Ascent Vaporizer by DaVinci

[KeroZen]

Nah it's not tricky at all, check the BULLI thread. Last setup I tested I was able to get vapor under 5 seconds from cold using only 18W of power, and not even in TC mode. On average we work with between 20 and 60W max. Zion/Milaana are about 60W peak. S&B Mighty is 30W... (forgot to list that one and the Crafty btw, but it's hybrid convection/conduction and they are overpriced for so much plastic... at least that's my opinion)

The problem was that previously the lithium batteries we had were not up to the task, but now with all those high drain IMR's it's easy really.

And we're talking about like $60 of investment here, and some DIY skills of course, but nothing hard.

 

[OF]

Nope, love it! But just thought if I was buying a second vape it could be a convection unit. As I mentioned, I don't have the option to try any other models out so I would be buying blind, as it were.

Thanks for the feedback, I suspected as much. Guys 'read it on the web' that convection is superior to the rest and nobody wants second best.......

Folks, I think, tend to forget that a lot of thought, design, testing and so on goes into most vape efforts. For sure the more successful ones have gone through this important refinement process. Ascent, for instance, no doubt tried a lot of configurations and programing before they risked all that lovely money tooling up for production. They're in the business to produce solid products that sell well and can return a profit, and they are professionals. If convection would have done a better job you can bet we'd be seeing it?

So, on that assumption (that being conduction is not a deal breaker) I took the goals to be reliability (meaning we need a history of successful service.....new vapes are disqualified on that basis), taste performance on par with Ascent (since you made no complaint) or better and improved stealth (while not that obvious, Ascent is hardly the last word here). That last, to me, lets out fire driven units like VG, Daisy and VG (which are reliable, well respected, but hardly discrete in public places.

KZ suggests, rightly I think, ESV. I did not due to very limited battery life (by Ascent standards) and (how shall I put this......) 'taste that can prove problematic'? While metal finish has been well thought out, ESV can be hard to keep clean enough to please the picky and is, unfortunately, far from as reliable as many of the other choices. I very much like mine, and recommend them in other cases, but here I did not. KZ disagrees I guess, you decide?

Good luck with it, lots of good choices. But IMO Air and FMs should serve well and have small chance of failure. Price advantage to the FMs I think (you wouldn't feel cheated if it died after a year's hard use, or shouldn't?) but Air offers owner battery replacement when that time comes. And for routine use, I think Air will get more use, I sure use mine more than Ascent.

Your call, good luck with the happy duty.

OF

 

[KeroZen]

Nah don't get me wrong, I answered what I did because he was asking for convection. But I still use conduction devices (mostly my various FlowerMates) when it's more appropriate.

Convection is not the holy Grail. It has pros but also cons. For the cons the most obvious one is that all this hot air is hard on the throat and you need to take large inhalations overall, like 10+ seconds, and vapor tends to feel hotter. The temperature regulation (when it's present) is usually less precise and you end up with full bodied hits covering a larger band (for instance you can extract pretty much everything by staying at a given temperature or power setting, whereas with digital conduction it's almost chirurgical, you can deplete the low temps and vapor stops until you up the temp and it restarts)

 

[Ricardo]

and some DIY skills of course, but nothing hard.

You see, that pretty much rules me out. Also, again, I am in Europe and can't be shipping units to and fro for repair/modification etc. Some good-looking vapes you mentioned though the Firefly 2 and Firewood 3 are currently unavailable.

Thanks for the feedback, I suspected as much. Guys 'read it on the web' that convection is superior to the rest and nobody wants second best.......

Guilty as charged!

So, on that assumption (that being conduction is not a deal breaker) I took the goals to be reliability (meaning we need a history of successful service.....new vapes are disqualified on that basis), taste performance on par with Ascent (since you made no complaint) or better and improved stealth (while not that obvious, Ascent is hardly the last word here).

Spot on!

Price advantage to the FMs I think (you wouldn't feel cheated if it died after a year's hard use, or shouldn't?)

Flower Mate Mini Pro and Arizer Air are neck and neck at the moment - Air aesthetically more pleasing.

I answered what I did because he was asking for convection.

I was indeed, and appreciate the recommendations. Am now coming to understand that a portable convection unit might not be what I need, although I sure like those wood finishes on the Firewood 3 (4).

For the cons the most obvious one is that all this hot air is hard on the throat

This is a big con.

- basically what I'd like is a "DaVinci Ascent Mini Pro" .

 

[KeroZen]

Well there are of course huge pros! You can get giant hits and super fast extraction. If you need to cash a load in less than 5 minutes while not getting that roasted popcorn taste, convection is the way to go. You can extract fast with conduction by starting directly at high temperature but the taste is spoiled after two hits.

With convection you can take a few hits and put the device down and it will not continue cooking. You can get vapor in under 5 seconds from cold (no waiting 50+ seconds)

I don't think either is more efficient power wise as I get strictly the same number of bowls out of two 18650's be it inside my FlowerMate or Ascent vs my Zion.

For laid back, low temperature, long sessions, I prefer conduction. For big and fast extraction, I prefer convection.

