Discontinued Zion vaporizer

Beware that too short of a mouthpiece and you will get plenty of hot air, it might become throat irritating. The Firewood which is mostly convection comes with such a small mouthpiece and it was unbearable at first to me, I had to hack an extension to cool the vapor some more.

@Shit Snacks : thanks, I edited my post about the Elevape above.

Great point can't forget about the cooling effects that I love with a longer stem

KeroZen said:

Then secondly and it's been discussed many times on FC, we don't have the same taste buds. If you are fine with aluminium or any metal stem @natural farmer, it's nice for you but it's not the case at all for me. I can taste those bloody metals, it gives me a nasty oxydation taste in my mouth which is quite displeasant. And I don't want to touch the aluminium safety controversy, as apparently even scientists have troubles coming to a consensus on the topic.

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Not sure about what metals you are talking about mate but anodizing is supposedly making the surface similar to ceramic so no taste should be present. And indeed, I never had metal taste with the Lotus… Are you saying you taste metal through anodized aluminum?

Greetings FC community. Thanks so much for your input in finalizing the production design of the Zion. The design team listened to your input and am proud to introduce the production release design, the Zion-12

The overall package size has been reduced by over 3/8” in height and a 1/4” in width. The radii have been maximized for comfort on the heater box to a generous 5/8”. The the door thickness has been increased to ¼ make it less prone to warping and enabling the increase in the radii on the battery box. The door retention magnets have also been increased to ¼” for added security. The cover magnets will now set into a recess in the body to further improve their security of the cover sliding off in your pocket. The heater box has been extended to increase the coverage of the mouthpiece. It will have a retention device to keep it secure and will have a padded bottom. The bottom access door has been eliminated to improve design rigidity and simplicity. The heater length has been increased from 7 to 9 inches to increase the heater to air contact leading to better temperature uniformity. A lower profile temperature knob has been added reduce the overall height and further ruggedize the unit which has performed well in initial drop test.

The Rastabuddhatao team is proud of the fruits of the collaborative efforts that is the Zion-12. Over the next few weeks chips of maple will fly as the new bodies are machined. Meanwhile back at the shop we will be making the last few heater and power electronics tunings and preparing the components and work cell for the initial build. With any luck we will have units to key market influencers by the mid to late March with the preorder soon to follow. Things are really progressing well and we feel we are fast on the right path… Let us know what you think!

Zion-12 images at the flowing link
http://www.rastabuddhatao.net/zion

I like the look so far. I don't see an LED for battery status. Will the power button light up?

This is lovely indeed!

I was thinking, but it will surely be inpractical with those rounded edges, about having some kind of protective cap that would cover the stored stem, the bowl, as well as the temp dial. It would lock with magnets and you would use it only when transporting the device (when it would be in use I don't know where you would store it though...)



But nevermind it's surely stupid.

natural farmer said:

Not sure about what metals you are talking about mate but anodizing is supposedly making the surface similar to ceramic so no taste should be present.

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Right, sorry my original sentence was a bit bold, not all metals are created equal and I can't taste them all. I prefer glass for the stem but it's fragile, so I can understand. Having a metal stem (or even wood) as an option like they envision would be perfect.

Great idea about the protective cap man!!!

About the stem and metals, just pay attention to the word ceramic. Anodized aluminum is supposedly inert like ceramic. Ceramic is as good as glass for taste, right?

I wonder what the heater looks like... I wonder if it's a cylindrical ceramic one where the air is heated while passing through the central tunel of the cylinder. I remember having seen something like that in a pic from the manufacturer of those oil pens with the donut heaters.

