I just came across this thread, and since I've been using this HCigar HB-DNA40 since Tuesday, acquired through Vape Triad, I'll see if I can answer a bunch of questions regarding the device, and specifically with what Vape Triad is doing.
Then I stumbled across the
Hcigar HB DNA 40, which is shipping sometime after the conclusion of Chinese New Year, so we'll see it some time in March.
Select retailers already have this in stock as of this past week.
People aren't going to like the 510 connector on this one, but it's a small gripe given all the other benchmarks this little box hits.
What's wrong with the 510 connector?
The fire button is in a kind of goofy spot
It is, but you'll have to try it to understand it. The first time I saw it, I thought the same thing. Then I tried it for the first time in the DNA clone 38W version of this box design, and realized that the fire button placement just made absolute sense. The enclosure used by HCigar for both this Evolv DNA40D version and the DNA clone 38W version is pretty much the exact same.
Holding the device like you would any other, the button placement just lands right where your thumb is, regardless of whether you're using it right or left handed.
I'm starting to like being able to fire with my thumb more than with my index finger now.
It's the nicest plastic Hammond box on the market. And it'll be under $100 soon enough.
It's CNC machined from a billet of 6061 aircraft grade aluminum, then media blasted and anodized. I've seen in many places across the internet, the assumption that it's plastic, and I wonder why. The only plastic on the outside of the enclosure, is the window protecting the DNA screen.
My particular unit, the rough surface and the anodizing process used, does give it a warmer touch than bare metal. Maybe this is why the assumption that it's plastic, but I can assure you, it is aluminum.
Although I'm happy to see that legit DNA 40 mods are reaching a better price point, I hope this one is wired better than the HCigar DNA 30 Mini Vaporshark clone.
Infinitely better. It's all put together using a formed plastic frame to hold the components internally, and then screwed down to posts that have been machined directly to the aluminum enclosure. The only bit of hot glue used, is to secure the board to the internal plastic support frame via the rails.
Could be, the SX300 HB50, which was their last box before this, looks very similar, and is plastic.
This is not plastic either. It's also CNC machined from a billet of 6061 aircraft grade aluminum. Even Matt Culley from Suck My Mod said he thought it was plastic in his video review, but he later corrected himself in the description of the video. If this device honestly felt like plastic to the lot of you, then HCigar must be doing a great job of how this feels.
Think about it: The 510 connector grounds directly to the enclosure as the common ground, as does the DNA board and the battery negative terminal. If the enclosure were plastic, it would not be able to conduct electricity.
I never thought I'd say this but I hope the Evolv chips in that hcigar box work properly. That kind of scares me. At least with most of the others using the DNA 40 you can send it in when the chip goes pear shaped. With this I fear your SOL. Pretty much makes it a no buy for me.
Buy it from a reputable vendor who will support the manufacturer's warranty, and you won't have an issue. The HCigar HB-DNA40 has a manufacturer's 90 day warranty, which Vape Triad says they will fully support and handle directly through them, for the total length of the warranty. They are going through great lengths to support HCigar as a brand.
I wonder what Evolv has to say about these. I may shoot them an email. I assumed Hcigar bought the chips from Evolv since they name them on the packaging.
There's a lot of discussion about this online, and while I've been told the details, I'm not going to say too much in public. For now, all that can be said, is that Evolv did not handle this initial chip sale directly. There are a number of reasons for this, but it was done on purpose. The deal was handled through a third party EU distributor for Evolv (they're legit).
Just caught this in another thread... Doesn't overly concern me.. Have a screwdriver handy just in case though...
retird said:
This was posted in another forum about the Hcigar HB-DNA40....... just passing along FYI:
Just came across a few units of the HB-DNA40 that are showing up with the "Weak Battery" error fairly early on. Units may work fine right out of the box, but when running high drain setups (multi coil, low resistance), it may create arcing at the grounding contact points, which create enough impedance to show the error. The higher the drain of the atomizer, the faster this error seems to occur. More tests need to be done to confirm this for certain, but the half dozen units or so that I've tested so far that bring up this error, it's beginning to show this to be the case.
