I saw a Provari for the 1st time today and was very impressed with among other things the 510 adapter. It has the 4 slots for air venting making it a true Joyce 510 battery connection. Why doesn't the Darwin have this? I sent my Darwin in for repair (battery went bad) and they sent me one with all the latest updates which is great but the adapter only has 2 air/vent slots cut into it. I am very impressed with the Darwin's electronics but the atty connector and watt adjuster wheel need some work. If juice leaked like what could happen when using a tank it could get into the Darwin watt adjuster wheel. To get good air flow I have to use a 510-510 extender. IF brass is too soft why not use stainless steel?
Is the draw and operation of the unit any different with 2 cut outs instead of 4? I'm not sure if this effects performance or not. As to why they chose that particular one there could be a long list of reasons, or it might just boil down to quality/price ratio when they ordered a batch of them. The next batch might use a different adapter?
On the brass arm. I could be wrong, but I'm thinking that the foundation for it might be a stock part they found somewhere that was used in some other industrial application. I've seen lots of similar brass fittings around the world. To get it in stainless they would probably have to build it themselves, or pay someone else a small fortune to machine each one...and that is a pretty complex part in terms of machining something.
On the wheel....that thing is one of, if not the highest rated wheel of its kind in the world. Don't let the looks fool you! That switch has been tried and tested since the mid 1940s. Military and NASA approved. Dials like that just don't fail very often...even after getting wet and given an opportunity to dry out...they keep on working. In fact, the more they get used, the better/longer they work.
On liquid getting into a Darwin. They did run it through some pretty tough tests...including dumping gallons of liquid over and into the thing. Sure...they could spend a small fortune eliminating the one in a million probabilities, and in time with future versions they probably will. In the meantime...use your tank and feel confident that the thing is going to work for years to come...even if you have an accident or two and drop your Darwin into a bucket of e-liquid and leave it there all day.
(Not to OP, but just a general observation)
What amazes me with the PV world is this:
So many people walk around with very complex e-gadgets made entirely of plastic. Phones, palm-tops. I-pods, and the list goes on. They fling them around...bash them against things, sit on them...and they keep on working for years (with their wired in batteries). They are electronic, and use Li-Poly batteries. These same people 'claim' that they will not touch a PV unless it weighs a ton, is 'all mechanical', and can survive orbital reentry and submersion to the bottom of the Indian Ocean without a parachute.
After spending a month bashing the very small imperfections of a dozen high end PVs on the market to intentionally cut down their sales, and forcing them through media bully tactics to spend a small fortune making the 'perfect PV' in the 'next version' that will cost two arms instead of just one, these same 'critics' end up using and endorsing a cheap made to order box mod with over a dozen parts that have to be replaced FREQUENTLY with stock parts from hobby lobby or radio-shack. I could point to a few of those type 'critics' here on ECF, but I'll refrain for now
