Discontinued Hopper io

[vapviking]

How do I check the battery percentage without having to pull the battery out?

There's no gauge or indicator. If you have just fully charged the battery and are about to use the device, that is when you know it's almost time to charge it again.

If you load slightly less and keep the chamber clean between refills (Arizer stir tool and MFLB brush), avoid pocket lint in the air holes (leather sleeve), avoid oils seeping into the heater, keep the mouthpieces clean with unrestricted airflow, keep the battery contacts and threading clean and keep spare batteries handy - you should have a good time for a long time.

Highest respect for your posts, but I disagree with this. Best practices do not always ensure care-free vaping, as these things can fail quite handily and randomly without any encouragement from the user (except use!).

I have a 10 month-old io (original purchase Oct. '20). The back end has been replaced 2X, with a 3rd one "one the way". The body has been replaced 2X, with a 3rd on "on the way". Current warranty fiasco has been on-going since April 6, over four months of the 10 since my purchase (accounting for 2 of the bodies and one backend tallied above).
Wife's io has lasted just over a year now, care-free. We follow very similar use patterns, though I do vape more...

 

[Vaporific]

Have you tried a different mouthpiece?

Given the general nature of these devices, it could easily be doing something weird. But if the pen end has been used primarily for about a year - maybe it has trapped resin/material which is now conducting more heat to the mouthpiece sidewalls? Soaking in isopropyl may not be enough to remove it unless it's really hot.

Thanks. I’ll try my PFE soon and see if it’s cooler. I may try my OG’s frontend on my IO too but I’ve never done that before. I have used the PFE on the IO a few times for special occasions.

 

[david8613]

I second the 3d printed feeder, its super easy to use. Loads it perfectly every time, not too much not too little, no mess. You can even load it in windy conditions, in a car on a bumpy road, and its super quick. if your stuff is super dank no smell either verses opening a container in public. it's a 2 second procedure with this loader.

 

[MoltenTiger]

There's no gauge or indicator. If you have just fully charged the battery and are about to use the device, that is when you know it's almost time to charge it again.

Highest respect for your posts, but I disagree with this. Best practices do not always ensure care-free vaping, as these things can fail quite handily and randomly without any encouragement from the user (except use!).

I have a 10 month-old io (original purchase Oct. '20). The back end has been replaced 2X, with a 3rd one "one the way". The body has been replaced 2X, with a 3rd on "on the way". Current warranty fiasco has been on-going since April 6, over four months of the 10 since my purchase (accounting for 2 of the bodies and one backend tallied above).
Wife's io has lasted just over a year now, care-free. We follow very similar use patterns, though I do vape more...

yeah absolutely there is always the randomness as to the ways these things fail and when they do, there's no way to know why or how.
I was just thinking of the best practices to help to keep the io in good working order, of which there is no guarantee. It's very easy to get by with absolutely no upkeep for many months with these things, and I'm sure it's a bad idea which could easily cause early failure. I say that with some experience I've killed plenty of these things, I haven't been especially careful. Sharing with other people is probably the riskiest thing I've done, seems to be correlation there..

I know I definitely killed a legacy by using a whip, I was going to add a disclaimer earlier when I mentioned silicone hose. It's not a good idea to force the heat back inside the unit, for obvious reasons. However it is pretty easy to do this and taking some care with the device is going to give the best chances of being able to enjoy it for longer. Of course, some devices are lemons and will give up the ghost when they get the chance. But that is rare in my experience, it's normally the work horse that falls from glory for me.

It's pretty frustrating dealing with warranty.. it's not good to see people missing out or getting mucked around. I need to get to the post office to send off my faulty bodies, I've got the go ahead for replacements, but will accept them without any expectation. No idea what they will perform like, I could never even figure out what the official temp spectrum was supposed to be..

Thanks. I’ll try my PFE soon and see if it’s cooler. I may try my OG’s frontend on my IO too but I’ve never done that before. I have used the PFE on the IO a few times for special occasions.

