Discontinued Elevape SV

I feel compelled to jump in here, as I generally agree with @EveryDayAmnesiac. I don't hate my ESV, but I'm not entirely happy with it either, mainly due to what I believe is a battery issue. I can say, however, that I've never had any combustion, and the flavor and vapor production are reasonably good (though nothing compares to the Firefly's flavor).

Let me explain. When I first received my unit, I couldn't get a full bowl before the battery died. Joe diagnosed it as a defective cell, and gave me an RMA# for repair. I sent it in, and it worked great after it was repaired.....for about a month. After that, I can now get about one lightly filled bowl off a full charge. If I leave it plugged in, it works great, but that kinda kills the portability feature, and maybe exacerbates the battery issue(?).

Perhaps I should request warranty service again, but I'm not one to put up with unneeded hassles. I have three other portables and a desktop, so I find it easier to head in another direction. Maybe one of these days (when the weather gets crappy, and I'm bored), I'll chase it down with Joe again, but at the moment I'm not interested in spending more time on it.

So, I guess it's somewhat my own fault, being that I don't want to fool with it. But, should I have to?

Yeah, my taste has ways been completely pure out of the box from the get go, just like my Firefly. (I've also been fortunate to get one of the perfect esv batteries too, 60-80 puffs still holds true for me, really fantastic honestly but I've also got one of the first 50, well taken care of). From both FF and ESV that first hit is just so fucking cool and delicious....

I'm not not taking sides or anything, but having been through something similar with @EveryDayAmnesiac here before (and other places I'm sure, right brother?) I believe he is more concerned with the absolutes used in some posts. And I have to agree, I classify Elevape and Firefly the same, though ESV does have some degree of temp control for me personally (while FF kinda does too, some different ways to grind/pack/draw too, that can very temp more, not doing back to back hits too) its not exact at all, and they are both very technique dependent devices with many unique variables. Although some may have no trouble, some will, I've used both vapes with various others and have seen people have trouble or just take right to it with both, and with enough practice, most anyone seems to do great with either eventually...

I think nearly all on demand pure convection units are the same in this way, including Underdog, Daisy/Lily, Thermovape, etc. They all require some level of technique and tend to have a learning curve, but there's always people that take right to it. Sure they differ in the ways they deliver the convection, their materials, temp control variables (length trigger held, esv coil temps, vvps or dial, flame and carbs, etc), and of course inhalation style and strain variables, but they all offer the best type of hits ultimately imo.

I like using my firefly with wetter/courser packs, and my elevape with dryer/finer loads, but they both perform really great overall in my experience, and have all but ruined me for conduction session portables...

RelaxedNow said:

I feel compelled to jump in here, as I generally agree with @EveryDayAmnesiac. I don't hate my ESV, but I'm not entirely happy with it either

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There would appear to be some defective or maladjusted units out there. Didn't @OF recently receive a non-functioning device?
Mine worked right out of the box. I'm a stickler for following what the manufacturer recommends and so I waited 8+ hours for the first charge (to balance the batteries). So my very first hit was a success, as were my second and eventually third. Actually got pretty vaked that evening if I recall.
Next day - nothing. Same material, same grind, same pack, and same draw. Nothing, not even a wisp.
Suffice it to say I was disappointed. I gave up on it and reached for the Nano.
Let me pause here. I've done this before, with other 'new' vapes. That is, given up too soon. So the third evening, I returned to the ESV with a resolve to stay with it and learn how to use it. I got mixed results but still better than nothing. It's worth noting that I've got into the habit of feeling the chamber cover, immediately after a hit, to see if/how warm it is - and frequently feel no warmth, even after consecutive draws.
Now, after a week using the ESV, I can say confidently that my unit is not functioning as it should.
To be fair, I will have to discuss with Joe. But I just want to be clear that I used the unit as shipped, with no adjustments/modifications for the first few days. Since then, I've adjusted the temps higher and tried both mouthpieces - Delrin and aluminum. On 450 F, I don't come anywhere near combustion. Although this afternoon, I would've even welcomed smoke. OK, not really.
And what's this with the firmware and some units requiring updates/re-flashing and others not? Is there a range of serial numbers affected? I'd like to know that I have the latest stable firmware and up-to-date software.
I had written Joe @Ipuffusa , prior to purchasing, expressing my apprehension about the unit after what I have read in this thread. Anyone who's read the complete thread can acknowledge that there's been some bumps along the way and the consensus one might arrive at is that after a year being on the market, there still appears to be units that need to be RMA'd for the same issues that have come up early on in the thread.
Anyway, Joe assured me that the device was indeed ready for 'prime time'.
Please don't construe this post as bashing the vendor. I just believe, as others have pointed out, that prospective buyers should be entitled to read everybody's experience.

