Discontinued The Grasshopper

[Doktor Dub]

@Hogni Hope you are fine and everything went smooth in Hospital.

Stealthfactor: I am 100% with you, i dont know any other Vape which can be so stealth. So the main difference the GH can make for me is not beeing able to vape better but being able to Vape when i wouldn t be able to without the GH.
Big part of this is for me is the quick Heatup (and the unsuspicious look) - no other Vape i use so confident in the Car or on the Street at Daytime :-)

If they would just also license their Heater-Tech to others....

 

[biohacker]

What rate(s) does D4 offer?

D4 can vary by how many batteries are installed, but i've seen some very low mah rates, like 75-175 I think. And I use the slow trickle charge to hopefully extend battery life, but that was after learning about that mode so I probably fried my batteries charging full tilt.

 

[MoltenTiger]

I've been advocating for months now to keep batteries 'topped off'. For me that means mainly putting Hopper on oem charger habitually.

I've only just started noticing the difference between charging directly before/leaving overnight with my GHB2s (which live a hard life and are 3 months old).
It makes the biggest difference for the full temp T5 hits, but also for lower temps the cloudage is noticeably more impressive straight off the charger

I am not sure how the GH OEM magnetic charger charges batteries, though it should just bring the battery up to 4.20V like other chargers.
It does use a 0.5A max rate.

@MoltenTiger Is there a difference in the way the i and the d nitecore series charge? Just on reddit, and someone is claiming that the intelligent series "overcharges" to 4.25v, but that the d series stops at 4.2v, which is does. I dunno, but I think that we're on to something here... I wish that HL would put out an official blog on chargers, etc and what is approved and isn't.

https://www.reddit.com/r/GrassHopperVape/comments/5a754k/nitecore_charger_warning/

Maybe it was an isolated incident with a defective nitecore.

From Trevor:

We recommend this 3rd party charger: http://www.all-battery.com/Tenergy_Li-ion18500_18650_14500_RCR123A_BatteryFastCharger-01270.aspx "

The D4 uses 750/350mA charge rate, 750 is too high, 350 is fine but will take longer.
The Xtar has a tolerance of 0.02V and much safer charging circuitry, I've only compared the Xtar MC2/Nitecore D4. The D4 tolerance is 0.03V and the charging circuitry both discharges and charges full batteries exponentially quicker. The max read out of the Nitecore Digi series is 4.20V, even if the voltage is beyond this

The D2 and D4 are both based on the relative i* series, but with some improvements in design with the D* series. The 2 cell versions, i2 or D2, are suited for GHBs although aren't of any real quality to recommend (there are many options cheaper and the same price which are better, Xtar being one of them).

The charger recommended by HL is simply robust and has secure connections.
They key info is the 4.2V cut off and 500mA rate.

And does anyone know why @Zenpen stopped posting 2 years ago? lol Shame...

Actually quite a wild story, they were chased out of here for having a duplicate account supporting themselves.
Something like the brother of the HL employee with the FC account logged on to a personal user account and bumped the thread using the same IP address as the ZenPen account.

They were scrutinised for trying to deceivingly self promote, and after some time I believe admins here levelled with HLs reasoning (that the GH was not a malicious scam, as the forum was now claiming). But by this stage the conversation here was so petty and vile, HL left and never came back.

They made an appearance on reddit a while back, maybe 6 months ago or so. But the subreddit r/grasshoppervape was so full of disgruntled impatient customers, they silently left there too.
Since they've tried to make something of a blog, which I think they want to feature things like the more informative posts here on FC but in an easily discoverable format.

 

[MoltenTiger]

I do understand that they likely all have circuitry that will 'taper' the charge as it nears full but I'm having trouble seeing that one might really charge a battery 'better' or 'more'?

The Nitecore/Xtar chargers use a CC/CV charge pattern. Constant Current (linear mAh increase) to a percentage of capacity (maybe 60/80% of the 750mAh) and then switches to Constant Voltage where the mAh increase becomes a hyperbolic curve asymptoting towards a 4.20V maximum.

However the tolerance is 50% larger with the Nitecore over the Xtar, and the Quality Assurance is lower, meaning there is the most chance the Nitecore will overcharge the battery, and then discharge it faster than is ideal.

