Ascent Vaporizer by DaVinci

Hello! I'm looking for some advice about a return for my Ascent. I bought one two days ago from a local smoke shop (I'd already registered my product on the website before this issue cropped up.) Since I've used the product I cannot return it to the store I purchased it from.
However. After one charge, now the unit refuses to hold any sort of battery life. (I let it fully charge before I turned the unit on the first time.) I was able to keep a charge for the first day.

But once the battery ran out, that was it. Now the unit will not turn on unless it's plugged into the outlet. I let it charge for about six hours last night, still nothing.

I really enjoy this product, and the small amount of time I was able to use it I was blown away by the quality of just about everything.

Reaching DaVinci over their phone support line leads me to their automated message, where I have also left a message. And on their website, where my product has been registered, and I put in a support ticket.

I'd like to know if it's even possible for me to get a return for a faulty battery, or if I just bought a very expensive paperweight.

Hang in there dude, I predict the Da Vinci guy will sort you out sharpish. Shame about the unit - when they're good they're very very good.

WakeAndVape said:

You don't think plugging the bottom holes (under the grill) would eliminate most of the airflow?

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I must have misunderstood your initial post, that would absultely restrict the airflow a little bit.

KeroZen said:

Oh right it's been a while and there are a lot of newbies here who obviously couldn't read the 352 pages (no sane person would do that right?)

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Before I took over the FC account for us, I was required to read every page of both of our threads. I learned a lot but also lost a lot of sanity...

Hello dudes! I placed 2 rounded swiss mountain crystals on top of the load. Held the heat perfect, nice draw and vapor, but the ascent got much hotter on the outside (at my usual temp 185c). Are easyer to use ( & clean) than the flowers. Like this machine alot, but have some critics:
- Silikon between heating element and glass path stinks. This needs some more engineering. Of course it gets better by time. But a real conaisseur-vaper doesnt have such materials in locations that matter (for taste). Btw: its a health-thing aswell...
- Battery symbol doesnt show correct batterylevel (this would be nice to have)
- Batterys have to be replaceable (people can buy good chargers and should learn to treat the batterys correctly anyway)
- Glass spacers have to be included in the kit, extra price is ripoff
- Even if you buy one online, you should get normal guarantee.
Well, thats just my 2c...

In vapor veritas!

alpine dude said:

. Btw: its a health-thing aswell...
- Battery symbol doesnt show correct batterylevel (this would be nice to have)
- Batterys have to be replaceable (people can buy good chargers and should learn to treat the batterys correctly anyway)
- Glass spacers have to be included in the kit, extra price is ripoff
- Even if you buy one online, you should get normal guarantee.

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Welcome to the forum, glad you're enjoying your new Ascent, it's a good one for sure. Some problems early on that seem to be 'ironed out' in current units.

Great idea with the crystals. Others have used refined crystals with some success. Be sure to try the glass flowers as they have an advantage in more surface area. A sphere is actually the 'worst case' shape.

The rubber used is not a health concern. We've been through this a lot on this and some other threads. In fact, such discussions (which typically go nowhere anyway) are tabu on vape specific threads like this, I believe there's an ongoing thread in the 'lounge' section?

In what way does the battery 'meter' not work correctly? It's pretty hard to make it overly accurate. At one time, early on, I had the loan of Nigel's unit and tested it fairly extensively. This included plotting the bars (coming on and going off, two different things) pretty carefully against recharge current (since you can't get inside to actually measure what's going on). I, of course, can't find those notes but sure don't recall any calibration issues. TIA for the details.

I think most agree that replaceable batteries are nice, but they are not mandatory. Cell phones don't do this as a rule for instance. It should, I think, be part of your buying decision. DV offers an excellent rebuild service which is also a factor.

The spacers have also been discussed at length. The maker advises that the production price is quite high, even in China, due to their nature. And reject rates are high. Not as easy piece to make. While many agree they'd like to get them for free with each unit, the maker has said this would not be possible, even if the (IMO) useless 'oil jars' were eliminated ironically. Nobody wants a higher price. For myself I'd include a dollar's worth of glass flowers (which actually have advantage in vapor production) and dump the jars.

