In fact I'm betting the chinese can come out with a much better snide copy
How much and what time frame are we talking here?
FWIW hardware is simple to copy and happens constantly. Backwards engineering software is a different story and will keep the hoppers design and dynamics exclusive to HL.
There are plenty of companies out there eyeing this shit off.
Watch the market react, China is getting closer off the back of western engineers. It's possible but I'd bet good money it won't be for 3 years until a cheap China vape does something desirable, or is even comparable to the hopper.
Arizer out of Canada and S&B from Germany are the places to watch.
What is the best way to store these batts?
How long are we talking? If it's less than 6 months, bring them to flashing red lights with the hopper and they should be fine without cycling.
Cycling certainly isn't a bad idea though, especially for proper long term down-time.
Anyway, I don't recommend it
Yeah, soaking in very concentrated IPA is relatively safe if you are aware of what you're doing. Most people haven't owned Nokia shops, and so it really can't be openly recommended to the general public.
I'm going to give the LED holes a gentle blast of compressed air
Be careful with condensation, don't click the GH on too soon after doing this.
Absolutely, 24 hours and it should all be evaporated or very close to it.
The biggest risk however is residue relocated to bridge fine electric connections.
There's quite a difference between washing a PCB and soaking a dirty and assembled device in solvent.
Jaycar sell 99.8% IPA for electronics cleaning. They are one of the cheapest sources in Aus, 9 bucks for 250mL! Gotta love paying drinking tax on industrial goods xD
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The back-end is complex, it has a voltage potentiometer and a PCB with a microcontroller.
It certainly can cause issues, though it's been infrequent, but more concerning is how subtle the difference of performance is. With only a single device, it'd be frustrating because although the device works somewhat normally, the power to the heater takes a hit and the vapour production declines. With nothing to actively compare to, it's not obvious if something is wrong.
I've had a more than a few issues with my GH as I approach my hopperversary.
- Red light then power off - temperamental issue, occasionally the device worked but the red lights lingered for 10+ seconds. Body replaced.
- Rapid blue light but no heat - also temperamental, eventuated to cop lights. Body then replaced.
- Cop lights - most likely caused by backflow (caused by using a 25cm silicone whip) and separately frm IPA damage to the device (Avoid/let it dry!!!) 3 bodies replaced.
- Dodgy back-end - performance with my original back-end eventually became completely disparate to my second hopper's back-end. I told HL and after filing warranty they sent me another. That was nearly 3 months ago. Though I've been using my plain Ti body since October and it's showing no signs of slowing down.
The hopper uses pulse width modulation to actively monitor the heater temperature, read up on the other companies producing vapes doing this. Errybody having troubles, but no one else has as good a warranty
@JoeMama cheers for the juicy data. I'll admit I've reached saturation at this point haha!
Like others, and being from a fully illegitimate cannabis area, I've for sure noticed the merit of using the dankest of dank. And I do feel that, with my latest performance woes, the particular bud I was using was the worst of a really nice batch of Red Beard. I'd like to ascociate the anemic clouds to it, but I feel more confident saying that the power source was the culprit. Replacing the used battery with one charged the previous day showed similar anemicness, getting a fully charged one straight off the charger gave me the cloud results I was chasing - but most importantly, the ABV was much darker too.