RastaBuddhaTao said:

Greetings FC community. Thanks so much for your input in finalizing the production design of the Zion. The design team listened to your input and am proud to introduce the production release design, the Zion-12

The overall package size has been reduced by over 3/8” in height and a 1/4” in width. The radii have been maximized for comfort on the heater box to a generous 5/8”. The the door thickness has been increased to ¼ make it less prone to warping and enabling the increase in the radii on the battery box. The door retention magnets have also been increased to ¼” for added security. The cover magnets will now set into a recess in the body to further improve their security of the cover sliding off in your pocket. The heater box has been extended to increase the coverage of the mouthpiece. It will have a retention device to keep it secure and will have a padded bottom. The bottom access door has been eliminated to improve design rigidity and simplicity. The heater length has been increased from 7 to 9 inches to increase the heater to air contact leading to better temperature uniformity. A lower profile temperature knob has been added reduce the overall height and further ruggedize the unit which has performed well in initial drop test.

The Rastabuddhatao team is proud of the fruits of the collaborative efforts that is the Zion-12. Over the next few weeks chips of maple will fly as the new bodies are machined. Meanwhile back at the shop we will be making the last few heater and power electronics tunings and preparing the components and work cell for the initial build. With any luck we will have units to key market influencers by the mid to late March with the preorder soon to follow. Things are really progressing well and we feel we are fast on the right path… Let us know what you think!

Zion-12 images at the flowing link
http://www.rastabuddhatao.net/zion

Click to expand...

I agree that it looks nice. Hopefully you guys make it so it can fit in a cars cup holder. All my portables, even the mighty, fits in my cars cup holder. For me, that would be a huge plus.

Looking great! Love the rounded edges. Also love the idea of a travel cap.

Yes, the Zion will launch with a lighted button option. The team has been brainstorming in a protective cap. The idea of having it match the wood appeals to us to keep with the style theme. However, as Kero pointed out, that is difficult with the rounded edges so metal cap would be easier to make. For a metal cap a magnet would be stashed inside the electronics compartment so it would be invisible. In order to facilitate that a low profile temperature control knob could be stashed behind the head of the mouthpiece and the fire button could be recessed to ensure a tight, robust fit. The "dust cap" will be a design element of consideration for the Zion on the first post production design spin targeted for unit number 101.

Thanks for asking about the heater technology Natural Farmer. The heater element is a revolutionary design made specifically for a portable convection unit and is currently in patent pending status. Most of todays convection vaporizers use a solid wire heating element resembling an electric stove top burner. These elements have a low surface area to volume ratio. What this means is that it needs to transmit a large amount of energy to the passing air stream with very little contact to the air. The transfer of heat energy via convection as we are taught by Sir Newton is a function of the surface area and the temperature difference between the heating element and the air (assuming like materials). What this means is that today's technology requires a high surface temperature (1200 F) in order to make up for the low surface area (approximately .75"^2). The Zion's element is in excess of 4"^2 enabling it to run just over the desired vaporization temperature or between 400 and 500 degrees.

This design approach translates to better performance and reliability. First, it reduces localized hot spots that can lead to uneven ABV. There is very little stirring if any required as the Zion has extremely uniform temperature through the load. It is very difficult to mix 1200 F air with ambient air and gain homogeneity is the short distance between the heater and the load. With the Zion technology you are nearly at vaporization temperature as the air stream leaves the heater. Secondly it enables extremely quick response times in that you can literally push the button and start your draw. Its analogous to a dried our pine tree going up in flames in an instant where it takes time for a log to burn. Running at a lower temperature improves component reliability and heater element life. Lastly this ensures less heat is going into the device improving efficiency and keeping the Zion cool to the touch.

The unit does fit into a standard cup holder and will come with a canvas bag for storage along with the extra steam, screens, and cleaning tools.

Thanks for the continued input and support of the Zion. I am off to meet with the manufacture of the box to review the new design and kick-off production of the initial dozen units.

RastaBuddhaTao said:

Running at a lower temperature improves component reliability and heater element life.

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What's really nice about this quote is that this is the very first time that I've ever heard a manufacture make a statement like this.

