Discontinued The Grasshopper

[skyvaper]

@Lefty collecting the data you are requesting is not going to change your chances of receiving a defective hopper. I'd say you have 5 months of knowing what a hopper should do. If there is a variation on how it operates then you will need to send it in. But here is what I've seen in my experience.
1. Flickering beyond low battery warning
2. Taking longer than 5 seconds to heat
3. Hot backend
4. Light abv on temp 5 (overpower the heater)
5. Single flash of red while heating
6. Flash of red when clicked on then no power (even once is not good)
7. No auto off

Again if your hopper is doing any of those things above even just once it's a sign that something is wrong and will eventually degrade in performance or just not operate. There are different levels of degraded performance but when you start "testing" your hopper for performance It's NOT you its me said the hopper.

I've recently had multiple and I mean MULTIPLE RMA services. My advise to anyone is know what you sign up for. I know there is a lifetime warranty. I know if it is not working correctly I send it in and they fix it. The only surprise around the warranty service is when they go above and beyond what they said they would do like paying for postage, or sending a replacement before I send my unit back.

The hopper itself has not proven to be reliable. What I can rely on is to send it and they fix it, or in some cases attempt to fix it. I'll eventually get a working device and eventually a golden ticket. I'll keep trying until I do because this thing fits my needs so well.

 

[vapviking]

WHERE IS THE POLL OR STICKY IN THIS THREAD?!?!?
Im not gonna read 700 pages to understand the different hopper experiences. Mods can we just have a poll
-how many GHs do you own?
-how many RMAs have u had?
-when did you buy your first Gh

I think the best feedback you can get is from your own experience. Either you're a happy owner or you're not.

Polls in these places are going to be answered on a random and very limited basis, so not 'accurate' in a useful way (btw, I think you can start your own if you are so inclined). I think the horror stories, while mostly true, are the ones repeated far more than the 'good news'.

I happen to own two Hoppers for over a year and have returned them about 8 or 9 times (total). It costs me all of $4 US each time, and I have a backup while one is out of commission. I actually bought 4, gave two away and those two others failed in first two months; the recipients still haven't even made first warranty claim, but they will someday and they'll be 'made whole' when the time comes - or maybe sell them for more than I originally paid as a pre-orderer, since they're still un-registered!

I'm on extended break atm but I've never regretted my initial purchase. All 4 didn't cost very much more than my experience with Crafty/Mighty (I do love the Mighty, btw). I had to go through 4 Crafty's before upgrading to a Mighty - and S&B's are some of the best portables made!

A while back there was so much discussion about warranty ethics that a mod did create a separate thread - gave it a kinda weird name but that's beside the point.
http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/ethics-karma-and-grasshopper-warranty-discussion.21860

I have read and followed this thread from the beginning (and before this, the "Shipping" poll) and I guess my advice would be to just jump in now and start from here-- the Hopper is not the same device it was 2 years ago anyway; it's still evolving. The charger and batteries are even different from the original roll outs.

 

[Custom Flower Hardware]

My og hopper is still going strong since '14. Only sent it back once to find out the batteries were beat. Stocked up on new batts...all gravy! Keep it clean to keep hoppin for 3 years strong!

 

[AJS]

My og hopper is still going strong since '14. Only sent it back once to find out the batteries were beat. Stocked up on new batts...all gravy! Keep it clean to keep hoppin for 3 years strong!

Been over a year for this Hopper!

 

[sk8man121]

Interesting thing to note for those who have been dealing with heat spikes in the back-end.

It's been a problem for me literally through 8 or 9 RMAs. They finally sent me a new hopper that was fine at first but began creating heat spikes in the back-end after two days and not vaping properly at all.

Frustrated, I tightened the back-end with as much elbow grease as I had last night and found that it completely fixed the problem. The back-end no longer heats up, the oven vapes perfectly and the grasshopper works the way it's supposed to.

I'd love to see if you guys that are having issues can attempt this "fix" and report back. I'll feel like a real asshole if the reason I had to RMA my device more times than I can count on one hand is because I wasn't tightening the back-end enough (there were other reasons, too).

