Yep, charge is fine. Still no clouds, though....
I think, in the general case, a very common mistake for folks to make is to base how well they think it's working on 'cloud production'. That's blazing, not vaping, thinking. The newer you are to vaping, the more likely this is the case.
In the specific case of ESV, as opposed to other vapes, I think the common mistake is not treating it as what it is (a convection vape) and drawing too hard. Here experience with more normal conduction vapes can lead you astray as well. This can couple with the above 'cloud chasing as a sign of success' issue.
Instead I suggest starting from the idea that the ESV is probably working 'right' or at least as they normally do. Do the 'mirror test' (blow in the USB port while you look into the empty bowl in the mirror) to confirm is working. Blow just hard enough to light the light. Notice how, if you blow harder, you can change the size and shape of the glowing area? That's a clue too.
I suggest, instead of looking for clouds, you concentrate on hitting
slowly (just enough to keep the light lit), you want the coil glowing inside. Don't worry about your exhaust. Concentrate on slow even hits keeping the light on. The check the color of the load and judge how you're going with that instead of 'clouds'. The herb should shift from green to brown and darken from there. Even if the rate is slow, look for that change.
If it changes color correctly it's extracting all the THC that's in there......clouds or not. All you can ask of any vape, it's done it's job. That change, not visible vapor, is the proof.
Drawing harder in an attempt to get more clouds, like you would do if you were smoking instead, will most likely take you in the wrong direction.
Work to get uniform darkening of the herb across the bowl. You'll most likely find it's darker on one side (toward the MP IIRC?) until you get the draw down right since the air enters the heater area through the hole the posts for the coil come though from below.
Remember how this works. You must draw air past the glowing coils slow enough so the air gets well heated. That hot air is the only way heat gets to the load where it's going to need some time in contact to get the load hot enough without excess heat as happens in combustion. There is no 'heat to spare'. Pull too fast and you get lots of air not hot enough for the job. Take it slow and let correctly heated are, at lower volumes, have time to heat the herb to the magic temperature. Clouds will come, such as they are, but trying to get them (worst still expecting clouds like you've seen on videos) without using the right technique will end in green herb and dead batteries.
Good luck, try it slow as you can for a while? Counter intuitive as that might be.
OF