This doesn't have much to do with weak hits from the GH (well the faster discharge will have a big effect), but is crucial for battery longevity. Basically the Nitecore D4 is as big a risk to the batteries as it is a convenience, but using a technically better charger nullifies the risk and reaps convenience.

The Xtars are renowned for undercharging in cases of bad QA, they are not known to overcharge.
The nitecores are known to overcharge

google 'Nitecore overcharging': 67700 results, straight to examples from multiple forums with multiple problem models

google 'Xtar overcharging': 32800 results some links querying issues, most links recommending Xtar models

disclaimer: i only read the first pages, but still, it paints a picture

 

[JoeMama]

The length of time the batteries can stay on the charger is dependant on the charger.

That's a chart of the MC2 charging a similar cell to the GHBs.
Notable difference between this 14500 and the 12630 GHB are, the capacity is slightly higher, the discharged voltage is considerably lower and the charge time is about twice as long.

However you can see that after 10 minutes there has been no noticeable discharge and the voltage remains high.
The MC2 features include

• Discharges with less than 0.001mA when not connected to power
• Charges with less than 0.005mA when LiIon battery is full
• Will restart if battery voltage drops below 4.12 volt

So theoretically, in terms of charged capacity, it's not too bad to leave the batteries on the charger for extended periods (which I have sometimes done, but try to avoid). However by leaving them on, it is very slowly eating away at the finite charge cycles. Doing this every time you charge the cells I would imagine would make a noticeable impact on their health.

Do you have the Nitecore D4?
I would consider replacing that charger if so, but here are it's features regarding this concept;

• Discharges LiIon with 0.8mA when not connected to power
• Charges with 0.2mA when LiIon battery is full
• Will not restart if battery voltage drops
  
• Charge will restart charging after power loss or battery insertion

Here's a chart of the D4 charging a similar cell to the GHBs.
You can see that with the lower charge rate 0.35A, the capacity curve is more gradual and takes 30% longer.
After it has reached capacity, the cell will discharge at a faster rate than it will charge at, and it will simply continue to do this until the charger is power cycled or the battery is reinserted.

If you are charging 4 at once, the D4 will use a time share mode to power each cell in sequence

• When a charge circuit has batteries in both slots, it will use 7.5 second on each in a 15 second cycle.
• When a slot is finished, the current is not redirected to the other slot in the group.

This is a bit confusing, but it definitely sounds like a worse idea to leave cells on the Nitecore than on the Xtar.

In order to avoid trailing a hit, it's best to use a fresh 4.20V battery with a fresh chamber, and the best time to pull the battery off is just after it indicates finishing the charge cycle

Ref: http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger Xtar MC2 UK.html
http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger Nitecore Digicharger D4 UK.html

Well that's one hell of a thorough answer, Molten, thank you!

So it seems first off that leaving these batteries in their slots after fully charged isn't a good practice. Generally I don't, as I take them off together once they're done. So then the solution is to anticipate the next battery to use, pop it back in the charger for a top-off, then use it.

I'm going to try this, certainly. Used to be that I'd get so tired of swapping batteries that I'd put the Hopper back on it's native charger between my draws (especially when the batteries were getting old).

And thanks for the MC2 info!

Oh, and take the rest of the day off!

Otherwise I wonder if it's that pin in the backend clicker? Perhaps this started happening for me after I dropped it? lol

I'd sooner assume it's a contact issue than a battery issue, IMO. Without seeing inside that backend, it will remain a mystery I suppose. I even sometimes do a double click before I even try it on the first click. Maybe superstitious, certainly...

Fact, for me, remains that the Hopper is a finicky device.

 

[vapviking]

@MoltenTiger
Thanks for all that charger information!
Your two posts should be pinned somehow.

In practice, I guess I'm happy to always have some charged and ready; that's where my head hovers, so method is secondary! Having the right equipment helps!

Oh, and take the rest of the day off!

I second that.