EDIT: I've also found that my new hopper goes from red lights to blue lights within literally 1-2 seconds even at setting 5, which used to take 5-6 seconds. Strong? Inaccurate?

 

[Hogni]

Interesting. My new GH don't have good threads of backend too. Needs much more efforts to tighten it than the old one. My old one was very smooth. New one is going harder the last 2 or 3 threads.
No, there wasn't only changed the backend. It's a whole new GH.

 

[Shieldsab]

The last half turn or so of the end of my GH
is also a little stiffer, because the contact on the back end is in contact with the battery at that point. When putting the end on without the battery, it's smooth all the way. I'll try tightening the back end further next time I change the battery and see how it does compared to my usual just go till it stops.

 

[CarolKing]

I received my Stainless Steel GH today. I ordered last Friday, I did spend an extra few dollars for 3 day shipping. I've been trying it out. I had the bronze titanium but lost it recently.

The front end mouthpiece seems to get just as hot as my titanium model. With both units it does cool down quickly like within 30 seconds or so. It gets quite warm after about six continuous draws without a water tool. I personally don't like the silicone mouthpiece. I am getting decent vapor clouds, not huge unless I go higher up on the temp dial. The flavor is where it's at, at the lower temps. It is definitely getting the job done, I'm not a cloud chaser.

The battery was partially charged and needed to be put on the charger after 15 draws or so. I did buy an extra battery and I had 4 other batteries. I think I will be prepared with a total of 6 batteries.
I went a head and registered my hopper to make sure I was covered under warranty.

 

[GreenHopper]

I received my Stainless Steel GH today. I ordered last Friday, I did spend an extra few dollars for 3 day shipping. I've been trying it out. I had the bronze tiranium but lost it recently.

The front end mouthpiece seems to get just as hot as my titanium model. With both units it does cool down quickly like within 30 seconds or so. It gets quite warm after about six continuous draws without a water tool. I personally don't like the silicone mouthpiece. I am getting decent vapor clouds, not huge unless I go higher up on the temp dial. The flavor is where it's at, at the lower temps.

The battery was partially charged and needed to be put on the charger after 15 draws or so. I did buy an extra battery so I had 4 other batteries. I think I will be prepared with 6 total batteries.

Glad to see you are back up and hopping again

 

[Lahey]

So this happened...

I was just wiping down the contact and threads when it sort of just sprung open.

I have dropped it before, and admitted as much in my RMA, so I'm not sure if HL will cover it. I'll let you know what I hear back.

Stainless hopper is going good at a year and change with 1 RMA.

 

[JCat]

So this happened...

I was just wiping down the contact and threads when it sort of just sprung open.

I have dropped it before, and admitted as much in my RMA, so I'm not sure if HL will cover it. I'll let you know what I hear back.

Stainless hopper is going good at a year and change with 1 RMA.

Cool that you get to inspect the guts of the backend now though!! Could you post more pics with details of the dial and switch mechanisms? Might help us understand what's going wrong on some

I'm sure HL will cover it ...

 

[MonkeyTime]

My recently rma'd Ti screws down harder the last few threads as well.

I did notice that when it came back, there was a drop of solder on the board that we used to all worry about wearing down. Seems it may have been a problem after all. I also think this is my tightening issue.

 

[Baron23]

I lost it somewhere between CA and OR.

Oh shit....the horror, the horror.

Really sorry to hear that, Carol. Wow.

Hope you love your new SS GH.

So this happened...

I was just wiping down the contact and threads when it sort of just sprung open.

I have dropped it before, and admitted as much in my RMA, so I'm not sure if HL will cover it. I'll let you know what I hear back.

Stainless hopper is going good at a year and change with 1 RMA.

Just curious...it looks like the "pen pocket clip" is bent? Is that the pic, happened when dropped, or what??

 

[CarolKing]

I notice sometimes when I keep drawing on my GH it stays on. Is this a flaw or is there a feature with the newer units? I could have missed something? There have been times where I've turned the hopper off. Other times it stays on just for the 30 seconds or so. I'm just a little curious about this. I wouldn't want it to overheat.

