Discontinued The Grasshopper

[Hammahead]

using it through water at temp 5, when I was specifically trying to hit the fuck out of it.

yea been there.. kinda... ripped some ,1 gr very loaded C99 thru a bong in one big draw and couldn't finish it like in there'd not be any more vapor coming. The cloud I exhaled was so huge and the taste of toast so strong, I thought it was combusted, but nope, pretty dark brown but no black, no tar whatsoever. This little thing is intense...

 

[slick]

Staying on topic...I really like my GH, but I don't "love" it enough. It has my respect though and is my current choice for portable needs.

Can you elaborate? People tend to post when they love or hate something, but tend not to bother if they are indifferent.

 

[Joel W.]

I had one of my hopper back ends get warm last night. I unscrewed it and put it on my meter and checked continuity and it beeped. I rotated the dial just off max a bit and it does not beep.

When I screw it back together, it was cool.

Interesting thing is, it also makes continuity on the lowest heat setting that I have not used,

I have been reading a little about potentiometers and it seem that most are not meant for much more than a watt of power.

One 10 amp pot I found was about the size of a tennis ball.

Checking ohms did not seem to make any difference for me on the meter with different temp setting but I may be doing something wrong?

 

[Baron23]

I had one of my hopper back ends get warm last night. I unscrewed it and put it on my meter and checked continuity and it beeped. I rotated the dial just off max a bit and it does not beep.

When I screw it back together, it was cool.

Interesting thing is, it also makes continuity on the lowest heat setting that I have not used,

I have been reading a little about potentiometers and it seem that most are not meant for much more than a watt of power.

One 10 amp pot I found was about the size of a tennis ball.

Checking ohms did not seem to make any difference for me on the meter with different temp setting but I may be doing something wrong?

Joel - why do we think its an old style analog potentiometer and not a more modern digital equivalent. I'm not saying its not, I have no earthly idea how they built my GH. Just asking

 

[Joel W.]

Joel - why do we think its an old style analog potentiometer and not a more modern digital equivalent. I'm not saying its not, I have no earthly idea how they built my GH. Just asking

.

There were pics posted here of back ends that have popped apart. It looks mechanical to me.

I think the Zion uses a similar designed pot , in terms of amps.

 

[AgentXero]

I think my "stripped threading"?on the back of the body was actually just more like a shaving of the metal from manufacturing. It appears to be gone and the backend screws on a bit better.

I still think I have a hot backend though. I get flashing red lights if I pull long/hard enough. I was thinking maybe that's just low battery but I can kinda feel the lack of power/hot air when this happens and the backend does get very warm. I still can't get that crazy vapor production I have seen in multiple videos. It's weird though because I do get 1 or 2 good draws from a less than half pack. Any thoughts?

 

[Delta3DStudios]

I get flashing red lights if I pull long/hard enough.

My hot backend never flashed red lights during the hit.

The only thing it would do is flicker the blue light during the hit. My new back-end does not cause the blue light to flicker.

Flickering to red would indicate to me that the battery was close to drained before starting your hit.

but I can kinda feel the lack of power/hot air when this happens and the backend does get very warm.

I should note that even though my replacement back-end does get slightly warm when the battery is nearly drained.

Do you have a Nitecore charger? You should grab one if you don't - they're handy to check your battery charge to confirm you're not using a dead battery to test your hopper. And I trust my Nitecore more than the Hopper's charging cable to recharge the batteries.

 

[AgentXero]

My hot backend never flashed red lights during the hit.

The only thing it would do is flicker the blue light during the hit. My new back-enddoes not cause the blue light to flicker.

Flickering to red would indicate to me that the battery was close to drained before starting your hit.



I should note that even though my replacement back-end does get slightly warm when the battery is nearly drained.

Do you have a Nitecore charger? You should grab one if you don't - they're handy to check your battery charge to confirm you're not using a dead battery to test your hopper. And I trust my Nitecore more than the Hopper's charging cable to recharge the batteries.

I have the D2 - though I'm not sure what all the readouts mean. I think I see above 3.7 though. My blue lights flicker everytime I draw. And with the red light flickering, it's happening only a small handful of draws total on a fresh battery. I think either way I need a new backend?

 

[peterpiper]

My backend gets very hot and the blue lights flicker loads when drawing
But it works great
Don't want to return as I'm in uk
Edit: just turned the dial back a bit as suggested earlier and now the blue lights do not flicker, don't know if that's solved the heat issue yet

 

[Delta3DStudios]

though I'm not sure what all the readouts mean

The most important one is the voltage - fully charged should be at 4.20v (heh)

My blue lights flicker everytime I draw.

Even on a full battery? Then yes, that sounds like a hotend issue to me.

Indeed, I'd consider opening a warranty request. My replacement backend does not cause the blue LED to flicker until the battery is nearly completely drained.

 

[AgentXero]

The most important one is the voltage - fully charged should be at 4.20v (heh)


Even on a full battery? Then yes, that sounds like a hotend issue to me.