 

[MoltenTiger]

don't worry guys I have fresh glass and a hopper with me at all times.
A day off, a day on, no difference to me anymore

 

[biohacker]

"smoketreessBronze Grasshopper, SS GH 1 point 11 months ago

I bought the nitecore d4 and have been using it for about a month or two now and it has been great. I bought that one because when HL came out and said external chargers will work, they recommended the nitecore brand."

-from reddit, can anyone confirm this?

 

[vapviking]

"smoketreessBronze Grasshopper, SS GH 1 point 11 months ago

I bought the nitecore d4 and have been using it for about a month or two now and it has been great. I bought that one because when HL came out and said external chargers will work, they recommended the nitecore brand."

-from reddit, can anyone confirm this?

HL has given 'varying' information, over time. In very early crowd-source days, they shipped some external chargers with new hoppers because they didn't have their own on hand. Later (I think even into 2016 sometime) HL came out saying only their charger is recommended. Now we see the quote from reddit.

I wondered, when I saw your earlier post re Trevor's recommendation, where that fits on the timeline. It's all pretty academic at this point!

My main take away is to not charge fast, as in, not more than the HL oem max charge rate of 500 ma (5 amps). Thanks again @MoltenTiger for that figure.

 

[lazylathe]

I'm from Canada too @lazylathe !
Montreal to be exact, that's why my English is so bad LOL
I hope to try that thing next weekend...

My hopper arrived today! Just in my mail box with no extra duties to pay!
Hope you have received your hopper!!

Testing will begin tonight or tomorrow!

 

[tubasco]

Considering the charging tendencies of the D4 I mentioned before, plus the fact that HL have tested a batch of someones month old batteries and reported the charger (a nitecore D4 in two cases) killed them,
It seems like it's good advice to say stop charging the GHBs with the Nitecore D4

I have had success with this charger with GHB1's for over a year now, and GHB2's for months now.

ALWAYS set it to "low" when charging. It's a rate of 150mA (when charging 3 or 4 at once) and takes a couple hours to charge at that rate.

Avoiding this charger is not necessary. Using it correctly is.

 

[ElPic]

My hopper arrived today! Just in my mail box with no extra duties to pay!
Hope you have received your hopper!!

Testing will begin tonight or tomorrow!

Ahhhhhh!!!!
Hope too! I finish working at 4:30pm... but I'm off tomorrow

 

[biohacker]

My hopper arrived today! Just in my mail box with no extra duties to pay!
Hope you have received your hopper!!

Testing will begin tonight or tomorrow!

Welcome to the clan bro!!! ​

Avoiding this charger is not necessary. Using it correctly is.

Sweet! I don't have to ditch my nitecore now lol

 

[JCat]

My hopper arrived today! Just in my mail box with no extra duties to pay!
Hope you have received your hopper!!

Testing will begin tonight or tomorrow!

Hope I'm so lucky!!!

 

[Hogni]

....Hope or Hopp'?

 

[GrandWazoo]

Hi to everyone , thank you for all the intersting info about vaping, I would like to share my experience . First vapo DaVinci , not bad at all , still works but the battery lasts only few hits. Second vape Grasshopper , very great , after some issues it works well and I love it. The taste is wonderful , three seconds heat , strong , stealthy . But I tried more and bought a Joyetech mini , with concentrates in e-liquid. I really think that this is long far the best way on the go : Immediate heat , battery that lasts a week and also the charge more than two weeks , and you can go anywhere , anywhere , it's an e-cig without doubt. The high is different , the taste not so good as flowers , but anyway there are a lot of positive things : you break the atmizer ? break the battery ? No problem , you go and buy one in every f...ng shop. Because when you are on the go , for example you stay out all day long, you got to re-charge your GH , and you got to do it also with the battery. If you live in a country where is not allowed it could be a problem. And if you break anything you are ko , got to order via Internet. So my best team at the time is Grasshopper at home , very relaxed and strong, e-liquid on the go , stealthy and easy.

