Discontinued The Grasshopper

[ragnorokk]

Numerous hoppers in the wild, but this thread remains mostly speculation; good to see you can still count on some things!

I'm interested to hear what the (condenser?) piece is actually made of. Maybe an email to hopper labs is in order.

 

[Madcap79]

The funnel looking part could be their top secret heat absorption material? Wasn't that mentioned at some point? Maybe not. Back into the ether I go.

 

[virtualpurple]

Numerous hoppers in the wild, but this thread remains mostly speculation; good to see you can still count on some things!

I'm interested to hear what the (condenser?) piece is actually made of. Maybe an email to hopper labs is in order.

GH Labs isn't exactly transparent with their projections, so that encourages people to speculate about shipping, build materials, etc. How long have we been hearing that their production is scaling up with this machine or that machine?

I'd be interested to hear what their failure rate is.

 

[Kalessin]

GH Labs isn't exactly transparent with their projections, so that encourages people to speculate about shipping, build materials, etc. How long have we been hearing that their production is scaling up with this machine or that machine?

I'd be interested to hear what their failure rate is.

If you look in the past updates, they give their failure rate, first at around 10 percent, then again when it fell to around 5 percent. Edit: The information is found in the September 15th update

 

[Just Justin]

I'm guessing, by the looks of it (and its location at the hottest part of the hopper) that this mystery piece is actually heat resistant silicone and not "plastic." It looks like sort of a bushing between the screen and the copper (brass?) cone. Further, it appears to me that it may slightly compress, helping to hold the front end in place.
I'm also guessing that without this piece the tip would get even hotter than its reported to get now.
@Just Justin , is that cylinder piece with the 3 tips in the first pic your removal tool? If so, could you possibly show the body in a shot with the tool also, for a frame of reference? (If you have time)
Can you also please describe how you remove the screen? Is it threaded? Is it a quarter turn? Does the screen just snap into place with a precision/springy feel? Thanks in advance!

I tried asking GHL what this material is and they were not able to say because its their own material they want to keep secret but they assured me it's heat safe and I think its the same stuff that's between the chamber walls and the GH body, so if that doesn't melt, which it doesn't, then surely the cone in the mouthpiece won't. I think it's a material that is mixed with glass or something but I've never noticed anything funny about it and I'm satisfied that its safe. By the time the vapor reaches that proprietary material cone in the mouthpiece, its cool enough not cause any issues, otherwise you wouldn't be able to inhale it it would be so hot. I think GHL has done a lot of research to design the most efficient mouthpiece that will keep it the coolest because its such a sort vapor path, its a metal mouthpiece and its convection heat. You could remove the plastic stuff out of the mouthpiece but I'm sure the mouthpiece would get too hot to use without the silicone guard in place.

I can understand why people are weird about plastic, especially plastic your inhaling heated vapor through but I think these companies want to put out a safe product and I think they do plenty of research to make sure to use the right plastics that are food safe, non gassing and heat resistant and monitor the temps around these plastics to make sure they don't get hot enough to melt or something, otherwise they would use another material. I don't think vaporizer companies want to put out a product that is unsafe or one that could possibly melt, otherwise no one would buy their product and they would be out of business. I for one have completely changed my onion on plastic after owning a Crafty and Mighty which are all plastic, the entire vapor path is plastic and they are two of the best vaporizers out there, if not the best from one of the most reliable, well known vaporizer companies so if they're doing it, then they know it must be safe and a proper materiel. The Crafty and Mighty produce some of the thickest and most flavorful vapor I have ever experienced, all through plastic so I don't have a problem with plastic as long as its the right kind. I have had plastic melt on some of my vapes, I won't name them but even so, I feel that with the right care and proper handling procedures, they can be safe and they can still be great vapes.

Back to your question @tubasco , The screen is crimped onto a threaded metal ring that is permanently attached to that proprietary cone. There are 3 little notches in the threaded ring where that brass pipe you see with the 3 "teeth" stick in these notches, allowing me to thread the cone/screen assembly out. The copper looking metal cone sits on top of the propriety cone, between that and the actual metal mouthpiece. It is not necessary to remove the screen to get the mouthpiece clean, you should be able to get everything from the end of the mouthpiece and see behind the screen if you missed any. I don't think that copperish cone gets dirty at all beside the very end that touches the metal mouthpiece. You should be able to see the notches and everything in that previous photo. I hope that helps

 

[tubasco]

Back to your question @tubasco , The screen is crimped onto a threaded metal ring that is permanently attached to that proprietary cone. There are 3 little notches in the threaded ring where that brass pipe you see with the 3 "teeth" stick in these notches, allowing me to thread the cone/screen assembly out. The copper looking metal cone sits on top of the propriety cone, between that and the actual metal mouthpiece. It is not necessary to remove the screen to get the mouthpiece clean, you should be able to get everything from the end of the mouthpiece and see behind the screen if you missed any. I don't think that copperish cone gets dirty at all beside the very end that touches the metal mouthpiece. You should be able to see the notches and everything in that previous photo. I hope that helps

Great description, thanks!!