The PFE I think seems to get hotter ordinarily than the included front-end (which I prefer for direct usage), but it still might be interesting to see if there is an improvement or not from what you were experiencing before.
The OG frontend might be a better comparison. It was never decided if there was any difference between them... one way to find out though.. they're pretty hard to open up! io seems to weigh more though

 

[vapviking]

@MoltenTiger, yeah sometimes I just feel like I need to add some balance when I think the thread has started
to effervesce a bit much...sorry about that!
The pleasure/pain pendulum swings both ways with this device; you and I seem to be on opposite ends of the sway lately.

I should mention (in the + column?) that I got a message on the warranty portal late last week, another apology, a brief tale about lack of help and being 'barely able to keep up' and another commitment to send my parts this week, including two batteries as a "make up" gift.
I have not once pressed for speeding the timing of the repairs under this warranty. (Warranty explicitly states they will take as long as they care to...). I have only asked for honest assessment of the timing, even saying at one point that "we don't know" would be an acceptable answer. Crickets to that one.

So, I wait to see what will actually happen.

 

[Vaporific]

It was never decided if there was any difference between them...

When the IO was launching and HL had a brief appearance here, they did say there were enhancements to the native frontend. I’m fairly certain they are not the same. I will try both the PFE and my OG frontend with the same battery (charged) and a different one. The one I’m currently using is one of my older ones but not terribly old. I wondered above if the battery may have something to do with the IO frontend getting hot when it hadn’t before. Definitely some trials and tribulations coming up to figure out this issue with my IO. Cheers.

 

[JoeMama]

I don't quite understand HL. I did a lot of shopping there, as some here know. But I also sold a lot again because I found other good vapes.

But I wrote to them several times during her 20% campaign out of buying interest.

And again with the big discount on the last day. They always ignored me. It's strange because everything was always fine between us und before they answered me every time. I heard the same from others in the past they ignored.

but I don't care, now I've had the V Leaf Go for a few days and i dont know at all but I think I like it even more than the Hopper.

Edit:
because i cant order the normally way manually on their homepage, because i want the fedex shipping option i am knowing from the past. and the orders with fedex they made always manually and ships me the invoice

I just came back on here after several months on a whim... CH1, I'm with you on this one. In fact, my rather OCD approach to vaping is that I use the V-Leaf Go as the primary vape, then I dump the abv from that into the IO (like two-three GO bowls), and toast that.

Conclusion? Oh, the V-Leaf still works like it did on the first day, and the IO has been giving me backend clicker issues for months. I have avoided GHL customer service since they've historically sucked. I think when my IO dies, I might just shelf it and stick with the GO.

 

[cliffhanger1]

I just came back on here after several months on a whim... CH1, I'm with you on this one. In fact, my rather OCD approach to vaping is that I use the V-Leaf Go as the primary vape, then I dump the abv from that into the IO (like two-three GO bowls), and toast that.

Conclusion? Oh, the V-Leaf still works like it did on the first day, and the IO has been giving me backend clicker issues for months. I have avoided GHL customer service since they've historically sucked. I think when my IO dies, I might just shelf it and stick with the GO.

i have the Go too since a short time.. and i love it. it is one of the very best vapes i ever had for me
but my ABV is already toasted with the GO

 

[Mr. Me2]

I just came back on here after several months on a whim... CH1, I'm with you on this one. In fact, my rather OCD approach to vaping is that I use the V-Leaf Go as the primary vape, then I dump the abv from that into the IO (like two-three GO bowls), and toast that.

Conclusion? Oh, the V-Leaf still works like it did on the first day, and the IO has been giving me backend clicker issues for months. I have avoided GHL customer service since they've historically sucked. I think when my IO dies, I might just shelf it and stick with the GO.

Nice to see you, @JoeMama !

 

[JBone65]

do you feel the need to stir?

