I received my Zion last year but only got the opportunity to try it yesterday. Haven't been following the thread, but realize now that the Zion has been discontinued, so it is interesting that this beautiful piece of machinery is one of only about 200 made. (Mine is #196).
I used it solely with a water filter, and a rimmed dome screen, as in the photos, and after at bit of trial and experimenting I found a working technique. For best result, this required about 10 seconds of preheating and partly blocking the hole in the bottom with my finger in various ways part of the time, playing the Zion almost like a musical instrument.
I got decent clouds, but not quite the number of huge milky ones that I get with the Solo. (I suppose the dome screen makes for a slightly smaller bowl as well.) However, I was thoroughly medicated and the sensation was quite unique. I love both the aesthetics and the convection feeling -- a very different experience.
One downside is that the left 35-40% of the weed in the bowl was very dark brown, almost black, while the remaining part was greenish-to-light brown. So the heating does not appear to be very even. I suppose I can partly compensate for this by stirring it a bit between the hits. Also interesting to note is that I could not get any more vapor out of it at this point, even by stirring, so it appears that the Zion did extract pretty much all of the THC in a few big hits, even if the heat was not even.
In any event, the result was very good once I got the hang of it.
Does this sound like a flaw? Could the uneven ABV be due to the weed being placed a bit higher up than it would be with the original stem?
One other thing I just noticed was that some discoloration in the wood, on the top an the bottom, had occurred during/after use. Would prefer it hadn't, but no biggie.
I realize that using the Zion with non-original glass is probably not covered by the warranty, but I wouldn't want to return it for potential repairs either way. Too much hassle across borders. I am happy to be one of a handful international customers with this beautiful and unusual piece, and I love it already.
Edit: What am I doing wrong with the photos?
https://imgur.com/a/zgYp1Hf
https://imgur.com/a/9OYrfz5