I'm curious about the PFE - does anyone have the Ti one yet?
My HL parcel has been stuck in Chicago for a week now, but when it finally arrives down under I'll be doing a little comparison of the SS/Ti PFE.
I'll suss the finish, durability, weight and the thermal differences.
From what I've read, the PFE is best suited for water pipe usage, however some have much preferred it and have replaced the front-end to it permanently. I am expecting to do the same, but I'd like to explore some pros/cons relative to different usage styles.
Straight up, the Ti PFE will heat up and cool down slightly faster and it will be noticeably lighter, but I'll try and decide what the price difference pays for.
The main reason I personally opted for the Ti PFE was to achieve the lightest option to avoid tipping one of my glass rigs when it's connected. I am pretty sure it will still tip regardless, but it made sense to go full Ti and take the $10 gamble
I have found vapor likes consistency
I agree, there would be an optimised airflow through the hopper (dependant on pack density/quantity), and fluctuating airspeed (although it works pretty decently in the hopper due to its rapid heater) will prevent the heater from dispersing its energy as evenly and would also cause wider fluctuations in temp.
The hopper is built to heat up only to the selected temp, so a consistent toke will offer the chambers material the best potential for the most rapid extraction and the biggest clouds.
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HL have released a new blog post;
BEST PRACTICES
The Hopper Labs team and customers sat down last week to come up with a list of Grasshopper best practices. The following tips are the results of that session. These tips will keep your unit in great shape.
See our YouTube Channel for more!
1. Don't overfill your chamber. A loose pack will give you better airflow and faster extraction. If you are packing your chamber tight there is less room for hot air to vaporize your herbs. You'll have to take longer, slower draws, which are not ideal for the Hopper.
2. Turn the device off 5 seconds before your draw is over. Clicking your Hopper off a little before the end of your draw will help clear out any hot vapor, keeping your unit cool and giving you maximum extraction.
3. Keep your Hopper off as much as possible. The Hopper's fast heat up time means you should have the device off all of the time you are not drawing on it. Click it on, draw right after the lights turn blue and switch it off 5 seconds before you're done. Not only will you be extending your battery life but your device will stay cooler, and you'll get more out of you herbs.
4. Place your lips further back on the mouthpiece. The Grasshopper has a tapered mouthpiece, and the narrower the taper gets, the closer your lips will be to that hot stream of vapor. If your taking longer draws put your lips further back.
5. Swap your batteries. Keep spare batteries on hand and recycle older ones once they start to show their age. The Hopper was meant to have the battery changed. Early and often is the best way to maintain optimal performance. Nothing is going to affect your Hopper more than a worn out battery.
Blog Post on Hopper Batteries here.
6. Keep it Clean. A sure way to problems is allowing your device to build up resin or plant material where it shouldn't be. Swabbing out you chamber with a dry q-tip at the end of your session is an easy first step.
See our full blog post on cleaning.
Definitely worth a read, I'll be taking more care with the hoppers when I finally get the chance to.
I can definitely see some relation between points 1, 2/3 & 6 and my device faults