Hi fellow vaporizers!
First post here, been lurking and actively reading for a couple of weeks and I wanted to thank you all for the excellent information contributed to this forum!
I too found this thread only *after* having ordered my Ascent. Needless to say I was almost sweating after reading the 150 first pages. I thought "what the Hell have I done, I don't want to be a beta tester and should have waited". Honnestly after seeing the pictures of the exposed wires in the air-path I was almost decided to send it back ASAP and get a refund...
Instead I kept it and I'm loving it so far. In fact, I love it so much I'm affraid by the idea that it could fail! Of course I also have a lot of remarks to make and some details I would like to clarify with @
Davinci_vaporizer as we have the chance to have them on-board. So this is going to be a bit long, I apologize in advance. And being not a native English speaker, I hope I will not butcher Shakespeare's tongue too much.
Introduction
For the background, and it will prove relevant for what will follow, I am a chronic heavy smoker and have been smoking daily for 16 years, 50-100g/month on average. I had two lung surgeries already and was told to quit by the doctors (even if the problems I had would surely have occurred if I didn't smoke, but let's say it did not improve my condition at all) I didn't follow their advice because my addiction is too strong (or in politically correct terms "because I need to medicate so much") but at least I managed to completely stop the cigs, excepted in my joints.
Where I live we most exclusively consume joints, mixed with various amounts of tobacco, out of cultural and product scarcity reasons. Using water pipes and bongs is really not so common and usually reserved to young people, and overall people consuming the plant using alternative ways are a minority and it's not always well accepted socially (ie. you get associated with crackheads etc pretty fast). This is important because we all have very different ways to medicate and cultural + social traditions play a big role here, and I think the Ascent might be more suited to some particular ways than others (more on that below)
I've never been a fan of large/giant and fast hits, this is not what I enjoy with the plant. I don't use it to get stone and I want the plant to affect my productivity and social life as little as possible. I tested smoking in californian glass pipes but I diskliked the pace/speed at which they force you to consume the product: it's either too fast and the load is gone in less than two minutes, or it keeps lighting off and you spend too much time messing with a lighter. I tried a bag vape once but again this does not fit my habits at all: the pace is way too fast, too strong of a hit in too little time. I like to let the pleasure last and I think I enjoy the flavors as much as I enjoy the effects, and in this regard the Ascent feels perfect to me.
Even on my joints I don't inhale too hard, I take a lot of little hits and it translated pretty well to the way the Ascent works, being a direct draw vape with almost no air-path resistance at all. I'm not saying you can't get large rips with it, I did some that made me cough (and felt like a big waste!) and I saw the vidz of the guys using the water tool adapter, so I know it surely works for that but 1) this is not the way I'm using it so I won't comment too much on that aspect, and 2) let's be honnest, I think people are expecting a little too much of this device, this is a "portable" in the first place, it will never and doesn't even pretend to compete with your wired desktop vape. Now on to the review itself.
The review
Unboxing
I ordered my Ascent Stealth (EURO version) on some Swedish online shop. Serial number: 2AE1 0009xx. Good packaging, containing user manual in English, German, French and Spanish versions. The manual itself is a bit light and
could use an extra section to explain the drawing/breathing technique a little bit, but apart from that it covers the basics.
First impression after opening the box: quality. Second impression, olfactive this time: something reeks in there, it's like when you buy new taiwanese computer parts, all the inks, the plastic bags, everything in the packaging smells. More precisely I found that the faux-velvet carry pouch was the item having the worst smell. It evaporated (where?) after some days though... That leads us to the first issue, but before that, the physical inspection!
Physical QC
No trace of glue on the device, all side panels properly fixed, all alignments are good. In the Stealth version the logo is embossed inside the rubber panel so there is no way it can be misaligned on this model (as one early user reported) The hinge feels very solid. There even seems to be a magnet to assist the lock. The rubber alignment above the bowl was not perfect but by forcing on it with the thumb I was able to push it farther so it's not a problem.
I'm still a bit puzzled by the mini circuit board next to the heater element (near the charging port), it's not in the air-path but it does receive a lot of heath, I hope it will not create a failure point (I won't comment on how I wish those cables weren't there at all, as they are obviously a necessity but I really hope you DaVinci didn't source crappy wires!)
For the scratched LCD problem, the situation clearly improved. It's still not 100% perfect though, you still need to work on that DaVinci, yet it's super low priority compared to the other remaining problems. Apart from that the build is pretty impressive, feels solid, lovely to handle. A beautiful object.
Off-gassing and silicone curing (aka the first issue)
I cleaned all silicone parts with ISO and began the battery break-in cycles (3 full discharges before applying the 80% rule) by doing full temp burn-in's. As the previous poster noted, my battery also came fully charged when I received it and as the icon didn't show any charging activity I didn't bother to wait 5 hours for nothing.
The burn-in: no noticeable fumes at all even with device upside down and under all lighting conditions, I think this problem has been definitely solved. But...there is now this new silicone post-curing problem to resolve DaVinci! You really need to have all your silicon pieces post cured for a longer time in bulk at your factory and with proper ventilation! The device stinks so much during the first 4 days it really gives a bad impression to your clients.
Some of your competitors advertize a factory burn-in of 48h or more to get rid of all bad smells, please consider improving this point.
I did 4 max temperature sessions in a row while blowing air through the mouthpiece as often as possible (because ventilation is primordial) In between I let it cool down in a well ventilated room. Recharged, then 5 other empty sessions, recharged, then a couple empty sessions and the smell was still present yet less overwhelming. As I was bored by blowing air through a toaster and was really eager to finally test it, I gave the device a try at that point.
Why do I care? Because as the article someone posted earlier in this thread explains, food-grade or not, silicone releases a lot of foul stuff during curing, I don't want to vape that kthx.
Where is the Sombrero, pebble or glass flower ffs?! (aka the Rising Puck issue)
As all users will notice pretty fast (but it's nowhere explained in the user manual) there are 3 reasons for vapor production to stop completely in your Ascent:
1) the puck got sucked off the bowl bottom (solution: open and push it back home or use cotton fill)
2) the bowl heating auto powered off (solution: click "option" then "plus" buttons to power on again)
3) you were so much enjoying getting vaped you didn't notice that you depleted the load (solution: refill)
The rising puck issue should be documented and
we are still waiting for your custom glass accessory DaVinci. Note for people catching up the thread: "puck" because you need to compact the load in the bowl more than you think you have to, and it should make contact with the ceramic at all times otherwise vapor production stops completely.
(croped due to size limit)
I made a bag works well except I have to blow into the grill to fill it up, definitely doable. Just saying.
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