TLDR;
It has arrived.
I would say this is not for a 'first time ever' manual vape user. Unless you are prepared to research and practice a little to find your sweet spots - sometimes you get lucky on the first try! Usually people start with a dyna before moving to a heavier vape like this. It's definitely not a dyna and for sure more like a ball vape. It's very effective and I like it so far. It's the first of the all the heavier 'dyna style' vapes to peek my interest in a while (no anvil, no dani, etc.)
First run observations:
At first I couldn't unscrew the bowl easily or open the reload lid using just the tempest while the tempest is in the center of the reload magnet and hot. The bowl is definitely not overtight and always screw the bowl down until it just stops turning - no forcing or tightening it any further once it stops turning. I had to slide the tempest up a little or be slightly touching the decapper area to get some leverage so I could start unscrewing the bowl (then slide it back to center to finish). Sometimes the whole tempest spun on the magnet when trying to unscrew the hot bowl. If this happens lightly push downward while turning to try and get it going. It's a strong magnet and I can lift the entire reload with the tempest on top, but I think I may have touched the magnet area with my fingers and got some oil on it and it's not as grippy when unscrewing. Well, I figured out ... I need to ever so super lightly screw in the bowl and stop/let go as soon as it doesn't turn anymore.. very easy turning and absolutely no pressure or hard tightening at all when its all the way down. As soon as it stops turning your done. To remove the reload lid.. manually unscrew by hand until it's off the oring then slightly lift the tempest and continue unscrewing/removing the reload lid (lift to avoid unscrewing the bowl instead). This needs to be practiced cold a few times.... Unscrew bowl from head, screw back lightly till stop position.. Manually unscrew reload lid past oring, lift tempest slightly, unscrew reload lid all the way, remove bowl while holding lid..... reverse/repeat. Get the process down solid before you have a go with a hot head with tempest and material stuck on the magnet that won't unscrew and sayin' wtf like me! ..all good now and mastered..
Setting the head's airflow is going to be difficult for someone who has poor close vision. I double checked with phone zoom just in case, and I can see it fine without any magnifying. This is how I like it so far:
..looks like a low resolution happy robot face, lol (sorry once you see it - you can't unsee it) A good thing is this is a set it and forget it setting. My stem airport is set full Open and I cover, feather, or rolled the airport as needed during the pull.
Everything arrived in pristine condition. I thought about just going for it but for peace of mind I took it all apart, set the bowl to the half-bowl setting and then soaked in 99٪ .. even the head w.balls went in ..dunked all parts, orings and all, for 5-7ish mins.. rinsed all with hot water and dried. Did a couple wand burnoffs at 288C/550F .. yup the head crackles, pops, and sizzles as any remaining water burns off the balls, indicator and click discs (smells of hot metal like a ball vape coil). After the first ever wand burnoff the induction layer has taken on a light golden color.
Time for very first test..
Went over the manual like 10 more times.. using the first of the 4 methods with the wand: Depth is set halfway between the head 'red line' markings exactly like first pic in the manual, the bottom of the adapter glass is just about level with the bottom of wand's red oring, maybe just a little bump past it and set it to 274C/525F to timeout. Got one weak (low) wimpy click then maybe 5 seconds later one loud click right before the timeout. VI was just about to touch the 3rd line at this timeout. So I hit this (roasty!) and was like whoah.. this is probaby bubbler temps for me unless you have a throat of steel. At this moment I realized I forgot to put in the secondary cooling unit
The first hit was very tasty but flavor started to wane by the end of the 10 second first hit (couple cigar puffs then DTL).. 2 more slightly quicker DTL hits (all had vapor) with some flavor less and less.. One more popcorn hit for good luck and wound up with medium roast coffee brown avb. The top layer was a tiny bit darker like dark roast coffee..but mostly a uniform medium coffee roast.. going to try lower temps next few tests to see if flavor can be maintained for longer and get some of a more golden brown avb.. I think my wand insert was just a touch too deep too and adjusted it to be level with the bottom red oring for next go - still messing with it.
As I said earlier it was fumbly getting a good method down to debowl.. but after a few practice runs after the live test got a good system down so I wouldn't get a sting by accident.. but the very first real time run was a little slower and was being very conscious of where the head was when holding the reload lid with it attached. Was always thinking what's hot and what's not when repositioning around and debowling the load. practice, practice, practice
Just be warned this thing is much hotter then dynas or the revolve. The heat shield works but the closer you hold it towards the tip the hotter it is and during the burnoffs I realized that very quickly while creeping my hand up the stem to check (no burn, but did get a quick bite and pulled off the stem, lol) it also smells a lot more then other vapes.. Just like a ball vape it can stink up a room like combustion.. This little guy puts out a lot of vapor and it can be smelled by others ..so be aware of this if stealth is your thing.
Overall very good first experience.. no combustion but a little bit roasty/punchy for my taste when doing native DTL hits. Going to get the wand dialed in and then move to torch work
It's a very unique and innovative device.. not disappointed and no regret at all.
@Brenyo I think some of your conversions C to F are wrong in the manual.. 280C is not exactly 525F.. 290C is not exactly 550F ..unless my math is wrong I went with the F side and adjusted the C in my experience post above