Category: News

Current lead time

Estimated lead time for XPV orders 5-9 business days from payment. We hope to announce a lower lead time later this week.

Shipping delay

There is an additional shipping delay for XPV orders of 2-3 days. We expect to have this delay eliminated this week.

Free shipping special!

We wish all of our customers a happy holiday season, and bid farewell to 2014 with a free domestic shipping special on the following items, which will ship starting Monday 12/22. Use coupon code BYE2014. International customers, while shipping cannot be free, we will be offering a discount, contact us.

Evolv DNA 40D (retail box)

Evolv Micro-USB Charging Board

Nautilus Temperature Sensing Coils (5-pack)

KangerTech Temperature Sensing Coils (5-pack)

Speaking of DNA-40D

We plan to carry the DNA-40D full-time for the foreseeable future to spread the gospel of  Temperature Control to the masses. We appreciate any and all referrals, and we have the easy shorthand domain DNA40D.COM which will take visitors directly to our DNA-40D page. If you need more than 5 boards contact us and we can make a deal!

Current lead time

Estimated lead time for XPV orders 5-9 business days from payment. Please see the shipping delay below.

Shipping delay

There is an additional shipping delay for XPV orders of 2-3 days. We continue to work to eliminate the added delay. We thank you again for your patience!

Aspire Nautilus TSC coils in!

We have just gotten in a shipment of Vapor Shark’s Aspire Nautilus TSC temperature sensing coils for DNA-40D! These are for Nautilus and Nautilus mini tanks, and they work very well. Purchase them here:

Nautilus Temperature Sensing Coils (5-pack)

If you have an XPV order in and would like to add these or anything to the order, please Contact Us for more info. Include your Order Number.

Kanger temperature coils coming

We have Kanger universal-style temperature sensing coils (Aerotank, Protank 3, etc., see item when it is posted for full compatibility list) on the way and should be posting them by the end of the week.

Latest-version DNA-40D boards in!

We have received some stock of the latest (revision 4) DNA-40D boards which includes switching between F and C temperature units! We continue to test each board before shipping, including firing an actual atomizer repeatedly, but we are finding few issues with this revision. Evolv has been working hard to address any reliability issues, though that affects us most of all as our QC testing has caught most issues.

XPV cases restocking

We are in the process of restocking case colors. We have matte black, grey, red and royal blue coming. ETA 1-2 days.

Shipping software and procedural updates

We have recently changed our shipping software and certain procedures, so if you have ordered from us before, the emails you receive and the way you receive them may now be different. In addition we may have some “construction dust” type of issues as we figure out the best way to use the new tools to serve you. If you receive any confusing communications from us, please Contact Us for clarification. We remain committed to providing great service for our customers past, present and future.

LG 18650HE4 battery added

We have received a shipment of LG’s latest high drain battery, the HE4. We will be offering them in place of the LG HE2 battery in the future. They can also be purchased separately.

LG 18650 HE4 2500mAh 20A battery

A note about stock

In order to maintain a consistent level of service, we stock controllable quantities of items and restock with small quantities often. So if an item or option is out of stock on a given day, check back within a day or two.

 

Current lead time

Estimated lead time for XPV orders 4-7 business days from payment. Please see the shipping delay below.

Shipping delay

Unfortunately a power outage Monday cost us a day of production, so our shipping delay rises to 2-3 days. We have also adjusted the lead time above to make sure we set expectations correctly. We are working to eliminate the delay and reduce lead time again, but we continue to spend a lot of time on quality control and customer service for existing owners. We thank you again for your patience!

Version 3 DNA40 boards are in

As of 11/13/14, the retail box DNA40 boards we have are Version 3 boards (the latest version). We also fire test each board before shipping, with a nickel atomizer and at several wattages and temperatures.

Current lead time

Estimated lead time for XPV orders 3-5 business days from payment. We are announcing a shipping delay, see below.

Shipping delay

As of this posting, we unfortunately have about a 1-2 day shipping delay on top of the lead time for XPV devices. As this is a groundbreaking new product and we are early in the first production run, quality control testing requires more time than previous devices and as a result it takes significantly longer to complete each unit. Our method has allowed us to catch most issues before the units are shipped, and as a result we have a low user problem rate, which we feel is worth taking the extra time for. However, this has put us behind schedule by a couple of days. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience!

As before shipping delays apply to all unshipped orders from the time of announcement.

Current lead time

Estimated lead time for XPV orders 1-5 business days from payment. Demand for the DNA-40D XPV remains robust so we need to keep the increased lead time.

Temperature info page posted

Here is our temperature information page with some collected thoughts and links to resources:

 Technical: DNA-40D & temperature protection

Temporary repair timeframe increase

We continue to accept and complete repair jobs concurrently with production, however due to the current high volume of both orders and repairs, we need to raise the repair timeframe to 2-5 days. This is a more accurate estimate, as repairs are handled individually and usually require ongoing communication with the owner.

Thank you for your patience and understanding, and as always thank you for your ongoing interest and support!

 

Evolv clears the table

So, perhaps you’ve seen this:

Evolv today with the help of esteemed vaping personality Phil Busardo announced its latest product, the DNA 40D with temperature protection. We were lucky enough to be involved in the beta testing for the new device and we can say with confidence that this technology changes vaping as we know it on a fundamental level. This isn’t just evolution, it’s revolution, down to the very building blocks of vaping.