 

[OF]

Flower Mate Mini Pro and Arizer Air are neck and neck at the moment - Air aesthetically more pleasing.

Another factor with the Pro over the V5 Mini is reduced battery life. It uses a higher performance battery in the smaller space (the display and other stuff takes valuable battery space in that tiny package......) to compensate some but it's really only good for 3 sessions not four as I use them. IMO a big loss. If the 'battery meter' was more useful (it doesn't show the 'how much is left part' in a useful manner IMO) I might feel otherwise, but my advice is if you don't need the variable temperatures reconsider the cheaper V5 Mini?

The Pro is a bit faster on heat up, maybe 15 seconds?

Otherwise I agree, Air has a lot to recommend it. And with the short stems it's pretty compact. And, in 'real world' places without factory support having the easy replacement of the battery and a few spare stems puts you way ahead I think?

Fun/tough call for sure. Then again, on that list I think it's hard to make a bad decision. Either should be excellent backup for Ascent, either has a fighting chance to take over the 'number one Vape around here' title.

Good luck. Enjoy the results?

OF

 

[Anaconda Gs]

So I experimented last night with using stainless steel mesh screens as my alternative to the glass spacers since I have so many laying around. The mesh screens are used in the SSV wand, Vapor Bros. wand. I rolled it up to create a cylinder and that helped to keep all the bud on the bottom of the chamber. Setting the temp to 390F, I got decent clouds with the same amount of bud in a Arizer Solo/Air bowl. This is maybe my 6th session with it and I am quite satisfied with this device so far.

 

[OF]

I rolled it up to create a cylinder and that helped to keep all the bud on the bottom of the chamber.

Fun experiments, I played a bit with it before giving into the 'all glass vapor path' mantra and ending up with the glass flowers which still IMO outperform the spacers (more surface area, better distribution) but are a hassle to load. You might give them a try, AFAIK everyone who has found success......at least nobody reported failure?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008Y9PNAQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I load seven usually, in two layers starting with two on their sides in the bottom covered by herb, a second layer of 3, more bud and the last two 'thumbtack style' through the top. This also keeps the glass screen to the MP cleaner.

With mesh screens I got best results by avoiding the bottom of the bowl (there's no heater there, it's in the walls.....) but using smaller pieces to hold as much of the load as possible against the side walls (where the heat is). I got best 'easy loading' in fact by putting the single mass of screen in the center and poking the herb in around it. You might try that? Put the screen cylinder in the center first?

Enjoy your experiments, good results can be great? Even the failures can be pretty good.

OF

 

[Anaconda Gs]

Fun experiments, I played a bit with it before giving into the 'all glass vapor path' mantra and ending up with the glass flowers which still IMO outperform the spacers (more surface area, better distribution) but are a hassle to load. You might give them a try, AFAIK everyone who has found success......at least nobody reported failure?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008Y9PNAQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I load seven usually, in two layers starting with two on their sides in the bottom covered by herb, a second layer of 3, more bud and the last two 'thumbtack style' through the top. This also keeps the glass screen to the MP cleaner.

With mesh screens I got best results by avoiding the bottom of the bowl (there's no heater there, it's in the walls.....) but using smaller pieces to hold as much of the load as possible against the side walls (where the heat is). I got best 'easy loading' in fact by putting the single mass of screen in the center and poking the herb in around it. You might try that? Put the screen cylinder in the center first?

Enjoy your experiments, good results can be great? Even the failures can be pretty good.

OF

Ahhh Okay. Thanks for the tip about where the heat source comes from. I''l try it out when I get home.

 

[sickmanfraud]

Anyone looking for an inexpensive backup vape should Consider the Flowermate Aura ($55 on sale at PIU).

Supposed to have 2 hr battery life and has digital temp control.

 

[Archaicrevival]

Anyone looking for an inexpensive backup vape should Consider the Flowermate Aura ($55 on sale at PIU).

Supposed to have 2 hr battery life and has digital temp control.

Vapcap is cheaper 30$ www.dynavap.com

 

[OF]

Vapcap is cheaper 30$ www.dynavap.com

Very true, but hardly interchangeable. I can hand my Aura to 'darn near anyone' and get good results but have trouble getting 'no brainer use' from mine when I'm trying to. You can usually find a VG around that price, which while also 'not as automatic' is, I think, easier to do a session on.

Lots of good options out there.

OF

 

[Ricardo]

Haven't bought my back-up yet. Local Grow Shop is getting Airs & Solos this week and I've asked him if he can source me a Flowermate V5 Mini - the only cheapo they carry is the Grenco which seems to be universally hated on FC. I don't want to spend a fortune and I don't want to shelve the Ascent so I'd really like if I could get the Flowermate but I'm afraid that when I see the brand new Arizers I'll end up with an Air.

 

[sickmanfraud]

I need some help here, PLEASE!

I got some new glass for my Extreme Q recently so I have been spending a lot of time with my Q.

I remembered what @OF said about not storing batteries too full so I took out my Ascent Carbon Fiber which I loaded up two weeks ago for a session to lower the battery for storage.

Turned it on to my pre set session of 185, 195, 205 for 5 minutes each.