So was able to get the app work with the provided cord. Excuse my description of the robot taste. I just got mine from that banger deal and I'm my opinion the firat couple draws just kinda tasted like metal or just not totally my product. Now with adjusted temps etc taste is pure as hell. Excited to start tinkering

Just fiddled with the coil a little.
I must say...
what did I want to say?

I consider myself a handyman and general tinkerer
So I more or less just winged it. With some flat tweezers, and the faintest nudge of a fingertip, I coaxed it to where I pictured it in my head it should be. I guess you could say, based on my past week's highlights and letdowns.
Oh, and beforehand as a precaution, I dialed down the 3 temps from the max 450F I'd set.

I don't want to jinx this, but I think I might have nailed it!

Hey, the manufacturer themselves warn: this one's for the experienced vapist!
May have to edit that to: "Vapist-Hobbyist".

I just got mine in the mail today. I own a Mighty (love to death), Plenty, Pax original, and a couple of crappy G pro's. I finally got this to work right after lots of chatting with "Joe", who is awesome. It took me ten minutes to write this.... holy crap, we have a winner so far (let's see how it holds up).

tripwire said:

Just fiddled with the coil a little.
I must say...
what did I want to say?

I consider myself a handyman and general tinkerer
So I more or less just winged it. With some flat tweezers, and the faintest nudge of a fingertip, I coaxed it to where I pictured it in my head it should be. I guess you could say, based on my past week's highlights and letdowns.
Oh, and beforehand as a precaution, I dialed down the 3 temps from the max 450F I'd set.

I don't want to jinx this, but I think I might have nailed it!

Hey, the manufacturer themselves warn: this one's for the experienced vapist!
May have to edit that to: "Vapist-Hobbyist".

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Wait, you had set all 3 temps to 450f? Isn't that how you get the device into some kind of debug mode?

It really seems like the way the coils are made to be fixed to the unit (screw on terminals) are not really the best from where I'm sitting. I used to be an electrical technician in another life working and the product in question which had been around a long time had old models with screw terminals. What we found is that screw terminals for wiring are not reliable in a stationary device, let alone something portable like a vape.

I wonder if this might be part of the problem?

herbivore21 said:

Wait, you had set all 3 temps to 450f? Isn't that how you get the device into some kind of debug mode?

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IIRC it resets to the factory values if you put all the sliders to the top before you plug the ESV in. If you plug the ESV in then make adjustments you can have anything you want?

OF

Sorry for not being clear on the temps.
Only 1 of the 3 settings was set to 450.

I've been bouncing back and forth between my Mighty and SV. I can't seem to completely master the SV (Might mastered itself). I get it to work really well sometimes, and not so great others, in many areas. Battery life seems to drain quick, but charging is erratic depending upon USB to computer or charger. Computer seems to work faster.

Is there a good portable charger or power bank for this vape, because the one I own now doesn't work (as don't many USB cables).

Medium grind, loose pack, stir often? Works sometimes, others not so much. Seems to have huge potential, just don't want to waste material sorting it out.

Bravesst said:

I've been bouncing back and forth between my Mighty and SV. I can't seem to completely master the SV (Might mastered itself). I get it to work really well sometimes, and not so great others, in many areas. Battery life seems to drain quick, but charging is erratic depending upon USB to computer or charger. Computer seems to work faster.

Is there a good portable charger or power bank for this vape, because the one I own now doesn't work (as don't many USB cables).

Medium grind, loose pack, stir often? Works sometimes, others not so much. Seems to have huge potential, just don't want to waste material sorting it out.

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Definitely get a different charger/cable, I always charge mine in the wall with my Moto X charger, fairly fast and consistent, only takes a while if its super low.

Biggest clouds and consistency comes with finer grind imo, though it can be messier and require more cleaning with the stirring and everything. Though somewhere in this thread i posted about getting like 9 nice cloudy hits on a fine grind full pack before stirring.

The courser the grind, the less cloudage in my experience, and more stirring needed, less consistent. But for stealth low temp situations course grind works well. With a fine grind even temp 305 can produce huge clouds depending on how you puff, I have a lot of variance in my draws so this is the best way for me to get consistently awesome results with any amount packed really. Just requires a bit more regular maintenance I suppose (I also never use mouthpiece screen, have one fine and one course bowl screen and a bottlecap-style fine lid screen, and my coils bent down kinda but not really that low).

It can be tough coming from a more automatic Mighty to get the hang of it I suppose, I went Thermovape T1 > Solo > Indica > (LSV then Underdog) > then Elevape, mine was different originally since it was an early serial#, but i got the hang of it pretty quick with that stock set up barring a few accidental combustions here and there. Patience and practice is always key, and reading through the thread for more tips can be helpful as well. Its just such a different beast using an on demand convection unit vs a session style unit, but well worth it I think most serious users will find... Good luck!

