Ascent Vaporizer by DaVinci

[JCat]

Here's a quick update on my progress ... I've had my new Ascent for a few days and LOVE this vape! It's a big improvement over the 1st one I received.
- The first one if the bowl wasn't full, it was tough to get very nice clouds, even at higher temps (even at highest)
- The new one works even when the bowl is lightly packed and half full at relatively high temps produces comparable to the clouds produced by the Solo at high temps (Ascent in range of 400-420F ... 205-215C ... Solo on setting 6-7 ... are relatively comparible)
- I don't find the load sucks up the same way with the new one (tighter seals and everything just seems to work much better)
- Temperature gauge/thermostat seems to work correctly and well now
- Glass screen on my new one is perfect (I haven't measured the distances with a digital caliper but to the eye they look great) ... this doesn't matter too much to me, but just an observation
- Battery issues are resolved on the new one and I haven't managed to run it down past maybe half ... (and I ran 4 sessions through it the other day to get it to that point)
- Easy to maintain ... it stays pretty clean and you can just blow out the bowl when done and it can go for many, many sessions this way without a cleaning (I went a couple days at least with the old one). Cleaning is also easy as things come apart nicely. My one complaint here is the bottom of the bowl has to many sharp edges so this makes cleaning thoroughly in those areas difficult. The oval shape doesn't lend well to easily cleaning either in comparison with a circle/cylinder
- In the temperature range above I finish a bowl from start to finish in maybe 4-5 minutes including heat up depending how much of a hurry I'm in.
- This is by far the smoothest portable I've owned (Solo was close but I think the Ascent has a slight edge)
- This vape really meets my needs as far as load size (takes .2-.3 nicely), portability (can throw it in a pocket even immediately after use and not lots of accessories and stuff to carry around), stealthy (not to conspicuous)

All in all I love this vape! I'm glad I waited for it and I'm glad it turned out as good as I thought it would as they work the bugs/kinks out.

This vape scores high in a number of key areas for a portable IMHO:
- Portability
- Stealth
- Taste
- Harshness/Cooling of Vapor
- Heat-Up/Cool-Down Times
- Ease of Maintenance (apart from hard edges on bottom of bowl)

Good job DaVinci!

 

[Forsaken]

I really can't hear yours from here. But the one I tested was expansion related I'm sure. Sometimes such noises slow or stop but sometimes not (remember heat flows constantly under some conditions).

What I can say is arcing at such low power levels is never stable. If it was arcing it'd be stone dead by now I bet.....and yours performs normally?

Several others of us hear noises too, it's not really like the little voices only you can hear.......

OF

Thanks for your responses, I'm going to stick with it. Yeah, I've had several sessions with it as well running it from fully charged to no charge at 390°F to test battery endurance(1.5 + hours, not sure if that's standard?).

Anyways, thank you and everyone else who helped figure this out.

 

[lwien]

Does the battery charge indicator stop showing that it's charging once a full charge is reached? Mine has been plugged in for about 11 hours now and it's still showing that it's charging.

Have not had it happen yet with my replacement, but the first one I had looked like it was continuing to charge once or twice. All I did was unplug from the unit, plug it back in, and the blinking went to solid within 5 seconds.

Not saying that will work for you, lwien...but it's worth a try...

So I just thought of something. In the above scenario, being that the charging indicator kept showing that it was charging after 11 to 12 hours but then taking Shrike's advice and unplugging it and then plugging it back in and the charging indicator showed that it was at full charge, could this mean that the charger over-charged the battery even though it may have been full? I sure hope not.

 

[ttocs]

I still can't seem to get much out of mine no matter what I try. Seems it doesn't matter high/low, full/empty, packed/loose...

 

[Shrike]

Seems like there may be something wrong with yours, ttocs. I get tons of clouds...this is the best portable vape I've owned hands down. I've only owned about 4 portables, so that doesn't make me an expert...but of the ones I have owned...this is definitely the best.
I'd look into getting a replacement...you should at least call them and tell them your problem.

lwien...
No way for me to tell you if you will have an overcharging problem. That hasn't happened with my 1.2 unit yet. It was only the first model that did that to me now and then...and there was no way to tell if it messed with the unit because the charge on that thing was screwed up already...

 

[voluptuousvapor]

Hey guys, i had some questions about this vape but i couldn't find any answers online so i thought i'd try FC. I heard the vape produced some unpleasant tastes possibly related to the rubber seal they put on the device, does anyone know anything about that? Also what's every ones opinion on buying this portable vape or waiting/getting another? It looks like an amazing design i just don't want to spend that much money for something that won't hit pure.