After 2-3 draws the unit smelled a bit and I could see "smoke" in the draw straw.

Quickly turned off unit. AVB the color of used coffee grounds. There was combustion.

Should I do further testing or should I just send to Di Vinci (I believe I am a few months out of warranty but $60 to Di Vinci is a lot cheaper than a new vape).

 

[OF]

Quickly turned off unit. AVB the color of used coffee grounds. There was combustion.

Should I do further testing or should I just send to Di Vinci (I believe I am a few months out of warranty but $60 to Di Vinci is a lot cheaper than a new vape).

Well that doesn't sound very good now does it? The usual practice in such systems is to rig them so a sensor failure will defeat heating. Sometimes this is 'done in hardware', that is it automatically is driven to zero heating. Sometimes there's a 'reality check', failed sensors in such cases might report the oven temperature as unrealistically low and the program will not heat until it gets a realistic reading. This is, obviously, to prevent the sort of 'run away' you seem to be having.

Before I sent it in I'd run one more test: Set the heat to say 100C (where we know no vaping happens) and try again with a fresh pinch of herb?

As I recall, the $60 service includes fresh batteries? That at least takes some of the sting out of it?

Sorry to hear you're having troubles, but it sounds like something that needs sorting out one way or another.

Good luck with it.

OF

 

[sickmanfraud]

Well that doesn't sound very good now does it? The usual practice in such systems is to rig them so a sensor failure will defeat heating. Sometimes this is 'done in hardware', that is it automatically is driven to zero heating. Sometimes there's a 'reality check', failed sensors in such cases might report the oven temperature as unrealistically low and the program will not heat until it gets a realistic reading. This is, obviously, to prevent the sort of 'run away' you seem to be having.

Before I sent it in I'd run one more test: Set the heat to say 100C (where we know no vaping happens) and try again with a fresh pinch of herb?

As I recall, the $60 service includes fresh batteries? That at least takes some of the sting out of it?

Sorry to hear you're having troubles, but it sounds like something that needs sorting out one way or another.

Good luck with it.

OF

Thanks for the reply. I think I will try a pinch of AVB and see what happens.

I'll let you know.

@OF, this is obviously all your fault, If I wasn't trying to lower the charge in the battery....

 

[OF]

@OF, this is obviously all your fault, If I wasn't trying to lower the charge in the battery....

Understood. Glad I didn't use my real name when I came to town, no real cowboys do you know.

Then again, you really should thank me! If you had not done this you would have pulled out the 'assumed good' unit at a later date to find it failing you......... IMO much better to deal with before that happens?

OF

 

[KeroZen]

It's always @OF's fault, he's the top poster after all!

 

[Davinci_vaporizer]

I need some help here, PLEASE!

I got some new glass for my Extreme Q recently so I have been spending a lot of time with my Q.

I remembered what @OF said about not storing batteries too full so I took out my Ascent Carbon Fiber which I loaded up two weeks ago for a session to lower the battery for storage.

Turned it on to my pre set session of 185, 195, 205 for 5 minutes each.

After 2-3 draws the unit smelled a bit and I could see "smoke" in the draw straw.

Quickly turned off unit. AVB the color of used coffee grounds. There was combustion.

Should I do further testing or should I just send to Di Vinci (I believe I am a few months out of warranty but $60 to Di Vinci is a lot cheaper than a new vape).

Hi! I PM'd you to get information for warranty. The Ascent bowl should not get that hot. I'd love to take a look at the unit and see whats going on. Sorry for the trouble.

 

[sickmanfraud]

Hi! I PM'd you to get information for warranty. The Ascent bowl should not get that hot. I'd love to take a look at the unit and see whats going on. Sorry for the trouble.

Thanks DaVinci. Already responded to the PM.

 

[Nunavut Tripper]

High Folks

I have a Davinci Ascent that is literally falling apart.The lower oven section popped out of the top section and won't stay in unless I hold it in. I've searched FC and Google ...it's seems nobody has had this problem but me. I E-mailed and phoned DaVinci several days ago and no response from them.
The unit does work but is past warranty however I don't mind paying for the repair .
Has anyone had this issue and how did you solve it ?

 

[sickmanfraud]

High Folks

I have a Davinci Ascent that is literally falling apart.The lower oven section popped out of the top section and won't stay in unless I hold it in. I've searched FC and Google ...it's seems nobody has had this problem but me. I E-mailed and phoned DaVinci several days ago and no response from them.
The unit does work but is past warranty however I don't mind paying for the repair .
Has anyone had this issue and how did you solve it ?

DaVinci has a program where for $60 they will refurbish your Ascent, IIRC they will change the batteries for new ones as part of the out of warranty claims.

 

[Nunavut Tripper]

DaVinci finally got back to me and are going to take care of the issue. In the meantime this one still works if I hold it together.

 

[WakeAndVape]

this one still works if I hold it together.

that's how I feel about my mind...

Are the outer shell pieces falling off or are you talking about the electronic components?

 

[Nunavut Tripper]

that's how I feel about my mind...

Are the outer shell pieces falling off or are you talking about the electronic components?

No the lower oven part pulls out of the upper section