Discontinued The Grasshopper

[biohacker]

I sent my 2 newer (ss and ti) because they didn't work well at all. Sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn't, sometimes they worked on the 2nd click, but overall my experience is similar to yours with more flickering blue led, shorter run time, false blinking red low battery alerts, and screaming piping hot back ends. Vapour can seem anemic, but then on another spin can be super thick and awesome too. Something was definitely up with my two newer hoppers and I received a PM from a member who had a buddy with similar issues that was told by HL to send it in because they know exactly what the issue is and have a fix. That pushed me over to RMA them, plus my OG Ti backend dial got all seized up and crunchy and front end threads stripped.

 

[btka]

I sent my 2 newer (ss and ti) because they didn't work well at all. Sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn't, sometimes they worked on the 2nd click, but overall my experience is similar to yours with more flickering blue led, shorter run time, false blinking red low battery alerts, and screaming piping hot back ends. Vapour can seem anemic, but then on another spin can be super thick and awesome too. Something was definitely up with my two newer hoppers and I received a PM from a member who had a buddy with similar issues that was told by HL to send it in because they know exactly what the issue is and have a fix. That pushed me over to RMA them, plus my OG Ti backend dial got all seized up and crunchy and front end threads stripped.

when you talking about it worked on the second click do you meaan you got anemic vapor and when clicking it of and on you got nice vapor clouds or are you refering tomthe flickering blue lights.... ormwhat exactlymwas better on the second click... I did not experience a too hot backend, but will have an eye on it...

did the other member who send it to HL ... also experienced less airflow restriction and weaker vapor... or did he also experienced other things...

as I said I will experiment more... but maybe I would have to RMA... please keep me up to date what happened with your send in ghs ane what HL told you... and when you get them back if there is a difference (e.g. bigger clouds, less airflow, less blue flickering, faster heating up time and so on...) thank you!

 

[MoltenTiger]

I sent my 2 newer (ss and ti) because they didn't work well at all. Sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn't, sometimes they worked on the 2nd click, but overall my experience is similar to yours with more flickering blue led, shorter run time, false blinking red low battery alerts, and screaming piping hot back ends. Vapour can seem anemic, but then on another spin can be super thick and awesome too. Something was definitely up with my two newer hoppers and I received a PM from a member who had a buddy with similar issues that was told by HL to send it in because they know exactly what the issue is and have a fix. That pushed me over to RMA them, plus my OG Ti backend dial got all seized up and crunchy and front end threads stripped.

Overall, sounds promising.
Interested to hear how this plays out for you

So my friend's hopper got the blue light of death.
Is that often?
It didn't last a month at his disposal...

It's just bad luck, and hopefully they can figure out a fix for this too - though they currently said this issue was 'random', which possibly means more complex than desirable.

I've had it twice in a row now.. it's a massive pain. Hopefully they can figure it out. Perhaps it was cause for the diagnostics PCB contact.
My other hopper kicks arse and has been kicking mine since early October.

Hardware evolves in versions, and that plain Ti would have been a mature build from before HL's new (affiliated?) facility was set up.
Hopefully the hoppers being mass produced now, there, are more robust due to fine tuning after previous batches have been field tested..
fingers crossed anyway. There seems to be a lot of tolerance issues with this device..

I'm contemplating getting a third so I can lend mine away and not go without..
A week with the EQ isn't that bad, but it sucks having the hopper in the shop and having to go without.

 

[biohacker]

when you talking about it worked on the second click do you meaan you got anemic vapor and when clicking it of and on you got nice vapor clouds or are you refering tomthe flickering blue lights.... ormwhat exactlymwas better on the second click... I did not experience a too hot backend, but will have an eye on it...

did the other member who send it to HL ... also experienced less airflow restriction and weaker vapor... or did he also experienced other things...

as I said I will experiment more... but maybe I would have to RMA... please keep me up to date what happened with your send in ghs ane what HL told you... and when you get them back if there is a difference (e.g. bigger clouds, less airflow, less blue flickering, faster heating up time and so on...) thank you!

