Discontinued The Grasshopper

[Vapor_Eyes]

Just to be sure I understood... the pics in this post:
http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-grasshopper.18482/page-442#post-1010731

The dark spots in the "grid" is from lighting and is not gunk or other matter??

The dark spots are actually silver spots, the lighting makes them look dark for some reason. They appear to be scuff marks almost but I strongly doubt that is what caused them. Who know what it was, @thekarmawhore put forth an interesting hypothesis. I am far from an expert in electronics.

Here is a picture without flash, as you can see there is the gold contact and the spots are actually silver. The dark spots within the silver are gold. Hopefully that makes sense, sorry for the low quality pic.

 

[TheWhisper]

A closer look:

TI PCB:

SS PCB:

What camera did you take these with? How did you get that even and diffuse yet not harsh lighting down the tube?

 

[AgentXero]

So I was away for over a week and missed a lot and don't feel like going through a dozen or so pages, so apologies if this has been hashed out already..

Are we supposed to clean that electronic board inside of the body with iso?

 

[JoeMama]

The dark spots are actually silver spots, the lighting makes them look dark for some reason. They appear to be scuff marks almost but I strongly doubt that is what caused them. Who know what it was, @thekarmawhore put forth an interesting hypothesis. I am far from an expert in electronics.

Here is a picture without flash, as you can see there is the gold contact and the spots are actually silver. The dark spots within the silver are gold. Hopefully that makes sense, sorry for the low quality pic.

Wow!! OK; man this is hard to assess If all these "dark spots" (not just on your photos but others' too!) aren't gunk but are really just silver - that is, if they are all "clean" - then... what were we talking about again? Don't mean to be flippant, certainly.

 

[Kalessin]

welp. My Hopper is down again. No red/blue lights of death this time, when I click it on the lights come on red like normal then the device shuts down. Back to my vapcap...I don't find it as convenient or as efficient as my Grasshopper, but it is basically unbreakable so it has that going for it.

 

[Vapor_Eyes]

Wow!! OK; man this is hard to assess If all these "dark spots" (not just on your photos but others' too!) aren't gunk but are really just silver - that is, if they are all "clean" - then... what were we talking about again? Don't mean to be flippant, certainly.

Look on the silver part of the grasshopper body itself, on the perimeter near the walls. The ring of metal outside of the battery and pcb. There is a huge crescent shaped brown glob of gunk in the first picture, at roughly 6:00.

I was able to clean off the crescent shaped gunk with the pointy end of a bamboo skewer that I repeatedly dipped in isopropyl alcohol. Performance seems to be the same, no improvement, but I haven't seemed to notice any decrease in performance since I first got my hopper, still hitting like a champ.

Before:

After:

Other people have similarly shaped globs of different sizes:

Very Small, About 4:00-

SS PCB:

Very Big, About 7:00-

Stainless Steel w/o extra chips

 

[JoeMama]

Look on the silver part of the grasshopper body itself, on the perimeter near the walls. The ring of metal outside of the battery and pcb. There is a huge crescent shaped brown glob of gunk in the first picture, at roughly 6:00.



Other people have similarly shaped globs of different sizes:

Very Small, About 4:00-


Very Big, About 7:00-

Ah ok, I understand where now, the rim around the PCB. That is a huge gob.

I have had my hopper for about 3 weeks, use it a dozen times or more a day, but don't get any gunk in that section at all. Is it too soon to tell? I mean, for example is your hopper older?

 

[Vapor_Eyes]

Ah ok, I understand where now, the rim around the PCB. That is a huge gob.

I have had my hopper for about 3 weeks, use it a dozen times or more a day, but don't get any gunk in that section at all. Is it too soon to tell? I mean, for example is your hopper older?

Mine is eight weeks old. That could be why I had the gunk. It didnt seem to affect performance in my case, so I don't think it's a major concern. I just find it odd that they all share the same shape.

 

[thekarmawhore]

Here's a brand new led flashlight bare driver board that already shows the grid pattern. Add a little wear to the plating and it would look just like the GH pcb.
https://img.fasttechcdn.com/111/1114500/1114500-7.jpg

 

[greenextinguisher]

What camera did you take these with? How did you get that even and diffuse yet not harsh lighting down the tube?

For the second set of pics (the good ones) I was using a ring flash. It's a flash that wraps around the barrel of the camera lens. It's ideal for macro work or any application where you want even lighting and reduced shadowing. I just have a cheap one that you attach to a standard camera strobe.

I used a 105mm 1:1 macro lens for all of the shots. The first two I used a 16MP 35mm sensor and the second two I used a 36MP 35mm sensor.

Even with the right equipment, its kind of a pain in the ass to shoot. The light really likes to bounce around down the tube, so alignment is very important. A tripod and clamp make it easier.