 

[k0udek]

Yes it will work for hash. Definitely grind it. I like the Ascent for hash (primarily why purchased). I wouldn't use the oil can. I'd place it between layers of flowers. I've tried both kief and full melt and both worked great.

Great to see that it works well with hash, i only use hash too. Just one question, was it too smelly ?

 

[sickmanfraud]

Yes it will work for hash. Definitely grind it. I like the Ascent for hash (primarily why purchased). I wouldn't use the oil can. I'd place it between layers of flowers. I've tried both kief and full melt and both worked great.

Sorry to show my ignorance, were you referring to glass flowers or cannabis?

 

[stickstones]

im pretty sure cannabis

 

[sickmanfraud]

im pretty sure cannabis

Sorry to show my ignorance again, but what would be the advantage?

 

[salivape]

It would stop the hash from dripping through the bottom grill if it melts. Even hard traditional hashes release oil when heated. Its a good idea but personally I like to taste my stash for what it is and not mix it up.

If you just want to use hash on its own use some cotton instead of bud. Again not ideal as I feel you get a fresh laundry taste but others may disagree.

 

[Czechyourhead]

Great to see that it works well with hash, i only use hash too. Just one question, was it too smelly ?

Imo there's less odor than flowers(cannabis) alone. But I guess that depends on starting material.

Sorry to show my ignorance, were you referring to glass flowers or cannabis?

flowers=cannabis, glass flowers=glass flowers. (I'm waiting for some glass flowers, should be here in couple days)

It would stop the hash from dripping through the bottom grill if it melts. Even hard traditional hashes release oil when heated. Its a good idea but personally I like to taste my stash for what it is and not mix it up.

Unless the hash is made from same strain. But yes, mostly to keep the hash from dripping.

 

[armin]

deleted

 

[Elmafuf0]

Ok, I need some advice here. I got a tracking number on my "Haiku" Ascent and lo and behold, it's being delivered today. Praise to the Cannabis God:

Ok, enough of the funny green guy...........here is my dilemma.

The new Ascent should be in my hands this afternoon. I REALLY want to like it. I would LOVE not to be tethered to an AC cord, but here's the deal. I use very small amounts of bud. When I had my PD, I would load up a PD stems worth (0.025gr) and it would last me a one and half days. 2 stems (.05gr) would last me three days.

Now I have my LSV and I'm using more bud, but not that much more. With the LSV, .05gr (2 PD stems worth) now lasts me two days rather than three. I don't mind this loss of efficiency with the LSV due to the better taste as well as a high that hits me a lot quicker due to the more voluminous vapor clouds.

However, I am not willing to lose any more efficiency with the Ascent. I am a veteran living on a fixed income and I really can't afford for my MJ bills to go up.........not even a little.

So here's the deal. After following this thread quite closely, I understand that tamping down the load rather firmly is necessary, ESPECIALLY with small loads. I plan on loading the Ascent up with the same amount that I use in my LSV (which is double what I used in my PD), which is approximately .05gr. I will firmly tamp that down and give it a shot. Do I really need to get some small glass flower screens? I can if need be. Any other suggestions for using this very small amount?

I will give this a shot tonight and if I can get .05gr to last me 2 days like I can with my LSV, I'm going to be a happy camper. If anyone who has an Ascent has any further thoughts on this, please let me know, especially if you think that there is no way that the Ascent is going to be able to accomplish this no matter what I do.

Thoughts???

I finally got my replacement this week and have used it both out and in. It's better for me largely because mine only worked when it was plugged in.
I'm very happy with the new one. Smell (new) not as strong and I assume it'll go away like it did with the first one. No off gassing did a 20 minute burn in saw nothing, short sesh, then a 30 minutes burn in.

In terms of doing tiny hits, I think the bead/ spacer idea is the best. I live near the beach and collect tons of sea glass with my 6 yo. So it's been easy to go through a big jar of it and find pieces that fit without getting stuck and different sizes and shapes for different amounts of bud. Free too.
I also ordered the flowers and used them with larger quantities but nowhere near full and packed.

I think for small amounts you need something that will pack the bud and hold it in place. My guess is that with the flowers it won't really pack down and it'll fly away. I've gone back the sea glass because I do smaller loads and its a bit more hassle to deal with multiple pieces rather than one. It (the piece of glass) does get damn hot. But it keeps the puck in place and helps keep the stem cleaner.

 

[lwien]

^^ The glass oil cans without the lid seemed to work really well for me.

 

[RD]

^^ The glass oil cans without the lid seemed to work really well for me.

Glass cans without lid and holes drilled in the bottom work even better.

