Official DNA 40 introduction

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Millah

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I just got my Vaporshark rDNA40 Monday, I had not heard of the issues with the dna 40 until now checking out this thread. My VS seems to be working fine right now, I don't see any problems with the display, but I never vape above 20 watts. The temp protection seems to be working fine, and the dna seems to be reading my nickel coil accurately. I do sometimes see the base resistance change by .01 or .02 occasionally, but only when the device has been sitting and I have to wake it back up, I guess it rereads the nickel coil and we all know the nickel wire resistance is constantly changing (which is how the temp monitoring works). Is there a way to check if mine is having any of the issues? I saw about firing the device at 40 watts and seeing if theres eventually a problem. But since my device is working great right now, I don't want to CAUSE the glitches. How widespread are the affected boards?

This is a long thread, I tried to go through some of it to see if I could find some answers, but I really don't have the time to read through this whole thread to get a good idea of what the issues are and how widespread it is. Thanks.
 

Bassnorma

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I have two DNA 40 devices. One xpv purchased the day of release and delivered ten days later. I have not had any issues with it in any way or under any operating condition.

I also have a vapor flask that I purchased a few weeks after and again, no issues under any operating condition.

Either I am the luckiest vaper ever or we only hear about the problems on our forum.

(sent from an alien device which translates English into Klingon without my approval)
 

HolmanGT

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I have two DNA 40 devices. One xpv purchased the day of release and delivered ten days later. I have not had any issues with it in any way or under any operating condition.

I also have a vapor flask that I purchased a few weeks after and again, no issues under any operating condition.

Either I am the luckiest vaper ever or we only hear about the problems on our forum.

(sent from an alien device which translates English into Klingon without my approval)


Bass,

I think it is pretty common that "we only hear about the problems on our forum". The folks that have DNA40 and are happy don't usually come here to brag about how well it works but let someone get a unit with a Glitch and they (me included) will come complaining about issues.

So looking here for "Reviews" can tend to be lopsided to the negative or at least appear that way. :2c:
 

Millah

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Bass,

I think it is pretty common that "we only hear about the problems on our forum". The folks that have DNA40 and are happy don't usually come here to brag about how well it works but let someone get a unit with a Glitch and they (me included) will come complaining about issues.

So looking here for "Reviews" can tend to be lopsided to the negative or at least appear that way. :2c:

I'm pretty sure he was replying to my comment, asking if the issues are widespread, and if there was any way to see if mine was affected or what kind of things I should be looking for.
 

HolmanGT

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I'm pretty sure he was replying to my comment, asking if the issues are widespread, and if there was any way to see if mine was affected or what kind of things I should be looking for.

Millah,

I thought that was what I was answering via Bass's post. Sorry if my post was inaccurate of off base (not an uncommon facet in any of my posts) :blush:
 

SeniorBoy

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I just got my Vaporshark rDNA40 Monday, I had not heard of the issues with the DNA 40 until now checking out this thread. My VS seems to be working fine right now, I don't see any problems with the display, but I never vape above 20 watts. The temp protection seems to be working fine, and the DNA seems to be reading my nickel coil accurately. I do sometimes see the base resistance change by .01 or .02 occasionally, but only when the device has been sitting and I have to wake it back up, I guess it rereads the nickel coil and we all know the nickel wire resistance is constantly changing (which is how the temp monitoring works). Is there a way to check if mine is having any of the issues? I saw about firing the device at 40 watts and seeing if theres eventually a problem. But since my device is working great right now, I don't want to CAUSE the glitches. How widespread are the affected boards?

This is a long thread, I tried to go through some of it to see if I could find some answers, but I really don't have the time to read through this whole thread to get a good idea of what the issues are and how widespread it is. Thanks.

Some additional thoughts designed to help you. Vape and enjoy your new VS 40. Period. Tune for the flavor of your vape, your required vapor production, and the various lengths of your draws throughout the day. Using a dripper, the TP warning will appear as your wick begins to go dry. An actionable event displayed on the screen which tells you to drip more juice. That's the way it's supposed to work and does work. No need for you to engage in any contrived and specious tests to see if your device is defective. From reading your posts it appears to function exactly as Brandon and John desgined the 40. On the other hand IF you get a garbled/wonky screen then by all means post. In this case that occurrence still does not mean it's a defective 40. In short, enjoy and vape.

Ignore the following tangents in this thread:

Attempt to make the 40 do something it was not designed to do
Contrived "tests" which produce specious results
Wild and unsubstantiated "connecting the dots" myths
Posts from folks who don't even own a 40

Good luck and don't hesitate to send me a PM if the "noise" in this 50 page thread confuses you. If I don't know the answer I can always ask an authoritive source.

EDIT: Ditto to my fellow early adopter @HolmanGT. AND, NO ONE on the face of the planet earth except Evolv can tell you exactly and precisely what the incidence of failure of the 40 is. Period. Ignore all posts that attempt to quantify (with numbers and or percents) this issue unless they are made by Evolv.

