dotLeaf

[tennstrong]

This caught my eye initially w/ the form factor - however I'm rather familiar with dotmod and it has sort of been an indicator of what I'm seeing around here. Initially dotmod had a rather good rda (~2013) that got them most of their namesake, but they kept re-releasing the same product which they then outsourced manufacturing (US->China) while retaining high prices [& losing quality in tolerances], now shining off the success of their dotaio (an in-essence clone of the billet box) which has mediocre reviews & a rather underwhelming chipset. Personally I'd say wait on it (especially with the cracking issues, regardless of what someone says a cracked ceramic deteriorates into dust).

 

[MikeRotchHertz]

Cleaning all the plant matter out of the chamber appeared to resolve the issue, temporarily at least. I ran through a bowl this morning and no combustion.

At least it's still usable, but I'll probably just put it away until the new chamber arrives. Good thing i have other devices to keep my attention.

A friend made a good point to me earlier about the fact that they already have a solution in place and set to have a replacement part arrive less than 2 weeks. That's a helluva fast turnaround for that kind of mock up, testing, and production, so they must've already known about the problem.

Perhaps they have excellent teams as an established ecig manufacture, but it probably was already in the works. Not sure if you should still be continuing with your product launch with faulty parts, but at least they are working to remedy everything quickly.

 

[maremaresing]

LOL "Cracked Ovens" =/= cracked ceramic in the case of the dotleaf, though it might for some vapes. No worries there. Cracked ULTEM outer casing is a concern, though not health wise, and has been discussed at length. Looks like dotmod has already fixed that, though. Regardless, if you are on the fence about this vape, just wait a month or two. It will still be there when you want it.

In the name of Science?
View attachment 5041

I didn't want to try to get a soldering iron down thru that little hole to desolder the power leads, so I just snipped 'em.

You can just barely make out the heating element embedded in the walls of the oven (which feels ceramic). Shine a light through the walls of the oven and they really stand out:

View attachment 5042

'Pretty slick design!

Thanks for taking one for the team and taking such pretty photos! If that ceramic oven looks "industry standard" then I'm even more baffled at how the dotleaf produces such quality vapor and perfectly even ABV. Given my prior experience with conduction vapes, I did not expect it to be remotely like this.

Thinking back to the times I had with a cheap GPEN, you'd get bad tasting vapor, black parts in the ABV, all that. The ALFA had good vapor, but taste dropped off fast. Also the airpath got gunked up quickly, which is why I like the short airpath on the dotleaf.

So yeah, I have no idea what they do differently here. I do now see how they can get some sort of convection going on, with the aluminum fins/holes being directly wrapped around the heating element. At the very least it utilizes waste heat that wouldn't go into the oven otherwise, and allows quick cooling of the components.

It's a very slick package and the build quality looks and feels great. I love that they're using the same mechanical platform for the dotLeaf. It makes it really discrete, too. "Flower Vape" is probably not the first thing that will come to a person's mind if they see the dotLeaf out in public.

View attachment 5048

I see your carb hole there! I wouldn't modify my adapters, but I'm really glad you are experimenting with things. Still jealous of your helix bubbler with a GONG instead of bowl. Those do not exist anymore, and I don't feel like holding something in place while I inhale.

Last night I realized the dual 18650 case fits perfectly in the spot the dotleaf took! Now that I keep my dotleaf in a DESCE pouch, this leaves a nice spot to keep all my accessories and spare cell in one place. Maybe there are cases for these 18650 carriers that would also work for the dotleaf?

 

[Jah75]

LOL "Cracked Ovens" =/= cracked ceramic in the case of the dotleaf, though it might for some vapes. No worries there. Cracked ULTEM outer casing is a concern, though not health wise, and has been discussed at length. Looks like dotmod has already fixed that, though. Regardless, if you are on the fence about this vape, just wait a month or two. It will still be there when you want it.




Thanks for taking one for the team and taking such pretty photos! If that ceramic oven looks "industry standard" then I'm even more baffled at how the dotleaf produces such quality vapor and perfectly even ABV. Given my prior experience with conduction vapes, I did not expect it to be remotely like this.

Thinking back to the times I had with a cheap GPEN, you'd get bad tasting vapor, black parts in the ABV, all that. The ALFA had good vapor, but taste dropped off fast. Also the airpath got gunked up quickly, which is why I like the short airpath on the dotleaf.

