and child custody issues. I wasnt ( and still am not) expressing myself accurately, but I’ll try to address the issue of the thermolysis as a PART of blend.
I once stated : Evenness of heat distribution from thermolysis isnt as important when performing blend. ( or something to that effect) . This isnt correct and he ( rightfully ) pointed out that to him, thermolysis is the most important component to performing blend. You see Michael performs FAST blend, often finishing treatment of ahair within one second, from my understanding. I do get where that even-ness of heat distribution would be important to him.
But, I dont perform fast blend. I practise old fashioned slow blend. Many practitioners do. To take that a little further, the discussion had resolved around if someone had nothing but smaller probes to work with, would the smaller probes still work. I felt they would, and I stand by that. But, more specifically, I didnt explain myself well and I’m taking a moment to now do so.
When I perform blend on myself or others, I started from a baseline of levels that are programmed into my machine. Those energy levels are designed to be within tolerance levels for the majority of electrolysis. In the case of what presets are programmed into my machine, these energy amounts are VERY conservative. To put it into perspective, while DC current can go as high as ).70 Milliampere’s , on NO PRESET formine or any machine I have heard of does the thermolysis component exceed 12%. Since these are the baseline levels I learned from, then learned to modify in order to speed up my treatment times, I have come to appreciate what they are capable of, and their effects. When looking at the question of “will it work” the difference in heating patterns, at 10% thermolysis intensity, the difference between an F3 probe and that of an f4 probe is not significant enough a difference that doing electrolysis with the smaller probe WONT WORK. The goal of the thermolysis component is not to destroy the root or bulge with thermolysis energy, rather it is to heat up the lye and allow the lye to better destroy these areas. So the difference in size of probe, isnt significant as the lye does mix around inside the follicle and spread.The lye isnt being “chased around the follicle” by the probe, it is being heated as it is being created.
So in answer to your question of what size probes you CAN use, I will say everything from F3 up to F6, the larger you are able to insert the better.If you are short on funds, start with F4 and get F3 later for upper lip work. Dont go any smaller than an F3 and in fact F3 is a good size to learn how to insert without bending so many probes into zig zag shape as to cause you to go bankrupt in a single afternoon ( I destroyed over 20 f2 in the same afternoon I started electrolysis!) . It WILL work with F3 but learning to insert F4 and larger will make your kill rte better. As one person pointed out, when they learned they were only given one ( small ) size of probe and beards still got destroyed. It will work, but larger will also work better and give better heat distribution.
A word on probe brand quality. The worst probes I own, are made by precision the same company that makes the uniprobe. I have tried 2 or 3 times to use them, and I immediately had clients complaining that they felt “scratchy” and they were feeling the insertions to the extent that treatment was painful. Switching back to my favorite ballet probes immediately resolved the discomfort issues. From my point of view, I didnt like using them either.I felt the design made insertions more difficult to accomplish. There’s probably 20 different brands of probe, but I’ve never regretted using ballet . I have regretted precision probes though and wont ever personally use them again. I’m not stuck on them, but my experience with precision probes has made me more hesitant to use any of my precious few dollars for probes on anything I dont know up front will work, work well, and be comfortable for myself and anyone i work on.
Seana
Note: Michael, there’s your answer. Take it or leave it. While I appreciate that thermolysis is important to you, the levels at which it is commonly used are not the same as what you do and the difference between 1 probe size are not significant enough that it just wont work if you use a smaller probe . That said, when I state I’m not comfortable interacting on an issue, then that is my decision not yours to make and I’d ask you to respect that. To put it into perspective, while you were repeating the same things in that thread in order to goad a response out of me, I was dealing with depression significant enough that my ongoing existance on this world was by no means a sure thing. I’m still going through a lot of it.Please respect my rights to talk to a subject when I am in a mind that I can do so effectively, and decide when this is so.
Seana
Thank you Seana for explaining everything to me you have definitely put things into perspective, and I really appreciate it.
I might be a little late to the party here but I’d like to let you know we sell needle cords that let you use regular needles in the Uniprobe machines you’re referring to. We also sell the machines, needles and pretty much everything you could need. New site for the company mentioned above. You’ll need Item #NC26 or NC26A. Both accept F shank needles.
For those that prefer print, our most current catalog is now available at http://texaselectrolysisstore.com/Electrolysis_Catalog.pdf
*EDIT
Just noticed I’ve already talked to JennyD.
S.Stephens, do you sell wires for Gentronics multi probe units?
I like the new site S Stevens. It’s probe buying time again so I may try out your new systems Thanks for the updated link.
Seana
Hi, I would be interested in the EP19 (gentronics multi-needle epiletor), complete with all accessories, thanks.The my e-mail address : minocic@hotmail.it
I have a Gentronics for sale but I won’t ship it overseas. You wouldn’t be able to use it without a power converter anyway
I could do to convert from a technician? There is a booklet which explains this process? Can we write to this e-mail address : minocic@hotmail.it , thanks