Here's a brand new led flashlight bare driver board that already shows the grid pattern. Add a little wear to the plating and it would look just like the GH pcb.
https://img.fasttechcdn.com/111/1114500/1114500-7.jpg

Score! You nailed it and great supporting documentation! haha Hopefully this stuff doesn't wear down to the fiberglass!

 

[Vapor_Eyes]

I've been using my silicone Crafty/Mighty mouthpiece adaptor when using my Grasshopper with water. It works well, you just have to press the hopper into it to get a good seal. I prefer it to the HL session extender. The best part is it's black so it won't stain with use!

I like it so much I ordered a couple 18-14mm silicone reducers from @Ratchett to use with my D020-D. They are amazing, they keep the hopper perfectly stable for hands free use. And you can't beat the price!

http://delta3dstudios.com/silicone-reducer-18-14mm/

 

[JoeMama]

Had an interesting observation tonite:

I just got a few more batteries from HL. I decided for some reason to check them in the hopper. But before doing so, checked the battery level in my UM20. They were all at least 97%. Fine.

So I screwed them in one at a time, and sonofabitch, one of the batteries (just one) wouldn't kick the hopper into any status. Dead. Take it out, check on the Nitecore, it says 97%. Put it back in, click it, and nothing!

Has this happened to anyone?!?

EDIT: Found out why... Looks like they may have some yield issues with the batteries, even if its only based on something as trivial as this! Guess which battery doesn't work?

Second thing:

- Whenever I install a battery in the TI, the lights turn on red briefly as the backend makes contact with the battery. This doesn't happen on the SS.

While trying to get the hopper to show some lights with the weirdly dead battery, I clicked on and off several times, losing track of which "position" is ON versus OFF, since the hopper was showing no sign of life. And then I thought, maybe it doesn't matter, but what I didn't want happening would be akin to replacing a lightbulb in a live socket, you know?

So I unscrewed the backend, took out the weird battery, and replaced it with a known good battery.
As I was beginning to screw in the backend, lining up the threads, etc, the hopper's red lights started flashing continuously. I got nervous after about 3 seconds and, rather than continue screwing (and I couldn't get leverage on the clicker to alternate its state mid-screwing) I reversed what I was doing and separated the two pieces again. Then I clicked the backend piece by itself, presumably setting the switch to its OFF position, and then screwed it together with no more flashing.

ONE other time in the past, I replaced a battery and, certain that the switch was in the OFF position, saw the brief red flash you describe, Green. It never happened again.

FWIW

 

[Mr. Me2]

And now my mouthpiece isn't screwing on completely, but the screen is tightly seated. I'm 99% sure it's because material is lodged in the threads. Time for an ISO soak. Hopefully that will solve the problem...

Any suggestions other than an ISO soak?

 

[IAmKrazy2]

And now my mouthpiece isn't screwing on completely, but the screen is tightly seated. I'm 99% sure it's because material is lodged in the threads. Time for an ISO soak. Hopefully that will solve the problem...

Any suggestions other than an ISO soak?

Iso soak then run a qtip around the threads. Same thing happened to me, and the qtip helped.

 

[Mr. Me2]

Iso soak then run a qtip around the threads. Same thing happened to me, and the qtip helped.

Thanks! Regular q-tip okay or do I need a precision q-tip?

 

[MoltenTiger]

And now my mouthpiece isn't screwing on completely, but the screen is tightly seated. I'm 99% sure it's because material is lodged in the threads. Time for an ISO soak. Hopefully that will solve the problem...

Any suggestions other than an ISO soak?

Before you finish soaking it, get a pipecleaner, bent-to-shape, and give the threads a good wipe over and rinse it a few times. That should do the job pretty well, I've had success doing similar without soaking it.
---------


My new charger arrived today, Xtar MC2.

Works well. 61% remaining and I've charged 6 batteries. Chambers for days

 

[vapviking]

And now my mouthpiece isn't screwing on completely, but the screen is tightly seated. I'm 99% sure it's because material is lodged in the threads. Time for an ISO soak. Hopefully that will solve the problem...

Any suggestions other than an ISO soak?

If simple iso soak doesn't clear the threads, you might try the tweezer tool to loosen the screen a turn or two, with iso, to free up anything stuck way down in the mouthpiece's threads.

 

[JoeMama]

Thanks! Regular q-tip okay or do I need a precision q-tip?

Mr. Me, I just did this last night because I was getting draw resistance and realized it was the mouthpiece screen. While I was at it, I used a precision Qtip to get at the outside perimeter of the screen - the outside rim that looks like it exactly seats itself against the chamber rim. Worked out well.