 

[twooni]

Just figured I'd update my post sooner than later.

I just got a call from Davinci customer support. First, let me say my experience so far with Davinci has been great. I think I was just a little spooked by some of the negative experiences talked about in this thread and wasn't being patient enough. Because within a few hours of leaving a voice mail I got a call back from a really polite and professional CS rep.

He told me that the reason why their web site say shipped, but FedEx sites says "Shipping details received" is that FedEx has not picked it up! I was informed that it is packaged and waiting at their office and that FedEx should be picking it up today (hopefully). So that is some great news

I will let everyone know how long it takes to get to me (I am in Canada). But I just wanted to say thanks to the Davinci team, great customer service so far. And a note to anyone else freaking themselves out by reading this thread, maybe just give it a little more time before you pull the fire alarm like I did

Got my Ascent today! Everything looked good out of the box, no build quality issues or scratches. I checked the bowl with a flash light and found no scratches or other issues as reported in this forum. Everything looks great!

So far it's just charging, I have not had a chance to use it yet. I did power it one and let it heat up to 200C just to make sure it was working (pressed all the buttons and checked the menus). And I can report that everything seems to be working as expected

Simply an observation at this point. It came out of the box with nearly a full charge and within 20 minutes it now shows full battery (charging indicator is full and not flashing.) I am going to let it charge for the full ten hours before I take it on it's trial run.

I'll let everyone know how it goes. But so far the Ascent makes my ioLite seem like caveman tech.

 

[sickmanfraud]

^^ The glass oil cans without the lid seemed to work really well for me.

for flowers or hash?

 

[RD]

for flowers or hash?

Think he meant as spacer.

 

[nigel]

C) the lack of responses from davinci on their FB page . Lots of unanswered questions

Uh... you have heard of FC, right?


It was stated elsewhere that the people responsible for the FB stuff are gone. But still, why on Earth would people go there for "information" when we have much better INFORMATION here?

I fail to see how this is a concern.

I think for small amounts you need something that will pack the bud and hold it in place. My guess is that with the flowers it won't really pack down and it'll fly away.

Because of their complex shape, the glass flowers have more surface area than a chunk of sea glass of the same mass.

The flowers will INDEED hold it in place and it won't fly away.

I like the flowers, because they are fairly modular: If I'm doing a large load to share, I only throw in a few. If I'm doing a solo load, even more. If I'm doing a @lwien load, I throw about 40 in there.

[EDIT: I'll use a few glass flowers on the bottom (don't know if this is really needed. Probably not.) and then fill the rest of the bowl on top with as many flowers as it takes. ]

I guess this can be addressed by a number of different sized pieces of sea glass, but then see my point about surface area.

^^ The glass oil cans without the lid seemed to work really well for me.

It does, but in general, the flowers work much better with "normal people sized loads."

Your loads are so small, I'm not sure. I did try to do a few tests last night on glass-flower vs oil can for ~0.05g last night, but... uh... I kinda lost track of where I was in comparing.

 

[k0udek]

Imo there's less odor than flowers(cannabis) alone. But I guess that depends on starting material.

Hmm i agree, but to be more specific, would it compromise stealthiness for exemple if you're inside the house ?

@salivape have you tried some moroccan in the Ascent mate ?

 

[Conky]

Hey folks, looking for advice on a case. I'm looking for something to hold the ascent, 2 jyarz and an extra set of glass. I'm not really concerned with odors but if there is an option of smell proof I'd prob go for it. Biggest things for me would be protection and looking relatively boring, being dismissed by anyone that may stumble across it.
I'm open to cutting up foam in a case too if that's required.
Hopefully someone's in the same situation and has gotten this down already.

 

[RD]

Hey folks, looking for advice on a case. I'm looking for something to hold the ascent, 2 jyarz and an extra set of glass. I'm not really concerned with odors but if there is an option of smell proof I'd prob go for it. Biggest things for me would be protection and looking relatively boring, being dismissed by anyone that may stumble across it.
I'm open to cutting up foam in a case too if that's required.
Hopefully someone's in the same situation and has gotten this down already.

Bottle cozy with zipper.

 

[lwien]

Your loads are so small, I'm not sure. I did try to do a few tests last night on glass-flower vs oil can for ~0.05g last night, but... uh... I kinda lost track of where I was in comparing.

I got a couple flowers. Gonna try that tonight.

 

[Elmafuf0]

The flowers will INDEED hold it in place and it won't fly away.


Yeah glass flowers hold a decent size load in just fine. I should have said a tiny load. A "pinch" of ground bud might not pack down because of the shape of the flowers and paucity of weed.