So yeah, I have no idea what they do differently here. I do now see how they can get some sort of convection going on, with the aluminum fins/holes being directly wrapped around the heating element. At the very least it utilizes waste heat that wouldn't go into the oven otherwise, and allows quick cooling of the components.




I see your carb hole there! I wouldn't modify my adapters, but I'm really glad you are experimenting with things. Still jealous of your helix bubbler with a GONG instead of bowl. Those do not exist anymore, and I don't feel like holding something in place while I inhale.

Last night I realized the dual 18650 case fits perfectly in the spot the dotleaf took! Now that I keep my dotleaf in a DESCE pouch, this leaves a nice spot to keep all my accessories and spare cell in one place. Maybe there are cases for these 18650 carriers that would also work for the dotleaf?

I wonder if the efest battery pouch (zippered, holds 3 18650 side by side) would work as storage/pouch

 

[SixStringToker]

Still jealous of your helix bubbler with a GONG instead of bowl.

710Vapors stocks the OG American Helix versions. They had the 14mm version recently but it's now out of stock:

American Helix 14mm Fixed Can

This from American Helix features the helix spiral mouthpiece and a showerhead perc with an included 14mm male banger to fit the 14mm female joint.

www.710vapors.net

They do still have the 10mm version in stock.

Edit: I forgot to mention why the 14mm version is out of stock...





You can use some of the Grav-branded Helix pieces to build your own...

GRAV® Helix™ 14mm, Clear Multi Kit Mouthpiece Attachment

The GRAV® Helix™ 14mm Multi-Purpose Kit Mouthpiece has a 14mm joint and is designed for use with the GRAV® Helix™ 14mm Multi-Purpose Kit.

grav.com

GRAV® Helix™ 14mm Pre-Mix Chamber

The Helix™ Pre-Mix Chamber is 3" long and made on 19mm tubing. Its Venturi chamber features three air intake holes that cool and spin smoke before it enters a water pipe. The pre-mix chamber is designed for use with 14mm female-jointed water pipes and 14mm male accessories.

grav.com

I love putting together modular pieces like that to build FrankenChillers:

 

[Easywider]

Cool and easy. Sipping on L.A Cookies


I cleaned the debris out of my oven and installed a screen. Seems to be good as new, mistvape beaded stem for cooling.

 

[maremaresing]

@Easywider Love that use of the 18mm. Does it need orings or is a perfect fit?

710Vapors stocks the OG American Helix versions. They had the 14mm version recently but it's now out of stock:

American Helix 14mm Fixed Can

This from American Helix features the helix spiral mouthpiece and a showerhead perc with an included 14mm male banger to fit the 14mm female joint.

www.710vapors.net

They do still have the 10mm version in stock.

Edit: I forgot to mention why the 14mm version is out of stock...

View attachment 5082



You can use some of the Grav-branded Helix pieces to build your own...

GRAV® Helix™ 14mm, Clear Multi Kit Mouthpiece Attachment

The GRAV® Helix™ 14mm Multi-Purpose Kit Mouthpiece has a 14mm joint and is designed for use with the GRAV® Helix™ 14mm Multi-Purpose Kit.

grav.com

GRAV® Helix™ 14mm Pre-Mix Chamber

The Helix™ Pre-Mix Chamber is 3" long and made on 19mm tubing. Its Venturi chamber features three air intake holes that cool and spin smoke before it enters a water pipe. The pre-mix chamber is designed for use with 14mm female-jointed water pipes and 14mm male accessories.

grav.com

I love putting together modular pieces like that to build FrankenChillers:

View attachment 5083

Oh wow that's a huge difference in shape and draw. The 14mm looks much better. I'm very tempted by the helix 14mm mouthpiece, but worry that it will let too much air in to work properly.

Plus I already have this which I'm quite fond of so I can't justify it:

It works well, taming the hottest of vapes like using a huge glass piece.

Looks nice too!

 

[Mribisback_]

Thinking about buying one of these bad boys eventually, but have heard that hot vapor is a big issue.

I use these "cooling units" made with Fury Edge capsules and some stainless steel balls on a few of my vapes. They work very well and I was wondering if anyone with a Dotleaf and the capsules could see if you can incorporate it into the vapor path somehow.

