M22 Final test and review, as posted on reddit. Pt. 1
First things first - the m22/bubbler (and final ESCC plus upgrade parts) tested here were received free of charge for testing and critical reviewing purposes. I have also purchased a second m22 plus silicone base kit, with the intention of gifting the free unit to some local person unable to afford one - as I've done with all other products I've tested and reviewed. Outside of the opportunity to try it a little earlier than I would have otherwise, I will not profit from testing this.
All testing was done on my LostVape Therion DNA 75c, YiHi ML class, and Eleaf Pico75 unless otherwise noted.
This review is focused almost entirely on m22 use with the ESCC since that is its main reason for existing. However, coil use is an option - so I'll get that out of the way...
The m22 is supplied with an alumina-ceramic cup specifically intended for use with the supplied (it comes with 10 coils) flattened oct-core clapton coils. With the updated cup (standard in the final. Supplied free to early adopters) fit is perfect and installation is easy, even with my poor eyesight and shakey hands. Performance is excellent. Temperature control in SS316L mode is superb, imo. Accuracy of +/- 10°f according to my thermocouple. Flavor is likewise very good - best flavor from a coil I've personally experienced. Vapor density is also very good, tho it's worth noting that, as with all coils, very high-density vapor comes at a slight cost in flavor. Other coil styles (barrel, accordion, etc) can be used too, tho you'll sacrifice the advantages offered by the flattened coil. Reclaim is minimal with the supplied coils and is less of an issue than with my other coiled attys for a couple reasons. One is that, with correct load size, the coil wicks everything I load and very little can 'run away' from the hot coil because it vaporizes before that can happen - flattened coils tend to do this better than other styles. The other is there are fewer nooks/crannies for vapor to get into. My other rebuildables use more bits and pieces in their design with more opportunities for reclaim infiltration into places it doesn't belong. A full teardown and iso cleaning is much easier with the m22, ime. Worth mentioning - like *all* complex-wire (clapton, twisted, staple, etc) coils, rosin use will irretrievably gunk coils *much* faster than solvent-based extract. Flower rosin being the worst offender....
Fortunately, the ESCC is ideal for *all* rosin. Much better than any coil and better than any other existing bucket (more on that below).
Tech stuff: tested on dna75c and pico75 with AVS-supplied custom TFR temperature control; on a Yihi ML class and pico75 using AVS-supplied TCR value 123 - 127. 40 to 50 watts. Pre-heat used - 150% of set power, temp (400°f) or time (2 seconds) limited according to the mods abilities. Cold resistance on mine is 0.685 ohm on a clean deck with correctly installed new clips. Temperature for tc accuracy testing was 470°F to allow both thermocouple and cotton-singe tests. BHO crumble, BHO shatter, distillate, thc-a crystalline, and home-pressed flower rosin were used for 'live' tests. Tests took place over a 20 day period and were done under real-life daily use conditions (this ain't no lab... Lol).
I'll get my sole real area of complaint out of the way - the spring clips. Unless installed just right (not deformed by getting cocked while 'driving it home' etc ) resistance can be inconsistent. Careful installation is a **must**. *On mine*, if cold resistance reads 0.8 ohm or higher with new clips and/or the cold value shifts more than about 0.1 after a few loads - I've probably got clip installation issues (or overloading). 90% of the time I get it right - considering my hands shake, I consider that to be an adequate success rate. Something a bit more 'macro' would be good, tho. Because vapor inevitably condenses on every surface it's exposed to, some does end-up on the ESCC legs. This is the main reason for resistance shifts requiring cleaning/clip replacement. When used with either the bubbler or a BB, this happens sooner than with the top-cap - vapor is blocked from that area by incoming air with the top-cap but fully fills the area with bubbler/BB. Regardless of your preferred method of use, clip replacement is going to be required on a regular basis as a part of normal maintenance. Probably at least as often as iso soaking and/or post-hole cleaning (I don't reuse clips once removed, and thorough cleaning requires it) - how often depends mostly on load control and controlling draw-speed. Insist on 4 huge clouds per load (like many demo vids depict) and frequent deep cleaning/clip replacement *is* required, ime. Not surprising since loads like that amount to misuse - not being layg uncooked-grain-of-rice sized, as recommended.
... can't wait to finally get a shipping notice ... and then the couple/few weeks wait for it to get here ...
(and I ordered September 24th) I e-mailed Brent back right away to add the bottomless banger and M22 bubbler as well, + to pay for the DHL shipping (instead of USPS). Excited!!!