A lot of guys would like 'better' warranty guarantees, but that has issues. To work, the maker would need more control through distribution and sales. This crosses International lines potentially adding a host of issues. A warranty is in fact a contract (if you expect to be able to demand your rights), absent laws that also cover the area you need to do business directly with the other party. The guy you give money too. Anything past that is optional on the other side. That too should be factored into the buying decision? I buy most of my gear from Puff It Up, a strong FC forum supporter who has excellent service. If I have a problem (as occasionally happens) he immediately makes it right from his stock. He gets my repeat business partially from that history.

Anyway, again glad you're enjoying your Ascent, mine is in fact charging after the session I did a bit ago. I hope that as you explore it you'll come to appreciate it's flexibility and the good work that went into making that happen.

OF

thanks OF, good reply! - the crystals look like little round pebbles. here some pics... not sure though, that the upload works. AD

mod note: Edited to include pics correctly

@OF:
Battery LED: Shows correct Level in low/empty area. Problem is,that it shows FULL when it actually isnt - but thats not a big issue,i simply charge it 5h (with Timer ;-)

About the rubber: wich rubber is used? Any specs available? Where is it made (China?)

AD

alpine dude said:

@OF:
Battery LED: Shows correct Level in low/empty area. Problem is,that it shows FULL when it actually isnt - but thats not a big issue,i simply charge it 5h (with Timer ;-)

About the rubber: wich rubber is used? Any specs available? Where is it made (China?)

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Thank you for the additional information. IMO the display shows 'is the charge over 75%, over 50%, over 25% or in the bottom 25%'. Other vapes use a similar scheme, as do laptops, cell phones and so on? From a practical standpoint 100% is actually hard to define.

And fully charging (as much as possible) is perhaps the worst thing you can do to your battery WRT lifespan. Simply charging it to 100% and storing it that way will kill it off early. Interesting reading on the general topic here:
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

Notice how reducing the maximum by ten percent doubles the useful life? I took advantage of this and built a 'gadget' to monition charge current and terminate charge at the 90% point of so, this is the version I'm using for Ascent (and FM as well since the connectors and voltage are the same):


12 VDC comes in upper left. When the current, sensed by the 3 resistors just above and a bit right of the round 'beeper' (still has it's white washing cover on it, they're LOUD) the processor shuts the transistor next to them (to the left) off ending charging. The board on the bottom converts the 12 VDC to 9 VDC to match the needs of Ascent. It also cuts about half an hour off every recharge (since the charge rate is so slow in the end). The blue adjustment above the start switch sets the point (in % of peak current) for this to happen.

I'm sorry I wasn't clear enough, discussion of material safety is forbidden on this (and all other 'vape specific' Forums. The maker, like many others, has stated his material is food grade (has to do with the catalyst actually) and appropriate to the temperature. Such materials exist, we take him at his word. Any discussion of the details is not allowed here, the appropriate place is in a different Forum (I've posted there, but don't recall exactly where it is). If you persist in this direction all posts related will eventually be moved to there or simply removed.

OF

It's very important when buying any vaporizer to make sure you are aware of their return policy. Many of us have made the mistake of buying from the wrong venue. Hopefully you won't have any troubles returning your unit. If you aren't able to return it then contact Davinci.

Try using the GonG as a mouthpiece it gives a tighter seal.

I buy through Puffitup most of the time if they have what I need. You can be sure of getting a good price and great service. There are other retailers that advertise on FC that give stellar service.

My Ascent is over 2 years old and it is still working.

About the charging... Going up to 90% like OF seems to be a good thing for them li ions. At the moment i charge them for 5 hours. I will try to only charge them for 4h now and see what happens on the long term. I usually recharge with some power left - before the unit shuts off. Is this clever?
Since i only vape at 185c i guess my unit should be lasting some time...
If i won't use my ascent for a while, i will let it drop to 40% (according to the display).
I want this unit to live as long as possible.
Greetings from the alps - AD

OF said:

Thank you for the additional information. IMO the display shows 'is the charge over 75%, over 50%, over 25% or in the bottom 25%'. Other vapes use a similar scheme, as do laptops, cell phones and so on? From a practical standpoint 100% is actually hard to define.