 

[SixStringToker]

I got some iso today and soaked/rinsed both of my ovens. One combusted on the second bowl and the other combusted on the third. Blech! When they weren't combusting, they didn't seem to perform at the same level as when they were "new"; very wispy clouds.

The cracks in the plastic are working their way up to the level of the internal fins and I've noticed that, if I cover the top of the oven with my mouth and blow, air comes out of the cracks.

Has anyone else noticed that the opening at the top of the oven does not line up very well with the opening in vape body for the mouthpiece? The fit and finish everywhere else is so perfect. Wtf?



I'm setting this thing aside until the new ovens come out (or I get too frustrated and chuck it into the lake).

 

[AD]

Cool and easy. Sipping on L.A Cookies

View attachment 5089
I cleaned the debris out of my oven and installed a screen. Seems to be good as new, mistvape beaded stem for cooling.

What size screen are you using in the oven?

 

[AD]

I got some iso today and soaked/rinsed both of my ovens. One combusted on the second bowl and the other combusted on the third. Blech! When they weren't combusting, they didn't seem to perform at the same level as when they were "new"; very wispy clouds.

The cracks in the plastic are working their way up to the level of the internal fins and I've noticed that, if I cover the top of the oven with my mouth and blow, air comes out of the cracks.

Has anyone else noticed that the opening at the top of the oven does not line up very well with the opening in vape body for the mouthpiece? The fit and finish everywhere else is so perfect. Wtf?

View attachment 5101

I'm setting this thing aside until the new ovens come out (or I get too frustrated and chuck it into the lake).

Mine is just like this picture too.

 

[Easywider]

What size screen are you using in the oven?

Hand trimmed one from a sheet of screen I’d purchased. If you have any extra screens kickin about scissors work well as long as the screen isn’t too thick.

@SixStringToker my oven sits the same way. Triggers my ocd every time I look at it. Tried straightening it out with a chopstick but it likes to lean.

@maremaresing perfect fit (ish) it’s a bit too snug, can only fit the stem in about 2mm. If I get brave today I’m going to widen the bore on the 18 to fit a hula spiked cooling stem.

looks like we are back this again
My second chambers second session after full clean.

edit 3:
This is the “ great customer service” I received from my IG inquiry after my email thread with them went dead.

And so the circle continues. I’ve started a new request via the contact form on their website. Well see if my third attempt gets me anywhere.

 

[Dynavaper]

@SixStringToker: Let's meet at the lake. Mine is also not living up to my expectations... Not that it is completely bad for the price. But it is much prettier (small things aside) than useful. Another device to be covered with dust one day, I guess. Or they redesign the oven a lot. We'll see...

 

[maremaresing]

Let's give dotmod some time, yall. They literally have an updated oven with major changes inbound, and have mentioned firmware changes. If I was to list the defects in new/existing vaporizers over the last 15 years, we'd be here all day.

Here's how I see it:
First run ovens from last fall- Functionally perfect, cracks on the bottom, ridge on the top can damage the oring if you are not careful.
Second run ovens from December- Oven top fixed to allow easy insertion into the device. Significant quantity combusts and shatters on Temp 3 and 4 like it's it's job.
3rd run black ovens- ???unicorns???

Their CS is probably slammed and understaffed, and trying to track down issues. But also if I was one of the people that couldn't use my device I'd be miffed.

Thinking about buying one of these bad boys eventually, but have heard that hot vapor is a big issue.

I use these "cooling units" made with Fury Edge capsules and some stainless steel balls on a few of my vapes. They work very well and I was wondering if anyone with a Dotleaf and the capsules could see if you can incorporate it into the vapor path somehow.

"Hot vapor is a big issue" is highly subjective. The airpath from the oven is basically half an inch, so it's surprising at first. Allow me to give a qualitative comparison to other vapes if it helps:

Thermavape t1 makes the dotleaf seem ice cold. t1 was too hot to hold on extended use and was painful on the lips, partly because the convection meant you had to take long draws.

VaporGenie on the finishing draw where you remove the lighter and inhale quickly is hotter and dryer than the dotleaf

Goboof Alfa was slightly cooler than the dotleaf, partly due tot he cooling rod inside the unit. But the body of the alfa got hotter.

