Venty Fiasco – Recall, E04 Codes & Firmware Update

The Venty Recall has been resolved however an unusual high number of Venty Vaporizer owners are receiving error codes. As of 4/17/2024 the Venty E04 issue was supposed to have been resolved via a firmware update available on the Storz & Bickel Web App. Sadly we are still seeing a high amount of customers still stuck with a defective Venty where this fix did not do the trick. For those who are still plagued by this Venty E04 fiasco, rest assured Storz & Bickel has an excellent warranty policy and you will be taken care of. Also to take note of is the difference between the error codes.

• E01  – Venty temperature is too high
• E02- Venty temperature is too low
• E03 – Non compatible charging cable
• E04 – Defective, attempt reset & contact S&B
• E05 – Directional airflow (too long inhale)

The good news for most is the Venty error display will resolve itself by taking a break. However for those with the dreaded E04 Venty error performing a firmware update or attempting a reset is the only saving grace before needing to send it in.  To reset the Venty, with the power on, hold the Venty power button for ten seconds.

Ultimately and unfortunately this is an issue which will slowly be worked out over time. As the vaporizer community saw with the issues during the release of the very first Puffco Peak, critical mass manufacturing takes some time to dial in. The recall of the Venty is no longer an active issue and the E04 is not part of that. As of 3/30/2024 we have seen a defect rate of 3% on the Venty within a month or less of use.

Only a few short weeks after Storz & Bickel introduced the world to their first new vaporizer in nearly 10 years, the Venty is being recalled. The newly released Venty Vaporizers are experiencing a hardware issue which affects the energy efficiency and management. While Storz & Bickel have not explicitly stated the issue, in their recall email they stated “By carefully evaluating the data from the field, we have identified an inconsistency in the performance of the initial limited batch of VENTYs.” 

It is a shame as the Venty was receiving much acclaim. In using and reviewing the Venty Vaporizer over the last few weeks we found the German vaporizer to function stellar without any issue to include charging and turning on for limited quick sessions. The one issue we did find during our Venty Vaporizer review  had to do with the “Find my Venty” feature not functioning as intended. The Venty would disengage from Bluetooth when the unit was powered down. Using the app there was no option to connect to the powered down Venty, making the “find my” feature pointless. We brought this to Storz & Bickel’s attention who said they would be working on a fix. While certainly this small feature could be annoying to those who misplaced their vaporizer, this was not the reason for the Venty recall. 

Despite everything running hunky dory for us we were contacted by Storz & Bickel on November 6th about a preliminary testing for those who had been one of the first owners of the new Storz & Bickel vaporizer. When we asked for more specifics about what the testing was for they were tight lipped not giving us a succinct answer and referring back to the initial email. The testing was to analyze for a potential  error in the vaporizer’s firmware to see how widespread this issue was. 

Apparently the issue was on a bigger scale than imaged and relating to the hardware (not software) as a follow up email  four days later concerning an all out Venty recall and how to safely brick your unit for a new updated replacement. 

While Storz & Bickel have not overtly stated what the issue is. Many assume it has to do with the potential for the unit to overheat and possibly cause a fire. While there is yet to be a single reported instance of this, by bricking the units and making them inoperable you are mitigating this risk. The unit will not charge, the unit will not heat up and the unit will not power on. 

It is likely the Venty is prone to dangers of this sort being a battery powered vaporizer that heats up incredibly fast. This heat transfer poses a greater safety risk and is the reason why vape pens (510 batteries) are so problematic. Vape Pens hit high temperatures in under a second thus have a greater transfer of energy. Essentially what makes a bomb go boom –  very rapid transfer of energy.

Many have asked why Storz & Bickel are not requiring returns on the recalled Venty Vaporizers. This is likely the worry that not all customers will 1.) Brick the unit before returning them, causing a safety hazard by throwing a potentially dangerous vaporizer in the mail and 2.) The cost associated with Storz & Bickel paying postage, administration fees behind overseeing a massive wave of returns and the labor costs associated with repair likely just do not make economic sense versus writing them off as defective. In the USA Storz & Bickel handles repairs out of a very small warehouse in Oakland, CA , a location with some of the highest employee wages in the entire United States. 

To the Cloud Vapor Store knows all too well the rising labor costs affecting our ability to repair broken vaporizers with most repairs not being worth it with labor costs exceeding the value of the vaporizer. This is exactly why Storz & Bickel now just replace the Crafty+ under warranty instead of swapping out the battery.

Despite this small hiccup it could be much worse. Storz & Bickel corrected the issue before it got out of hand and did not try to minimize or keep the defect under the rug. It should also be noted that if the vaporizer was not built to such a high standard there would be no Bluetooth ability to assess the vaporizer on the level needed for a recall. We had used our Venty for nearly a month and up until bricking it under the recall conditions, it had worked great. This has happened to other vaporizers in the past with gas off issues in the Boundless Tera to early connection issues with the OG Puffco Peak. Unfortunately for the vaporizer market being as small as it is, there is not a large R&D budget or cohort to beta test using critical mass numbers. 

Ultimately during our review of the Venty we were quite impressed with the performance and vapor quality and still feel this will be the best portable vaporizer on the market in no time. 

That being said, if you were looking at buying the Venty vaporizer it might be best to wait a few weeks until we are carrying it. You can input your email here to get an email notification and purchase a Venty from To the Cloud Vapor Store that is 100% ensured to have the issues  ironed out. For those who wish not to wait , the Mighty+ is still a solid substitute for the Venty and can be had at a discount while also giving you peace of mind. 

Storz & Bickel is top of the pack when it comes to quality control. We have to think about companies like Ghost and Haze who had issues with their vaporizers but went out of their way to downplay and hide the issues, ultimately going out of business and leaving customers with expensive paperweights. With Storz & Bickel you can rest assured all issues will be addressed and the company will be here for the foreseeable future to take care of your needs. 

Storz & Bickel has begun shipping updated Venty Vaporizers to those who were the first to order them and have bricked their devices. After this batch they will begin to process and ship orders for customers who ordered the Venty direct from Storz & Bickel but have yet to receive their vaporizer purchase.

The issue has been resolved and customers who were the first to purchase the Venty and receive a defective device have now had those replaced. Pre orders from late October before the issue was known and widespread have begun shipping direct from Storz & Bickel. For those looking for the best deal on the defect free Venty, To the Cloud Vapor Store has the most updated and current model Ventys.

We are seeing an unusually high defect rate in the Venty Vaporizer with about 3% becoming faulty within the first month of use. While this is likely to be resolved in the coming weeks and Storz & Bickel provides a 3 year warranty on the device we do feel it may be better to purchase the Mighty+ at this time.