Yeah bro, first click I would get what looks like very low temp transparent vapour. Then the next click and it would be what it should be. And it's NOT from drying out the material, getting it going, etc. It's definitely a defect. I used to think twisting the backend and dial made the difference, but it didn't....the 2nd click is what would do it.

You know i'll be keeping you all up to date on my journey whether good or bad!

 

[Hjalmark]

So my blue hopper...
Just filled it up with fresh herb and a battery - straight to blue no heat again.

I emptied it, and tried it again. Whilst it did go straight to blue, there did appear to be some minor heat given off by the heater. With a full chamber, the thermal mass would easily prevent detecting this.
So the hopper is working somewhat normally, though it thinks it's running ~200 deg c hotter than it is.

Blowing down the chamber for a split second, and restarting the device got it working again.
I think this solution is as risky as an IPA wash, though the risk there is the solvent could push the residue further into the device.

It could of course simply be a dodgy component (sensor) or connection in the device, I'll probably have to send it back to HL

What about using a vacuum cleaner and sucking the bowl without the front end and seeing if you can suck the particles out?(with hopper off)

 

[MoltenTiger]

What about using a vacuum cleaner and sucking the bowl without the front end and seeing if you can suck the particles out?(with hopper off)

there'd be some static build up which could be bad.

Funnily enough, I've decided it definitely needs a service now. It's failing again, but if the chamber is empty and a lot of air flow is applied (either way), it will start working (temperamentally).
I gave it a good rip without the mouthpiece on, drawing in, and it responded the same as before.

I feel like it's more likely a temperature change that is causing it to work, rather than residue or material shifting.

 

[JoeMama]

Yeah bro, first click I would get what looks like very low temp transparent vapour. Then the next click and it would be what it should be. And it's NOT from drying out the material, getting it going, etc. It's definitely a defect. I used to think twisting the backend and dial made the difference, but it didn't....the 2nd click is what would do it.

This is something I can also say happens with one of my Hoppers. I used to think it could "only" be a matter of a temp dial twist (just once back and forth, even though the battery is in it), but methinks that the clicker is just as responsible for that connection. Yesterday my first draw (after priming) was anemic on T4.5; the blues were also flickering (it was a charged battery). I clicked it off, clicked it back on, and the blues were solid and got a decent cloud.

But this is the Hopper I'd sent in that came back as "nothing wrong with it". So I'm living with it and hope eventually it just fails or gets more obvious before I go through that mill.

 

[Lou Taylor]

The grass hopper is my 4th vaporizer and the first one that has completely replaced my combustion equipment. haven't touched a lighter since it arrived!

 

[DocBurN]

By the way if someone care at all..

Ordered a new TI GH on 31, January
Received a ready to ship - address confirmation today

I am from Montréal.. should not be important so far but its to see how much time it take to pass through custom and get to my Igloo.

USA-CANADA CUSTOM:
1) By the way i bought it straight from the source.. and i guess im gonna be charge astronomical fees at the custom, right ?

LEGAL ISSUES
2) What happen when you send a GH with potential illegal substance residu on it.. I dont know all your rules in the great states of A but maybe a few state who cause you problem ? I dont know anything about it so it could be a stupid question. Here in Canada... Justin Trudeau is suppose to fix that soon (Legalize)

 

[MoltenTiger]

By the way if someone care at all..

Ordered a new TI GH on 31, January
Received a ready to ship - address confirmation today

I am from Montréal.. should not be important so far but its to see how much time it take to pass through custom and get to my Igloo.

USA-CANADA CUSTOM:
1) By the way i bought it straight from the source.. and i guess im gonna be charge astronomical fees at the custom, right ?

LEGAL ISSUES
2) What happen when you send a GH with potential illegal substance residu on it.. I dont know all your rules in the great states of A but maybe a few state who cause you problem ? I dont know anything about it so it could be a stupid question. Here in Canada... Justin Trudeau is suppose to fix that soon (Legalize)

You ordered 31st Jan this year and already have an address confirmation?
That's a pretty big improvement if so..!

1.) not sure, someone else will know better. Hopefully it won't be excessive if any extra..