I wouldn't recommend stirring. The chamber is to small. It's designed so that hot air reaches most of the weed. You will prolly push fines down into the heating element if you disturb the load once in the chamber. I wouldn't pack it in, but just fill it to the brim and get after it.

I start on level 1 and hit it every half mark and a few extra on the max setting just to finish it off. Getting 11 hits on most loads. Something about advancing the temp setting keeps the clouds rolling in, plus it's an easy method to keep track of how many hits taken and left. Some only get the sweet hits full of terpenoids that come at low temps, but the high temp hits will do the trick just fine. The mouthpiece gets hot on the last couple of hits, but it's nothing compared to a hot roach IMO. ENJOY!

Enjoy.

Thought the IO failed but it's looking more like the charger. Replaced the original battery a month ago, it was still working and fully charged when I removed it. Last Saturday I ran the new battery down while traveling. Plugged it in but it wouldn't charge. The first time I tried to hit it I got the dead battery blinks, a very brief show of light on subsequent attempts. ((Thankfully I was packing a pipe just in case and I quickly remembered how to use it.)) Anyway, got home today and put the previous battery in it. Works fine with a charged battery. I haven't seen the expected charging lights so I expect it to run down after a few more hits. NBD except I am stuck without a good backup vape so will probably be trying to resist the pipe for a few weeks.

 

[david8613]

Hey guys, I'm pretty sure someone here probably already did this but incase no one has. I have magma industries obsidian water tool designed specifically for the volcano hybrid and it fits perfectly with my Titanium hopper io with pfe tip. Lots of cool vapor. Im new to water tools, so bear with me, never used one in my life! I have a 11" perc coming in and another smaller piece to try water this week. I tried it with my dynavap but it didn't have a good seal.

 

[MoltenTiger]

Thought the IO failed but it's looking more like the charger. Replaced the original battery a month ago, it was still working and fully charged when I removed it. Last Saturday I ran the new battery down while traveling. Plugged it in but it wouldn't charge. The first time I tried to hit it I got the dead battery blinks, a very brief show of light on subsequent attempts. ((Thankfully I was packing a pipe just in case and I quickly remembered how to use it.)) Anyway, got home today and put the previous battery in it. Works fine with a charged battery. I haven't seen the expected charging lights so I expect it to run down after a few more hits. NBD except I am stuck without a good backup vape so will probably be trying to resist the pipe for a few weeks.

Yeah the chargers do seem to die on the occassion. Yet another custom part... for that reason they are a bit overpriced. Maybe I can send you a spare one, you should be able to use the warranty for it but they'll want it back so there'll be a leg of postage regardless.

In the mean time and for general convenience I would definitely recommend picking up an external charger. I use the Xtar MC2, cheap but hard to find as it's no longer in production. There are endless options for Li-ion chargers, though you should get more charge cycles using a slower charge (0.5A is ideal for these low C cells)

 

[david8613]

Hope you guys are pulling the charger off by the metal ring, pulling charger off hopper by pulling on cable will damage it quickly.

 

[MoltenTiger]

add some balance when I think the thread has started
to effervesce a bit much...sorry about that!

Balance is crucial so no need to be sorry at all. There's been quite a bit of bubbling my end, I have been keen to share the success.

It really sucks that some others who are in my league are stuck on the wrong side of the court. It certainly seems worth the endurance for me, but at the same time it's not so easy and it's kinda ridiculous! Pipe dreams indeed.

I have avoided GHL customer service since they've historically sucked. I think when my IO dies, I might just shelf it and stick with the GO.

This Go actually looks pretty decent, I might have to sample one...

I would suggest that even though contacting HL can be a real rigmarole, it's mostly just a long game with a good result. However it also seems like you have tried enough to bring that heavily into question

I don't know what to think about it all. Wouldn't it be nice if after all these years the conversation was different.

 

[JBone65]

Thought the IO failed but it's looking more like the charger.

