Ascent Vaporizer by DaVinci
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On a bed of flowers is the only method which works with the Ascent. The jars included with the vape really doesn't work at all for concentratesHas anyone used concentrates in their Ascent? Like sandwiched between some flowers? I've done it in my Solo, and was thinking about trying it in the Ascent too.
Vicki
Herbal Alchemist
Cool, thank you for responding so quickly! I think I'll try it after dinner. It works great in my Solo, and I've done this method in my Herbie too. I like to keep my Dr. Dabber ready to go for travel.
MedicatedPensioner
Well-Known Member
Well, after reading all of the spacer posts here I decided to give them another try but once again had sticking problems. Way back when they arrived I tried a spacer flat side down and it got stuck. I have been back to using oil cans since. This time I tried the "sandwich" method many here rave about. It seemed ideal for the small loads I like. Unfortunately the top spacer stuck tightly and tooth picks would get it out. I tried pulling it with a large paperclip and eventually broke the spacer. Interestingly, the bottom spacer came right out with no problem. I think I had one bad spacer and one good. If DaVinci wants to send me a replacement I will give the sandwich approach a try again. Otherwise it is back to oil cans for me.
mixchu69
Well-Known Member
Why not use the one good glass spacer like you use the oil can, the advantage being the extra holes for more airflow. Just a thought. But I understand if you are using smaller loads, the oil can might be better. I love how people experiment and find ways to fit their preference. I just fill half the load with medicine and drop one spacer with the holes facing down.
MedicatedPensioner
Well-Known Member
Maybe I will give it a try. When I first tried I did it that way but the spacer got jammed. If I am right that one spacer was bad maybe the remaining one won't get jammed b
That's my preferred method of using the spacer. One spacer on top, holes side down to keep the load packed. I've found two in a bowl makes the load too small for me.
Silvercloud538
Well-Known Member
@Davinci_vaporizer ,agreed ,double spacers will make for extremely short sessions ,but can
be easily extended by finger mixing @ 35% decent crumble w/ herb ( ie., more than doubles
session time for this patient )
be easily extended by finger mixing @ 35% decent crumble w/ herb ( ie., more than doubles
session time for this patient )
I did try to sandwich between both spacers last night. had to pack it pretty tight to get it all in there, it got the job done but as mentioned it was a shorter session. I then tried it with the bottom spacer holes down. The cup of the spacer holds a little extra bud. Top spacer holes down. This worked good also and last a bit longer
My fav is still, bud crumble with 2 jacks and the top spacer only, holes down. This = very well medicated...lol
My fav is still, bud crumble with 2 jacks and the top spacer only, holes down. This = very well medicated...lol
DanAndroid
Of no particular interest
I've been away for quite a while but have had quite a bit of varied experience with my Ascent over that period of time as well. Consider this sort of like a review covering a longer period of time rather than a "first impressions" or a soon thereafter "now that I've gotten used to it" type review.
This is like a review of a car after 100,000 miles. But not all in the same "car". LOL
I'm now on my third Ascent. First one lasted about 3 months and went from working to a brick. My second one lasted about 9 months and started to charge intermittently and then not at all requiring to be connected to power to even vape and then, not even that, my second brick.
I love my Ascent but I don't know what I'm going to do after the warranty runs out. If I knew what the problem with the unit was the first and second time things might be different but all I know at this point is that it is random luck and mine has been bad so far. But it's that way sometimes with life general. ;-)
On the topic of "spacers", I tried everything, glass "flowers", an oil pot, cotton and high temp fiber, you name it. What I find works best is take a small pipe screen, one about twice the size of the screens that come with the Ascent, at least they came with my first two, and mold it around the bottom of an oil pot so that it can be fit snugly in the oven, without the oil-pot of course.
Then put one of the screens that came with it at the bottom to cover the inlet holes, place material on top of that and the oil-pot formed pipe screen on top of the material with the parts or 'wings' that extended beyond the edges of the oil-pot pointed up, swing the oven in place and vape.
Push the top screen down to compress the material or not as you normally do although my experience is that I can just barely fill the bottom of the oven and leave the top screen so that it's 'wings' are just below the surface and she vapes like a champ.