From what I can tell, the anodization used on the casing is a dielectric, and the grounding screws for the 510 and the battery's negative terminal is screwed in a single time and not tight enough. This may not be enough to break through enough of the anodization in the casing's screw holes to create a proper connection. The small gaps of contact may be small enough to create some resistance, which results in an electrical arc during firing of high drain setups. The arcing results in carbon build up, which creates more resistance, and messes with the DNA40's sensitive readings.
The best preventative solution I've found so far, is to back out the screws and screw them back in a couple of times to break through more of the anodized layer to get better contact to the enclosure. Also, the factory did not screw the grounds in very tight, so it's recommended that they be made a bit tighter to create a better contact. Doing this seems to have solved the problems so far.
14 mins · Like
EDIT: I'm thinking about running the screws in / out a few times, then take them out, apply a thin coating of Noalox, and run them back in tightly.. Should do the trick..
Of course this is not for folks who are concerned about voiding their warranty by removing the anti-tamper sticker..
This fix was later retracted, and was pointed out as no longer a valid fix, as it actually puts your board at risk of being fried.
It's not the fix itself that would cause your board to be fried - it's the overall setup of the wiring that puts a lot of high current drain on the very tiny traces of the board. Tightening the grounding screws will improve the connection to the enclosure as the common ground, but it does not solve the base problem, where all of the grounded connections through the enclosure are coming back into the board through a single point, rather than all of the marked ones.
In a particular scenario where the board is drawing a lot of current through it, the existing wiring setup will be forcing up to 8.9 Amps of power to be flowing through the tiny traces of the DNA40 board. This would result in a fried, and dead board.
Vape Triad is not just correcting the issue by tightening a few screws. They're actually going out of their way to desolder existing connections, and to resolder a new wiring layout to get proper and reliable performance. From initial tests so far, not only has the Weak Battery issue gone away on their most troublesome test unit, but internal resistance has also gone down since the enclosure is no longer used as the common ground. All of the units shipping out of Vape Triad will have these wiring improvements applied.
From what I've been told, this is the same issue that Vapor Flask went through at first, so this isn't a problem that's just limited to China. Vape Triad has been recording all of the changes made, and will be sending them back to HCigar when they are back from holidays, so that all of the changes will be applied to later production runs of this product. Early adopter problems...
In that case, it appears that Sweet-Vapes only wants to involve themselves for a 30 day manufacturing defects warranty, going by what's stated in their description... I applaud the vendor who is going to the trouble of securing the screws for their customers, and posted the fix.
Our choice would be to either take a chance that the screws are properly installed, and look for issues within 30 days (chances are a replacement would have the same issue until new, corrected stock arrives), or make the fix ourselves.. As posted, I'll be fixing mine..
EDIT: If this is the same vendor mentioned, I do not applaud the $147.50 USD price...
HCigar HB-DNA40 (Black) Box Mod with Evolv Temperature Control / Protection
The price is certainly higher than those out there, but if they're not only supporting the 90 day warranty, but also going out of their way to re-wire all of the circuitry so that their units are better performing and more reliable than any screw-tightened version out there, I believe there's value in that.
first impressions
the gap created by the 510 adapter doesn't bother me
None of the units that Vape Triad has, has that gap. All of their units (except for 5 silver ones which are discounted in-store) have flush mounted 510 landing pads as well as battery pull ribbons attached to them. They were all done by special request based on feedback that was given on the HB SX series boxes. Later production runs of all of the HB-DNA40's should all have these features.
one more gripe. The smoked plastic over the display doesn't improve legibility. Bad choice but again, not a dealbreaker. It would make it tough to read in sunlight IMO.
I totally agree with you there. Mine is a little bit blurry/hazy, and I've had a hard time reading it in the sunlight. I hope it gets fixed.