Thanks lwien... Below is a somewhat technical description of the benefits of the technology:

This intellectual property described will detail a design that maximizes the surface area to volume ratio of a resistive heating element as well as its contact with the surrounding flow stream to: 1. Reduce the surface temperature and thereby reduce the temperature difference between the inlet air and the heater element reducing hot spots that can lead to uneven vaporization and hot vapor. This reduction in operating temperature induces less thermal stress thereby improving heater life and reliability. The lower temperature creates a cooler vapor to the user. 2. Increase air impingement and turbulence on the surface of the heater element adding to the uniformity of the temperature gradient with added mixing provided by the heater dispersion screen. 3. Reduce the pressure drop of the overall system such that is negligible as compared to the load. 4. Reduce the overall power required to heat the air steam by increasing the efficiency of the device and reducing wasted heat energy to the device mass. 5. Generate a response time such that from "cold start" the heater element can instantaneously be at vaporization temperature "at time of draw" to a temperature pre-selected.

It looks beautiful and sounds very promising. I find all this talk of heating element patents VERY VAS inducing. Keeping an eye on this one!

Units 2-4 have jointed the first 2x4. Testing is complete on unit number one and Mr. Peanut will begin testing it over the next week and report out on his experiences here. The burn-in testing on the final three units will be completed this week and into the final beta tester's hands. Look for detailed usage videos soon!

http://www.rastabuddhatao.net/2x4

Everything is looking good. Hope you guys have a good launch.

Good Morning FC'ers, this is my first post so please allow me to introduce myself.

I'm thekarmawhore and I'm the lead mechanical design honcho for rastabuddhatao.

The boss-man is distracted with the beta unit build this weekend so I thought it seemed like a good time to sneak into the forum and give everyone a little somethin' somethin' to play with.

I've been working tirelessly these past several weeks to squeeze every bit of excess (size, parts, machining operations, the works) out of the Zion design, and if we're not 100% of the way there, we're certainly better than 98% at this time.

As such, I've made a 3D-pdf file available for download to anyone interested in a virtual test drive of the "production" unit (not to be confused with the early "2x4" beta units).

Though you may not have heard of them, 3D pdf's are pretty cool graphic documents allowing anyone with a pdf reader to spin, pan, zoom, hide, section, transparentize, etc... a 3d model!

So if anyone is interested in seeing the Zion from all angles, kicking the tires and peeking under the hood, here's the link to the dowlnoadable 3d pdf. It's about 8 megs. Don't tell the boss-man.

http://www.mediafire.com/?tceeelzfnpk4r

Enjoy!

kindly,
thekarmawhore

Wauw,

thanks for that, my feeling is some guys here on the forum might be very interested in this...

There has been some talk about creting a 'hood' for the unit in order to protect it better during transport...@Ratchett for sure might chime in on this...

Furthermore, it is always great to see a company that is aimed at involving as much of their customers as possible.

I can see many many custom printed housings for this little precious in a not to distant future...(this 3D printing is going to change the face of this planet soon I guess).

Really interested in finding out more about the heating system and so in...consider me intrigued

All I can get on that link is a note saying "Enable 3D View." Not sure how to do that.

TheDudeNextDoor said:

All I can get on that link is a note saying "Enable 3D View." Not sure how to do that.

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Try downloading it instead.

It looks really nice. You can zoom in through the "skin" and see some basic stuff inside.

lwien said:

Try downloading it instead.

Click to expand...

I did. Same thing. I'll try updating my adobe acrobat.


Edit: No luck. Bummer.

thekarmawhore said:

As such, I've made a 3D-pdf file available for download to anyone interested in a virtual test drive of the "production" unit (not to be confused with the early "2x4" beta units).

Click to expand...

That is very cool, thank you. This is a great view for answering questions. The more I see the more I like.

cybrguy said:

That is very cool, thank you. This is a great view for answering questions. The more I see the more I like.

Click to expand...

You're welcome!

I find right clicking the part > veiwing options > model render mode >transparent to be one of the more revealing ways to view.

Also try going into viewing options >cross section properties, enable cross section, align to face (pick a surface on the model) and play with the "offset" and other sliders to virtually saw through the part at different angles.

kindly,
thekarmawhore

Got it working! Not sure how, but I will take it. Cannot wait to see this thing in action.

On a mac preview doesn't do it and neither does firefox.
But adobe reader displays it beautifully