 

[invertedisdead]

Hi to everyone , thank you for all the intersting info about vaping, I would like to share my experience . First vapo DaVinci , not bad at all , still works but the battery lasts only few hits. Second vape Grasshopper , very great , after some issues it works well and I love it. The taste is wonderful , three seconds heat , strong , stealthy . But I tried more and bought a Joyetech mini , with concentrates in e-liquid. I really think that this is long far the best way on the go : Immediate heat , battery that lasts a week and also the charge more than two weeks , and you can go anywhere , anywhere , it's an e-cig without doubt. The high is different , the taste not so good as flowers , but anyway there are a lot of positive things : you break the atmizer ? break the battery ? No problem , you go and buy one in every f...ng shop. Because when you are on the go , for example you stay out all day long, you got to re-charge your GH , and you got to do it also with the battery. If you live in a country where is not allowed it could be a problem. And if you break anything you are ko , got to order via Internet. So my best team at the time is Grasshopper at home , very relaxed and strong, e-liquid on the go , stealthy and easy.

I've been saying this for years, concentrates on the go is still the superior solution. They just travel much better than dry herb. I'm not into e liquid though...I only load pure product on an all ceramic divine tribe v3 atomizer. I have no other use for other portable devices at this point, and it's embarrassing my home devices just as much.

Flavor is great over her with a temp controlled mod.

 

[kato1234]

@Hogni Hope you are fine and everything went smooth in Hospital.

Stealthfactor: I am 100% with you, i dont know any other Vape which can be so stealth. So the main difference the GH can make for me is not beeing able to vape better but being able to Vape when i wouldn t be able to without the GH.
Big part of this is for me is the quick Heatup (and the unsuspicious look) - no other Vape i use so confident in the Car or on the Street at Daytime :-)

If they would just also license their Heater-Tech to others....

Yes it would be nice to see new vapes using the GH technology. Whether they do it themselves or licence it out. Personally I would like something in the 22mm range using 18650 batteries. It wouldn't be as stealthy but battery life would be 4x. Also on my wish list is a screw on one that would work with existing e-cig mods. Using one of the new quad 18650 you would increase battery life by 16x. I also think that the e-cig technology of temperature regulation might mix in nice with the HL heater. I don't know if it could be done. Maybe should start a new thread now that the shipping poll has become unnecessary. Something called "Now I have my Hopper heres how to improve it". Vape safe.

 

[btka]

I once asked caroline if I could use ak external charger for charging the gh batteries and she told me that she is not recommending using an external charger...

could charging batteries with an external charger be responsible for cop lights or immediately blue lights?

 

[Hjalmark]

Totally off topic because sometimes I am just to tired to join in on one of 4-7 topics we talk about

I always cut off the zip bag top and then use it for storage, I used to have a "+" sign written on the inside so I can place full batteries with their positive toward the +

I also use it as a funnel to fill my bowl

Those ziplock are made out of nice thick durable plastic but I don't like the zip part

Also have you figured out where I keep my "blue tack"?

Also the Avb jar is the film box and it has a little metal pick in it

And now I am done

 

[Baron23]

Yes it would be nice to see new vapes using the GH technology. Whether they do it themselves or licence it out. Personally I would like something in the 22mm range using 18650 batteries. It wouldn't be as stealthy but battery life would be 4x. Also on my wish list is a screw on one that would work with existing e-cig mods. Using one of the new quad 18650 you would increase battery life by 16x. I also think that the e-cig technology of temperature regulation might mix in nice with the HL heater. I don't know if it could be done. Maybe should start a new thread now that the shipping poll has become unnecessary. Something called "Now I have my Hopper heres how to improve it". Vape safe.

Also, I would like to see them get rid of the hinky (to me) ballpoint pen-type push switch on the end. just too many parts. Make something with a simple and highly robust switch for on/off. Just my two cents.