I'm an idiot. My charger didn't fail it was the UL approved USB charger/adapter that failed. That was a pleasant surprise. The IO lives. Just got a killer hit.

 

[vapviking]

I have word from HL that a body a back end have shipped to me as of yesterday.
Yes, Tiger, it is a long game, and there are good outcomes eventually. Weird and ridiculous, yes - it takes a true stoner to put up with it all.
With this positive news I hereby give myself leave to post more freely.

I just came back on here after several months on a whim... CH1, I'm with you on this one. In fact, my rather OCD approach to vaping is that I use the V-Leaf Go as the primary vape, then I dump the abv from that into the IO (like two-three GO bowls), and toast that.

Conclusion? Oh, the V-Leaf still works like it did on the first day, and the IO has been giving me backend clicker issues for months. I have avoided GHL customer service since they've historically sucked. I think when my IO dies, I might just shelf it and stick with the GO.

I remember suggesting the Go to you last year! Around that time I bought a spare and its still in the box, the first one is at 16 months now, flawless.

Hopper is a great device, and the Go is a great backup that lets you move effortlessly through the months of hopper downtime.

NBD except I am stuck without a good backup vape so will probably be trying to resist the pipe for a few weeks.

Order a Go immediately.

This Go actually looks pretty decent, I might have to sample one...

Get one.

I'm an idiot. My charger didn't fail it was the UL approved USB charger/adapter that failed. That was a pleasant surprise. The IO lives. Just got a killer hit.

Hope your charger is not failed, but have you tried?;
If io does not start to charge when connected, you can try unplugging, then re-plugging the usb from the wall adapter (or car adapter or 'puter) leaving ring on the io. Every now and then it needs reset.

 

[JBone65]

ope your charger is not failed, but have you tried?;

It's charging great!

In two weeks my IO will be a year old. Nothing can go wrong now...

Edit:. My new GHB3 must have been totally depleted. It took three full (undisturbed) hours to charge.

 

[Vaporific]

Tried the PFE on my IO yesterday and it was somewhat better. However it still feels like the front of the chamber and the edge of it is getting quite hot. Not the PFE itself per se but near the threading on the body. Kind of hard to explain. I’m wondering if my recent cleaning did something to the unit but I sparingly used ISO on qtips to clean it out and I had the IO facing down so no residual ISO could fall into the heater. I’m very careful about using just a touch of ISO in the chamber area. It’s like my IO is suddenly running hotter and even turning down the temp on the dial it seems to run hotter to the point of having more lip discomfort than before. Gotta keep experimenting with the different frontend (PFE and native, both IO and OG on the IO body) and batteries. And I thought my 11 month IO anniversary would be issue-free. Sigh. To be continued…

 

[JoeMama]

Balance is crucial so no need to be sorry at all. There's been quite a bit of bubbling my end, I have been keen to share the success.

It really sucks that some others who are in my league are stuck on the wrong side of the court. It certainly seems worth the endurance for me, but at the same time it's not so easy and it's kinda ridiculous! Pipe dreams indeed.


This Go actually looks pretty decent, I might have to sample one...

I would suggest that even though contacting HL can be a real rigmarole, it's mostly just a long game with a good result. However it also seems like you have tried enough to bring that heavily into question

I don't know what to think about it all. Wouldn't it be nice if after all these years the conversation was different.

I know, MoltenTiger... I was a staunch fan of GHL even with the problems, but when they lost my warranty device after 9 months and had me buy a new iO (at a discount, thankfully), I just lost respect. I'll probably go through the repair if it needs it (and it's looking that way), but I don't expect to see it back for months if I do. Perhaps they have changed, we shall see!

I remember suggesting the Go to you last year! Around that time I bought a spare and its still in the box, the first one is at 16 months now, flawless.

Yes you did, Vap! Best vape advice I've had

 

[JBone65]

near the threading on the body.

