Discontinued Zion vaporizer

RastaBuddhaTao said:

Greetings Zion Nation!

Just wanted to let everyone know that i just posted an update to the progress report and the FC give-away on the www. It's been nice to interface with early customers and get caught up on customer inquiries. After such an accelerated development its nice to stop for a second and smell the roses.

Thanks to all for believing in the Zion in these early stages as without your support the RBT would not exist.

Peace,
RBT

EDIT: Below is the latest response from C1

Just to report, my Zion is working amazingly every day "out of the box", I'm averaging nearly one set of battery per evening (only after work for me!) and it's already too much for my poor face, I even had to go and make some shopping for the we, if you know what I mean, because of how well it is working! The evening before I leave a prepared stem for afterwork, it allows to start vaping right after entering at home, best way to avoid combustion desires...
For me the most amazing part of the zion experience is that it is really easier and more natural to load a stem and vape with respect to traditional rolling with papers, with the other vapes I was forcing myself to prepare everything to vape (with more or less complex preheat procedures and times, proper grinding, loading, chamber connections, ecc ecc) instead of rolling, which I felt more natural after so many years... Zion is the first vape that changed that feeling, now if I even have the desire to "roll one" I immediately think: oh what a mess, too long and complicated, let's do a stem! For me this is really the feature that makes it a gamechanger, good airflow, good taste are necessary but if they come at the cost of 10 minutes warming time, like the mv, well, in that time if I'm stressed afterwork I can roll one and finish it before the mv even reaches its temperature...
While with the zion if you feel the need you can finish a couple of stems in that 10 minutes! And what stems, I've not turned the mv on since gettin Yen last week! The most enjoyable sessions are with a full stem and not grinded material, it can last one hour making a couple hits now and then, inverting the stem in its holder is like leaving the j**nt on the ashtray...

I also finally ordered some glass adapters from planetvape, shipping is as usual expensive but it was the only place where I found a 18-18 mm and a 18-14 mm connector with US standards (as suggested from shit snacks on fc) and an internal diameter reduction (they call it "vortex") that should give the effect of compressing the air flow lines over the bowl that I was speaking about in some previous mail. The solo stem I have at home made with this principle is really amazing in the zion, the vapour production is even faster and denser than stock stem with same dial and load, but of course the material lasts less due to faster extraction... When they arrive I'll let you know how they work with the zion, since I still did not use it with water until now (the 18-18 is for a "big" bubbler to use with water, the 18-14 is to use dry the small hydrotube chinese clone I showed in a previuos mail).

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I agree completely with C1 -- the ease of getting vaked out of your gourd, even if you have a decent tolerance, within one brief sitting, is magical. Stuff nug in tube, put tube in Zion, turn dial to 100, press button for 5sec, turn down to 70-80, enjoy big tasty cloud. Repeat a few times and maybe stir and/or flip the load for one or two last big rips. Much of the time, I wander away half way through the load (I have mine set where it can hold a significant amount of material).

I'm still trying different methods and enjoying the hell out of the experience. I recently applied some wax to my Zion and it looks pretty good; I need to apply another layer or two and buff it this week; I think I took some before pics (hopefully), and can do a before/after comparison for pornography's sake.

Sooooooo, I must not be doing something correct. The temp dial is difficult to turn and the whole thing feels like it's turning. Packed bowl. Turned to 50%? Held button for a few seconds.....nothing. Turned to 75% and held button for a few.....light clouds. Turned to 90%? Nothing and little wisps of smoke came from the button and the smell of burnt wood. Pulled out batteries and will be leaving alone until I get home. Glad I brought backup. What am I doing wrong? Seemed like it should be grip and rip, no?

Madcap79 said:

Nothing and little wisps of smoke came from the button and the smell of burnt wood.

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That doesn't sound good...maybe something wrong. Was it smoke or vapor coming from the button?

Smoke. I was drawing most of the time. Does the temp dial usually have a lot of drag and no hard stop?