And fully charging (as much as possible) is perhaps the worst thing you can do to your battery WRT lifespan. Simply charging it to 100% and storing it that way will kill it off early. Interesting reading on the general topic here:
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

Notice how reducing the maximum by ten percent doubles the useful life? I took advantage of this and built a 'gadget' to monition charge current and terminate charge at the 90% point of so, this is the version I'm using for Ascent (and FM as well since the connectors and voltage are the same):

12 VDC comes in upper left. When the current, sensed by the 3 resistors just above and a bit right of the round 'beeper' (still has it's white washing cover on it, they're LOUD) the processor shuts the transistor next to them (to the left) off ending charging. The board on the bottom converts the 12 VDC to 9 VDC to match the needs of Ascent. It also cuts about half an hour off every recharge (since the charge rate is so slow in the end). The blue adjustment above the start switch sets the point (in % of peak current) for this to happen.

I'm sorry I wasn't clear enough, discussion of material safety is forbidden on this (and all other 'vape specific' Forums. The maker, like many others, has stated his material is food grade (has to do with the catalyst actually) and appropriate to the temperature. Such materials exist, we take him at his word. Any discussion of the details is not allowed here, the appropriate place is in a different Forum (I've posted there, but don't recall exactly where it is). If you persist in this direction all posts related will eventually be moved to there or simply removed.

OF

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@OF, I've been quite intrigued by your "gadget" since I first saw it posted awhile back. It seems simple.. but not simple enough for a guy with 0 electronics background to clone from the photos and description you provide.

Any chance you have the specs available and are willing to share? I am interested in prolonging my battery life as long as possible and The Gadget seems to be an excellent tool for this.

@alpine dude - welcome to the forum, and thanks for your contributions!

Well, I received my replacement Ascent this morning! I have it plugged in now. I haven't turned it on yet to be sure that it works or check the battery level. Going to let it charge until its full and then do a couple burn off's and be sure it is not "off gassing". Can't wait to try out this new one!

Amargi said:

Any chance you have the specs available and are willing to share? I am interested in prolonging my battery life as long as possible and The Gadget seems to be an excellent tool for this.

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Sure, I've already posted the important information several times. It's not something you can rush out and build after learning to solder, however. It involves programming the processor (Arduino, picked because it's designed for students/beginners and is cheap) as well. IIRC, Pipes built one from a kit of parts I sent him? At least that's what I think happened. But Pipes is, as you no doubt know, an exceptional chap with wide skill set.

He didn't see the volume of customers needed when Air came out. I'm not sure Solo, Ascent, FlowerMate, Summit and other such vapes don't provide enough potential customers, but that's not my call. The parts, exclusive of PCB, are under ten dollars a unit. The prototype PCBs I made for the Pilot run are expensive. 3 boards, each making 3 units, were about $70. That cost should come down to about 1/4 or less once they are 'laid out' to final configuration and sent to a production PCB maker. The maker I used will make small volumes (25 IIRC) of the current version for about five dollars each IIRC.


As you can see, it's set up for an assortment of connectors and switches (open, unused holes upper right and lower left). Put the right connectors on it and it runs just fine on 9 VDC (use the factory Assent 'wall wart'). Or 12 VDC (for Solo, etc) or 5 VDC (for the 'USB capable' vapes) with no further changes (including the program for the processor). Another couple of advantages to the Gadget. It beeps to tell you the charge is done, and it cuts 20 minutes to half an hour off each recharge......all while protecting the battery.

There are lots of solutions, I first built a straight analog one (no processor). It too does the job with less electronics skill needed (but still a fair bit). Like the original version of the processor program, it involves setting the level for each vape/charger. You turn the knob to one end, start charging on a 'medium discharged' battery and turn the knob up until it trips out then back it down (half a 'notch' in the case of the one I made).

You can also put a current meter in the charge line and simply stop when the current starts to taper off from the peak. When you can charge from USB ports you can use a plug in USB meter liike this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LCD-USB-Cha...309649?hash=item51da639291:g:-0wAAOSwxN5WWCTR

If someone wants to package and produce the current version (or similar for that matter), PM me? I'm happy to help in that, but it does take some skills on the other end?

OF

@Keith22 Glad to see your replacement arrived safely! Happy vaping, and let me know if you need anything else!

@OF Thanks for all the wonderful information as always!

One week to the day and I have received my warranty replacement Ascent from Da Vinci. Now that's service.
Similar to my first unit which conked out after 3 uses this one has a 2AA1 serial number prefix as opposed to the newer 3AA1 ones. I'm most likely being overly sensitive about this but the thought lingers that recent models may have received upgrades in order to prevent a similar melt down.