 

[Vaperist]

I hope that helps

tnx. calming me down about plastics.

 

[virtualpurple]

If you look in the past updates, they give their failure rate, first at around 10 percent, then again when it fell to around 5 percent. Edit: The information is found in the September 15th update

Thanks for posting this! For whatever reason I have signed up for GHL mail updates several times, but always seen to get dropped after an update or two.

I have my serious doubts however about the accuracy of their failure rates though. I feel like GH keeps stating that they are scaling up production with this machine or that machine, yet many backers and pre-order folks keep seeing their dates pushed back further and further. There has to be a reason for that and I would imagine that a big chunk of that is because they are having to devote time and materials into warranty work.

Mods, please don't relocate this to the shipping thread as I feel that it is more relevant to the conversation at hand.

GH labs still has my support, and I want them to succeed, but I am just finding a 5-10% failure rate a little suspect. Especially with how many folks have had to request warranty work multiple times.

I tried asking GHL what this material is and they were not able to say because its their own material they want to keep secret but they assured me it's heat safe and I think its the same stuff that's between the chamber walls and the GH body, so if that doesn't melt, which it doesn't, then surely the cone in the mouthpiece won't. I think it's a material that is mixed with glass or something but I've never noticed anything funny about it and I'm satisfied that its safe. By the time the vapor reaches that proprietary material cone in the mouthpiece, its cool enough not cause any issues, otherwise you wouldn't be able to inhale it it would be so hot. I think GHL has done a lot of research to design the most efficient mouthpiece that will keep it the coolest because its such a sort vapor path, its a metal mouthpiece and its convection heat. You could remove the plastic stuff out of the mouthpiece but I'm sure the mouthpiece would get too hot to use without the silicone guard in place.

I can understand why people are weird about plastic, especially plastic your inhaling heated vapor through but I think these companies want to put out a safe product and I think they do plenty of research to make sure to use the right plastics that are food safe, non gassing and heat resistant and monitor the temps around these plastics to make sure they don't get hot enough to melt or something, otherwise they would use another material. I don't think vaporizer companies want to put out a product that is unsafe or one that could possibly melt, otherwise no one would buy their product and they would be out of business. I for one have completely changed my onion on plastic after owning a Crafty and Mighty which are all plastic, the entire vapor path is plastic and they are two of the best vaporizers out there, if not the best from one of the most reliable, well known vaporizer companies so if they're doing it, then they know it must be safe and a proper materiel. The Crafty and Mighty produce some of the thickest and most flavorful vapor I have ever experienced, all through plastic so I don't have a problem with plastic as long as its the right kind. I have had plastic melt on some of my vapes, I won't name them but even so, I feel that with the right care and proper handling procedures, they can be safe and they can still be great vapes.

Back to your question @tubasco , The screen is crimped onto a threaded metal ring that is permanently attached to that proprietary cone. There are 3 little notches in the threaded ring where that brass pipe you see with the 3 "teeth" stick in these notches, allowing me to thread the cone/screen assembly out. The copper looking metal cone sits on top of the propriety cone, between that and the actual metal mouthpiece. It is not necessary to remove the screen to get the mouthpiece clean, you should be able to get everything from the end of the mouthpiece and see behind the screen if you missed any. I don't think that copperish cone gets dirty at all beside the very end that touches the metal mouthpiece. You should be able to see the notches and everything in that previous photo. I hope that helps

I would think that GH would have to disclose the materials they use in their vaporizers, even if they don't disclose how it is made or what the exact composition of the material is. But maybe I'm in the wrong here.

 

[Kalessin]

I am just finding a 5-10% failure rate a little suspect.

I don't really find it suspect at all. I've mentioned it on here before and I guess I'm the only person who really thinks so, but I still feel like since the Grasshopper was an internet crowdfunding project, pretty much every person who backed is probably pretty internet inclined. So I think we've been seeing almost every single failure there has been being posted one place or another. If that IS the case, then the failures we've been seeing, according to my rough eyeing of it as things unfold, is pretty consistent with the failure rate they've reported. This isn't like a lot of huge products, with massive customer bases, it's a niche product that most people wouldn't know how to find, much less want to use, so I just feel like all the people who backed would be really likely to post online about it. Maybe I'm just overly optimistic.

 

[virtualpurple]

I don't really find it suspect at all. I've mentioned it on here before and I guess I'm the only person who really thinks so, but I still feel like since the Grasshopper was an internet crowdfunding project, pretty much every person who backed is probably pretty internet inclined. So I think we've been seeing almost every single failure there has been being posted one place or another. If that IS the case, then the failures we've been seeing, according to my rough eyeing of it as things unfold, is pretty consistent with the failure rate they've reported. This isn't like a lot of huge products, with massive customer bases, it's a niche product that most people wouldn't know how to find, much less want to use, so I just feel like all the people who backed would be really likely to post online about it. Maybe I'm just overly optimistic.

