Well, after a few days with this thing, I think I can safely go ahead and start giving some initial impressions and advice:
WOW
I got the dyna with the specific intent of using it as a microdosing device, as I didn't really see that many units out there with a .05g bowl capacity. And this thing absolutely delivers in that regard, but you do have to be a bit patient and experiment with your torch method.
A couple things that I hadn't realized/had misconceptions about before using the dyna a few times:
1) Torching past the click is ok. I'd seen a couple places/people act like torching for even a second past the click is a one-way ticket to combustion town and damaging the clicking discs, so at first I was really diligent about only heating right up to the click and never beyond. During later heating cycles torching past the click at all may be enough to cause combustion, but IME, during the first 2-3 heating cycles you seem to be able to torch for an extra 2-3 seconds past the click without much issue. This does bring me into my next point, though:
2) The flame needs to be close to the tip (within reason), especially on a single torch. With the triple torch I got my best results holding just above the outer part of the flame, but with the single torch I get better results letting the tip of the flame 'lick' the cap a bit compared to hovering the cap just above the flame. I definitely see what people mean about having the click come too fast if you're holding the tip too close to the flame, but if you're a new user, keep in mind you can have problems in the opposite direction too.
3) The airflow is not a carb. Dyna has a video about this on their yt channel so other newbies would probably already know, but during a few of my first cycles I'd close the airflow entirely, not really understanding the airflow system. I wrongly assumed at first that any amount of external airflow would cause no air to properly come through the tip. What I settled on for most hits is fully covering one of the two holes with my finger, which gives a slightly restricted but still very full air draw.
4) Don't fill the tip all the way to the brim. It seems that whatever material is at the very end of the tip gets hit with a higher temperature than the contents further inside (My working theory is that the load expands when heated and these are the bits that make physical contact with the snapping discs). I've had a couple situations where I've tasted near-combustion flavors, but only the very outer part of the load was blackened, with the inner part still a light tan. Keeping the whole load tamped below the airflow cutouts seems to eliminate this.
I'll update if I think of any other quirks, but for now, I'm settling in to getting some good results out of this guy. Heating on the lower part of the cap with the tip of a single flame, going 2-3 sec past the click for the first cycle, I end up getting pretty complete extractions out of 3-4 heating cycles.
The only other thought I've had... If I'm loving this unit this much with a torch, I can't imagine how great it'll perform once I have an IH
, but they work OK. Beyond that there are lots of induction heaters sold under different names that appear to be made by the same manufacturer. And there are more "artisan" varieties out there, but some may have long wait times.
The case insert is for a Nanuk 903 case and is 3D printed by KC Formations. It is the best 3D printing I’ve seen. Check him out, awesome guy.
, thought the ole daily driver was over due it. She still scrubs up well.