In other words, not compressed but instead "loose as a goose" seems to work best in the Ascent although your frequent flyer miles may vary.
A screen at the bottom keeps particulate from falling out the bottom and the top screen keeps the bottom glass piece relatively free of material and one needn't worry about the orientation of the ascent as much.
A couple of things I found a bit different with my third than I did between the first and second is for one thing, the first replacement was a complete boxed-set, this time it was exactly what I sent them, the unit and its power supply. I've no problem with that but I thought the change in policy interesting. Interesting in a good way though. Interesting in that I found it hard to believe they replaced the entire set previously. I would have been and was happy getting only what I sent them.
One thing that I'm not liking about my third one though and that is the fit of the top glass piece. I don't know if the length of them have changed between my first replacement and my second or what but in the unit I have now, the mouth piece sticks up about 3/4" above where it would sit flush with the inner surface of the wide-mouth area when the on/off button is located.
Does anyone know if that sticking out is a "design feature" or if the old glass mouth pieces are longer than the "new"?
I'm thinking of going to a hardware store, buying a glass cutter and shortening my mouth pieces because I use the handy dandy metal pick that fits in the surface of the wide-mouth area a lot and now I have to take the mouth piece out to get to it.
Hopping back and forth between topics, I've gotten pretty good vapes out of a tarry like substance that I just globbed into an oil pot and vaped at 375. I didn't get the clouds that I can with flowers but what there was was pretty good and the desired affect was definitely obtained. But then again, this is probably another of those Your Mileage May Vary so take it for what it's worth.
Anyhoo, that's my 2 yen for the day.
This is like a review of a car after 100,000 miles. But not all in the same "car". LOL
I'm now on my third Ascent. First one lasted about 3 months and went from working to a brick. My second one lasted about 9 months and started to charge intermittently and then not at all requiring to be connected to power to even vape and then, not even that, my second brick.
I love my Ascent but I don't know what I'm going to do after the warranty runs out. If I knew what the problem with the unit was the first and second time things might be different but all I know at this point is that it is random luck and mine has been bad so far. But it's that way sometimes with life general. ;-)
On the topic of "spacers", I tried everything, glass "flowers", an oil pot, cotton and high temp fiber, you name it. What I find works best is take a small pipe screen, one about twice the size of the screens that come with the Ascent, at least they came with my first two, and mold it around the bottom of an oil pot so that it can be fit snugly in the oven, without the oil-pot of course.
Then put one of the screens that came with it at the bottom to cover the inlet holes, place material on top of that and the oil-pot formed pipe screen on top of the material with the parts or 'wings' that extended beyond the edges of the oil-pot pointed up, swing the oven in place and vape.
Push the top screen down to compress the material or not as you normally do although my experience is that I can just barely fill the bottom of the oven and leave the top screen so that it's 'wings' are just below the surface and she vapes like a champ.
In other words, not compressed but instead "loose as a goose" seems to work best in the Ascent although your frequent flyer miles may vary.
A screen at the bottom keeps particulate from falling out the bottom and the top screen keeps the bottom glass piece relatively free of material and one needn't worry about the orientation of the ascent as much.
A couple of things I found a bit different with my third than I did between the first and second is for one thing, the first replacement was a complete boxed-set, this time it was exactly what I sent them, the unit and its power supply. I've no problem with that but I thought the change in policy interesting. Interesting in a good way though. Interesting in that I found it hard to believe they replaced the entire set previously. I would have been and was happy getting only what I sent them.
One thing that I'm not liking about my third one though and that is the fit of the top glass piece. I don't know if the length of them have changed between my first replacement and my second or what but in the unit I have now, the mouth piece sticks up about 3/4" above where it would sit flush with the inner surface of the wide-mouth area when the on/off button is located.
Does anyone know if that sticking out is a "design feature" or if the old glass mouth pieces are longer than the "new"?
I'm thinking of going to a hardware store, buying a glass cutter and shortening my mouth pieces because I use the handy dandy metal pick that fits in the surface of the wide-mouth area a lot and now I have to take the mouth piece out to get to it.
