Tag Archives: vape

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The Evolv DNA75C

Posted on by Rob Ellard

 

“From a technology standpoint, and from an Evolv standpoint, everything we’ve done from wattage, in the beginning, has layered one thing on top of another,” says Brandon from Evolv. “Our goal is to solve the e-cigarette. We’re different from cigarettes in that way. Cigarettes are an agricultural product these are engineered products, and with engineered products you can change them. Problem? Oh great, we can fix that.”

So, here it comes: the Evolv DNA75C. It’s another layer on top of the products produced by Evolv, to take out the glitches and add in more usability & ease of function. The C in DNA75C stands for “colour”, obvious from the first glimpse at the large new colour display, but there’s more to it than that. “I almost wish we hadn’t put ‘colour’ in the name,” Brandon explains. “That’s not what’s really cool about this. We listen, we listen carefully.”

What Evolv heard was that no matter how much people liked the DNA chips, they wouldn’t recommend them to new vapers or users looking for a simple experience. He added: “We wanted to take all the power and functionality of the DNA, which people love because it does temperature control extremely well, and make it simpler to use.”

The big changes Evolv has made are all “under the hood”, according to Vape Droid. The old 75 proved itself to be “a reliable, consistent and accurate chip. You can’t ask for much more than that.” So, rather than reinventing something, Evolv has implemented a series of tweaks to make what was good even better.

“It took the industry a long while to come over to wattage. It took them a lot less time to come over to temperature,” continues Brandon.

This is a massive leap forward in form and function that raises the bar for all boards. Power delivery has been improved, temperature control is more accurate and efficient. All of the chat on the Evolv forum points to the board being suitable for a single battery device, like the DNA75 before it. The board will have enough energy storage to preserve the clock through quick battery changeovers, but the device monitor will also correct the chipsets time whenever it connects to a device. Also, according to an Evolv forum admin, “if you use ECigStats, it will correct the time after it synchronizes with the device (if you have made one or more puffs since the last time you plugged in).”

What we have ascertained, although no data has been released on the Evolv site yet, is that the screen is 160x80px. It will be able to operate in both orientations. At any time, it can hold up to three background images of any dimension. The chipset will accommodate any font; up to three different sizes, and they can be from different font families.

Escribe was recognised as being a brilliant advance at the time, but some didn’t get on with it – and Mac OS users didn’t have the option unless they ran it in a Wine app or a virtual engine. Casual vapers weren’t keen on hooking up to a PC either. Now the functionality has been put onto the board, so vapers can adjust settings on the mod itself.

Evolv’s “Theme Designer” is a second piece of software, separate from Escribe, designed to make simplicity the operational byword. It places the functionality on the device itself rather than by hooking it up to a computer, and everything is customisable.

It will allow everyone to adjust the background image, the fonts, the colours, logos, screen appearance all on the fly. While this will appeal to many, it doesn’t cover all of the advantages offered up by the new chipset. Should you wish, you can now change all of the menu systems so that you can change screen content, order, how they interact with each other and you can upload you own gauges to identify things like temperature, battery level and so on. It means the mod can have a menu that is as simple or as complex as the user desires – rather than being laid down by the chip manufacturer. Also, this means that individual mod producers can design devices with a unique experience for their customers.

Some vapers will be saying to themselves “hang on, this doesn’t sound simple at all. It sounds like I’m going to have to do a load of design work.” Good point, but no. Evolv are going to open up something they call ‘The Theme Park’. It will build on all of the work and community sharing that took place following the launch of the DNA200. Generous souls who want to show off their themes can upload them to Theme Park where others can look at them and, if they wish, download them in their entirety for use on their mods.

It comes with an extra select button, which can be seen in operation on Vape Droid’s prototype. While some might see this as added bulk, the Evolv admin explains: “It really does need an extra select button, when you get your hands on one you will see how easy it is to use, being able to change your resistance and preheat when you are out and about is awesome.”

VapnFagan demonstrates a Lost Vape Therion prototype utilising the new Evolv DNA75C below:

 

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RebuildableSupplies.com

Posted on by Rob Ellard

We wanted to provide you with a more streamlined way to shop for the best rebuildable vaping supplies. This also offered us the opportunity to beef up security for customer payments. Our new class-leading payment system uses SSL encryption, hosted iFrame integration and is fully PCI compliant – making your details as safe as possible. Payments can be completed directly through PayPal but without having the inconvenience of pop-ups. It compliments our online shop range of Amazon and eBay to give you an online experience with total peace of mind. On the subject of Amazon, they hold stocks of some of our products in their warehouse so that Prime customers can receive free delivery – and even order on a Sunday.

