Horizon Hobby will not fix faulty BR6s ESC

[Matt05]

This is what I've heard from Tower. I received the update email from Horizon, and contacted Tower, where I had pre-ordered the Kraton 6s EXB. The item status went from "pre-order", to "in stock", over a week ago, but my 12/4 single item K6s order has not shipped. I emailed Tower about the update, requesting that they either perform the update, or send me a card, to do it myself. They replied that the K6s EXBs are getting the update, prior to shipping. The red Capra 4WS "scratch & dent" units they have for $350, shipped the day after I ordered it. I have a Max 6 combo, that's started out in the XMaxx I sold, then went into the Infraction 6s I have for sale now, that I planned to put in the K6s, before I ordered it, or heard of the firmware issue. I really wish I could buy more platforms, sans electronics. In any case, I bag the RTR stuff, then re-install before selling, so the next owner will not have to deal with this update. The HW stuff runs orders of magnitude better than any Spektrum stuff I've tried, and I always test RTRs for proper function, before mods. RCs I plan to keep for a while, usually get put on my Futaba Tx.

Still kicking myself for not grabbing one of them Capras last weekend when they had 4x points and 20% off.

 

[phm14]

Still kicking myself for not grabbing one of them Capras last weekend when they had 4x points and 20% off.

$350 is better than 20%...just the red option, though. The description says the light bars may have a couple of LEDs out. Now I have one in red, and one in black.

 

[Matt05]

$350 is better than 20%...just the red option, though. The description says the light bars may have a couple of LEDs out. Now I have one in red, and one in black.

Yeah I was going to grab one of the scratch and dent and get the 20% off but I talked myself out of it.

 

[phm14]

Yeah I was going to grab one of the scratch and dent and get the 20% off but I talked myself out of it.

I love the thing, for crawling. It's not bad, out of the box. Gonna have to sell my Base Camp, Ecto, or both...after I pull the fusion pros and re-install the stock stuff.

 

[Finchy]

TK, that's a very nice offer, thank you, however I live in Alberta , Canada and you're in Texas.

Where in Alberta. I can possibly help you out.

 

[leakywellie]

Finchy,
Thank you for the kind offer but Horizon Hobby finally decided to send me a program box free of charge. I'm guessing it will be delivered this week but with the holidays I won't get the update done for a while. Besides it's way too cold here to have fun driving around then clearing icy slush off my truck.
I'm in south east Edmonton and hoping to find other guys running similar off road trucks in the area. I'm new to rc vehicles so I'm always looking for tips and tricks from the experienced guys.
Cheers

 

[leakywellie]

The free program box arrived from Horizon Hobby yesterday so right after christmas I'll get the box firmware updated then do the esc firmware fix on my BR6s.
Such a shame Horizon Hobby did not do much if any testing before releasing the BR6s. Then we had all the hassle they gave us in trying to get us to buy the program box to get their problem resolved.
Looking forward to running my BR6s as it should have been right out of the box.

 

[razorrc]

I’m only slightly surprised people aren’t demanding HH send them a free PC along with the programming box to update their firmware. I mean, the box alone isn’t going to update your ESC…

 

[SrC]

I would think. Can't see them putting different firmware in the for different models? Most likely one size fits all. I also agree that this problem doesn't render the product as unusable, but one could argue that it's unenjoyable and potentially costly to have it nosedive off every sizable jump?
I'm definitely not into sending my rigs big, but that is the company's motto more or less, no? Most buy these toys to jump with, applying brakes automatically is a bit of a hindrance for jumping, LOL.

I have noticed in the past HH/Spektrum did have different F/W between than their Retail ESC's and their Boxed Kit ESC's. Sometimes the Rev. and Models numbers even differed slightly. Retail ESC's being their current F/W most of the time. I also noticed Some RTR models incorporate different F/Ws depending on their RTR Kit Production date. Even Default ESC parameters can be set differently depending on the Model. Typical F/W example was the Early Vortek's ESC.'s A nightmare with Premature LVC cutting. Very short Run times. And HH was clueless in regards. And denied warranty claims. Many users just upgraded their ESC's with another brand. It was that bad.