Thanks Shit Snacks, wealth of info right there. It will be put to good use.

I loved my ESV but now after 4 months I am done! I am a med user and I really love the instant use. No waiting time etc. But within the first month, it broke down. I send it to Elevate Europe (25 euro) and had to pay 50 euro for some spare parts (coils and screens and the auto stirring tool) . At this moment it broke down again. And I have to pay 79 euro for a replacement. So I am now 500 euro further, and still waiting for a replacement unit. For 500 euro I expect a top of the bill unit, not a unit I have to send back every 2 months and paying myself sick to get a good functioning unit with a life long warranty. I know Sandor does the best he can, but he can't help the fact it still is a unit that is still in a experimental fase. It's a shame.
I was busy to get elevape into the medical sector in the Netherlands. But at this moment I am full of doubts. You just can't let a patient wait till his unit works and be without his medication for a week or so.
There is a lot to be done before you can sell it for this price! I am really disappointed in the large bills during warranty and the problems I had till now! Hope there will come a better solution otherwise I have to buy another vaporizer.... Maybe the mighty or a fire fly.

I've experienced similar issues with the SV. I had all my repairs done free (had just bought the unit), but had to upgrade to stirring lid and a couple of other accessories (still results are not dependable as the Mighty). I love the on demand, and Joe (USA) is great, but I think this unit may have many bugs to be worked out. Maybe I'm just an amateur when it comes to vapes (about 6 months into it), but it seems like lots of headaches so far.

Many of your experiences sound similar to mine.

My unit works ok when plugged in, but battery life has been incredibly poor since I bought it.

The first time I sent it in Joe replaced the battery. I got it back quickly but it still had the same problem of poor battery life (10 to 12 puffs and then its dead).

I sent it in a second time but this time he said he couldn't find anything wrong and sent it back. I now only use the Elevape when plugged in, so it is much less portable than it should be.

I am debating trying to replace the battery myself, does anyone know if that is possible? ( I know it will void any warranty)

While there are things I like about this vape, I can not recommend it based on the issues I have had. This vaporizer is too expensive to have so many issues.

My problems are a little bit different. The battery works fine! But still no vapor. Even after 3 new coils it won't work. The red light also doesn't work.
Problem is that in 4 months time I had to miss it for 1.5 week, and have spent 500 euro.
The thing costs a 150 euro per 3 months. So that is 600 euro a year of replacements, shipping costs etc.
What is warranty when you have to pay for the replacement costs, for the shipment costs etc.??? Is it only a warranty that when you ship it and pay for it there will somebody who can repair it???
And I saw in US that it is for sale for 150 dollar ... I have paid 500 euro and still can't vape... And in the US could have bought 3 units for it... And as I read above in the US there are no shipping cost and free repair in the first months of use???
But can anybody advice me about a good well functioning portable unit ??? I have severe muscle spasm's and a paralyzed left hand so I have to handle it 1 handed! Any gestures???

Yeah seems it's always worse dealing with a us warranty from uk, mine has always been fully free, not that I ever needed it much at all... Differing experiences but I'm sorry you had to spend more and deal with more trouble. As simple and fun as many of us find it, these posts are again a reminder that it is perhaps not for everyone... Good luck guys

Shit Snacks said:

these posts are again a reminder that it is perhaps not for everyone...

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Is there anyone that a $350 USD not working product is right for?
A working ESV is billed as "Simple and Easy to Use and Maintain" with "Instant Vaporization" - that sounds like the right vape for me.
What about all the posts from people reporting that their device is not working?
The Pinnacle Pro was not right for me. I tried it, didn't like it, and passed it on to someone who loves it. But it worked as it was advertised to work. Wrong for me, right for my buddy.
I'm sorry, but in my books a non functioning product is not right for anyone.

tripwire said:

Is there anyone that a $350 USD not working product is right for?

I'm sorry, but in my books a non functioning product is not right for anyone.

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I tend to agree, a non functional vape is non functional, but think cost is not really a factor. Anything can have troubles, Rolls Royce mechanics wear greasy overalls too. I think you have to factor the cost and likelihood of that into buying choices? If high shipping costs and customs hassles are in play, that should be part of the factoring. Makes me grateful that places like PIU and PV serve my area so well.

There are a lot of guys very happy with theirs, forums like this tend to overstate the negative at times with those (few) making a lot of noise, not that they aren't calling it like they see it of course. But the definition for such things statistically is 'self selected', they don't represent the average experience most likely. Again more confusion.

