alright, after waiting forever to get my ascent I couldn't wait any longer. Like thecerberus, mine was completely discharged on arrival and took at least a minute of being plugged in to display the battery charging light. I turned the unit on and it was fully operational - from total discharge - so I (incorrectly maybe) assumed that the batteries had some kinda passthrough technology (powering strictly off the ac current) and fired her up.
1st I inspected and blew through the mouthpiece while the bowl was heated. No visible offgassing at all. a slight smell for about a minute and that was it.
Load #1: I tore apart (by hand) and packed a full bowl of A+ flowers. Heated to 375. Me and another took about 5 hits/per. Tasted fantastic, but the vape was a little wispy. effect was immediate and good from 1st hit. turned up to 400. We each took about another 5 hits. Still tasted great, hits were a little less wispy, but not huge. Turned up to 430. Still tasted really good, who can keep track of how many hits anymore - probably another 5 per - and visible vapor definitely increased but, but not really 'clouds'. Dumped out to inspect and it was pretty fully browned, but we coulda kept getting hits.
Load #2: course ground 1/2 tightly packed bowl of B+ flowers of same strain. Tasted about the same as the A+ version. Didn't hit right, from the getgo - not substantial hits or vapor at any temp. dumped it out. still not much color, readded to bowl hit some more till uniform brown. I doubt we woulda got 1/2 the hits as from a full packed bowl and none of them were satisfying.
Load #3: I put about a pencil eraser sized chunk of bho (earwax consistency) into 1 of the glass jars w/ no lid. I substituted the straight adaptor for this load so that I would have the option of hitting w/ & w/o the pinnacle WT.(When I removed the glass stem and screen, they were virtually spotless after 2 bowls (a couple of leaves stuck to the outside of the glass screen. Inserting the adaptor, it catches at a point - but can easily be pushed to a lower position where it catches more firmly. Doesn't look as humongous as I thought like this, maybe some people are not fully inserting them?) cranked her up to 410. fantastic taste, wispy vapor, immediate effects from 1st hit. cranked her up to 430. better vapor, but nothing like flowers at same temp. took about 10 hits per. Turned off, let just slightly cool, inserted and attached jar lid using tool to remove while hot. Could probably have equal sessions another 10x on that load.
Load #4: Reloaded A+ flowers, hand torn, fully packed bowl. Left straight adaptor in to hit flowers w/ & w/o hydrotube. So far, this seems to be how the ascent performs best. Nice to get thicker vapors w/ a water attachment.
Initial Conclusion: Keep in mind this all happened in about 2 hours - w/ about a 2-3 hour charge from a completely dead unit. GOOD - Never tasted or saw any offgassing. Besides a slightly foggy window (when unit is off only) no visual defects. Looks and feels great. Great taste. VERY effective. Never had any particulate even enter the screen after 3 bowls of flower and 1 of oil. BAD - So far, not huge clouds, but plenty to keep me happy. It really wants to be fully loaded and packed. Will take a little tinkering to find the sweet spot. Still lots of unknowns.
I apologize for the length and my super unscientific method, but thought I'd try to balance some of the current perspective. It seems as if they work fine (so far) if you received a good unit - but many seemed not to this 1st run.
edit: I just wanted to add that the lower portion of the body (the bowl) does retain heat and keep cooking after the unit is turned off. I plan on hitting it a few times after the unit is powered down to solve this.
And after reading some of the posts that occurred while I was writing this novel, I thought that I would try a bowl of kief for myself. fully loaded glass jar, no lid - no effect at any temp. looks darker upon removal, but that's it.