:)
 
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350ZMO

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Some additional thoughts designed to help you. Vape and enjoy your new VS 40. Period. Tune for the flavor of your vape, your required vapor production, and the various lengths of your draws throughout the day. Using a dripper, the TP warning will appear as your wick begins to go dry. An actionable event displayed on the screen which tells you to drip more juice. That's the way it's supposed to work and does work. No need for you to engage in any contrived and specious tests to see if your device is defective. From reading your posts it appears to function exactly as Brandon and John desgined the 40. On the other hand IF you get a garbled/wonky screen then by all means post. In this case that occurrence still does not mean it's a defective 40. In short, enjoy and vape.

Ignore the following tangents in this thread:

Attempt to make the 40 do something it was not designed to do
Contrived "tests" which produce specious results
Wild and unsubstantiated "connecting the dots" myths
Posts from folks who don't even own a 40

Good luck and don't hesitate to send me a PM if the "noise" in this 50 page thread confuses you. If I don't know the answer I can always ask an authoritive source.

EDIT: Ditto to my fellow early adopter @Hollman. AND, NO ONE on the face of the planet earth except Evolv can tell you exactly and precisely what the incidence of failure of the 40 is. Period. Ignore all posts that attempt to quantify (with numbers and or percents) this issue unless they are made by Evolv.

:)

Spot on, thanks SeniorBoy! :toast:
 

Heespharm

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I have two DNA 40 devices. One xpv purchased the day of release and delivered ten days later. I have not had any issues with it in any way or under any operating condition.

I also have a vapor flask that I purchased a few weeks after and again, no issues under any operating condition.

Either I am the luckiest vaper ever or we only hear about the problems on our forum.

(sent from an alien device which translates English into Klingon without my approval)

I must have killed puppies in my past life because out of 5 dna 40 chips/mods I have bought only the second xpv (I got as a replacement for a faulty one) is working correctly


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

peraspera

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On my DNA40, no, but I've previously fired it on a DNA20 and a mech and it didn't catch fire. It just made plenty of white oxide, see my blog. I do like it on the DNA40 'cause it's not soft like nickel (in fact it's the opposite, perhaps a bit springer than optimal), it does run fine in temperature mode (although you have to use a lower temperature), it's got a higher resistance (meaning you don't need over-sized coils) and last but not least, it doesn't irritate my mouth and throat like both nickel and nichrome seem to.

I found the post I recalled about the titanium wire catching on fire on another forum. The titanium went up in flames from being torched which is simple enough to avoid. The poster said there was no fire from using a titanium coil on an atty.

Options are a good thing so it's great to see you are having success with the titanium.
 

peraspera

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maybe brandon and john didnt plan on us using our dna 40 devises out in the cold weather. guess mine works just fine as long as i stay inside!!!!!!! YRMV

Contact Evolv and ask about the DNA 40 chip's nominal performance in cold weather. It would probably be a good idea for anyone to contact the manufacturer of any electronic device before purchasing to find out out what one can expect in the way of performance in cold weather if that is an important issue.

Friends and relatives with expertise in electronics have told me that cold isn't battery or even electronics friendly. I keep battery operated electronic devices stashed in an inside coat pocket or holster in cold weather and only take them out as briefly as possible for use.
 
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tchavei

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Batteries and cold don't mix. In rc, we use lipo heating bags in the winter to keep the batteries warm before a flight.

Another aspect is that the battery voltage will appear lower in cold environments.

I had a friend's lipo go south because we charged it to 4.34V in low temps and then the battery was put inside a car (heated). After an hour or so, the battery swelled almost twice the size and had to be disposed.

Regards
Tony

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dougward1960

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lots of electronics are exposed to cold temperatures without problems. does you car radio work in the winter:) now batteries is a different thing but we're not discussing batteries in this forum. just expressing my dissatisfaction of this devise not working when it gets a little cold. yes it needs to be rma'd but till i know that others are rmaing theirs for the same issues. im not sure evolve knows some dont work outside and if they will exchange it for one that works properly
 

nightfell

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lots of electronics are exposed to cold temperatures without problems. does you car radio work in the winter:) now batteries is a different thing but we're not discussing batteries in this forum. just expressing my dissatisfaction of this devise not working when it gets a little cold. yes it needs to be rma'd but till i know that others are rmaing theirs for the same issues. im not sure evolve knows some dont work outside and if they will exchange it for one that works properly

Why don't you just contact evolv and ask them about it? I'm sure if it's a problem they'd like to know about it or can help you diagnose it.
 

jazzvaper

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I just got my Vaporshark rDNA40 Monday, I had not heard of the issues with the DNA 40 until now checking out this thread. My VS seems to be working fine right now,
//snipped//
This is a long thread, I tried to go through some of it to see if I could find some answers, but I really don't have the time to read through this whole thread to get a good idea of what the issues are and how widespread it is. Thanks.

