Discontinued The Grasshopper

[MoltenTiger]

Is it possible the VapCap and Grasshopper are more closely related than expected? I recently started reading about infinite switches. Basically they are bi-metallic switches that regulate the heaters on stoves and kilns.

If this is the same tech that powers the Grasshopper's 3D printed heater than it would explain the clicking sound. It would function like a much faster (and smaller) version of the VapCap's cap, with the bi-metallic switch rapidly turning the heater on and off.

I'm probably completely wrong but it's fun to speculate.

I'm not so sure, but it seems like those components, like with relays that also click, are too big to be in the GH circuitry.

I think it's using a digital micro controller in the back end with PWM software causing energy pulses.
The wiki on pulse width modulation is an interesting read also.

I decided I wanted a proper hopper hit today, so when my blue Ti failed to deliver I decided to try some things.
First I pulled the screen out of the chamber, I used a sturdy metal pick/needle tool to poke through the hole and just pried it out. Very easy, and easy to push back into place.
It's an excellent quality screen.

Under the screen and on the (now discoloured) white (previous versions were blue) oven casing, was a small amount of wasted herb. Centrally is a blue-ish strip, that I'm guessing is some kind of thermal sensor, it looks pretty interesting. I gave it a dry wipe down, cleaned out as much as I could, and turned it on.
Leaving it to heat up to blue (taking about 12s) without the screen or mouthpiece in place and under bright LED light, I could see that it was off-gassing passively, so it's clearly dirty and needed cleaning.

So I alcohol swabbed the chamber, which really did very little beyond cleaning more affectively the little blue strip in the heater cover. I let it dry and power cycled it a couple of times doing multiple empty-chamber tokes.
Finally I replaced the screen. Tested with a small amount of material (1/5 chamber). It heated up in 9s and worked a little bit better. Still dissatisfied however, I remove the screen and brushed it some more.
I attempted a full pack without the screen after this, where performance was similar (9s heat up and just not getting to and sustaining proper heat) although the best GH hits I've had for a little while..
However, still dissatisfied I opted for an isopropyl deep cleaning.

I quickly discovered the difficulty of a dunk to clean the heater, as doing so into alcohol just creates a herb-chamber-sized air bubble blocking the solvent from reaching the insides.

I gave it a vigorous clean trying to mitigate this... I'm not sure if it was affective or catastrophic just yet.
But I'll find out soon, I'm going to let it dry for 24 hours

 

[GreenHopper]

I'm not so sure, but it seems like those components, like with relays that also click, are too big to be in the GH circuitry.

I think it's using a digital micro controller in the back end with PWM software causing energy pulses.
The wiki on pulse width modulation is an interesting read also.

I decided I wanted a proper hopper hit today, so when my blue Ti failed to deliver I decided to try some things.
First I pulled the screen out of the chamber, I used a sturdy metal pick/needle tool to poke through the hole and just pried it out. Very easy, and easy to push back into place.
It's an excellent quality screen.

Under the screen and on the (now discoloured) white (previous versions were blue) oven casing, was a small amount of wasted herb. Centrally is a blue-ish strip, that I'm guessing is some kind of thermal sensor, it looks pretty interesting. I gave it a dry wipe down, cleaned out as much as I could, and turned it on.
Leaving it to heat up to blue (taking about 12s) without the screen or mouthpiece in place and under bright LED light, I could see that it was off-gassing passively, so it's clearly dirty and needed cleaning.

So I alcohol swabbed the chamber, which really did very little beyond cleaning more affectively the little blue strip in the heater cover. I let it dry and power cycled it a couple of times doing multiple empty-chamber tokes.
Finally I replaced the screen. Tested with a small amount of material (1/5 chamber). It heated up in 9s and worked a little bit better. Still dissatisfied however, I remove the screen and brushed it some more.
I attempted a full pack without the screen after this, where performance was similar (9s heat up and just not getting to and sustaining proper heat) although the best GH hits I've had for a little while..
However, still dissatisfied I opted for an isopropyl deep cleaning.

I quickly discovered the difficulty of a dunk to clean the heater, as doing so into alcohol just creates a herb-chamber-sized air bubble blocking the solvent from reaching the insides.

I gave it a vigorous clean trying to mitigate this... I'm not sure if it was affective or catastrophic just yet.
But I'll find out soon, I'm going to let it dry for 24 hours

Hope it works out for ya...

 

[MoltenTiger]

Hope it works out for ya...

Well, I'd left it sitting on the battery end of the cylinder for six hours. It appeared dry, but there was slight aroma upon careful inspection. I was pretty sublimated at that point, and as I realised I had a Grasshopper stuffed halfway up my nose trying to see if it would be 'ready', I decided 'fuck it' and assembled it.
I'm getting the hang of the M and have had some decent bong hits with it too.. it pairs pretty nicely with my slyme rig, so with my other hopper days away from delivery, I have nothing to lose with this blue hopper really.
Heating it up, it proved to be adequately dry*. I've sizzled iso off the hopper heater a couple of times during the early days of having the GH, but there was nothing to be heard beyond the tick of the heater today. It did seem a bit quicker to heat up, the light from the LED shining through seemed to show that the heater was cleaner, though there was barely any discolouration removed from the heater shield. The intake holes were obviously much cleaner too after a rinse. The unit itself I think is getting slightly warmer, but is still not quite at proper performance..
But I can't say that with any confidence, so back to testing

*edit: I forgot, I used the quad butane torch that came with my M to warm up the chamber a little hoping to evap any solvent that would still be present internally. It may or may not have been successful, but I used a decent distance from the flame, of course, just to be careful..


I was also using 99.7% IPA in a well ventilated area. I was planning to leave it so it would sit in the sun for some hours to dry off, but I wanted to try it so.. did. I'm not really sure if I succeeded but it works about as well as my M currently in terms of ABV, but I'm a VapCap noob still

 

[GreenHopper]

Well, I'd left it sitting on the battery end of the cylinder for six hours. It appeared dry, but there was slight aroma upon careful inspection. I was pretty sublimated at that point, and as I realised I had a Grasshopper stuffed halfway up my nose trying to see if it would be 'ready', I decided 'fuck it' and assembled it.
I'm getting the hang of the M and have had some decent bong hits with it too.. it pairs pretty nicely with my slyme rig, so with my other hopper days away from delivery, I have nothing to lose with this blue hopper really.
Heating it up, it proved to be adequately dry*. I've sizzled iso off the hopper heater a couple of times during the early days of having the GH, but there was nothing to be heard beyond the tick of the heater today. It did seem a bit quicker to heat up, the light from the LED shining through seemed to show that the heater was cleaner, though there was barely any discolouration removed from the heater shield. The intake holes were obviously much cleaner too after a rinse. The unit itself I think is getting slightly warmer, but is still not quite at proper performance..
But I can't say that with any confidence, so back to testing

*edit: I forgot, I used the quad butane torch that came with my M to warm up the chamber a little hoping to evap any solvent that would still be present internally. It may or may not have been successful, but I used a decent distance from the flame, of course, just to be careful..


I was also using 99.7% IPA in a well ventilated area. I was planning to leave it so it would sit in the sun for some hours, but I wanted to try it so.. did. I'm not really sure if I succeeded but it works about as well as my M currently in terms of ABV, but I'm a VapCap noob still

Have you done an intensive clean of the air inlet holes?

Can't remember which user it was but about a month ago someone mentioned taking their needle nosed pliers and using one of the ends to clear out the air holes. They noted that even when the air holes looked clear, gunk still came out.

I'll see if I can find the post as it had pics. No idea what search terms to use so this is a moonshot.

 

[MoltenTiger]

Have you done an intensive clean of the air inlet holes?

Can't remember which user it was but about a month ago someone mentioned taking their needle nosed pliers and using one of the ends to clear out the air holes. They noted that even when the air holes looked clear, gunk still came out.

I'll see if I can find the post as it had pics. No idea what search terms to use so this is a moonshot.

Vapor_eyes I believe mentioned that. I'd noticed exactly what he was pointing out but found it hard to remove previously.
When I was trying to soak the hopper, I found a small glass, stood the hopper face down in it, and filled it up to just below the holes with strong alcohol. I could see that there was an air bubble forming in the chamber every time I'd dunk, and no alcohol would get into the device barely.
So then I was trying to angle it to fill it up, so to speak, to get the heater element soaking. I found it basically impossible, I transferred the solvent to a taller and thinner glass which caused the hopper to become submerged beyond its holes. I then held the jar on an extreme angle and scooped, swirled and stirred around with the hopper. Some residue clearly came out in solution, but not a lot.

It's super clean now though, but the internals are only a little bit cleaner. I think an ultrasonic cleaner would be needed or something to do any effective cleaning, and I query if some extensive cleaning is the reason the heater shield is white not blue as of last RMA, but who knows

 

[GreenHopper]

Vapor_eyes I believe mentioned that. I'd noticed exactly what he was pointing out but found it hard to remove.
When I was trying to soak the hopper, I found a small glass, stood the hopper face down in it, and filled it up to just below the holes with strong alcohol. I could see that there was an air bubble forming in the chamber every time I'd dunk, and no alcohol would get into the device barely.
So then I was trying to angle it to fill it up, so to speak, to get the heater element soaking. I found it basically impossible, I transferred the solvent to a taller and thinner glass which caused the hopper to become submerged beyond its holes. I then held the jar on an extreme angle and scooped, swirled and stirred around with the hopper. Some residue clearly came out in solution, but not a lot.

It's super clean now though, but the internals are only a little bit cleaner. I think an ultrasonic cleaner would be needed or something to do any effective cleaning, and I query if some extensive cleaning is the reason the heater shield is white not blue as of last RMA, but who knows

Yeh that's gotta be clean, I assume you've played with the temp dial.
i.e. Removed battery and twisting temp dial.

 

[almost there]

My hopper is getting set to go for it's 3rd voyage back to HL, the iso soaks I've done has broken the 1 RMA a month pattern that was starting to take hold. After the first soaking my hopper was performing better than it ever had and was able to reach temps previously not possible. That was good for 3 whole weeks and last week it was back to the sos(weak vapor, low temps, hot backend). I did a second soak but this time around there was no noticeable improvement. It was nice while it lasted, I've had a glimpse of what a proper functioning hopper is like.

 

[Hawk]

I wanted to put this out there:
I noticed the only time mine makes the clicking sound is when it stays on blue and doesn't shut off. It will eventually get extremely hot. I will manually have to shut it off. I would imagine this would deplete the battery pretty fast.

Also:
The end of the GH area seems ultra sensitive at times (not always) when touched while sitting on the table. It will randomly turn on without being turned on. I suggest taking your battery out when not in use. I'm sure this is a flaw but not ready to have to send mine in yet. I'm waiting to see what else happens. More testing in the name of science.

I've written on my batteries that are underperforming with a sharpie so I can keep track. Eventually I will buy some of the newer ones and figure out in the meantime whatever else I might need. It's better to buy everything all at once and save shipping costs.

Edit
I usually don't like a vaporizer that requires buying parts all the time, unless you want to. Theres all these new pieces through Hopper Labs. Not sure what really is necessary or should be covered under the warranty? I just bought mine am I suppose to be adding parts because something new and improved has come out? This can nickel and dime us all to death. Kinda like Comcast.

They need to keep coming up with new things to sell, to get more money, in order to keep the company going. All these warranty repairs/replacements must be costing them big time. The fact is the GH is unreliable and every one of them sooner or later will be in for warranty repair. I can't believe how many people have sent it back 3-8 times. I sadly recommended this to my buddy and he exactly 15min. of use before it crapped out. I felt so bad. When people are getting a GH back from warranty and it doesn't work you know things are really bad.

Hell they still have not got the SS case done. I ordered that during the crowd funding and where is it??? Thats $50 they have of mine waiting for it to show up. Frankly its disgraceful. Four years with my money and no product to show. In fact you hear nothing from them concerning the SS case.

I loved my GH when it worked and I was one of the lucky ones where I had no issues for over a year. I have been holding back sending it in hoping, futilely, that they will improve.

Damn I want a working reliable GH.

 

[snaffle]

Can you describe exactly what you're talking about with iso soaking? Are you holding the GH mouthpiece down, in a class of iso alcohol, up to the intake holes, for a few minutes? Several people have mentioned it being useful, but I haven't seen a description of it that I completely understand.

 

[almost there]

Can you describe exactly what you're talking about with iso soaking? Are you holding the GH mouthpiece down, in a class of iso alcohol, up to the intake holes, for a few minutes? Several people have mentioned it being useful, but I haven't seen a description of it that I completely understand.

Using a narrow shot glass or doob tube I soaked the hopper with 99% up to the intake holes for 6hours. After removing it let dry overnite standing up so the ISO won't leak into the electronics.

 

[snaffle]

Thanks @almost-there, that makes sense, it's what I suspected, but it's good to spell these things out - it wouldn't do to kill my GH if I can help it! Though @MoltenTiger's issue of air bubbles not being displaced by the alcohol sounds like a sensible thing to think about, I wonder what a good solution could be. Nothing straightforward springs to mind. I suppose something like a q-tip that could be bent in half and hooked around into the front of the hopper to swish the alcohol around near the heater, might help?

 

[vapviking]

Hell they still have not got the SS case done. I ordered that during the crowd funding and where is it??? Thats $50 they have of mine waiting for it to show up. Frankly its disgraceful. Four years with my money and no product to show. In fact you hear nothing from them concerning the SS case.

And let's not forget the leather sleeves! Some pre-orders (of Ti's, as I recall -- and one of my Hoppers was one of those) were supposed to include a leather sleeve. I stopped inquiring about mine back in 2016. Then a few months ago a newsletter announced yet again they were imminent, but they still have not become available for sale nor for fulfillment of those early commitments.

 

[Hawk]

And let's not forget the leather sleeves! Some pre-orders (of Ti's, as I recall -- and one of my Hoppers was one of those) were supposed to include a leather sleeve. I stopped inquiring about mine back in 2016. Then a few months ago a newsletter announced yet again they were imminent, but they still have not become available for sale nor for fulfillment of those early commitments.

And thats even worse. I mean, how hard can it be to get leather sleeves made? Any Chinese company can probably get it done within a week on the cheap.

 

[GreenHopper]

And thats even worse. I mean, how hard can it be to get leather sleeves made? Any Chinese company can probably get it done within a week on the cheap.

Well not if they want people having to send them back after several months to have a new back end stitched on.

 

[EmDeemo]

All new internals, a new back end and two new batteries arrive tomorrow via warranty.

Looking forward to giving it a whirl to see if I notice any difference before I pass it on to a friend.

 

[btka]

I would not iso bath my hopper or poke with a needle in the airholes... it could lead to problems and also void warranty...

 

[MoltenTiger]

I would not iso bath my hopper or poke with a needle in the airholes... it could lead to problems and also void warranty...

It's generally a small risk. The instructions that came with my version direct to clean with isopropyl, so it'd be nearly impossible to void warranty by cleaning with it (I've caused issues with alcohol cleanings before, and have had prompt warranty service after. It's really just very important to make sure it gets ample fresh solvent rinsing in the process, so film deposits don't build up on circuitry after evaporation, and enough time is allowed for circuitry, including the heater, to be dry).
My device manual also states not to submerge specifically a powered-on device, as long as it's off and some care is taken in the process, the risks are manageable and it shouldn't void warranty.

My manuals are years old now and some of the content has changed, so I guess I fall into a grey area. But with a considered process there's minimal risk, if done correctly it should be reasonably undetectable, but I wouldn't recommend anyone bother with it anyway. It has barely made a difference, so I'm still stuck with a device that needs to be fixed. Perhaps it needs a replacement component, whatever the case it's barely worth it for me to do anything but attempt to get it working again.
It's working reasonably with a direct draw after the clean, but it seems to not be able to keep up with more rapid airflow.

I wonder how my other unit will behave when I finally receive it back, and for how long it will last..
My units should last longer now I have a different at-home primary device, but it'll be interesting to see. It's hard to say if it's really use or just random when these hoppers cook it

 

[Vapor_Eyes]

Have you done an intensive clean of the air inlet holes?

Can't remember which user it was but about a month ago someone mentioned taking their needle nosed pliers and using one of the ends to clear out the air holes. They noted that even when the air holes looked clear, gunk still came out.

I'll see if I can find the post as it had pics. No idea what search terms to use so this is a moonshot.

Vapor_eyes I believe mentioned that.

Yep, that was me. Here's the post for those who may have missed it:

Speaking of precision tweezers, I noticed something interesting lately. I saw some lint in the air intake holes of my Ti Grasshopper, so I used my precision tweezers to clean the holes out. Be careful not to scratch the metal body when doing this. I pulled out a lot of stuff. I didn't think to take pictures at the time.

I've started to do this regularly and even if the holes look clean there is often lint in there. I just cleaned the Ti again even though it looked fine. There was more crud built up.

Sometimes the debris is even the same exact shape as the air intake.

I notice better airflow after this cleaning procedure. The first time was the most drastic change, it was also the time I pulled the most debris out.

I wasn't using a sleeve for several months and I think that contributed to the problem. Just think about how lint filled an average pocket is. I think it would be nice if there was some fine mesh covering those intake holes. It also seems like it might be a source of failures, this is from the May update:

@btka It's pretty non-invasive, I don't think there's much reason to worry about voiding your warranty.

 

[mmenzie]

Speaking of the leather sleeves... Weren't they originally $10? I could have sworn they were. Just checked out the store and saw they are $35

 

[armani]

Yes they was only 10 dollars, i have a partially shipped order from when i ordered the sleeve but never showed up from November 2016

(Copy paste from order)
Item Unit Quantity Price
Leather Sleeve 1 $10.00


Well guess i dont need it anymore since i sold my hoppers and got a VapCap (THAT I FREAKING LOVE)
So when it arrives i will be selling it here on FC for the same price i got it.

 

[Other Side]

Yeah I got one way back in the day (early backer) for $10 and believe it's fair at that price but damn $35 is excessive if you ask me.

 

[vapviking]

Speaking of the leather sleeves... Weren't they originally $10? I could have sworn they were. Just checked out the store and saw they are $35

I think you are correct. At one point in 2016 I added one to an existing battery order when they projected stock to be ready soon. I tongue-in-cheek asked for free shipping along with the one they already owed me. Then I cancelled the additional one so as to not hold up the battery order.
Current price is a moot point if they are completely unavailable.
Last year I got tired of HL telling me they'd be ready in, like, 'a couple of weeks..." and was surprised to see that projection again a couple of months ago.
I don't mean to rag on them too much about this, but why do they leave themselves blatantly open to theses criticisms?

 

[Hogni]

Yepp, and when they offered the leather sleeves some months ago they still were $10.

$35 was the price for the stainless tube and now for leather sleeve too? Is it made out of frog pussy leather?? Now I'm out. Guess they don't want any orders. What a fucking behaviour again.....

 

[duff]

Is ist made out of frog pussy leather??

I may have to steal this line.

And no I don't believe it is.

 

[MoltenTiger]

Lol frog pussy leather. Maybe I'd buy one of those for 35 dollars ahaha, sounds exclusive. Does it contain 5meo if licked? The HL boys are from Colorado now no less, the real reason they moved was for the toads (turns out the Colorado River toads live in Cali, so I guess it's all just a myth).

With the sleeves I get the sense they owe more than they can afford, they owe me one and countless others, some who didn't even buy one like me. They were talking about the SS case being close to production/availability months ago... they fucked their price estimate up on that one (selling a bunch at a loss to backers)... so that could be reason for the leather slip case price bump. And they're probably selling these items super slowly until the funds are balanced.

Who knows what's going on at the Labs but it's pretty piss poor relatively speaking. They should take some leafs out of Dynavaps book or maybe just take less leafs at work or something. At the very least, they should make some plans and stick to them instead of existing behind closed doors and talking smack to their supporters.
As long as my replacement hopper works longer than a few weeks, I guess I don't really mind too much what they do. But they should probably mind what they do as it's not attracting customers