Many have said the ESV is not a good vape for new users, I think they have a good point. You're likely to need some fiddling and tuning even if the unit is spot on specs and not understanding vaping and having some experience can make that much more difficult?

If the point is 'what vape should I get/recommend with high chance of success with no troubles?', I suggest Solo/Air? Maybe even FlowerMate (I'm having a lot of fun with mine). I'm not sure how reliable FM will be in the long run (the line seems to enjoy a good reputation there), but at $85 the exposure for those on a budget is small.

In any case I think everyone should have a reliable backup, trusting any single vape (or other device....) in a mission critical role is 'casting dice with the Devil'.

Good luck with your next choice. IMO it's well worth finding a good fit to your needs/wants.

OF

@suzanne72 try doing a soft reset. Bring up the app with your SV plugged in. Unplug the SV from the app. turn all temps to max (450). Plug your SV back in. The temps should go back to what you have set. If this does not work, make sure your coil is getting a good connection. Read through the thread about "tweaking" the coil towards the camera. It is pyrex it won't melt.

@tripwire There has to be some sort of user error if your unit is not functioning properly, it took me a little while to get mine dialed in just right but it was worth it.

@Sunny Star there are actually 6 batteries in the SV and are not like traditional batteries, they are lithium polymer batteries like this.


I inquired about the Elevapes that were being sold for $150. Joe said they were all legit and he would have bought them himself for that price because it is below cost for him. I'm not sure why there was a huge discount on them, maybe to drum up some business from the company selling them?

My Elevape works great. Once you have the coil and temps set you don't need to change anything. The only thing you need to worry about is the moisture content of your material is close to the material you used to set the temps for best results.
You may like different temps for different strains like I do.

I hope those of you with issues get them straightened out. The SV is top notch when working well. It can be extremely frustrating when it is malfunctioning I know this well.

Sunny Star said:

My unit works ok when plugged in

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Interesting! So I tried it plugged into my netbook. What d'ya know, it works just fine.
OK, so now I own another desktop vape. Not so bad.

I own 2 VaporGenie's for chrissakes. I think I know what I'm doing and what I want.

tripwire said:

Is there anyone that a $350 USD not working product is right for?
A working ESV is billed as "Simple and Easy to Use and Maintain" with "Instant Vaporization" - that sounds like the right vape for me.
What about all the posts from people reporting that their device is not working?
The Pinnacle Pro was not right for me. I tried it, didn't like it, and passed it on to someone who loves it. But it worked as it was advertised to work. Wrong for me, right for my buddy.
I'm sorry, but in my books a non functioning product is not right for anyone.

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Yeah I can see that, but if its actually not functional then it must be defective in some way, not a testament to the product itself overall. There is a big difference between not working and i havent fogured it out for me, or it just wasnt for me at all imo...

Obviously simple and easy to use is subjective, in theory taking hits from it is dead simple, but there is ofcourse more to it than that (and most other vapes) as us experienced vaporists know, and this thread reveals...

(Personally with the various defects and company support, etc, I'd say pinnacle is the one that I think shouldn't be right for anyone, at least since the past two years or so...)

I also don't know anyone that has paid $350 for this, even retail is like $325 right? And its easy to find closer to $250 with coupon codes. Still expensive, but more reasonable imo, $350 is too much for nearly any one vape to me

@tripwire have you tried other micro USB cables? I find data cables tend to work the best for me for charging. The SV also goes into trickle charge mode when it's around 99% charged.

When you take a draw with it hooked up to your tablet how far down does the battery meter go?

Vape Dr. said:

I inquired about the Elevapes that were being sold for $150. Joe said they were all legit and he would have bought them himself for that price because it is below cost for him. I'm not sure why there was a huge discount on them, maybe to drum up some business from the company selling them?

I hope those of you with issues get them straightened out. The SV is top notch when working well. It can be extremely frustrating when it is malfunctioning I know this well.

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There may be other issues as well. The one I got had definitely been used, someone had dialed the temperatures 'to the top' without making vapor, as I was unable to, due to too much restriction. I got it with a 'dead flat' battery. Based on the pristine condition of the rest of the package, I suspect the unit that came with it was simply swapped for the dud. No big problem, of course, Joe will make it right later this month (provided I get it mailed off to him by the time he returns....if not it could be next month).

I agree, once sorted out it's an excellent vape. For sure it can be a trial. Much harder to do without experience and ready access to 'the factory' for support. I was happy enough with mine to buy a second (return) one as a backup/loaner. I recommend it.

OF

Shit Snacks said:

There is a big difference between not working and i havent fogured it out for me

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Trust me, I've figured it out and mine isn't working. I'll keep it in mind to separate the issues from the advertising.