Hopping back and forth between topics, I've gotten pretty good vapes out of a tarry like substance that I just globbed into an oil pot and vaped at 375. I didn't get the clouds that I can with flowers but what there was was pretty good and the desired affect was definitely obtained. But then again, this is probably another of those Your Mileage May Vary so take it for what it's worth.
Anyhoo, that's my 2 yen for the day.
Interesting about your mouth piece.. The tolerance for glass manufacturing is fairly big compared to other materials so the glass pieces do vary. Some people here would argue that a stem too long is a blessing in disguise because they like to use the water tool as a mouth piece to get the most air tight vaporizing experience possible.
Good tips on the screens. I've played around with all kinds of different screen variations and I have found some that work just as well as the spacer in terms of keeping your load small and packed.
The reason your second unit was different then the first is because we began doing repairs instead of replacing units. The other advantage to this, is that when your unit is out of warranty we now have an option to pay for a repair after the two years is up.
Thanks for the good tips!
DanAndroid
Of no particular interest
The mouth piece issue doesn't seem to be a tolerance issue as the internal pathway makes a definite diameter change at the point at which the mouth piece won't pass through and, the glassware from my first Ascent fit my second without issue.
Anything's possible though.
No biggy in any event because as I mentioned worse case scenario is I shorten the stem. I've done laboratory glassware before and although it's been a while, I do have three stems to practice on to get it right for at least one. ;-)
Moral of the story, it seems that one can get good results almost no matter what one does. Donncha hate it when that happens? :-)
What works best for "you" is well, kinda sorta what works best for "you", most of the time, hopefully.
On the subject of "packed", I've found that the Ascent effectively works as a conduction vape if packed and more of a convection vape if loose.
Either way, I can cloud you out with nothing more than an oven-bottom covering, packed or loose. Does that make me ambidextrous?
One thing among many that I love about the Ascent is its flexibility. From a one-hit-wonder to a party pass-around it fits the range pretty well. That seems to be due to the vaporization being performed and delivered simply and efficiently without a lot of complication.
Vaporize on one end of a glass pipe and inhale on the other. Not much to get lost in translation there.
As Einstein is said to have mentioned, [paraphrasing] "Keep it simple, but not TOO simple.".
On the reliability issue though, maybe a bit more complication would have helped? LOL
Seriously though, of course I would love to have the confidence to know that a given device will last forever and a day but at the same time, if I didn't love my Ascent as much as I did and do, I wouldn't have even bothered to return and replace the first one.
You guys are now repairing instead of just replacing? Cool!!!
Eons ago I was a tech in a R&R department for a phone equipment manufacturer and a large part of what went into future development came out of our Repair and Returns department so it's good that you guys can get some hands-on with failed units. That's a significant progression.
More so though, when I got the entire kit as a replacement I was like, "So what am I supposed to do with this?" I can easily clean and rotate glassware and screens so that the initial set would do me and the oil-pots while having their uses, aren't something I needed four of LOL and, I don't read manuals anyway out of principle ;-) so I needed two manuals why? LOL
I did appreciate the second sticker though. The back of my car is now better balanced because it has one Ascent sticker at either side of the back bumper. I've found that good balance enhances the driving experience. LOL
Anyhoo, I was very happy to see that being able to essentially extend the possible lifetime out indefinitely with your being able to make repairs.
For what it's worth, NOTHING I own that I really care that much about is maintenance free.
Except when it's not, the Ascent is a very solid unit from both a reliable/repeatable point of view as well as an ease of use point of view.
My pleasure. :-)
Oh, one thing I've been meaning to ask, my Ascent is Burled Walnut, which actually matches the interior of my car perfectly, but that's a subject for a different thread, but it seems to me that all three of the Ascents I have had had different patterns in the grain pattern of the burled walnut.