 

[Camaroboy383]

The free program box arrived from Horizon Hobby yesterday so right after christmas I'll get the box firmware updated then do the esc firmware fix on my BR6s.
Such a shame Horizon Hobby did not do much if any testing before releasing the BR6s. Then we had all the hassle they gave us in trying to get us to buy the program box to get their problem resolved.
Looking forward to running my BR6s as it should have been right out of the box.

Glad you're headed in the right direction now man..... Don't listen to the ball busters, these are the same guy's that will bi*ch and moan about other defects/ or inflicted breakages and make sure to hold HH accountable for free parts just the same..

I’m only slightly surprised people aren’t demanding HH send them a free PC along with the programming box to update their firmware. I mean, the box alone isn’t going to update your ESC…

Just had to edge that one in didn't ya.. ..
Seriously, why bust balls? You would be hemming and hawing as well if you were a new guy entering the arrma world.. absolutely nothing constructive about your post, and a great way to push people away from something you "promote".. I just don't get the mentality of this crap... You have done the same in the past so Don't throw stones when you live in a glass house dude..

 

[leakywellie]

Camaroboy,
I pay little attention to those guys who say I should just go out and buy a new program box or a new esc or a new receiver and shouldn't be asking for Horizon Hobby to fix their own mistake. Once my esc firmware is updated and working as it should have been out of the box it is highly unlikely I'd ever bother to update the firmware again.
On my planes and helis once the my electrics are working as I want they do not get touched again.
If I was trying to get parts that broke under normal usage and HH gave me a hard time I could understand that. However this esc problem was built into the new product and should be fixed without me or others being out of pocket.

 

[Camaroboy383]

Camaroboy,
I pay little attention to those guys who say I should just go out and buy a new program box or a new esc or a new receiver and shouldn't be asking for Horizon Hobby to fix their own mistake. Once my esc firmware is updated and working as it should have been out of the box it is highly unlikely I'd ever bother to update the firmware again.
On my planes and helis once the my electrics are working as I want they do not get touched again.
If I was trying to get parts that broke under normal usage and HH gave me a hard time I could understand that. However this esc problem was built into the new product and should be fixed without me or others being out of pocket.

100% agreed!..I too, have no use for a programming box, so I'm with you there... Like I said, I was once right where you are with the original spektrum 150.. I was an early adopter of the rig at my own cost just like you... HH gave me such a hard time because I was one of the first to experience the issue and they hadn't heard of it.. They did absolutely nothing for me, ever, even after it was a well known issue.. I gave up cause I had better stuff to do than email and talk to them every day..

 

[RCbuzz]

I wish these RTR companies including TRX would open up the programming options on these things... I am guessing it will never happen but if we could set the drag brake perhaps we could have just turned it off ourselves. More BEC voltage options, and LVC adjustments would be .

The problem with the Firma 100 and LVC cutting out too soon might have also been an easy fix if it was unlocked for us to adjust.

The Firma 160 (awesome ESC by the way), you can only adjust the BEC from 6v to 8.4v... Where did 7.2v go?

 

[phm14]

Anyone who helps hold manufacturers accountable for delivering acceptable quality, is doing us all a favor. If it weren't for folks speaking up, many companies would not be as likely to properly handle QC issues, preferably before beta testing on customers. If a YT channel doesn't show a breakage, now and again, they may not earn my trust. Problems happen in all businesses. It's how problems are handled, that makes the difference. Arrma seem to be listening, and gradually getting better.

 

[Matt05]

I’m only slightly surprised people aren’t demanding HH send them a free PC along with the programming box to update their firmware. I mean, the box alone isn’t going to update your ESC…

There’s still a few hours left, but I’d say personally, for me, this was the post of the day.

 

[razorrc]

Seriously, why bust balls? You would be hemming and hawing as well if you were a new guy entering the arrma world.. absolutely nothing constructive about your post, and a great way to push people away from something you "promote".. I just don't get the mentality of this crap... You have done the same in the past so Don't throw stones when you live in a glass house dude..

I'm trying to give some perspective. We're talking about a $24 part (that's well worth owning anyway), when the local McDonald's pays $20/hr... do you even realize the amount of time and energy wasted on stuff like this is totally not worth it? I bet most people wouldn't even notice the "defect" if there weren't YT videos about it -- I sure didn't. My truck drives exactly the same before and after the fix as far as I can tell.