I received mine after doing considerable reading of this Forum while waiting for the pre-order to complete. The negative reports of early-adopters (rDNA 30) concerned me as they apparently do you. So, I did a very straight-forward, easy, test upon receiving the rDNA 40:

On a Ni200 build at 0.16, I set the VS rDNA 40 to 40 watts, stood in front of the bathroom mirror, and repeatedly fired the device...vaping it. I received no warnings or error messages, other than TP (Temperature Protection) notification. After doing this on and off for a couple of hours, my mind was set at ease. I have experienced no problems to-date.

Seems a silly thing to do, but I have always preferred "my lying eyes". :laugh: :p
 

tchavei

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I received mine after doing considerable reading of this Forum while waiting for the pre-order to complete. The negative reports of early-adopters (rDNA 30) concerned me as they apparently do you. So, I did a very straight-forward, easy, test upon receiving the rDNA 40:

On a Ni200 build at 0.16, I set the VS rDNA 40 to 40 watts, stood in front of the bathroom mirror, and repeatedly fired the device...vaping it. I received no warnings or error messages, other than TP (Temperature Protection) notification. After doing this on and off for a couple of hours, my mind was set at ease. I have experienced no problems to-date.

Seems a silly thing to do, but I have always preferred "my lying eyes". :laugh: :p
I agree (yes, I'm one of those guys that hasn't received his dna 40 board yet but is posting on this thread).

With temp control it shouldn't matter if you put it at 10w or 40w, it should vape the same except that at 40w, the coil will heat up faster (from what I've read).

In that case, believing what has been said on this thread by people that actually own this device: "the faulty board appears to glitch more often at high watt settings", it makes sense to me to test it at high settings to check if the board misbehaves. It's illogical going low and slow and hope it never glitches.

If the board was being sold in Europe with vendors actually following the law, I wouldn't care as I would have two years to find out about an eventual fault. The problem is that we are talking about small shops that can't stand behind the two year warranty and it would be too much hassle on the consumer side to make them uphold it. Basically that means that the sooner you find out your board is faulty, the better to get an replacement.

My two cents

Regards
Tony

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Frocket

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Nickel builds have been driving me crazy on the Erlprinz, because my wicking is inconsistent. At least I wasn't getting dry hits. I decided to throw some nickel coils on my Magma, and they seem to be working out OK. Not a build that I'm likely to do on a regular basis, because I had to use some pretty big coils (2.4mm ID, 12 wraps 30 gauge nickel, about 0.12 ohms). The nickel is just kinda soft and flimsy, so getting them on without deforming (especially since I only have one 2.4mm mandrel) was a pain. Wicked it using the double insertion method with rayon, which actually didn't go too bad, just had to be really gentle. Also had to be super gentle when tightening down the posts, to avoid cutting the wire.

Anyway, build is on, and is working beautifully. Temp control set to 430F, 40 watts. With a fully saturated wick, it takes all 40 watts with no problem; as the wick dries a bit, temp limiting starts kicking in, but still hitting 30+ watts. I decided to try running it as dry as I could, to see if it would ever scorch the wick or give me a dry hit. By the time I gave up, it was producing almost no vapor, with temp control limiting it to just a few watts. At that point, I was just vaping dry rayon, getting a hint of vapor, with no dry hits or scorching.

So yeah... my board is working as it should, but I don't think I'll be using nickel on the regular, especially on the Magma. Though it works wonderfully, and does what it should, it's just too much work and worry that in the end (at least for me) isn't worth all the effort. The only time temp control was kicking in was when the wicks were dry (which, after all, basically is the whole point). Half dry wicks were still hitting at 30+ watts; temp protection didn't limit power too significantly until the wicks were drier than I'd normally run them. When running 30 gauge kanthal, a drop in vapor production and flavor signifies that I need to top it off. Since I normally run that build around 30 watts anyway, there isn't too much benefit for me.

I certainly see the benefits, especially for RTA users. Most people actually building with nickel probably have a good bit of build experience -and have probably learned to coil and wick well enough that temp control isn't necessary. On the flip side, building with nickel has shown me that my wicking on the Erlprinz pretty much sucks. For me, it's kind of a diagnostic tool. Now that I've seen what's happening with nickel builds on that atty, I know that I need to start working on how I'm wicking it. Once I get the wicking down, I'll probably switch back to kanthal.
 

KGie

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And unless I'm misinterpreting the Wikipedia article on titanium, that oxidation doesn't occur until 2,190 °F...
.
.
...which implies without TP that coil must be hitting at least 2190 °F...

Based on the colors I saw the wire glowing, I don't think it was that hot.

Good, that's a relief to know. Temp-wise that seemed way far up there, but I wasn't willing to rule out the possibility out-of-hand.
 
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