Dynavap with the airport closed is slightly warmer than the dotleaf

Arizer Solo 1 with the straight straw is about the same as the dotleaf, going by memory.

It's important to remember that you can and should take short draws as this device produces massive amounts of vapor from the get go. Also, it takes only a small amount of glass to fully cool the vapor. A grav jhook is all I need to have cool and silky vapor. Adding a Helix to that Jhook feels like inhaling nothing but flavor. For on the go, an Air Flow Control 510 mouthpiece seems the trick, and I can't wait to get mine from china.

 

[SixStringToker]

Let's give dotmod some time, yall. They literally have an updated oven with major changes inbound, and have mentioned firmware changes.

Yup. I'm still extremely hopeful for the device, just frustrated that it's currently unusable. I certainly haven't given up on it; there's just no sense in fiddling with it anymore since none of my ovens work.

 

[Mribisback_]

Let's give dotmod some time, yall. They literally have an updated oven with major changes inbound, and have mentioned firmware changes. If I was to list the defects in new/existing vaporizers over the last 15 years, we'd be here all day.

Here's how I see it:
First run ovens from last fall- Functionally perfect, cracks on the bottom, ridge on the top can damage the oring if you are not careful.
Second run ovens from December- Oven top fixed to allow easy insertion into the device. Significant quantity combusts and shatters on Temp 3 and 4 like it's it's job.
3rd run black ovens- ???unicorns???

Their CS is probably slammed and understaffed, and trying to track down issues. But also if I was one of the people that couldn't use my device I'd be miffed.



"Hot vapor is a big issue" is highly subjective. The airpath from the oven is basically half an inch, so it's surprising at first. Allow me to give a qualitative comparison to other vapes if it helps:

Thermavape t1 makes the dotleaf seem ice cold. t1 was too hot to hold on extended use and was painful on the lips, partly because the convection meant you had to take long draws.

VaporGenie on the finishing draw where you remove the lighter and inhale quickly is hotter and dryer than the dotleaf

Goboof Alfa was slightly cooler than the dotleaf, partly due tot he cooling rod inside the unit. But the body of the alfa got hotter.

Dynavap with the airport closed is slightly warmer than the dotleaf

Arizer Solo 1 with the straight straw is about the same as the dotleaf, going by memory.

It's important to remember that you can and should take short draws as this device produces massive amounts of vapor from the get go. Also, it takes only a small amount of glass to fully cool the vapor. A grav jhook is all I need to have cool and silky vapor. Adding a Helix to that Jhook feels like inhaling nothing but flavor. For on the go, an Air Flow Control 510 mouthpiece seems the trick, and I can't wait to get mine from china.

Oh dude that's not that bad at all. I can handle most of those on max temp no problem.

 

[staircase slight of hand]

Hmmm, the Dotleaf site is now listing the replacement ovens as sold out. If they’ve scrapped the whole current batch I really hope they’re able to get the new ones available ASAP before all the new owners wind up with no functional ovens.

 

[cantseeme32]

the product I received is unsatisfying to say the least.
As an experienced liquid vaper of 5 years:
(received it early january - if that is of any interest, dont know which "batch".)

pros:

- weight
- fire button is quite nice
- device will vibrate when it´s ready to use (feels like a nice to have feature for me, I really like it!)
- you can or have to use it 18650s!
- 3 mouthpieces to choose from
- transportation box has a nice design, however the foam and plastic does feel cheap for the price point

cons:

- price point

Im a first time buyer of dry herb vaporizing products so my view may be biased towards liquid vaping products. I bought this product because it seemed like the perfect fit for me. Im aware that there are devices like the mighty and vulcano however compared to a normal vape the price point seems hefty.

- no 18650 included
- mouthpieces feel quite bulky and not nicely shaped (Im aware that you can combine it with a water pipe)
- temperature control
- displaying of the selected temperature
- device will get hot (hot in the sense of: as hot as your normal vape gets if it exposed to direct sunlight - Most likely not a big problem still doesn´t feel that great.)
- no degassing holes for the 18650!
- I can imagine that the herb chamber "oven" is the predetermined breaking point. The act to get it out of vapo seems to be rather on the physical site and tbh the offer of a replacement part is a red flag in my eyes.
- device arrived damaged and NOT usable -> chipped paint, herb chamber problem


Im going to sent it back - and im not intending to get a replacement.