2.) it's not really an issue - residue is basically of no interest to the P.O. They're more concerned with the Li-ion battery. Plus, the GH doesn't really house all too much detectable residue even when dirty. A quick wipe out is enough, but if you're unsure it's easy to make it spotless with some IPA

 

[Hjalmark]

there'd be some static build up which could be bad.

Funnily enough, I've decided it definitely needs a service now. It's failing again, but if the chamber is empty and a lot of air flow is applied (either way), it will start working (temperamentally).
I gave it a good rip without the mouthpiece on, drawing in, and it responded the same as before.

I feel like it's more likely a temperature change that is causing it to work, rather than residue or material shifting.

Better then just send it in, i tried the usual thread cleaning and blue tack when mine died, but was not up for anything that could effect my warranty and the vacuum was just an idea, I had a weird functioning hopper moment with mine where it left restricted so I did like you and sucked hard on it with out the front piece, that cleared something in back oven and done the same to the air intake on a totally cool hopper because a tiny piece of something was restricting airflow

Need a sleeve for it so that does not happen again

This is something I can also say happens with one of my Hoppers. I used to think it could "only" be a matter of a temp dial twist (just once back and forth, even though the battery is in it), but methinks that the clicker is just as responsible for that connection. Yesterday my first draw (after priming) was anemic on T4.5; the blues were also flickering (it was a charged battery). I clicked it off, clicked it back on, and the blues were solid and got a decent cloud.

But this is the Hopper I'd sent in that came back as "nothing wrong with it". So I'm living with it and hope eventually it just fails or gets more obvious before I go through that mill.

Hope mine comes back in the week so I can join the "reborn hopper" discussion, I hope my back end stays a bit colder and more then 1,5 oven of material but I can life with it

 

[ChooChooCharlie]

@Ratchett 's creations are a soothing balm for my OCD flareups

 

[moondog]

@Ratchett 's creations are a soothing balm for my OCD flareups

Indeed! And his studio is the world's leading center for the pain-free treatment of VAAS.

I also got one of those new charging stands. I found that it tips over a little too easily. When I gave him that feedback, he told me that decided to "err" on the side of it being more portable and it definitely fits that bill. He's got plans for a wider (deeper?) version that will be more stable (and also hold tools or batteries) while being less portable, but he is so swamped with orders that it may be a while before he gets to it.

Here's an RMA update:

I re-opened my warranty claim for my under-performing/back-end scorching SS on Saturday. Heard from Caroline today:

"This issue likely lies within the Body, but I can't guarantee that until we have it here. We can offer you a repair for the device when we get it here that should solve any troubles even if we can't recreate them.

Why don't you go ahead and return the device to us again and I won't return it to you until we determine the cause of the low performance."

Hopefully this time they can nail down the problem.

I received the usual instructions about sending back the unit, battery, and charger.

I asked Caroline if I really needed to send in the charger since I have never used it; not even once. She replied that I only need to send the charger if I want it tested.

So, I am still very happy with GHL's responsiveness and warranty. Of course, I've got my TI still kicking my butt to tide me over, so I can afford to send my SS off to the spa.

Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not still spending some time thinking about that damn FW4. I just lent my other convection portable (MiVape) to a friend who's starting chemo and radiation on Monday and I'm finding myself no longer completely satisfied with having only my Focus Pro as a backup. Guess I'm becoming a full-fledged convectioneer.

 

[Bass Vaper]

@biohacker, calling me a whiner HA!

Man, I'm just sharing my own real life experiences, good or bad. I praised them plenty early on & have been just as critical when needed.

Credit where credit's due, fella

 

[ElPic]

By the way if someone care at all..

Ordered a new TI GH on 31, January
Received a ready to ship - address confirmation today

I am from Montréal.. should not be important so far but its to see how much time it take to pass through custom and get to my Igloo.

I order a SS hopper on January 28 and didn't receive any news from hopper lab yet!!!!
And I'm from Montreal too!

 

[JCat]

Ordered a SS hopper! (and accessories) Very excited to join you hopperheads!

 

[formicae]

I order a SS hopper on January 28 and didn't receive any news from hopper lab yet!!!!
And I'm from Montreal too!

Ti ordered January 14, address confirmation today. I guess they're backed up on the SS.

