Well, here's the latest update for the ones that are tracking this thread...
After extensive testing I've pretty much concluded that this is some sort of strange problem with the board which happens to run a little deeper than just the screen. Here's what I have figured out, and it's very strange indeed.
If I pick it up and vape on it in stealth mode, it absolutely will not under any circumstances lock the screen up. I can vape away for hours and click the button and still get a good display.
Once it's warmed up it also doesn't seem to have this problem. In other words, if I start off in stealth mode, vape away for 10 minutes or so and then switch over to normal mode, it'll function just perfect.... Until I sit it down... If I sit it down long enough that the screen powers off, then it's anybodies guess as to rather it will work when you pick it back up, but MOST of the time, it'll glitch out and lock up on the first hit.
The condition of the coil seems to aggravate this problem. If I have a coil that is freshly wrapped but not "balanced" (i.e. pulsing to a faint glow and compressing/nudging to get it firing perfectly even from the inside out) it will almost certainly glitch each and every time... When the coil is well balanced and perfect then it happens much less frequently, though it still occasionally happens.
When the screen locks up and glitches, it doesn't always JUST affect the screen... Sometimes it does and you can vape away happily with no issues... Other times it "freaks out" sometimes disabling the TP mode, sometimes seemingly drastically reducing wattage, etc (though that can't be confirmed as the screen locks up. It may in fact just be a drastic reduction of the preset temperature limit since often times when the screen glitches out it will indicate "212F" on the temperature setting.) Weird number huh?
So at this point, what I've basically found is that if I leave it in stealth mode I can happily vape away all day long without any problems.
Evolv has offered to replace the board, but frankly at this point, I don't want to go without it for any long period of time. I truly like it that much, so I've ordered a second board and once it arrives I'll ship this one back. When it gets returned I'll build another box to have as a backup or "wife stole my good one" box...
So... Once I discovered that it works fine in stealth mode I could honestly vape away on it without wanting to kick someone in the teeth. The more I've used it the more I've come to love it. Last night I sat with about 15 bottles of
juice, I'd put 6 or 7 drops in (using an Atomic) and vape away... When it dried up I'd take a couple more good tokes to get the wick nice and dry and then drip 6 or 7 drops of a different
juice. I did this with absolute ZERO cross-fade between the juices... No taste of the old
juice was left behind at once. That in itself was quite an experience... To be able to switch juices every few minutes without having to re-wick or change anything... And to never have the slightest bit of taste cross over into the next... It truly was a remarkable and very different experience.
The other thing I've discovered is that juices just taste.... "Better"... Well... Maybe not always better, but definitely different... Much "cleaner"... In any of my other rigs even with optimal setups there's still a "taste" that's imparted to the juice... It's not a burnt taste... Don't mistake what I'm saying here... I want to say "toasted" but that's no where near what I'm talking about... It's just different... Not in a bad way... Let me put it like this... Solid State amps are capable of being the absolute clearest and most perfect amps on the planet. They can produce a remarkably clean sound with so little noise and distortion it's ridiculous.... Though there are those who absolutely swear by, and love, tube amps... To them they sound "Better"... And it's exactly BECAUSE they aren't so crisp and clean that they sound that way... It's the slight harmonics and distortions that they introduce that give the sound that unique characteristic.
Get what I'm saying? Just because solid state amps are more "clean" doesn't necessarily mean it's "better"... It's just different...
This DNA40 to me is the pinnacle of "clean". You taste juice... nothing but juice... Sitting there last night I "rediscovered" some of the old juices I had laying around. Does that mean every juice tastes "better"? No.. Some of them I actually prefer with that "distorted" taste... I make one juice that tastes like the old blueberry morning cereal... It's blueberry with a hint of cinnamon and some graham cracker, etc... I actually prefer it in another device that imparts that "toasty" flavor... On the other hand, many juices I prefer the cleaner taste... It's not good or bad... It's just VERY VERY clean....
So bottom line? I've grown a small place in my heart for this thing. Despite the issues I've had with it and that ... .... ............. ....... ... NI200. Yes it's a heck of learning curve and I still hate working with the wire, despite what I consider to be pretty darn good building skills.... But is it worth the $60? Oh absolutely... Will you regret buying it? Not likely....
But take the time to understand exactly how and why this thing works... I really can't stress that enough... I've seen people who still think that the temperature and wattage are independent. They aren't... You can't OUTPUT a high wattage because of the temperature limit... The wattage is what CONTROLS the temperature... Yes you can SET a higher wattage, but it doesn't magically output that high wattage but mystically manage to keep the temperature low... Remember the temperature is just a limit... It won't allow the coil to reach a temperature above that setting regardless of the wattage... It does this by CHANGING the wattage... I've seen all sorts of claims about running it at a very low temperature and cranking up the wattage, or vice versa... And lots of other posts and info where you could tell that a lot of people out there just don't understand the concept or idea behind this device.
In my opinion, if you're going to use this in TP mode, which you absolutely should... Then you have one setting to worry about.... The temperature... How do you set that temp? Easy.... The best thing to do is find the charring point of your wicking material... Wrap your coil and wick it... Then fire it at a lower temp setting..... Bump it up and slide the wick.... Keep doing that and eventually you'll find the temp where the wick starts to brown... That's where you know you've reached the max temp your wick can handle completely dry... I wouldn't exceed that point... As for where to set it below that? It's up to you... The higher you set it the warmer the vape will be... You might find that a particular juice tastes better at one setting, but in generally I've found that all of mine taste perfect through a wide range of temperatures... I leave mine set for 460 degrees. My rayon has a MUCH higher charring point than that, but even if I wick with cotton, the cotton I use doesn't brown until 470-480...
As for wattage? Set it to the max... 40W... I have it locked at 40 and haven't touched it.... Why? Because you don't have to! That's the whole point of this... Yes it can put 40W out.... but it will regulate down as low as it needs to be to maintain whatever temperature I've set. The ONLY time you should have to worry about wattage is if you are getting too much vapor. If it's kicking out more than you want, then lower the wattage until it only puts out the amount of vapor you are happy with.
Remember... Just as VW mods "took away" the need to worry about setting voltage... This basically "takes away" the need to worry about setting wattage...
That's all for now...