I don't see how ISO could cause a hot spot in metal, but anything's possible. Have you removed the element from this one? Maybe one of the heaters is a little too close to the tube wall. I doubt you're talking about heat coming out thru the intake holes, obviously the IO's powerful heating elements will burn fingers. The elements are about a mm from the air intake holes, where the lights are. I spent three hours charging my dead battery yesterday and this crazy element will deplete it in <2 minutes of combined usage.

 

[Vaporific]

I don't see how ISO could cause a hot spot in metal, but anything's possible. Have you removed the element from this one? Maybe one of the heaters is a little too close to the tube wall. I doubt you're talking about heat coming out thru the intake holes, obviously the IO's powerful heating elements will burn fingers. The elements are about a mm from the air intake holes, where the lights are. I spent three hours charging my dead battery yesterday and this crazy element will deplete it in <2 minutes of combined usage.

Hi. No, I’m not referring to the air holes and recently noticed and posted herein that they do get hot to the touch as others have opined too. That was news and a shocker (ouch) to me. This is a different issue in that the front of the IO just seems much hotter than before. I only cleaned it, carefully too (again), with light ISO; I didn’t even use Blu-Tac on the threads as I usually do since the threads seemed fine. I need to rotate through my 5 batts and see if it’s a battery issue or, as someone noted above, perhaps some gunk caked in the native frontend. However that was soaked overnight in 91% ISO and it looked very clean afterward. I also cleaned the backend and threads too. I gotta keep ‘testing’ to see if I can isolate the issue. Up until this incident, my IO had been running flawlessly for 11 months. Maybe some De-Oxit needs to be done (I have but didn’t use it this time); I have a pen and try to clean the positive batt terminal in the body on occasion.

EDIT: In 5+ years of owning Hoppers, I’ve never taken one apart to expose the heater. Nor am I willing to start now. Not even the heater screen - I’ve never removed it.

 

[madhockeydad]

I recently ordered an IO as I have an old Grasshopper. After reading this thread I took out my Grav percolator and am using it with the Grasshopper. Wow it is really nice. I find the chamber holds about 0.32 gram (for me that's a lot) and I get a good amount of hits. I'm really impressed with how uniform the ABV is. I'm not doing anything special - usual grinding and then a light pack.

I'm a little worried about the reliability given the comments but I had forgot about my Grasshopper for over a year until a I read this thread. Took it out, charged it up, and viola it works great. Battery doesn't last long but that's due to it not being used for 18 or so months.

There is a lot of hardware in a very small space exposed to a lot of thermal stress. I'm not surprised that getting the design and manufacture right is challenging. I hope with mine they get it right.

D

 

[RogueGuy]

Haven't followed much of the GH story but have the gist of it.

Just got a "new to me" OG SS from a friend and I love this vape!!!

I definitely feel like I do with the TM, which is, I'm expecting it to break at any moment, lol.

But until then, I'm very impressed.

I'm kind of used to hot vapor given my penchant for hot glass, and find 3-4 hits at #3 to be tolerable/comfortable. Dropping the 3rd and 4th in the bong is always nice and the GH milks the bong as good as anything.

 

[JBone65]

I find the chamber holds about 0.32 gram

I've measured recently and I'm consistently filling the chamber with 0.19g. I like to dry it and grind it down pretty fine to where it gets fluffy. Maybe that's the difference. I'm getting 11 killer hits from every load, 0.19g. I'm getting around 16-17 hits per day and the ounces last three months. Needless to say I love my GH.

HL should pay me for all the positive reviews I give.

 

[Eat_My_Brains]

Hi guys, I have an order for a grey IO - however have been 'in progress' for a while now. Have emailed them for an update and offered to change to plain if it helps speed things up.

Anyone had a similar experience? Am a bit worried, as its been a while!

Order was placed 4/2/2021

https://imgur.com/6KwDLsk

https://imgur.com/GSZq7b8