Indeed, I'd consider opening a warranty request. My replacement backend does not cause the blue LED to flicker until the battery is nearly completely drained.

Yea even on a full battery I see the blue lights flickering (it's a very light and dim flicker but it is definitely flickering). Did you get better draws and performance after you got your new backend?

 

[Delta3DStudios]

Yea even on a full battery I see the blue lights flickering (it's a very light and dim flicker but it is definitely flickering).

I know exactly the dim flickering you're talking about - my old hot backend caused the LEDs to do the same thing. You can almost see whenever the heater is running because that's when the lights flicker.

Did you get better draws and performance after you got your new backend?

I am getting a longer battery life. And for science sake I took a massive rip through glass at 5 and can confirm I am getting a MUCH milkier hit than before.






On an unrelated note, they also shipped a replacement mouthpiece because I had issues with the screen coming out. Two days before the replacement arrived the threads stripped loose on my original mouthpiece.

Luckily the replacement threads on perfectly, but let it be a lesson. KEEP THOSE THREADS CLEAN! If you feel any sort of "gritty" feeling, be careful, I personally plan on cleaning my mouthpiece weekly to avoid this. I wish they sold spare MP's so I don't have to wait for cleaning

 

[AgentXero]

I know exactly the dim flickering you're talking about - my old hot backend caused the LEDs to do the same thing. You can almost see whenever the heater is running because that's when the lights flicker.


I am getting a longer battery life. And for science sake I took a massive rip through glass at 5 and can confirm I am getting a MUCH milkier hit than before.






On an unrelated note, they also shipped a replacement mouthpiece because I had issues with the screen coming out. Two days before the replacement arrived the threads stripped loose on my original mouthpiece.

Luckily the replacement threads on perfectly, but let it be a lesson. KEEP THOSE THREADS CLEAN! If you feel any sort of "gritty" feeling, be careful, I personally plan on cleaning my mouthpiece weekly to avoid this. I wish they sold spare MP's so I don't have to wait for cleaning

Awesome! I knew that I was supposed to be getting better hits with my unit! I know there has to be something missing with my hopper.

 

[Joel W.]

So hypothetically speaking, if some silly fucker was to apply 4v+ to the center pin inside the hopper with the batt and back end removed and then hook negative to the body, the hopper should come on at power level 5 and run for 18 seconds and then shut off?

 

[ooo]

I think my "stripped threading"?on the back of the body was actually just more like a shaving of the metal from manufacturing. It appears to be gone and the backend screws on a bit better.

I still think I have a hot backend though. I get flashing red lights if I pull long/hard enough. I was thinking maybe that's just low battery but I can kinda feel the lack of power/hot air when this happens and the backend does get very warm. I still can't get that crazy vapor production I have seen in multiple videos. It's weird though because I do get 1 or 2 good draws from a less than half pack. Any thoughts?

not sure if this has been covered but, i'm wondering if cleaning the threads as soon as you get your hopper is something that should be done before you even begin using it. i have a little brush i plan on cleaning mine up with to make sure i don't run into these kinds of problems since it's starting to seem like a common occurrence.

 

[AgentXero]

not sure if this has been covered but, i'm wondering if cleaning the threads as soon as you get your hopper is something that should be done before you even begin using it. i have a little brush i plan on cleaning mine up with to make sure i don't run into these kinds of problems since it's starting to seem like a common occurrence.

Might not be a bad idea at all. I'm not knowledgeable with machinery so when I first saw it it looked like a stripped threading but now I think it was just a metal shaving. Now I don't see it and the backend is a little easier to screw on.

 

[Hammahead]

it's starting to seem like a common occurrence.

Now... this is just a wild guess, but could it be that there is simply a wide range of how to describe sentience when it comes to temperature? It appears to me that pretty much every GH gets "warm" at the backend at certain moments. "Warm" is in my book: not too hot to touch, even for a prolonged time. It seems these GH are working just fine. Then there are a few that get hot, meaning: about as hot as the mouthpiece after a long toke. These are the faulty ones, with reduced battery life and with the disco lights of death coming sooner or later. I get the feeling the "Grasshopper hot backend phenomenon" might be somehow related to the famous "Seattle Windshield Pitting Epidemic" (<-- if you don't know it, google it, its a nice story, and pretty educational too). After all we're a kind of folk that's easy to alert.

 

[GreenHopper]

I wish they sold spare MP's so I don't have to wait for cleaning

A number of FC members have commented that HL will send out a new mouth piece if requested by email. Cant remember how much they said it would cost. Something like $25 + shipping.

 

[Delta3DStudios]

It appears to me that pretty much every GH gets "warm" at the backend at certain moments. "Warm" is in my book: not too hot to touch, even for a prolonged time

There is a distinct difference between warm and hot. Hot to me is something which you cannot handle for prolonged periods of time due to the intense heat. Hot is something uncomfortable to handle for more than a few seconds.

