My thoughts and issues with the DNA40

[DejayRezme]

Well when I first tested this my 80/20/?? VG/Water/PG mixture did already start to produce faint wisps of vapor at 250°F! Might be best to use a "pure" liquid like 100% PG or VG without water with a known boiling point, not use wick just a drop of stuff on the coil itself. If you can do this for water, VG, PG then you might have some good sampling points to measure it accurately. No clue if this will work though! It might be very hard to see when the liquid actually starts to boil and vaporize. It will also be slightly dependent on room temperature, air pressure and humidity in the room where you test this.

Doing this with a calibrated digital thermometer wrapped in a coil and isolated with a few wraps of something might be better. Not sure if they go up to 450°F

 

[RickCain]

Interesting read, my experience thus far has been very good with my Vapor Flask - learning the sweet spot between temp and watts to maximize the vape has been a fun journey (all while never getting a dry hit taste). What I am most impressed with on the DNA40 is the speed in which it wakes up and fires. My DNA20 and 30's would take a few seconds to wake up and begin applying the voltage while with the DNA40 is seems pretty instant. This alone makes it worth the upgrade for me.

IMHO running in temp mode is for a quality single coil build. Can't wait to build a bottom feeder DNA40 as this might be the best device yet.

 

[OthatGuy]

You said it Rick. I've never used a regulated device beyond a provari, but my mechanical feeder is the best. I'm building a dna40 feeder, wanna see if it will be as cool.

 

[RickCain]

You said it Rick. I've never used a regulated device beyond a provari, but my mechanical feeder is the best. I'm building a dna40 feeder, wanna see if it will be as cool.

You getting one from Shapeways? I placed my order last week for a DNA V3.1 kit and can't wait to give it a go! This should hold me over until Vapor Flask makes a squanker!!

Bank to the DNA40 part - my only minor "issue" with it is the charger... It "officially" supports a 500mh charger that takes 8-10 hours to charge a dual battery mod. There are aftermarket 1amp charger boards out there but want Evolve to support them or come up with a faster charging system.

 

[OthatGuy]

You getting one from Shapeways? I placed my order last week for a DNA V3.1 kit and can't wait to give it a go! This should hold me over until Vapor Flask makes a squanker!!

Bank to the DNA40 part - my only minor "issue" with it is the charger... It "officially" supports a 500mh charger that takes 8-10 hours to charge a dual battery mod. There are aftermarket 1amp charger boards out there but want Evolve to support them or come up with a faster charging system.

I'm giving sculpteo a shot, strong flexible polished plastic, should be here Monday, got everything else so far, should be sweet little squonker

 

[nelsonm64]

I have to thank everyone in this thread for all the great info! it has answered all my questions and it's good to know evolve has fixed the issues with a revision because, i'm about to pre-order a vaporshark rDNA 40 and feel much better about it now!!! thx a lot guys!

 

[JeremyR]

It does sound like the glitch and temp down run is related to a short in the coil... My 2cents

 

[ZeroOhm]

FYI posted on another forum evolv info.

'To start these issues only seem to effect a small percentage of the boards released. Its very likely if the DNA doesn't exhibit the issue fairly quickly that it never will. (More on this below)
Version 1 programming (or original programming) - This should be the majority of DNA's released. It seems now that there was actually two different issues the resulted in similar results.
The first as detailed in the Evolv documentation had to do with the exposed vias. Which covering with silicone/etc. would solve the problem. If it did not then it would be the second.
The second issue likely has do with a physical problem with the blank pcb or another component on the DNA.
Version 2 programming - Programing was added to correct the issue caused by the exposed vias, as well as a manufacturing change to add conformal coating to the via area.
While this did not solve all the issues, it did however help isolate the other issue which now presents very quickly using a nickel coil with temp mode turned on and wattage set to 20-40 watts.
I have also seen this present while using a kanthal coil. However temp mode was still turned on and would lock up on first fire cycle while the DNA was determining if it was a nickel or kanthal coil. With temp mode turned off I have not been able to get a lock up using kanthal.
Version 3 - Evolv has been working day and night the last few days to identify the remaining issue, implement corrective actions, and then throughly test to make sure the issue has been fully addressed.
Right now Evolv is very confident that they will have this completely sorted and tested by the end of the weekend, and restart manufacturing Monday morning.'

 

[Ian444]

Another way to help calibrate Ti wire is put a dry piece of cotton wick in the coil and observe at what indicated temp the cotton changes color.