Huh that is wierd @Madcap79, first report, sounds knob wasn't seated properly if the whole thing turned out? And I dono smoke from control area doesn't sound normal at all... Hopefully you can get in touch with RBT asap, now this would be a time for real customer service if it was damaged in shipping or something... Good luck man, cant be fun to deal with, been there with many others myself

Madcap79 said:

Sooooooo, I must not be doing something correct. The temp dial is difficult to turn and the whole thing feels like it's turning. Packed bowl. Turned to 50%? Held button for a few seconds.....nothing. Turned to 75% and held button for a few.....light clouds. Turned to 90%? Nothing and little wisps of smoke came from the button and the smell of burnt wood. Pulled out batteries and will be leaving alone until I get home. Glad I brought backup. What am I doing wrong? Seemed like it should be grip and rip, no?

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Are these signs of the first defective Zion???
Everyone is shaking in their boots.

I'm very sorry about your experience, from my understanding, nothing like this should happen. I've never read anything about difficult to turn nobs or any sort of lack of vapor.
Seems the heater is getting hot enough to charr the wood, but not allowing enough heat through the herb to produce vapor...how odd. Maybe misaligned? Maybe he forgot the insulator?

Hope RBT isn't stressed about hurrying up orders, resulting in defective units??
Hope there aren't any more.

Knob should hard stop at each end of the sweep, low and high. It shouldn't just keep turning. If the pot is loose and turning inside the unit, that would be bad. If the knob has come loose from the pot and isn't turning it, that would be less bad. If smoke came from the button area you should take the batteries out and contact RBT, IMO.

I took the batteries out right after it happened. I think the potentiometer is loose as well or a least doesn't feel right, as far as I can tell. Bummer. Oh well, I'm not freaking over it. I'll get in touch with RTB and get it sorted, I'm sure. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't user error.

Sorry to hear that Madcap, hope it can be put right for you quick.

Wow!!!
It works!!
It works well!!
It actually works very well!!
Diggin the vapor feedback for draw speed to hit my sweet spot!

Nice even extraction on first bowl.
Finished on 11 with a flavor drop, crazy cool flavor!
Super easy first session.
Just need to remember to rotate batteries after every bowl.

Edit: gonna keep editing this post as more thoughts come...I'm fuckin blasted, may be a minute!
.
Build is very durable, not understanding the case discussion earlier in this thread, or bubble wrap, after holding it in my hands. It feels good in my hand.
Nothing gets warm.
It does remind me a little of a log, loading the stem upside down and all, but with the ability to pack a huge bowl. (compared to my nano)
It definitely has its own signature, and is a compliment to my line up.

First impression is this RBT heater technology is going to convert a lot of combusters over to our dark side!
Also @RastaBuddhaTao, you have a winner here, congratulations!


Edit again: anyone hesitant about the Zion because of no temperature control, shouldn't be.
With the power control you can dial in the exact taste/temp you're looking for at whatever draw rate you're looking for, the heater doesn't determine your draw rate like most other vaporizers.

The wide open draw is refreshing.
The glass on glass is not only versatile for adapting to water, but should be a standard on all vaporizers IMO.

Still editing by the way: my Gravity Labs sidecirc just fits with a 3" M-M adapter.
This combo can be very dangerous, and should come with a warning or something.
I've never really been a fan of WT's but this is where the Zion's heater shines!
Looks like one hit bong rips are back in my life!

I also like it with the 3" adapter and a j-hook.
I have a bubbler mouthpiece that is a US 18 mm male that one of RBT's screens fits nicely in that is becoming my favorite.

Edit one last time: to sum up the inaugural evening, very stoney signature, but I way over did it so... More testing at low temps tomorrow, out in the field.

I just noticed mine is #21!
I will name her Lucky!!

Mulehead said:

Wow!!!
It works!!
It works well!!
It actually works very well!!
Diggin the vapor feedback for draw speed to hit my sweet spot!

Nice even extraction on first bowl.
Finished on 11 with a flavor drop, crazy cool flavor!
Super easy first session.
Just need to remember to rotate batteries after every bowl.

Edit: gonna keep editing this post as more thoughts come...I'm fuckin blasted, may be a minute!
.
Build is very durable, not understanding the case discussion earlier in this thread, or bubble wrap, after holding it in my hands.
Nothing gets warm.
It does remind me a little of a log, but with the ability to pack a huge bowl. (compared to my nano)
It definitely has its own signature, and is a compliment to my line up.

First impression is this RBT heater technology is going to convert a lot of combusters over to our dark side!
Also @RastaBuddhaTao, you have winner here, congratulations!

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I could feel warmth on the body of mine. Going to charge the batts that came with it and see what happens. I think something is amiss with mine though. Will report back.