 

[kato1234]

I have been using Li-ion batteries for a few years now in e-cigs and I have a few recommendations regarding battery /charging. Im not a reviewer or expert but I do try and look up information and these are some of the things I have found. 1) Do not leave batteries that are charging unattended and remove them from the charger when done. They do have the possibility of venting. Not a big possibility with a good charger and good batteries but even if you think they are good they might have a problem or be counterfeits. They sell LiPo charging bags that will contain the gases if a battery vents. I haven't used them but they are out there. 2) Check your batteries when being charged or used and if they are too hot to touch. You have a problem. Stop doing whatever you are doing. 3) Don't charge or use a hot battery. If you have just been using a battery and it is now hot let it cool before charging. If you have just been charging a battery and it is hot let it cool down before using. A battery that is getting too hot to touch indicates a problem with the battery or charger 4) Never use a battery with a damaged wrapper. Rewrap or dispose of it. 5) Always carry you batteries safely. Use a case or something that will protect the battery from shorting out. E-cigs have been dealing with battery issues for 5-6 years and the flashlight guys even longer hopefully we can learn from the past and vape safe. Most accidents I see on the internet about vaping are user error. I know I tend to ramble on but I'm old and using a Grasshopper a deadly combination.

Totally off topic because sometimes I am just to tired to join in on one of 4-7 topics we talk about

I always cut off the zip bag top and then use it for storage, I used to have a "+" sign written on the inside so I can place full batteries with their positive toward the +

I also use it as a funnel to fill my bowl

Those ziplock are made out of nice thick durable plastic but I don't like the zip part

Also have you figured out where I keep my "blue tack"?

Also the Avb jar is the film box and it has a little metal pick in it

And now I am done

Where are we going to get more film canisters. I never thought to save them and I only have 2 left. I sent most of mine away for processing and never thought about it. My ABV resides in a black Kodak one. Heavy ziplock looks great for the batteries and it does make a nifty funnel.

 

[invertedisdead]

18650 grasshopper would be a game changer. They probably could have released it 2 years earlier too.

3600 mAh = desktop replacement

 

[Icon13]

I have had success with this charger with GHB1's for over a year now, and GHB2's for months now.

ALWAYS set it to "low" when charging. It's a rate of 150mA (when charging 3 or 4 at once) and takes a couple hours to charge at that rate.

Avoiding this charger is not necessary. Using it correctly is.

150mA is extremely low. Like unnecessarily low. Feel free to charge at a higher rate, which I am assuming is about 300mA for four batteries, which is also low. As somebody who used to work in the battery industry for a manufacturer, you're not going to hurt your batteries at all charging at the higher rate. 500mAh - 1Ah is just fine, which is what I charge mine at depending on how many I am charging. My batteries are running just as good as the day I got them, and I have had them since October and only use and external charger.

 

[JoeMama]

Considering the charging tendencies of the D4 I mentioned before, plus the fact that HL have tested a batch of someones month old batteries and reported the charger (a nitecore D4 in two cases) killed them,
It seems like it's good advice to say stop charging the GHBs with the Nitecore D4

Well this is concerning! Just what I need, spend more fucking money.

I have had success with this charger with GHB1's for over a year now, and GHB2's for months now.

ALWAYS set it to "low" when charging. It's a rate of 150mA (when charging 3 or 4 at once) and takes a couple hours to charge at that rate.

Avoiding this charger is not necessary. Using it correctly is.

OK, then, let's say its either 150mA or:

150mA is extremely low. Like unnecessarily low. Feel free to charge at a higher rate, which I am assuming is about 300mA for four batteries, which is also low. As somebody who used to work in the battery industry for a manufacturer, you're not going to hurt your batteries at all charging at the higher rate. 500mAh - 1Ah is just fine, which is what I charge mine at depending on how many I am charging. My batteries are running just as good as the day I got them, and I have had them since October and only use and external charger.

OK, @Icon13 and @tubasco , assuming the charger is "safe for batteries when used as directed"

This is from the D4 Manual:
Note: When the D4 is charging three or four batteries, charging current will be set to 375mA. Alternatively, when charging either one or two batteries, charging current will be set to 750mA

Given that this is the case, as opposed to what is stated by our beloved @tubasco , then
when three or more batteries are in at the same time, I suppose nothing further need be done to "lower" said rate, as I'm assuming "375" is acceptable. Can I get an Amen?

However, if one were to charge one or two batteries and wished to set that rate to that target 375mA (assuming that's the low number), how might one do so? I remember reading about that here some time ago, and I'm pretty sure it was one of you fellas who mentioned it... (can't seem to locate this instruction in the PDF manual http://www.batteryspace.com/prod-specs/8979 specs.pdf )

I thank you. My Hoppers thank you.