r/GrassHopperVape
Hopper was stuck on Red/Blue flashing (Sensor Damage) Lights. here's how I fixed it
u/Reeces_Pieces10m
I should pre-face this by saying that I could tell my Hopper needed to be cleaned and it had been about 2 weeks since I last cleaned it. However, it still worked fairly well and I would scrape out abv with a dry q-tip after using it and I was fairly busy, so I kept putting it off.
Well this morning I thought to myself "I should really clean my GH. I will right after I vape 1 bowl." So I go to do that and I get the
sensor damage LEDs. Tried it again and same shit.
1st I went ahead and cleaned it with a Q-tip and isopropyl alcohol and then let the front end soak for a few minutes before going back and scrubbing it with a q-tip dipped in isopropyl alcohol again. I then carefully cleaned the battery contact on the back-end as well as the threads on the back-end with a q-tip dipped in isopropyl alcohol. I noticed a good bit of black gunk coming off on the q-tips whilst cleaning the back-end battery contact and back-end threads. Then, I left my GH in it's 3 separate pieces and left it out to dry for 20 minutes.
The next time I tried to use it I got the "Straight to Blue" problem. The LED would stay red for like 1 second and then immediately turn blue and no heat would be produced while drawing.
Well then, I unscrewed the back-end and put in a different battery(I'm pretty sure it's removing the back-end and putting it back on that helped here, not changing the battery). Then, I fiddled with the temp dial; turning it all the way back and forth a few times and I noticed that as I moved it, some solid black gunk came out from the small gap on the back-end that is under the temp dial (note: I usually never touch the temp dial and just leave it on 5). I wiped this black gunk off of my hopper now that it had been exposed.
I then left it on temp. 3 and took a draw and it worked fine. Then I changed it back to 5 and it still worked fine and it is back to being normal. Just put in the other battery and it works as well.
What is that black gunk you ask? I'm pretty confident that it is grease/oil/sweat from being touched by human skin. It can happen during the manufacturing and repair processes and it can also happen by being handheld by ,you, the user. All of those places where the gunk had built up was a result of holding my back-end piece with my bare hands. If you are screwing and unscrewing your back-end frequently like I am you will be more prone to this. Also, if you never move your temp dial too much you will have a similar problem on the gap of your back-end. The gunk will get caught there and will only be forced out by moving the temp dial.
The black gunk is not electrically conductive and will cause all sorts of electrical problems such as voltage drop.
So, make sure your back-end is clean(the threads and battery contact especially) and don't forget that gunk can also build up in the gap under the temp dial and to just move the temp dial back and forth to force it outside the gap where you can wipe it off.