Hot on the hopper to me is temperatures over 140F (measured with my FLIR) localized in one specific place on the back-end (around the clip).

Yes most hopper backends can get warm - but when you can physically feel the backend go from cool to uncomfortably hot literally in one draw, something is clearly wrong. Combine that with flickering blue lights on every hit, and that indicates a problem.

I've handled several hoppers by this point and I can say for certain that you shouldn't be able to feel the back-end of your hopper go from cool to very warm/hot in one hit while blue lights are flickering - clearly indicating the heater is having trouble keeping up with the demand.

 

[Hawk]

not sure if this has been covered but, i'm wondering if cleaning the threads as soon as you get your hopper is something that should be done before you even begin using it. i have a little brush i plan on cleaning mine up with to make sure i don't run into these kinds of problems since it's starting to seem like a common occurrence.

This is something I did with all my vaping mechanical mods. ISO cleaned all the threads and contacts. Make sure no grit or machine oil.

 

[utekai]

When the cap on a titanium grasshopper remains a bit loose, unscrewed a turn or two, performance improves.

The tip stays cooler.
The vapor stream is cooler.
Extraction efficiency improves.

All are subtle effects. Because the threading is so narrow not much air can get thru between cap and body threads especially when tightened, but the cap is slightly larger in diameter on this grasshopper and allows air to go between cap and body threading rather than through the narrow thread channels. Unscrewing the cap a bit then opens this fresh air pathway.

Much like the vapman mixes in fresh air with vapor and same with an mflb when mixing fresh with vapor on the draw, the extraction improves due to the air stream stabilization from mixing the two air streams.

 

[YaFreekin Right]

When the cap on a titanium grasshopper remains a bit loose, unscrewed a turn or two, performance improves.

The tip stays cooler.
The vapor stream is cooler.
Extraction efficiency improves.

All are subtle effects. Because the threading is so narrow not much air can get thru between cap and body threads especially when tightened, but the cap is slightly larger in diameter on this grasshopper and allows air to go between cap and body threading rather than through the narrow thread channels. Unscrewing the cap a bit then opens this fresh air pathway.

Much like the vapman mixes in fresh air with vapor and same with an mflb when mixing fresh with vapor on the draw, the extraction improves due to the air stream stabilization from mixing the two air streams.

I don't see how extraction efficiency could improve by introducing fresh air. The airflow though the vaporization chamber remains unchanged, the fresh air is mixed after.

 

[moondog]

When the cap on a titanium grasshopper remains a bit loose, unscrewed a turn or two, performance improves.

The tip stays cooler.
The vapor stream is cooler.
Extraction efficiency improves.

All are subtle effects. Because the threading is so narrow not much air can get thru between cap and body threads especially when tightened, but the cap is slightly larger in diameter on this grasshopper and allows air to go between cap and body threading rather than through the narrow thread channels. Unscrewing the cap a bit then opens this fresh air pathway.

Much like the vapman mixes in fresh air with vapor and same with an mflb when mixing fresh with vapor on the draw, the extraction improves due to the air stream stabilization from mixing the two air streams.

I can see how it would help heat issues (both vapor and mouthpiece) but I'm not sure how it improves efficiency.

 

[Baron23]

There is a distinct difference between warm and hot. Hot to me is something which you cannot handle for prolonged periods of time due to the intense heat. Hot is something uncomfortable to handle for more than a few seconds.

Hot on the hopper to me is temperatures over 140F (measured with my FLIR) localized in one specific place on the back-end (around the clip).

Yes most hopper backends can get warm - but when you can physically feel the backend go from cool to uncomfortably hot literally in one draw, something is clearly wrong. Combine that with flickering blue lights on every hit, and that indicates a problem.

I've handled several hoppers by this point and I can say for certain that you shouldn't be able to feel the back-end of your hopper go from cool to very warm/hot in one hit while blue lights are flickering - clearly indicating the heater is having trouble keeping up with the demand.

I'm with Ratchett. Yes, temperature descriptions like 'warm' or 'hot' are subjective and different people have different boundaries for these terms, but I think in the case of the Hopper that's not really the issue.

My back end does not get hot at all. Wouldn't even call it warm after putting two loads through glass and draining each load with 3 BIG draws.

Ratchett's back end was 140 degrees as he said.

So, no...I really don't think its just a matter of semantics.

 

[AgentXero]

I'm with Ratchett. Yes, temperature descriptions like 'warm' or 'hot' are subjective and different people have different boundaries for these terms, but I think in the case of the Hopper that's not really the issue.

My back end does not get hot at all. Wouldn't even call it warm after putting two loads through glass and draining each load with 3 BIG draws.

Ratchett's back end was 140 degrees as he said.

So, no...I really don't think its just a matter of semantics.

Yea three big draws and not even warm.. I use mine natively and 1 or 2 draws my backend is very warm (I'm not saying "hot" because it doesn't cause me any pain lol). Probably best I warranty the backend in my case.