Any comments?

wonder35 said:

One week to the day and I have received my warranty replacement Ascent from Da Vinci. Now that's service.
Similar to my first unit which conked out after 3 uses this one has a 2AA1 serial number prefix as opposed to the newer 3AA1 ones. I'm most likely being overly sensitive about this but the thought lingers that recent models may have received upgrades in order to prevent a similar melt down.

Any comments?

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There have been no upgrades between models. The 3AA simply indicates it was made this year.

Davinci_vaporizer said:

There have been no upgrades between models. The 3AA simply indicates it was made this year.

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I thank you for this information.

Hi, when I first got my Ascent I tried putting the glass bowl for wax in to the Ascent, but I was unable to get it out again. I tried removing it when the vape was hot and cold, eventually I had to break the glass bowl to remove it. Any thoughts?

Yes: don't do that!

KeroZen said:

Yes: don't do that!

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I ran out of glass bowls, so I don't do that anymore. lol But seriously, how are you supposed to get it out if you want to vape bud again?

OmniForge said:

I ran out of glass bowls, so I don't do that anymore. lol But seriously, how are you supposed to get it out if you want to vape bud again?

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There are three ways I know to jam them, neither easy to recover from. First, let the bowl foul too much first so condensate can glue it in place, even at elevated temperatures.

The second sure way to jam it is to drop a cold (and therefore smaller) jar into a hot (and therefore bigger) bowl so it can get in further than it can get out of when they're at the same temperature. This is known as 'shrink fitting' and is a common way to put bearings in moving parts and liners in naval guns. With the correct fit, heat the outside and/or chill the inside and they're mated for life.

Or you can have bad luck.

The good part is the jar idea is pretty lame anyway, IMO better options exist. It excels with herb, celebrate that?

OF

I know that DV did not ask my opinion, but I will share it nevertheless.

The Ascent should be sold with 2 spacers instead of oil jars.

The jars could be included with the purchase of the U shaped water tool. This way, the folks who use the Ascent with concentrates will have the jars (which could also be sold separately.) and the folks who have no use for the jars will get the spacers without cost.

I understand that there are folks who may use concentrates dry, but I believe that my proposal will solve more problems then it creates.

sickmanfraud said:

The Ascent should be sold with 2 spacers instead of oil jars.

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This has been proposed a few times. The first time DV said that this would add to the cost since the spacers are very hard to make to spec (those here when they came out no doubt recall the very low yield of acceptable parts at first?). I don't recall if an amount was specifically mentioned but my feeling is it would be close to the current price, say another ten bucks?

One part is 'blown' (cheap), the other 'molded' (expensive for the precision needed).

And it allows them to advertise use of concentrates. Both reasons would, I think, cause the 'suits' (Sales types) to be in favor of the jars in the kit, and they can have a big voice in such things. I'd be happy if they'd include a dozen or so glass flowers, a nearly trivial expense in comparison (with the jars)?

Don't get me wrong, I think the spacers are worth the money, I think the economics is against including 'em.

OF

OF said:

There are three ways I know to jam them, neither easy to recover from. First, let the bowl foul too much first so condensate can glue it in place, even at elevated temperatures.

The second sure way to jam it is to drop a cold (and therefore smaller) jar into a hot (and therefore bigger) bowl so it can get in further than it can get out of when they're at the same temperature. This is known as 'shrink fitting' and is a common way to put bearings in moving parts and liners in naval guns. With the correct fit, heat the outside and/or chill the inside and they're mated for life.

Or you can have bad luck.

The good part is the jar idea is pretty lame anyway, IMO better options exist. It excels with herb, celebrate that?

OF

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Ah, interesting. I think I made both those mistakes haha. Yeah, It is awesome with herb, and that's what I use it for most of the time. Whenever I do have wax, I just mix it in with some herb and that seems to work well enough. Thanks for the tips.

OmniForge said:

Ah, interesting. I think I made both those mistakes haha. Yeah, It is awesome with herb, and that's what I use it for most of the time. Whenever I do have wax, I just mix it in with some herb and that seems to work well enough. Thanks for the tips.

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You're welcome.

Very clever 'piling on the risks' in the breaking glass game. True Pioneering stuff. I sure wouldn't let @Ataxian know what you're up to. He's likely to try to copy the idea. Like using heavy gloves to handle the glass. Gloves covered in grease.

He's like that.

OF