If simple iso soak doesn't clear the threads, you might try the tweezer tool to loosen the screen a turn or two, with iso, to free up anything stuck way down in the mouthpiece's threads.

Being ambitious I thought to take the screen out to do a good clean on everything, but my pointy tweezers either aren't point enough (they sure seem razor pointy though!) or that screen is in there hard. So I left it alone. I guess if it isn't easy to get out, I shouldn't risk the tweezers marring the screen holes from the forces needed to be applied to get it to move. Not willing to push that envelope.

 

[Vapor_Eyes]

Being ambitious I thought to take the screen out to do a good clean on everything, but my pointy tweezers either aren't point enough (they sure seem razor pointy though!) or that screen is in there hard. So I left it alone. I guess if it isn't easy to get out, I shouldn't risk the tweezers marring the screen holes from the forces needed to be applied to get it to move. Not willing to push that envelope.

Maybe if your hopper was warm it would make it easier to remove. I find that helps with a lot of my vapes. Either try right after you finish a chamber, or maybe take a few hits from an empty chamber at temp 5.

I think it's best not to mess with the mouthpiece screen unless you're having issues with it. I clean my mouthpiece by soaking the entire piece in iso and using a toothpick or pipe cleaner for the stubborn parts near the tip.

 

[AgentXero]

And now my mouthpiece isn't screwing on completely, but the screen is tightly seated. I'm 99% sure it's because material is lodged in the threads. Time for an ISO soak. Hopefully that will solve the problem...

Any suggestions other than an ISO soak?

Perhaps dental brushes dipped in iso work well? I used to use them when I had to clean my pax.

 

[JoeMama]

Maybe if your hopper was warm it would make it easier to remove. I find that helps with a lot of my vapes. Either try right after you finish a chamber, or maybe take a few hits from an empty chamber at temp 5.

I think it's best not to mess with the mouthpiece screen unless you're having issues with it. I clean my mouthpiece by soaking the entire piece in iso and using a toothpick or pipe cleaner for the stubborn parts near the tip.

Yeah, good idea. I should've thought of that, especially after three years of cleaning my Pax that way!
After some time, I will want to remove that screen and see how much resin is deposited on the inside of the convex point of the mouthpiece.

I'm sure the tweezers are the "correct" type... fuckers are dangerous!

I know there is buildup inside that mouthpiece at the narrowing draw-end. I no longer use pipe cleaners because of possible shedding, so I use this kind of thing, surely posted on these forums many times:

I still find it weird that HL wouldn't have specific instructions for removing and replacing that screen assembly. I mean it's not rocket science, but if the thing is under lifetime warranty, I'm sure they'd rather show us how to replace it than have us send it in, lest they say you voided the warranty by screwing it up somehow.

All good though. Thanks!

 

[Mr. Me2]

Perhaps dental brushes dipped in iso work well? I used to use them when I had to clean my pax.

I got them for my pax1 too! I think I got the tip from Vape Critic. Hope I can find them.

 

[fogbank]

Had an interesting observation tonite:

I just got a few more batteries from HL. I decided for some reason to check them in the hopper. But before doing so, checked the battery level in my UM20. They were all at least 97%. Fine.

So I screwed them in one at a time, and sonofabitch, one of the batteries (just one) wouldn't kick the hopper into any status. Dead. Take it out, check on the Nitecore, it says 97%. Put it back in, click it, and nothing!

Has this happened to anyone?!?

I had a very similar experience. I bought a total of 5 spare batteries. One of the batteries acted strangely when I put it on my Nitecore D4. The charger would not recognize it at all. I tried to re-position it and still nothing. I removed it completely, then tried it in a different slot and the charger finally recognized it. According to the Nitecore the battery was fully charged. I tried it in the GH and got nothing. No lights...nothing. I popped it back onto the charger and again it recognized the battery and indicated a full charge. I tried it again in the GH. This time when I clicked it on I saw a brief flash of red lights. I clicked it on and off a few more times and it started working normally! I've used it for a couple of one-hit sessions and it has worked fine. I'm going to wait until the GH indicates low battery before I remove it and put it back on the charger.

All 4 of the other spare batteries worked normally when I put them in the GH.

I haven't looked at the battery wrapper to see if it is different from the other working batteries that I have, but I will when I get a chance.

 

[akwardsauce]

I wish I could fit leads from my multimeter down in there without touching the sides and being able to see.

maybe use a hollow straw as a barrier?

all above my head but good to know smarter people are on the case

 

[grokit]

I'm pleased to say that my new batteries arrived from hopper labs in a somewhat timely fashion, and that the fixes thread seems to have resolved my new back end issues. It had been a while, I forgot how much I enjoy using it. A hopper with a clean screen, fresh battery and a cool back end is a vape for the ages!