There's nothing wrong with the optimism! And I don't think you're alone in that. And while Hopper Labs is certainly learning from their failures and crafting a better product, I feel like they should be, at this point, able to give people more reliable windows than they have been issuing.

It would be interesting to see the total number of orders, the total number of units ordered, and the total number of units (Not just customers) that have been sent in for warranty or have required new back-ends to be mailed out.

IE, if a unit requires warranty work 4 different times, does that unit count 4x towards the failure rate or just one time because it is simply being treated as an order number.

 

[PAZ]

I would think that GH would have to disclose the materials they use in their vaporizers, even if they don't disclose how it is made or what the exact composition of the material is. But maybe I'm in the wrong here.

We've seen with previous vapes like the BHOLT there isn't a high standard for vapes, and I don't expect there ever will be. That being said, I feel comfortable with them having an engineering background (I believe one of them was a materials engineer) where they've done ample amount of research to determine what's safe and what isn't. This isn't some vape that was put together within a few months and glued together, it's a vape that you can tell had countless hours put into the design and planning.

It could very well have been a last minute modification and they rushed this part to start shipping, but given that they didn't really have a set deadline, i'd say they spent the time.

I understand that people are skeptical about plastics and heat, but there's always going to be varying grades of materials. Plastics are one of the most versatile materials on the planet, and there's a reason they're found everywhere we look. With that being said, we don't even know if it's plastic or some sort of composite material (which would be my guess).

 

[Vaperist]

we don't even know if it's plastic or some sort of composite material (which would be my guess).

there are reports in Reddit that vapor from Firefly taste better than vapor from GH. Firefly got stainless steal vapor path entirely. so why does stainless GH taste different?

 

[MoltenTiger]

It's really not a huge deal, but there would be a refined reason for its existence. It'd be nice if GHL could be open about it, but if it is proprietary material fair enough.
I'm sure it's inert, but I'm also pretty sure it will off-gas (like silicone, remember plastic isn't a material, it is a molded synthetic polymer). If it is safe, off-gassing won't matter, and from flavour reports it's completely negligible. But I can't imagine proprietary material has many tests done to it
I do have confidence that these guys know more than I do about material engineering and I'm not concerned, I'd just like reasoning for why something knowably safe wasn't used.

 

[Darb]

Has the concentrate attachment we were shown been released yet?

 

[MoltenTiger]

Has the concentrate attachment we were shown been released yet?

Not yet, but they have announced at the start of this month that soon it will be - along with the other extras, the case and a water-pipe attachment.

 

[shadymilkman]

there are reports in Reddit that vapor from Firefly taste better than vapor from GH. Firefly got stainless steal vapor path entirely. so why does stainless GH taste different?

You've replied to a post that had the mouthpiece separated\extruded.. so you've seen that the ghl vapor path isn't ss. So.. yea.

ss v ti is not a difference b.w vapor paths but outer shells.

 

[Kalessin]

there are reports in Reddit that vapor from Firefly taste better than vapor from GH. Firefly got stainless steal vapor path entirely. so why does stainless GH taste different?

There have also been plenty of people who said their Grasshoppers taste just as good as any vape they've used, including Firefly's

 

[Vaperist]

There have also been plenty of people who said their Grasshoppers taste just as good as any vape they've used, including Firefly's

i really hope that GH will destroy my ArizerSolo fanaticism and anti plastic sentiment.

 

[Kalessin]

Perhaps so. I'm not concerned with it as my ability to taste weed is almost nonexistent

 

[TeeJay1952]

@Kalessin I pumped gas for 20 years and smoked way too much and did not have any sort of palate. 2 or is it 3 years later and exclusively vaping I have an exquisite sense of the variations between the strains and temps.

 

[Kalessin]

@Kalessin I pumped gas for 20 years and smoked way too much and did not have any sort of palate. 2 or is it 3 years later and exclusively vaping I have an exquisite sense of the variations between the strains and temps.

Mine seems to be related to my sense of smell. For whatever reason my sense of smell is almost entirely nonexistent. I can occasionally catch a whiff of things for a few seconds, but it's rare. Affects how I taste food, and weed.

 

[inuhuion]

we have taste receptors in our lungs as well

 

[Mr. Niceguy]

we have taste receptors in our lungs as well

Very interesting, but seems that we can't really taste with these receptors:
http://umm.edu/news-and-events/news...-could-help-people-with-asthma-breathe-easier

 

[grokit]

there are reports in Reddit that vapor from Firefly taste better than vapor from GH. Firefly got stainless steal vapor path entirely. so why does stainless GH taste different?

Two reasons imo. The vapor is much cooler out of the firefly, which greatly affects taste. The second reason they taste different is the firefly has a glass bowl. I still use my firefly around the house for kicks

 

[Mr. Me2]

@Kalessin I pumped gas for 20 years and smoked way too much and did not have any sort of palate. 2 or is it 3 years later and exclusively vaping I have an exquisite sense of the variations between the strains and temps.

Hope you weren't smoking while you were pumping gas!