A thank you to all that have added with their useful advice in this thread.

 

[GreenHopper]

I notice sometimes when I keep drawing on my GH it stays on. Is this a flaw or is there a feature with the newer units? I could have missed something? There have been times where I've turned the hopper off. Other times it stays on just for the 30 seconds or so. I'm just a little curious about this. I wouldn't want it to overheat.

A thank you to all that have added with their useful advice in this thread.

I believe there is a draw sensor that detects if you are pulling air through the heater.

As long as you are drawing the hopper should stay on.

The draw sensor in my hoppers isn't all that sensitive so it needs a medium to strong draw before it registers.

 

[CarolKing]

I notice a difference when I have the silicone mouthpiece on vs not. It stays on when I'm using the mouthpiece and if I continue to draw. If I'm not drawing it will turn off. @GreenHopper, thanks for the info That's cool.

My ABV is getting dark when spent so the extraction seems to be working better with this unit.

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[GreenHopper]

I notice a difference when I have the silicone mouthpiece on vs not. It stays on when I'm using the mouthpiece and if I continue to draw. If I'm not drawing it will turn off. @GreenHopper, thanks for the info That's cool.

My ABV is getting dark when spent so the extraction seems to be working better with this unit.

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Hell yeah it's working! Look at that stuff, it's perfectly toasted

 

[Baron23]

I notice a difference when I have the silicone mouthpiece on vs not. It stays on when I'm using the mouthpiece and if I continue to draw. If I'm not drawing it will turn off. @GreenHopper, thanks for the info That's cool.

My ABV is getting dark when spent so the extraction seems to be working better with this unit.

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Yep...I would say you cashed that load.

 

[Vapetrees]

So, haven't been on in a while. I just wanted to drop on in to say my purple Ti that I've had for over a year, going on two now, and had not needed a warranty claim still doesn't need one. It did stop working about two weeks ago and I had gotten it to work by soaking the whole body in IPA up to the intake holes. Sadly it only lasted a session and then went back to straight blue lights no heat. So it wasn't working and I just left it sitting for about two weeks and I used my SS and another Ti GH I have. Well today I decided I would follow the advice that someone posted on twitter. This person said they had removed the screen by the heater and cleaned it with IPA as well. So I just took some needle thin tweezers and got the screen out the oven. When I did I saw that under the screen where the temperature sensor is was full of black dust/AVB, I assume. So I cleaned it all up and left it looking really clean. I dried it out and it's working now. I just took a few rips. I hope this helps anyone that's having this issue and wants to try this out.

 

[Hogni]

Good job! Are there any pics? How did you remove the screen? You called your tool but not the way.

 

[Vapetrees]

Good job! Are there any pics? How did you remove the screen? You called your tool but not the way.

I just pushed the tweezers into two individual holes and kind of turned it while squeezing and pulling up at it, at the same time. Then it just came out pretty easily. I put it back in the same way except it was easier to put back in than to take out.

 

[EmDeemo]

FINALLY sent my GH back to be fixed, about 7 months after I put in for the warranty request

Gonna be interesting to see what comes back. Its been broken for about a year or more I think and just been sat in a drawer. I hope the next one lasts more than a week or two. None of my previous hoppers (three now) have lasted more than a couple of weeks.

This'll be GH Labs last chance with me.

 

[Mr. Me2]

FINALLY sent my GH back to be fixed, about 7 months after I put in for the warranty request

Gonna be interesting to see what comes back. Its been broken for about a year or more I think and just been sat in a drawer. I hope the next one lasts more than a week or two. None of my previous hoppers (three now) have lasted more than a couple of weeks.

This'll be GH Labs last chance with me.

Fingers crossed for you!

 

[EmDeemo]

Fingers crossed for you!

Thanks!

More like keep ya fingers crossed for hopper labs this time around, AMIRITE OR AMIRITE?

 

[Vapetrees]

Thanks!

More like keep ya fingers crossed for hopper labs this time around, AMIRITE OR AMIRITE?

Good luck, what was wrong with it in the first place that you stopped using it?