Well, I was finally prepared to take the plunge and place my order, but alas the website is down. Oh, the irony...

Edit: site is back up. And I am now on the list.

HD Springer said:

In my experience if you haven't lost at least 1 of your faculties during a hit your still dialing it in.

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RBT may well have to send a pair of these out to all cult members

HD if you rig up some kind of pipe work and bunsen burner affair your Grandma friend could hit your Zion to her hearts content. At least whilst you're waiting for it back you could use your Vapman.

@Mulehead I take it the wait was worth it?

@Madcap79 gutted for you. I wouldn't bother if the pot has turned the cables could short out. Just mail RBT and he will sort it out.

Heeeey that's more like it @Mulehead. I am loving hearing those initial reports & first impressions - I'm so interested to see what people make of this pure hunk of a portable.

And I'm so sorry to hear you're having troubles @Madcap79 - it's obviously never good to experience issues on your first outing - but we all know RBT will have you covered. And after all, although well beta tested, everything is still very new, so bumps are to be expected to some degree. Still disappointed for you though, of course.

Yep, try some fresh batts & have another gentle twiddle of that knob - it does have resistance but should move smoothly. And as already mentioned - the dial does not spin 360°. And it stops firmly at each extreme.

It's definitely worth another look-see I'd say . . .

Keep us posted.

Good luck.

So I guess I have Irene dialed in because as she and I were spending some time together, I casually turned her over to check out her smooth bottom, and the stem dropped out. No damage done, man what a great piece of custom vapery! Thanks RBT and fellow Zionites! Lots of vapes will be leaving my arsenal......

mephisto said:

So I guess I have Irene dialed in because as she and I were spending some time together, I casually turned her over to check out her smooth bottom, and the stem dropped out. No damage done, man what a great piece of custom vapery! Thanks RBT and fellow Zionites! Lots of vapes will be leaving my arsenal......

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Sounds about right my man!

And you've also been around the convection block many times, this just feels so natural

mephisto said:

Lots of vapes will be leaving my arsenal......

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Holy shit, that's right! I have other vapes too! Sorta forgot about them.

The community is strong with this one!! awesome to see all the concerns when a unit is having problems and giving advice to help each other out. @Madcap79 Sorry to hear about your Zion, Here's to a speedy recovery should it have to go under the knife.

Zionites, were in this together.

maybe there could be silicone or something in the stem hole to prevent drops when the unit is turned over? Seems like that is a common occurrence. I can imagine the a stem fitting snugly into its slot and this being prevented. Although I don't know the logistics of incorporating it.

I am very happy to shoulder the full blame of the stem falling. The credit goes to RBT for making such an effective machine. I was lost in the moment and it felt so right.....

Hell no! Keep your bloody silicone out of my Zion will ya!

Haha! Oi Oi @vaplen, just you be careful what you're saying . . . don't get our Kero started . . .

So I tried getting what seemeed like a bazillion beauty shots of cloudage blocking the trees and melting snow I was looking at, but none of the photos turned out. There were only 3, but it sure seemed like a bazillion... I havta be careful or I'll wind up with another 15 hours sleep... Which is really not such a bad thing!



Edit - so I go to have a draw while surfing new posts. Not much comes out, so batteries must be due. In go the batteries, and back to surfing forums... pick up Baby, 5 second preheat, turn the dial down a bit, and man it's pretty light in the vape dept... Thats when I realized the battery cover was off. And it was off because I still hadn't put the new batteries in...

Is this worse than getting clouds from an empty stem? Probably... And it's all for science!

@Madcap79 sorry to hear about your issues! When I received mine the dial was at a wee angle, and rubbed on wood a little bit, but everything worked fine, with a decided hard stop at 0 and 13 (1200 and 0800). Is there any chance you may have a battery in backwards? I'm not familiar with these so got someone to validate which was + and which was -. Fortunately the charger is smart enough to let me know without smoking...

mephisto said:

I am very happy to shoulder the full blame of the stem falling. The credit goes to RBT for making such an effective machine. I was lost in the moment and it felt so right.....

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Who can blame you for wanting to check out her smooth bottom? Probably why your stem was hard enough not to break.

Mulehead said:

Just need to remember to rotate batteries after every bowl.

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Personally I think this is overkill. I do rotate them with each battery change, but I don't think swapping every bowl will really give you any better battery life. JMHO