You will still find the same outstanding range of top quality silica wick, Voodoowool™, Kanthal, nichrome, Ni200, all manner of mesh and titanium wire. We have created a page dedicated to coiling tools and associated equipment too! We have expanded our range of coiling tools, bars, meters, screws, mandrels and tweezers – and will continue to do so.

The Rebuildable Supplies site will grow by the week due to guides answering the questions we are most frequently asked by vapers new and old. We see our role as providing a service that goes beyond selling products and want to support you in any way we can before and after you have made your purchase. We are on hand to answer any questions ranging from which wire to buy and how to build a coil through to more complex technical aspects of regulated mod building using our range of Evolv chips. We are even happy to answer your enquiries regarding which wick would best suit a particular atomiser.

As specialists in rebuildable ecig supplies offering items you can be confident in, we strive to constantly push the envelope by sourcing or designing products for electronic cigarettes to increase your vaping pleasure. We like to thing we go further to ensure that we source superior items and use major manufacturers.

The Rebuildable Supplies “Powered by Stealthvape” website carries identical products to the ones found on Stealthvape as compromise is not a word we are comfortable with. For example, our wire undergoes a secondary cleaning process on site before we rewind onto bespoke reels and include free sanity saver magnets to prevent unravelling.

And don’t forget to check out the free I

 

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Choices, choices, choices

Posted on by Rob Ellard

 

In fact, we’re seeing an unprecedented deluge of mods and atomisers from that part of the world with new models being announced on an almost weekly basis. And this is a problem. Well, to you this might not be a problem. To you problems might be what kind of curry to order tonight, whether to go with wine or beer and the fact that the postman still hasn’t delivered your vapemail.

In life I have three main problems: firstly, now the weather is nice I have the doors of the lounge open while I work. No problem there, you say. Now factor in the neighbours who shout a lot, have screaming children they swear at and possess the worst combined selection of music any person could have inflicted upon them. Odds are that you have or had neighbours like this or, if you are my neighbours, turn the damn tripe down.

My second problem is quite a challenging one – I own fourteen mods. No man or woman can possibly use all fourteen at once, not even in rotation. But the constant updates on websites make it impossible not to buy more. I’m currently waiting for my invoice from Mikro Engineering for my Challenger Mk.II – that’ll make it fifteen. To be honest, this isn’t the real problem it’s what it leads to.

It creates problem number three. It is the one thing that vexes me most about vaping. I’ve got a toolbox; in the top compartments I store my charged batteries and my drip tips. On the wooden rack I built from part of my daughter’s ex-bed sit my range of attys. So the issue is that at any given moment I have to choose one from fourteen mods, one of three different battery sizes, one from fourteen attys, one from thirty drip tips and one from twenty four flavours.

That’s 423,360 possible combinations.

Four hundred and twenty-three thousand three hundred and sixty possible vape combinations! This ridiculous array of options for a man who struggles to decide whether to have a Jal Frezi or a Madras. When standing in the drinks aisle I can never decide between imported or home-brewed beer. This is the first time I’ve ever looked at this as a number, frankly I’m stunned.

But this problem doesn’t sit there, there’s the option of whether to go for Voodoowool, cotton, mesh, A1 Kanthal wire (which diameter?), ribbon (which width?), number of wraps, what resistance I think I might fancy and if to opt for single or dual wicks.

And then there are aesthetic considerations. For example, there is no way you could get away with a blue drip tip on a tarnished brass Kraken sitting proudly on a red aluminium Nemesis tube with a polished stainless switch & stealth cap and a polished brass lock ring. One minute you’re constructing a set-up to vape with, the next you’re looking at something as gaudy as a house covered in Xmas lights

I probably spend more time pondering whether or not the combination goes together than I do wicking and vaping the thing.

Life was so much easier when all I had was a Vamo and a Protank. I need a 21st Century Kepler to plan out a simple law of mod selection; either that, or a 21st Century Brahe to threaten to run me through with a sword if I don’t make my choice in 60 seconds flat.

I haven’t even touched upon the time spent online window-shopping.

 

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The Fear

Posted on by Rob Ellard

 

I think an additional worry from many is the introduction of maths. Delving back into the mists of time I remember how worried parents were coming to parents evenings (when I used to teach) in case they were asked questions. My wife ran out of her ability to help the kids with science and maths homework somewhere around Year 5. It was clear that many adults out there struggle with mathematical operations. Taking the (to some of you) simple V=I.R may as well be written as follows for some people as:

Looking over some threads on an online forum I am struck by the number of people seeking reaffirmation for their coils, praise from their peers for a job well done but more so by the volume of vapers seeking help with their ecig wire woes. One of the lovelier aspects of online forums is a sense of community, a place where those with experience or knowledge can give others a helping hand or moral support.