(Ottawa here, coucou les gars)

 

[duff]

coucou les gars

I don't know what that means, but I like how it sounds.

Just spent an hour cleaning up all my vapes.
I pulled out the Vapium Summit, which I haven't used in probably eight months and it started right up.
So obviously I loaded it up and took it for a spin.
Tasted pretty damn good.
Like an old friend.

 

[JoeMama]

Indeed! And his studio is the world's leading center for the pain-free treatment of VAAS.

I also got one of those new charging stands. I found that it tips over a little too easily. When I gave him that feedback, he told me that decided to "err" on the side of it being more portable and it definitely fits that bill. He's got plans for a wider (deeper?) version that will be more stable (and also hold tools or batteries) while being less portable, but he is so swamped with orders that it may be a while before he gets to it.

Here's an RMA update:

I re-opened my warranty claim for my under-performing/back-end scorching SS on Saturday. Heard from Caroline today:

"This issue likely lies within the Body, but I can't guarantee that until we have it here. We can offer you a repair for the device when we get it here that should solve any troubles even if we can't recreate them.

Why don't you go ahead and return the device to us again and I won't return it to you until we determine the cause of the low performance."

Hopefully this time they can nail down the problem.

I received the usual instructions about sending back the unit, battery, and charger.

I asked Caroline if I really needed to send in the charger since I have never used it; not even once. She replied that I only need to send the charger if I want it tested.

So, I am still very happy with GHL's responsiveness and warranty. Of course, I've got my TI still kicking my butt to tide me over, so I can afford to send my SS off to the spa.

Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not still spending some time thinking about that damn FW4. I just lent my other convection portable (MiVape) to a friend who's starting chemo and radiation on Monday and I'm finding myself no longer completely satisfied with having only my Focus Pro as a backup. Guess I'm becoming a full-fledged convectioneer.

Well it's comforting to hear that they are offering a repair even if they can't "recreate" the failure. That is a good step forward in customer relations: "We believe you".

I have a friend who after many decades is going to get back into cannabis. He has never vaped. I offered him the opportunity to borrow my Hopper (since I have two it's ) for a week, and then, my FW4 for a week. I'll be able to see how a newbie takes to both of them. I think he may like the FW4 more, actually. As easy as the Hopper is to use, it just is too finicky (see last 100 pages) for someone who isn't "inclined" to deal with the type of mothering the Hopper seems to require.

I know I'm repeating myself, but the FW4 is IMO very consistent and steady, and smoooooth. It's replaced the Hopper as my evening vape.

 

[kbrown5523]

I got my address confirmation middle of last week, upgraded to priority shipping and still haven't gotten my SS yet. I am so desperate for it to get here. I hate that my mail always comes at the very end of the day too.

 

[GreenHopper]

I got my address confirmation middle of last week, upgraded to priority shipping and still haven't gotten my SS yet. I am so desperate for it to get here. I hate that my mail always comes at the very end of the day too.

Patience young grasshopper.

*sorry, couldn't help myself

 

[kbrown5523]

 

[Pharoh]

Has anybody out there flown with the GH on an airline/

 

[JCat]

No but I've flown with lots of other vapes on an airline. (Solo, Cera, Crafty, Mighty)

 

[Mr Mellish]

Well it's comforting to hear that they are offering a repair even if they can't "recreate" the failure. That is a good step forward in customer relations: "We believe you".

I have a friend who after many decades is going to get back into cannabis. He has never vaped. I offered him the opportunity to borrow my Hopper (since I have two it's ) for a week, and then, my FW4 for a week. I'll be able to see how a newbie takes to both of them. I think he may like the FW4 more, actually. As easy as the Hopper is to use, it just is too finicky (see last 100 pages) for someone who isn't "inclined" to deal with the type of mothering the Hopper seems to require.

I know I'm repeating myself, but the FW4 is IMO very consistent and steady, and smoooooth. It's replaced the Hopper as my evening vape.

I love my FW4. The flavor is very good and you can hit it for a while. But, I don't think it's any easier (or more reliable) than my SS and Ti Hoppers. In fact, a newb might appreciate the GH lights as a cue.