Yeah, you can lose your poop about every little obstacle that gets thrown in front of you on a daily basis, or you can adapt and overcome. It's a hobby, this kind of thing happens to me every single day, and no I don't ask HH to warranty it. The only thing I ever asked for and that they covered were EXB diffs for my Kraton 6S EXB and they did that for everyone.

 

[Camaroboy383]

I'm trying to give some perspective. We're talking about a $24 part (that's well worth owning anyway), when the local McDonald's pays $20/hr... do you even realize the amount of time and energy wasted on stuff like this is totally not worth it? I bet most people wouldn't even notice the "defect" if there weren't YT videos about it -- I sure didn't. My truck drives exactly the same before and after the fix as far as I can tell.

Yeah, you can lose your poop about every little obstacle that gets thrown in front of you on a daily basis, or you can adapt and overcome. It's a hobby, this kind of thing happens to me every single day, and no I don't ask HH to warranty it. The only thing I ever asked for and that they covered were EXB diffs for my Kraton 6S EXB and they did that for everyone.

So this is what I take from your reply, and it's your words..

It's ok for any company to try to place a manufacturing defect on a customer that essentially keeps Thier doors open..

You have warrantied defective parts, well, because they were defective..

If YouTube wasn't around the manufacturer defect that DOES EXIST wouldn't be present at all..

Gotcha.. so again, why bust balls about something that clearly shouldn't be, and that you have done in the past?

I'm with the small majority that doesn't need a box, how often have you seen firmware changes in spektrums line? Cause it's near non existent across the board.. look at the original 150, check the logs/ dates,, no firmware changes at all in its history last time I looked...so what the heck good is the box?.. i can count, my fingers work, and it doesn't cost me anything..

All you did was solidify exactly what I said.. you came here to bust stones and no other reason.. Again, great way to gets subs and keep people in the hobby..

 

[razorrc]

All you did was solidify exactly what I said.. you came here to bust stones and no other reason.. Again, great way to gets subs and keep people in the hobby..

Thanks. I've probably done 10x more to make people aware of this problem (and how to fix it) than anything you've done in this thread. That's my contribution to "keeping people in the hobby".

 

[leakywellie]

It's not a $24 part for me, that program box would have cost me $45 at my lhs here in Alberta. Also it was a real problem on my BR6s, it was not something I thought I might have due to YT videos. If your BR6s does what you want it to out of the box that's fantastic, go enjoy the thrills and spills with it. But please don't tell us we should pay for repairs on a brand new vehicle or that we have imagined it.
I'm sure manufacturers the world over would love to have only customers like razor rc who say "oh it's not working correctly out of the box I'll just go spend more money to fix their error so it doesn't inconvenience them".

I've never worked at mcdonalds and never will so I'll believe you when you quote $20 / hour. Just shows that a mcdonalds employee would probably have to work about 1.5 hours to take home enough money to pay for the fix. Hmmm, I wonder if razor rc would do 1.5 hours at his place of employment to pay for any repairs he needs due to defective parts that should not have been incorrect in the first place?
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

 

[SrC]

100% agreed!..I too, have no use for a programming box, so I'm with you there... Like I said, I was once right where you are with the original spektrum 150.. I was an early adopter of the rig at my own cost just like you... HH gave me such a hard time because I was one of the first to experience the issue and they hadn't heard of it.. They did absolutely nothing for me, ever, even after it was a well known issue.. I gave up cause I had better stuff to do than email and talk to them every day..

+1
I have Some Firma stuff still kicking in a few of my rigs. I myself would not invest in the Smart Programmer. I use the Set button method. If the F/W is garbage, I would ask HH for a new ESC first , if denied, I would just assume buy a new HW ESC. I am all invested in them now. Programmer , app and Wifi/BT control of my HW Zerun ESC Parameters. How I fly. I don't need my ESC's to give me the slightest issue or headache. And RTR ESC's are always subpar eventually. My ESC settings are usually set and forget. Little need for the "Smart" programmer anyway. With my speed runner rigs, My HW gear gets tweaked here and there. Easily done in the field if I need to using the HW APP.