 

[florduh]

the product I received is unsatisfying to say the least.
As an experienced liquid vaper of 5 years:
(received it early january - if that is of any interest, dont know which "batch".)

pros:

- weight
- fire button is quite nice
- device will vibrate when it´s ready to use (feels like a nice to have feature for me, I really like it!)
- you can or have to use it 18650s!
- 3 mouthpieces to choose from
- transportation box has a nice design, however the foam and plastic does feel cheap for the price point

cons:

- price point

Im a first time buyer of dry herb vaporizing products so my view may be biased towards liquid vaping products. I bought this product because it seemed like the perfect fit for me. Im aware that there are devices like the mighty and vulcano however compared to a normal vape the price point seems hefty.

- no 18650 included
- mouthpieces feel quite bulky and not nicely shaped (Im aware that you can combine it with a water pipe)
- temperature control
- displaying of the selected temperature
- device will get hot (hot in the sense of: as hot as your normal vape gets if it exposed to direct sunlight - Most likely not a big problem still doesn´t feel that great.)
- no degassing holes for the 18650!
- I can imagine that the herb chamber "oven" is the predetermined breaking point. The act to get it out of vapo seems to be rather on the physical site and tbh the offer of a replacement part is a red flag in my eyes.
- device arrived damaged and NOT usable -> chipped paint, herb chamber problem


Im going to sent it back - and im not intending to get a replacement.

So the device didn't power up at all? You said it's not usable.

 

[Jah75]

no degassing holes for the 18650!

It vents out the door, it’s only held on by magnets with a decent bit of air movement around it

I wonder if your unit was a return that got accidentally sent out? The fit and finish on most I have seen has been great.

The price point may be out there for ecigs, but it trounces most reputable vapes in its price range (fury edge, solo, air, omnivap - all IMO )

This is all dependent on these guys figuring the ultem oven thing (which I think they will)

 

[endof3d]

The price point may be out there for ecigs, but it trounces a most reputable vapes in its price range (fury edge, solo, air, omnivap - all IMO )

Agreed. Let's give them the opportunity to make things right first before throwing in the towel. Hey, I got a sports metaphor in.

 

[Arawfish]

This is all dependent on these guys figuring the ultem oven thing (which I think they will)

The ovens is one thing, but they also need to address some people units (mine) entering into nonstop heating mode, burning everything to a pulp.

when I did contact them, they wanted me to send it back so they could repair, except that duty and taxes were to be paid by me upon sending. Which means $100usd (I’m Canadian) on top of everything else I paid to get it to me.

I told them I want a full refund, and I’ll be sending the unit back once I get that money. And it certainly won’t be with their stupid return label through fedex

 

[Jah75]

The ovens is one thing, but they also need to address some people units (mine) entering into nonstop heating mode, burning everything to a pulp.

when I did contact them, they wanted me to send it back so they could repair, except that duty and taxes were to be paid by me upon sending. Which means $100usd (I’m Canadian) on top of everything else I paid to get it to me.

I told them I want a full refund, and I’ll be sending the unit back once I get that money. And it certainly won’t be with their stupid return label through fedex

That is not promising, you would think they would eat the shipping for the people that soft launch for them. Is there anything they can do with duty and taxing or is just that they need to get a CA distributor to handle that? - sorry, I’m in the US and supremely undereducated on VAT and import fees etc

The fact that they asked for you to send it in also makes me worried that the firmware can’t be updated by the user

 

[cantseeme32]

Agreed. Let's give them the opportunity to make things right first before throwing in the towel.

Well.. they had the opportunity pre-launch. I think the puzzle pieces indicate quite clearly that they knew about the downsides and quirks of their own product and released it anway. Im not a fan of beta testing but hey, you do you.

 

[Abysmal Vapor]

The hypetrain has crushed hard with this one. That's why i always take impressions from honey moon phases with a grain of salt, even if they are my own. Now that we have a bit more user reviews and the air has cleared i dont see the claims of greats CS,build quality that surpasses the price tag, advanced design etc to live up. Replacing your cracked chamber with the same one that is going to crack again eventually is not a good move,i suggest anyone on the fence to save himself the Ultem particles and wait to see if the updated parts will fix the issues at hand.