It does worry me though; there are many vapers who do not interact online and the ease of buying cheap mods from China is ever-present. Even with forums and Facebook we see people charging their Egos in odd ways not to mention the ability for people to not realise the information they are being given may not be the wisest advice:

See, the thing is, fear is a good thing. Our ancestors were either fantastic at fighting or, more wisely, even better at hiding because they were afraid of being killed. Fear is the thing that is hardwired into us to protect us from ourselves.

Take the wobble of an atomiser on top of a mod due to a gap, for example. We are afraid that this wobble may end up ruining the threads of the atty or the mod and so we try to obtain a flush fit – and for those unable to do so there is always the OCD washer.

Part of our brain, the bit we really don’t have much control over, a relic from our primal selves gives us this ability to recognise danger and avoid it. This said, I can’t count the number of times I have touched a wick to adjust the coil and left myself with a cool mini-branding. Luckily the thalamus clicked into gear, got in touch with the sensory cortex, used the hippocampus and activated the hypothalamus faster than it took to write that and yanked my hand away from searing my flesh.

So it’s fine to fear your coils, it’s OK to find the maths perplexing; it’s just not OK to allow your child to purchase One Direction CDs. That scares me. And those of us with knowledge to share, don’t grow weary when seeing that question posed for the millionth time – it’s because there’s now 2.1million of us out there, each at a different stage in their vaping journey.

And let’s stop telling people that boiling batteries is good for extending the mAh rating no matter how much I may have tittered at the notion.

Dave Cross

 

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Winning the ASHes

Posted on by Rob Ellard

 

Previous studies carried out estimated that there were between 900,000 to 1.3million vapers (electronic cigarette users) within the UK. The striking lead finding from ASH’s most recent survey is that there are now 2.1million vapers within the UK.

This figure is broken down into 700,000 ex-smokers who now only use electronic devices in place of cigarettes and 1.3million vapers who use vaping devices in addition to their smoking habits.

ASH contrasts the number of smokers who have tried an electronic cigarette. They state that in 2010 only 8.2% had tried one while this figure has now exploded to almost 58%. Of these smokers they note a rise from almost 3% regularly vaping had increased to almost 18% by this year.

They discovered that the figure for the non-smoking general public who knew about electronic cigarettes and vaping now stands at 90% of the population and of those almost two fifths agreed that vaping was a good thing for public health while only one fifth disagreed.

While debate still appears to focus in the media on the topic of vaping being a gateway into smoking ASH report that around 1% of non-smokers had ever tried an electronic cigarette and next to none of them continued to do so – destroying any gateway argument and supporting the findings from 2013.

For the second year running they found that the main reasons for vaping were to use as a tool to stop smoking, to remain from smoking and, for people who dual-fuel (vape and smoke), to cut down on the number of cigarettes smoked.

This turns the gateway argument on its head and amply demonstrates that vaping is not a gateway into smoking cigarettes but a gateway out of smoking cigarettes.

Despite all the arguments that banning and controlling when and where vaping can take place (because it looks like smoking a cigarette), ASH released findings demonstrating that this is far from the case. It stated that only 8% of people who vape use cigalikes (electronic cigarettes that look like cigarettes); these are also known as 1st generation devices.

Of the rest, half vape using second generation devices (a small Ego-type battery and a small tank like an Evod). The other half use 3rd generation devices such as mechanical mods and variable voltage/wattage devices along with genisis or silica tanks and drippers.

The third generation devices were most popular with ex-smokers and so there is a clear progression away from smoking through the three generations of electronic cigarettes.

Repeating the findings of 2013, ASH found that knowledge and understanding of electronic cigarettes was high among children and teenagers. They also demonstrated for the second year running that vaping in children and teens was restricted to a statistically insignificant number – and those who did either dual-fuelled because they were smokers or were ex-smokers. Again, this adds huge weight to the argument that vaping is a gateway out of smoking and not into it.

The report was released on the same day that ASH USA made the following statement: “While the FDA proposal is an important step, ASH is disappointed that the proposal does not include the regulation of the marketing of e-cigarettes nor the banning of flavors, such as bubble gum, that specifically target young people. Even if electronic cigarettes prove to be an effective tool for adults who are trying to quit, they should not be marketed to children.”

The disconnect between the two positions, one founded in research and the other not, could not be more contrasting. All of ASH UK’s evidence points to the fact that neither are electronic cigarettes marketed to young people nor are young people adopting electronic cigarettes. While ASH USA provide a caveat of “if” ecigs are effective quitting agents, ASH UK’s research amply demonstrates they are working year on year.

Sources for further reading: