Crafty/Crafty+ by Storz & Bickel

[Gnarlythotep]

No, my Crafty+ (Micro USB) emits some vibration pulses as a warning and then completely shuts off if the power button is not pressed (time adjustable in the app).



My problem:
I have a Crafty+ vaporizer with an original Samsung INR18650 35E battery that lasted for a little over 1000 hours. Surprisingly, it was only during the last 50 hours that I noticed a significant decrease in battery life. I then replaced it with the same type of battery (if it's relevant, I didn't pay attention to the charge level of the old or new battery).

Initially, it seemed to work fine again, but it turned out that the battery life was shorter, and the charging speed was faster, indicating that the full capacity of the battery was not being utilized. After approximately five recharge cycles, it only worked for one session (sometimes it didn't work immediately, and I had to connect the charger multiple times).
Eventually, it started blinking red/yellow, and yesterday there was no response when attempting to charge it.
After a 12-hour break, I briefly saw a red light when powering it on today, and when attempting to charge, it briefly flashed green, then blinked blue for about 5 seconds until charging ended.

What ist the problem - what can I do?

Should I try using a different new battery? Does the size of the solder tab make a difference? The one on the new battery is twice or three times wider than the original.
Should I consider installing a Fat Daddy Tube? (Will it still allow USB charging?)

Thank you for advises!

Hey Kraftwerker! I have somewhat of a similar problem. I copped a broken classic Crafty and replaced the battery and while it works perfectly there are some caveats that I think might be relevant to your issue:
First and foremost: it charges without issue as long as I don't let the battery run out. If it runs outta juice, it does the exact same thing as you described. If it does run out completely I have to leave it with no battery for a while and swap the battery for a freshly charged 18650.

I have my battery terminals secured with some small neodymium magnets to avoid having to spot solder the new battery in place, so i just popped it out and recharged it with a regular 18650 charger, popped it back in and it worked for a while. A couple of cycles of this, and it stopped working all together after some diminishing sessions. With the Vapormeister apk (which I highly recommend over any other Crafty app) both the charge and maximum charge capacity stat had gone into the negative even with a fully charged and confirmed working cell. I tried to connect it to a firmware dumper to see if there was a way to reset those values and by grace of God now both values are in the ten thousand range and it works just perfectly - even with the original battery that it came with that was supposedly dead.

I mean look at those values.

tl;dr: See if you can charge the battery with an external charger, and the use Vapormeister app to monitor your battery stats. I have the feeling that the underlying firmware is a little bit crappier than S&B would like us to believe and some values get stuck with no way to reset them.

 

[ChooChooCharlie]

A good ad for a good vape

 

[worm222]

Hi, so yesterday I was trying to charge my crafty + device, but it started to Flash blue and red light just like it does when the device is too hot to charge. Waited 10 minute, still the same thing happened. After an hour i manager to charge my crafty and everything seemed to work just fine. Today when my crafty was full charged in the morning, it kept blinking blue and red again. Yesterday even though the led was blinking, i was able to use the vape and launch it, now when i try to launch it just blue led shows for 2 seconds and then it switches off with full battery... anyone had similar problems? Seems like rma time...

Hi, so yesterday I was trying to charge my crafty + device, but it started to Flash blue and red light just like it does when the device is too hot to charge. Waited 10 minute, still the same thing happened. After an hour i manager to charge my crafty and everything seemed to work just fine. Today when my crafty was full charged in the morning, it kept blinking blue and red again. Yesterday even though the led was blinking, i was able to use the vape and launch it, now when i try to launch it just blue led shows for 2 seconds and then it switches off with full battery... anyone had similar problems? Seems like rma time...

Update, now it launched, i was able to have a session, but once again when i try to charge it blue/red light blinks...

 

[vapviking]

Hi, so yesterday I was trying to charge my crafty + device, but it started to Flash blue and red light just like it does when the device is too hot to charge. Waited 10 minute, still the same thing happened. After an hour i manager to charge my crafty and everything seemed to work just fine. Today when my crafty was full charged in the morning, it kept blinking blue and red again. Yesterday even though the led was blinking, i was able to use the vape and launch it, now when i try to launch it just blue led shows for 2 seconds and then it switches off with full battery... anyone had similar problems? Seems like rma time...


Update, now it launched, i was able to have a session, but once again when i try to charge it blue/red light blinks...

Doesn't sound good.
Have you tried a reset?
I don't know about +, but original Crafty could rest by holding the power button for about ten seconds. I think it can be done thru the app as well.

 

[worm222]

Doesn't sound good.
Have you tried a reset?
I don't know about +, but original Crafty could rest by holding the power button for about ten seconds. I think it can be done thru the app as well.

I have made a reset but sadly it didnt change anything in the morning there was a moment when i could use it and charge it, later on the same thing as earlier was happening and till now i cannot charge it or use it. Whats strange it had half of charge when i checked the s&b app afternoon, then in the evening without any use, just trying to charge in meantime, the battery got drained to 0... It seems like a problem with battery or the temperature sensor...

 

[worm222]

I have made a reset but sadly it didnt change anything in the morning there was a moment when i could use it and charge it, later on the same thing as earlier was happening and till now i cannot charge it or use it. Whats strange it had half of charge when i checked the s&b app afternoon, then in the evening without any use, just trying to charge in meantime, the battery got drained to 0... It seems like a problem with battery or the temperature sensor

I guess theres no help for my crafty so Im sending it for an rma. Curious what happened, saw a thread on reddit with the same problem but there was no explanation... Im so curious to Look inside, but i guess sending it back to storz n bickel is a more wise option as i only own it for 10 months... for the service time ive already ordered a standard mighty to see a difference as i was always curious how does it perform compared to crafty... Tbh after ive had a couple other vapes then bought crafty, i wouldnt invest in anything else than another s&b device. Its so easy to use and so efficient... even though my crafty stopped working after 180 hours.

 

[vapviking]

for the service time ive already ordered a standard mighty to see a difference as i was always curious how does it perform compared to crafty

Best of luck with the service on Crafty+.
Great idea to get the Mighty. After returning 4 Crafty's (from the same original purchase) I upgraded to Mighty years ago. Wore that one out, now on our second one!

 

[worm222]

I guess theres no help for my crafty so Im sending it for an rma. Curious what happened, saw a thread on reddit with the same problem but there was no explanation... Im so curious to Look inside, but i guess sending it back to storz n bickel is a more wise option as i only own it for 10 months... for the service time ive already ordered a standard mighty to see a difference as i was always curious how does it perform compared to crafty... Tbh after ive had a couple other vapes then bought crafty, i wouldnt invest in anything else than another s&b device. Its so easy to use and so efficient... even though my crafty stopped working after 180 hours.

Final update, before packing it for an RMA, i just decided to knock it slightly 2 times and then try to charge it... IT WORKED!!! So in the end i guess its some kind of mechanical problem... Sending it back anyway as it ll probably die in the worst moment, but im pretty mad that ive been smoking joints for 2 days just because i haven't come up with an idea to knock on it... LOL

 

[vapviking]

Final update, before packing it for an RMA, i just decided to knock it slightly 2 times and then try to charge it... IT WORKED!!! So in the end i guess its some kind of mechanical problem... Sending it back anyway as it ll probably die in the worst moment, but im pretty mad that ive been smoking joints for 2 days just because i haven't come up with an idea to knock on it... LOL

The "bigger hammer" school of repair!

 

[kraftwerker]

Hey Kraftwerker! I have somewhat of a similar problem. I copped a broken classic Crafty and replaced the battery and while it works perfectly there are some caveats that I think might be relevant to your issue:
First and foremost: it charges without issue as long as I don't let the battery run out. If it runs outta juice, it does the exact same thing as you described. If it does run out completely I have to leave it with no battery for a while and swap the battery for a freshly charged 18650.

I have my battery terminals secured with some small neodymium magnets to avoid having to spot solder the new battery in place, so i just popped it out and recharged it with a regular 18650 charger, popped it back in and it worked for a while. A couple of cycles of this, and it stopped working all together after some diminishing sessions. With the Vapormeister apk (which I highly recommend over any other Crafty app) both the charge and maximum charge capacity stat had gone into the negative even with a fully charged and confirmed working cell. I tried to connect it to a firmware dumper to see if there was a way to reset those values and by grace of God now both values are in the ten thousand range and it works just perfectly - even with the original battery that it came with that was supposedly dead.

I mean look at those values.

tl;dr: See if you can charge the battery with an external charger, and the use Vapormeister app to monitor your battery stats. I have the feeling that the underlying firmware is a little bit crappier than S&B would like us to believe and some values get stuck with no way to reset them.

Great post!

I haven't checked here for a while because I tried charging the battery externally myself - only once, then back to internal. It worked fine for a few weeks, but then I started experiencing occasional issues with charging and starting. For the past few days, there has been a yellow blinking light once it's fully charged. Now it doesn't turn on at all, and even the battery is dead in the external charger - strange.
Ordered another on...

connect it to a firmware dumper

How do i do that?

 

[kraftwerker]

both the charge and maximum charge capacity stat had gone into the negative even with a fully charged and confirmed working cell.

A new battery has been installed, and it's working again. I have installed the vapormeister app, and it shows a charge/max charge of 806. However, the runtime seems to be Like a normal >3000. So, it seems like I need to work on the firmware as well.

I would appreciate any tips!

PS: The previous replacement battery (newly purchased and only lasted for one month) still cannot be charged in the external charger. Also, the new battery blinks yellow when it's fully charged and continues to be connected to the charger for a while.

 

[badbee]

just because i haven't come up with an idea to knock on it

As an engineer I'm a firm believer in percussive maintenance...

I have my battery terminals secured with some small neodymium magnets to avoid having to spot solder the new battery in place,

I would love to see a picture of this arrangement and hear more details of your setup for dumping firmware.

 

[kraftwerker]

A new battery has been installed, and it's working again. I have installed the vapormeister app, and it shows a charge/max charge of 806. However, the runtime seems to be Like a normal >3000.

Strange:
The battery level indicator drops to 6% after approximately half of the total runtime. It remains constant at that level but can still be used for approximately the same amount of time as the previous 94%. Vapormeister displays 'current' values such as -4931mA, 0mA, or 1204mA.

 

[JoeMama]

Hey gang... Been really happy for well over 18 months with the Roffu/WPA, though I've been kicking around giving in to VAS and going for the Crafty+.... I don't plan on using it as a portable, but just for stalwart home use with water.

I'm just wondering if during its evolution and use by this community there might be a consensus on the best way to deploy the Crafty+ on a bubbler.... Upside down inserted directly into the 14mm bubbler (it looks heavy-ish, is it stable sitting like that?)? Or a more elaborate setup?

This is your chance to show off your stuff! LOL

Thanks y'all.

 

[vapviking]

Hey gang... Been really happy for well over 18 months with the Roffu/WPA, though I've been kicking around giving in to VAS and going for the Crafty+.... I don't plan on using it as a portable, but just for stalwart home use with water.

I'm just wondering if during its evolution and use by this community there might be a consensus on the best way to deploy the Crafty+ on a bubbler.... Upside down inserted directly into the 14mm bubbler (it looks heavy-ish, is it stable sitting like that?)? Or a more elaborate setup?

This is your chance to show off your stuff! LOL

Thanks y'all.

Hey, Joe,
I have several reasons to try to steer you in another direction.
First, you'll notice less flavor with the conduction-leaning Crafty than from the convection-based Roffu. But a longer session from Crafty, especially with the larger chamber.
I shouldn't make the comparisons here in this thread.

I've had several Crafty's, then 2 Mighty's, and I've come to realize that I like them just as much with standard cooling unit/mouthpiece, if not more, than using with water tool or dry glass.

To your question about inverting and stability.
First, yes, it is better (more direct) to use a wpa for mating to glass, than to go with, say, tubing off of the standard mouthpiece. The popular wpa's will hold it inverted, no problem.

On a finer point;
I've come to see a difference between leaving a vape inverted atop the bubbler throughout a session, compared to placing the vape on only for a draw, removing before end of draw, to evacuate the bubbler. The first method can lead to vapor being pushed back up into the vape's airpath (intake), which is eventually no bueno, leads to again, degrade of flavor. This speaks as much to method as it does to the particular vape.

 

[JoeMama]

Hey Jeff, Thanks for the inputs! I'll DM you to continue discussion

 

[caliganja420]

Any tips on getting darker ABV? Tried dosing cap fully packed, tried the bowl fully packed. (At 410)

 

[Striped121]

Worst vape I've ever owned. Plastic crap. Which consumes weed and doesn't persevere it. Cheap overpriced rubbish. Had many vapes and this was by far the worst over the years. I wouldn't give £10 for one. S+B is absolute shite in the modern vaping world and the ones reviewing them are obviously on the take. Mr 2 Mighty's taped together lol. Sold out

 

[dodgy_b]

Hi. I received a new unit back from S&B for an RMA claim. I'm considering selling it to put towards a Mighty.

When S&B shipped it back they sent an email that there was no need to register the new unit as they already did that in my account. If I sell or gift this Crafty+, will the new owner be able to assign it to themselves and be covered by the warranty?

 

[Gnarlythotep]

As an engineer I'm a firm believer in percussive maintenance...


I would love to see a picture of this arrangement and hear more details of your setup for dumping firmware.

Sure thing! Sorry for the late answer, I haven't really been using the blasted thing in a while so there was no need to open it. Right now there's no battery because it is getting charged (Sony VTC6).

https://imgur.com/a/CAWCLAo

Regarding the firmware dumping issue - here's not much of a setup needed, really. The thing has an exposed SPI port!

Those square pads on the top connect directly to the first six pins on the Atmel Mega644pa (MOSI-MISO-SCK-RESET-VCC-GND). All you'd need to do is dump the content using a Bus Pirate or a Raspberry Pi and presto. Granted I didn't get very far because the thing fixed itself as so there was no need to putz around with it anymore, I was a busy man with weed to vape!
I was using this writeup as a reference:

Hardware Hacking: Extracting Firmware from Atmel Microcontrollers | Rapid7 Blog

As part of our ongoing discussion of hardware hacking for security professionals, this blog covers the Amtel Atmega2561 microcontroller.

www.rapid7.com

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/ATmega644-PIN-diagram_fig7_283351756

The only other fellow I've ever seen discussing their attempts at dumping the firmware was Mooseknuckle from the now defunct VapeLife forums.

 

[badbee]

Sure thing! Sorry for the late answer, I haven't really been using the blasted thing in a while so there was no need to open it. Right now there's no battery because it is getting charged (Sony VTC6).

https://imgur.com/a/CAWCLAo

Regarding the firmware dumping issue - here's not much of a setup needed, really. The thing has an exposed SPI port!

Those square pads on the top connect directly to the first six pins on the Atmel Mega644pa (MOSI-MISO-SCK-RESET-VCC-GND). All you'd need to do is dump the content using a Bus Pirate or a Raspberry Pi and presto. Granted I didn't get very far because the thing fixed itself as so there was no need to putz around with it anymore, I was a busy man with weed to vape!
I was using this writeup as a reference:

Hardware Hacking: Extracting Firmware from Atmel Microcontrollers | Rapid7 Blog

As part of our ongoing discussion of hardware hacking for security professionals, this blog covers the Amtel Atmega2561 microcontroller.

www.rapid7.com

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/ATmega644-PIN-diagram_fig7_283351756

The only other fellow I've ever seen discussing their attempts at dumping the firmware was Mooseknuckle from the now defunct VapeLife forums.

Thanks for the info, I forgot all about this. So that magnet has enough pull to make the contact just pop on to the battery and stay? Clever. Usually electronics manufacturers try to make reverse engineering really hard, an exposed SPI does take most of the challenge out of it.

 

[MonkeyTime]

Tried searching but I never seem to use the right term, tried looking back a few pages, but didn't see anything....

Does the Crafty+ have an issue with a coating coming off the bowl?

 

[Jill NYC]

Tried searching but I never seem to use the right term, tried looking back a few pages, but didn't see anything....

Does the Crafty+ have an issue with a coating coming off the bowl?

Discoloration, yes.
Actual flaking? Not as far as I know/remember.
It doesn’t look like it, but I’ll ask anyway… are you using hash/concentrates in it? Could it just be stubborn resin?

 

[MonkeyTime]

Discoloration, yes.
Actual flaking? Not as far as I know/remember.
It doesn’t look like it, but I’ll ask anyway… are you using hash/concentrates in it? Could it just be stubborn resin?

Hmm, dirty, and need to be cleaned, yes, on me, but no sand or other light trates.

A simple heat up to around 100F to check the battery with the app, shut down and wipe with an achohol wipe as always and I could see the difference immediately.

She was dirty, but not like that.

I really hope the Venty doesn't have the same chamber?

 

[redspawn]

Tried searching but I never seem to use the right term, tried looking back a few pages, but didn't see anything....

Does the Crafty+ have an issue with a coating coming off the bowl?

Chamber in the Venty Looks very similar. Ist just „baked“ resin like in the CU, bit harder to clean.
Had this with my Mighty and Crafty too… After a few months it gets darker and peal of like
a coating, but it isnt i think.