Just about everything we know about vapor technology is now obsolete. The ability to control temperature is a feat several orders of magnitude more sohpisticated than anything currently seen in vaping, and we can tell you it absolutely works! This is true innovation, and on balance Evolv is without question the most innovative company in the industry.

Protovapor is all-in

At Protovapor we are big believers in Evolv’s technology and business model. While we have felt the pinch from cloning and the wattage war, we always knew Evolv’s product would be worth waiting for. We were right. This is what everyone has been waiting for … even if they don’t know it yet!

Announcing the Protovapor XPV-DNA40D

We will be releasing DNA 40D-equipped XPV mods on the official launch day, October 14. We have boards and materials on hand and are ramping up for production to get these mods into as many hands as possible. We will include some sample Ni200 wire so users will be able to hit the ground running. We are also working on a temperature control primer of sorts, based on our experiences with the new technology. We will also have Ni200 wire available, and most likely some retail DNA 40D boards.

How will this affect lead time? It depends. As of right now, it is at the minimum 1-3 days. We are gearing up to meet expected additional demand in the early days after launch but it’s entirely possible demand could start putting pressure on the lead time again. As this is a new product launch, and a revolutionary one, we will probably accommodate some lead-time increase if it is needed. We won’t let it get as high as in the past, however.

We will post an announcement when the mods are available for order on Tuesday. Stay tuned!

Also since the last status post was just yesterday, here’s a reminder:

Matte black cases restocked

We have finally received our shipment of matte black cases. They are back in stock and available.

Better 510 upgrades

We have come into a number of matte black case halves which allow us to do the 510 upgrades without the thick top spacers. For a limited time, any 510 upgrade ordered for shop installation can be done with these case halves at no extra charge. For black cases it is automatic, and it can be requested for any other color of case. We also have a limited number of slight blemish case halves in grey, ice blue, red, gold and green, which can also be requested in a shop 510 upgrade. Yes, two-tone cases!

Speaking of two-tone cases

As an experiment and in conjunction with the DNA 40D launch, we will work with customers to deliver two-tone cases. The options for color areas are: case front (button side), case back (screen side), top and bottom plates. Here are the scenarios:

• If you order 2 mods, you can mix and match colors any way you like between the two.
• If you would like a black case front with any color back, it is available.
• If you would like a grey, ice blue, royal blue, red, gold, or green case counter color, we have slight blemish case parts available and will supply them in order from best to worst.

We do not guarantee we can always do the two tone, but we will do our best. Select the color of the case back (screen side) that you want, then write what else you want in the comments on your order. We will contact you to finalize.

Current lead time

Current estimated lead time for XPV orders 1-3 business days from payment. Effectively, the lead time is eliminated; this is the lowest it will be. Since mods are still made to order, we have a small window built in to accommodate surges in ordering. If the window starts growing again, we will throttle sales to make sure lead time remains here.

Matte black cases restocked

We have finally received our shipment of matte black cases. They are back in stock and available.

Better 510 upgrades

We have come into a number of matte black case halves which allow us to do the 510 upgrades without the thick top spacers. For a limited time, any 510 upgrade ordered for shop installation can be done with these case halves at no extra charge. For black cases it is automatic, and it can be requested for any other color of case. We also have a limited number of slight blemish case halves in grey, ice blue, red, gold and green, which can also be requested in a shop 510 upgrade. Yes, two-tone cases!

Stuff

Things are going to get real interesting around here soon. Stay tuned.

 

Current estimated lead time for XPV orders

7-12 business days from payment. See this page for details on how the lead time works.

XPV ordering will remain open

As of this posting, XPV ordering is open and will remain open until further notice.

Samsung INR18650-25R now available

As you may be aware, the Sony US18650VTC5 battery we currently use in full size XPVs is seeing a global supply shortage. Theories of why abound, but the bottom line is we are finding it increasingly hard to get VTC5 batteries in a timely manner and at a reasonable price. Luckily, two excellent alternatives exist for DNA30 devices, which do not require all of the 30A continuous capacity offered by the VTC5 cell. These are the LG 18650HE2 2500mah 20A battery, which we already offer, and the Samsung INR18650-25R 2500mah 20A battery, which we are now offering. All three of these batteries perform essentially identically at the loads demanded by the DNA30 board. The Samsung performed very well in our testing and is now the default battery on XPV mods. The VTC5 can still be ordered while supplies last but there’s no guarantee we will be able to restock in the future, or offer it without charging a premium.

510 upgrade DIY instructions posted

We have posted the DIY instructions for the 510 upgrade. Again we do not recommend doing the upgrade yourself if at all possible. We have the experience of doing hundreds of these installs, while an inexperienced person doing it for the first time is likely to run into issues or at least frustrations.

Service Procedure: 510 Upgrade

Black matte cases coming

Black matte cases have been reordered, we expect them back in stock in 10-15 business days. If you have an order in the queue or would like to make an order for one, and would like to wait for the black matte cases, please contact us.

Sales policy clarification

Protovapor has always had an All Sales Final policy, which implicitly included preorders for XPV mods, however given the long lead times we have been flexible with those requesting refunds. With our shortening lead times, we now start the production process on an ordered mod much more quickly, meaning we incur costs sooner. This renders us unable to refund orders, so please order with that in mind. The Shipping and Returns policy page has been updated to be clearer on this.