Is each one actually unique in that regard or is it just that I didn't have each successive one at the same time as the previous one and so not being able to directly compare, had/have to rely on a memory that has exceeded it's "Best if used by :" date?
mixchu69
Well-Known Member
I find the ascent a very polarizing vape, some hate it and others love it. I was using carolkings method of using my 14mm gong and find the vapor thicker than the traditional mouthpiece, but too warm for my liking. Good for bubblers. But for dry hitting, I like the vapor-air ratio of the original mouthpiece, much cooler hits.
wiimatthew
Well-Known Member
help something went wrong with my ascent 
just got it returned and fixed from warrenty just to brake the same day
device goes non responcive
just got it returned and fixed from warrenty just to brake the same day
device goes non responcive
Vicki
Herbal Alchemist
help something went wrong with my ascent
just got it returned and fixed from warrenty just to brake the same day
device goes non responcive
If it was just returned from warranty repair, I would call them back and tell them what is happening.
Yes! Each Burl Wood has a unique pattern. I'm sure there are some matches out there though.
Yeah it's really great. We know now more than ever whats going wrong with units.
Oh no!! Definitely get in touch with the customer service rep that helped you and we'll make this right. If you need any assistance or have any questions you can PM me as well.help something went wrong with my ascent
just got it returned and fixed from warrenty just to brake the same day
sickmanfraud
Well-Known Member
I thought that sending new glass stems and oil cans was to make up for the fact that we had to pay shipping to the factory??
If the units are being returned and not replaced shouldn't Da Vinci pay postage both ways??
That is not and was never the case. We never had a repair technician so doing repairs was not an option before so there were a lucky few people that got new units as replacements and that is the only reason they received the accessories that came with it because they got a complete set.
OF
Well-Known Member
That wasn't the agreement. While I understand the idea, I'm not willing to pay more for my unit to cover such costs for others. If/when mine fails I guess I'll consider that?
IMO this is great news. I'm a big fan of 'root cause failure analysis'. I believe it's a critical part of Quality Assurance (as opposed to QC or inspection). The Demming ideas and all that good stuff. To 'close the loop' you need to know the specific cause of field failures. Simply replacing 'problem units' is false economy. It's often cheaper than the repair and analysis (and generates fewer 'my unit didn't use to have that scratch' issues) but in the end doing so doesn't improve the product. I've worked for enlightened places that replaced failed goods with new but did the root cause analysis anyway (then scrapped the units in one case, sold as 'refurb' or 'demo' in others). That knowledge was deemed to be 'well worth the expense', with up to 10% of COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) reserved for that purpose. Something like doing autopsies on dead livestock?
Replacing with new and scrapping the old might be lucky for that individual, but repairing (or at least analyzing) is I think lucky for us all. In the end it makes for better products. A positive step forward, even if the bean counters don't like it.
OF
sickmanfraud
Well-Known Member
Well, Da Vinci, if the only way to not get soaked on postage to return defective units is to buy from retailers that will offer superior service (read PIU).
I would have thought that Da Vinci makes more on the units it sells itself, but now, if I were in the market for an Ascent I would buy from Da Vinci as a last resort.
My Carbon Fiber Ascent was sent to me with an oven that does not fit the oil jars (and prob the spacers).
How could quality assurance let that go? And, why is getting it fixed on my nickel??
I bought two Ascents, both from Da Vinci directly. Won't make that mistake again.
Just want to be clear buying an Ascent was not the mistake, getting from Da Vinci was.
I would have thought that Da Vinci makes more on the units it sells itself, but now, if I were in the market for an Ascent I would buy from Da Vinci as a last resort.
My Carbon Fiber Ascent was sent to me with an oven that does not fit the oil jars (and prob the spacers).
How could quality assurance let that go? And, why is getting it fixed on my nickel??
I bought two Ascents, both from Da Vinci directly. Won't make that mistake again.
Just want to be clear buying an Ascent was not the mistake, getting from Da Vinci was.
OF
Well-Known Member
Currently being Beta tested by a group of volunteers (who responded to DVs call for volunteers here a couple months back). Not yet available outside that group.
Depending on the testing, they may release them as is, or tweak to tooling (at least one guy reports his didn't fit).
In the mean time I suggest you try the glass flowers if you haven't. Same basic idea, same sort of positive results IMO.
OF