vapebuddy13
Your resident Super Hero
soooo every time I refresh I hope to see someone post a email response about the heaters lol dying to know! May is around the corner and hoping for a solid update (cuz that hasn't been said b4) fingers crossed
The Grasshopper
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t-dub
Vapor Sloth
Well lets think about how they could tweak the laser sintering process to increase production and lower cost, a tall order. In my view to avoid the "crippling event" Trevor spoke of the heater design probably had to be changed and simplified. This could impact performance a great deal. It seems implausible to me that they had a meeting and figured some way to magically increase production up from 30/40 units per week to something workable without having that company make a major investment in new equipment or without changing the design. Something HAD to change, the question is what was it?
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DirtD1V3R
Well-Known Member
I don't know if this helps but I did send an email about a month ago and I asked: For manufacturing sake, are there any concessions you have had to make that change the info given on the website; ie is the heater now pushing less wattage, heat up time change or battery life changes?
He responded with,
"There have been no concessions to what is listed on our website. The stats often exceed what is listed there."
Kalessin
Well-Known Member
I asked him a similar question, and I got the same reply basically, and it was after the supposed heater issues had come up.
DirtD1V3R
Well-Known Member
Yeah I sent it either when they were in China or right after they got back.
t-dub
Vapor Sloth
Oh, well THAT clears everything up completely . . .
Edit: Now that I'm done being sarcastic here is an idea. If they made the internal design of the heater simpler, it wont transfer heat to the incoming air as well as it should. This will change performance without altering the "stats" on their website.
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Kalessin
Well-Known Member
I agree it's vague, but if we choose to believe that they're not deliberately lying, which I don't want to believe, it's as enlightening as anything else. Might as well believe that nothing has changed until we have an actual reason to believe so...Oh, well THAT clears everything up completely . . .
DirtD1V3R
Well-Known Member
Oh, well THAT clears everything up completely . . .
Edit: Now that I'm done being sarcastic here is an idea. If they made the internal design of the heater simpler, it wont transfer heat to the incoming air as well as it should. This will change performance without altering the "stats" on their website.
Yeah I thought about that but I thought it would change the stats because they state on the website that it can reach specific temperatures (266-410F) and has a heat up time of 5 seconds. If the heater was inefficient at heating the air wouldn't it take longer to reach operating temp and it probably wouldn't be able to hit 410F? So that would be two specs they would have to amend. I could be completely wrong (not an engineer)
Mrbinky
Well-Known Member
I agree. It is entirely possible that we will not receive units that perform as well as the original design.Oh, well THAT clears everything up completely . . .
Edit: Now that I'm done being sarcastic here is an idea. If they made the internal design of the heater simpler, it wont transfer heat to the incoming air as well as it should. This will change performance without altering the "stats" on their website.
t-dub
Vapor Sloth
They are speaking about the heater itself, not about how efficiently it heats the air going through it. This whole sintering process was supposed to create micro channels that the air went through which was supposed to be an advantage in transferring that heat to the air.
Mrbinky
Well-Known Member
But possibly not the same throughput. Or maybe it won't maintain the target temperature as well depending on the rate of airflow.
t-dub
Vapor Sloth
Or maybe it will just get really hot and transfer some of that heat to the Grasshopper body instead of the load.
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Kalessin
Well-Known Member
Granted it does happen, cause I hear about companies ripping people off with sub-par products all the time But. I'm thinking it won't happen. I hope the Grasshopper guys at least realize that if they don't deliver the product they've been promising that they'll pretty much be ruined in the vaporizer business...
Mrbinky
Well-Known Member
In any case, we may not be able to achieve the same clouds in the video.
They never made any specific promises about it, so you can't prove they are delivering a suboptimal product. I suppose most consumer products are inherently suboptimal compromises. It's just that, most of the time, consumers are not aware of it. In this case, if Buzz gets his hands on a shipping version, he'll know, and maybe, then, so will we.
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Kalessin
Well-Known Member
I don't consider it that way. They sent out the pre-production model as not just -a- example, but the ONLY example of their product. If it doesn't perform to that level, I will feel deceived and cheated, because that model was a huge deciding factor in my decision. Not to mention that people have been repeatedly assured that performance shouldn't be affected by any changes they have made.
Mrbinky
Well-Known Member
I agree. I also purchased my unit based on the review and posted videos. Probably most of the pre-orders were the same. I am sure it was their intention that people would assume that their units would have the same performance. So, yes, it would be unfair and dishonest if they have subsequently made design changes that would compromise the performance.
I hope they didn't.
Kalessin
Well-Known Member
Of course at this point I'm not terribly concerned. I see nothing to indicate anything other than possibly further delayed shipping times, it seems like they have the design of the device figured out, they just have to wait until it all comes together, so it's not a huge concern to me at that point. Now if June rolls around and no one has received any units, that will be troubling...That would probably be the point I dropped out of the whole affair. Edit: And as a further thought...if they did end up trying to make downgrades, and they were up front about it, I would probably be willing to fork over up to another hundred dollars for a unit that performed as well as Buzz's, though something like that is probably unlikely...
Mrbinky
Well-Known Member
Pay extra money for something that performs as well as the posted videos and reviews when I ordered my unit?
Hang on: can anyone tell me what is the definition of "bait and switch?" I must be missing something, here...
hi_there
Well-Known Member
Trevor replied. Pretty much par for the course.
Hi ----,
Thanks for checking in. We have a lot of batteries in stock, heaters are trickling in and the electronics are being produced right now. More information is coming in the update later this week. We should have a better idea on the ship dates at that time.
Best,
Trevor
Hi ----,
Thanks for checking in. We have a lot of batteries in stock, heaters are trickling in and the electronics are being produced right now. More information is coming in the update later this week. We should have a better idea on the ship dates at that time.
Best,
Trevor
Kalessin
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't be happy about it, but if it were the only way to get my unit I'd do it, since the money is mostly worthless to me anyway. I really desire a one-hitter type vaporizer, and this is the only one that I feel like would adequately fill that role for me...
Mrbinky
Well-Known Member
Kalessin
Well-Known Member
Could probably auction that thing for hundreds of dollars...Buzz, you may well have the best Grasshopper that will ever be made.
Mrbinky
Well-Known Member
But, you know, if they'd make the original heater design public, people could eventually print their own if they really wanted. Or even improved versions, if time and money were no object. Presumably, 3d printing technology will only improve over time, right?
If they did degrade the performance to meet production and cost constraints, I think they could at least give us that option.
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