 

[DejayRezme]

Another way to help calibrate Ti wire is put a dry piece of cotton wick in the coil and observe at what indicated temp the cotton changes color.

Yeah that way you would have a "scale" that you can compare nickel and kanthal at different temperatures. It's probably the simplest way to do it without a good thermometer.

 

[Draconian]

Have a Vapor Flask DNA40 - love it - but - gotta say that the nickel wire has a taste....that...I don't care for at all.

 

[DejayRezme]

Have a Vapor Flask DNA40 - love it - but - gotta say that the nickel wire has a taste....that...I don't care for at all.

Hi, the nickel itself doesn't have any taste. It's most likely a lubricant / soap used when manufacturing or spooling the wire. If you clean the wire with isopropanol or ethanol it doesn't have a taste. Or soap and rinse it thoroughly. The nickel wire (not from temco but european shop) didn't have any taste to begin with. If you should still have a taste after cleaning it is probably not pure nickel wire.

Did the taste vanish after a while?

What was your supplier for the nickel wire?

 

[polarbare]

FYI posted on another forum evolv info.

'To start these issues only seem to effect a small percentage of the boards released. Its very likely if the DNA doesn't exhibit the issue fairly quickly that it never will. (More on this below)
Version 1 programming (or original programming) - This should be the majority of DNA's released. It seems now that there was actually two different issues the resulted in similar results.
The first as detailed in the Evolv documentation had to do with the exposed vias. Which covering with silicone/etc. would solve the problem. If it did not then it would be the second.
The second issue likely has do with a physical problem with the blank pcb or another component on the DNA.
Version 2 programming - Programing was added to correct the issue caused by the exposed vias, as well as a manufacturing change to add conformal coating to the via area.
While this did not solve all the issues, it did however help isolate the other issue which now presents very quickly using a nickel coil with temp mode turned on and wattage set to 20-40 watts.
I have also seen this present while using a kanthal coil. However temp mode was still turned on and would lock up on first fire cycle while the DNA was determining if it was a nickel or kanthal coil. With temp mode turned off I have not been able to get a lock up using kanthal.
Version 3 - Evolv has been working day and night the last few days to identify the remaining issue, implement corrective actions, and then throughly test to make sure the issue has been fully addressed.
Right now Evolv is very confident that they will have this completely sorted and tested by the end of the weekend, and restart manufacturing Monday morning.'

Wondering If I should just send my boards back to be replaced since I haven't even built them up yet

 

[rusirius]

Have a Vapor Flask DNA40 - love it - but - gotta say that the nickel wire has a taste....that...I don't care for at all.

As pointed out above, I'd venture a guess that it's residue on the wire you're tasting versus the wire itself. Especially since most "recommendations" I see state not to dry fire or burn off the coils. I actually clean the wire with 99.9% alcohol as well as turn temperature protection off and dry fire (at lower watts) pulsing to just barely get the coils to glow. I do this not only to get them firing evenly, but also to burn off any remaining residue. The key is to BARELY glow them... If you get the nickel too hot it'll degrade as well as get small carbon deposits boiling to the surface.

I honestly think anyone getting a weird taste from it is probably either A) not cleaning the wire properly and tasting residue, or B) have a coil or coils that are not firing evenly which results in some places getting very hot while others are way below temp.

I can tell you this... I have pretty sensitive tastes... And when using a properly built nickel coil there is absolutely ZERO taste from wick or wire... NOTHING but the taste of the juice comes across. That's been my experience anyway.

 

[KGie]

I'm giving sculpteo a shot, strong flexible polished plastic, should be here Monday, got everything else so far, should be sweet little squonker

There's a pre-existing design for the one you're using I can browse to? Do you have a link? Or did you submit your own design? Thx.

 

[OthatGuy]

Here's the build thread, all the info.
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=560010
Printed DNA30 Bottom Feeder

 

[OthatGuy]

Gdeal is the man with the plan, his design is available on shapeways.com and sculpeto. Com

 

[mackman]

And here is the step by step build doc: https://www.dropbox.com/s/z8gwrgh9p1jafnf/V3.1 Build.pdf

 

[OthatGuy]

I'm in the middle of a shipping screw up right now but I should have mine built tomorrow. Should be super bad assss! I just hope a dna40 chip has enough power to keep me happy. I'm used to running low sub ohms, haven't had a regulated mod since a provari, we'll see....

 

[KGie]

Gdeal is the man with the plan, his design is available on shapeways.com and sculpeto. Com

Boy, calling that a "shape" is quite the understatement.

Thanks OTG and Mackman.