Updates....
 

I've been reading this thread off and on, but didn't really have anything serious to contribute. Still don't actually have anything to report on with the truck, but if you want to know why, read on....

Let me say too, that even though the Quark 125 Air Master is way cheaper than the Monster Pro, I hope that no one has flamed Quark directly for the price difference. Take it as a learning experience, so we can keep getting them for a good price. I've goofed a few times in my life and learned the hard way, so hopefully we can all do better in the future.

Now, on to the truck. I STILL DO NOT HAVE A BATTERY. I'm not holding back now and being vague with my e-tailer, it is maxamps.com. They are terrible with service and letting the customer know what is going on.

The story begins when I originally place my order on 5/31. Site says the 4s2p's are in stock, I order it up, start getting amped up, and a few days go by. Order still says "in process" on the site.

I finally email them to ask what is up, and I find out that the cells are backordered. Peeves me off that I was not told after the fact, or before the fact for that matter via a note on their site, email, SOMETHING.

I write back a well-crafted email, explaining how that could possibly not be the best idea for business, not having an up to date status, and secondly not communicating if there is an issue.

Few days go by, and I get a postcard (remember those?) in the mail, from Austin. Note on the back was a half-apology, half you were right, and half disturbing all at once.

Disturbing? Yes. After a sentence explaining that the reason they do not post backorder status is because they often do not have a "Definite" ETA, there is a sentence "We lose more business to the delays than if we say nothing."

Pretty much, if we let people know that we don't have things in stock, we'll lose more business than if we just let it go, and essentially LIE to the customers.

"People want their product now" was the next line in the postcard. Well duh, that's why I ordered from you in the first place. Their point was made, if it had said that it was out of stock, I honestly would have tried elsewhere. BUT, knowing that they have the cells that I want, for the application I have, I probably would have waited. I'm not one for buying something quick just to get it quick, I'll wait a while and get the one I want.

"I just wish there was a more beneficial solution" is how it was left. There is, let us know as customers what is going on BEFORE we order. If your cells are that good, then people will wait. At least they'll KNOW what is going on, and not find out that their beloved project is going to last x weeks longer because you want to lie to us just to make a buck.

And speaking of which, I paid via Paypal, and that money has been sitting in their account since 5/31, earning the paypal rate of 5.25% most likely. That money is just as good in my pocket earning interest, and if you couple that with all of the other people they are hosing, it adds up to free money.

If I don't have a real answer, as in "cells are in, pack is being assembled", I may cancel the order and find another solution. I was told the cells would be in 6/15, nope, pushed to Monday, I asked today, and haven't heard back yet.

This is borderline pathetic, and I can't believe people run a business like this. I'm going to wait patiently for an answer, and hopefully someone on this board will calm me down, but I honestly am not happy at all.

Back to the truck - I made a heatsink for the Quark, since I have so much time on my hands while I wait. It is a simple "L" cradle for the bottom and top-side of the unit, and I popped a graphics card heatsink on the top via some Arctic Silver Thermal Epoxy (thanks Brian, awesome tip). Have some aluminum diff housings coming, they'll be here in a couple of days and I can at least build something fun for the truck.

That's my update. Sorry it is lame, but hopefully others see the frustration in this.

-10k

It sucks. It sucks like a giant vacuum hoover. I had similar issues with rc4wd.com. I placed an order for various TXT-1 parts -newera skid & various other items- and then I waited. After a few weeks part of the order arrived, but not the NE skid. I checked my account and it said 'backordered', yet it was still for sale on the main site. So I waited again. Fast forward about 3-4 months and I finally get pissed off waiting and email them via my btinternet email account (hotmail doesnt seem to get through), and I get the response "we dont sell those items anymore". WTF?! I'd been waiting for months and they dont sell the NE stuff anymore, and they didnt bother to tell me either?! I replied back and used the store credit they gave me to get some other stuff I needed.

Thats what some smallish companies are like, they arent run like a proper business with different staff for the various areas, theres just a few people who do all the website stuff, manufacturing & despatching etc, which is highly inefficient- but it saves money. The web is fantastic, but theres nothing like walking into a shop, picking something up from a shelf, and paying for it there and then....

I considered maxamps.com small too, until I read around online for LiPo sources, and also just realizing an ad in RC Car Action magazine, one turn of the page before they review the new Traxxas VXL brushless series of vehicles.

A full page ad in a real magazine must cost something more than chump change.

And, over on the maxamps forum, on this site, there is a thread stating how they just hired 2 new employees, can get back to turning around orders in 48 hours or less, customer service this, customer support that.

In this day and age of databases, web sites, and programmers, somehow not everyone is using this technology. One of the reasons why I order from Towerhobbies ALL THE TIME is the up to date stock status. Even tells me when it is getting low. Even lets me know when it gets back in stock. Accurate too. I've had things on backorder before through them, ON PURPOSE, and had them come in on time and ship out pronto.

Still bitter. I'll sign off for a bit and chillax.

Have a cold one, and a snickers; does the trick for me!

any word on the truck and how its running with the quark air biscuit?

Yupp, small update. Battery pack was received on 6/25, so Monday of this week. 25 days total!

Balanced the pack and charged it up for the first time. No issues.

Had to modify the chassis slightly to fit the pack, it was bigger than I had planned. No big deal.

Changed the settings on the Quark to cutoff at 3v, set it to LiPo Normal, changed my torque back to the lowest setting, and outside I went into the 90/90 weather for a few tests in the street.

BLAZINGLY fast. The MGT is a big truck, and if I full-throttle the setup, the truck does a standing flip. You usually see this with the mini's, but the 1515 1/y with a 4s lipo flips the truck around like a toy. Full throttle can be attained by going smooth, letting it hit second gear, and then going SMOOTHER. At any point in the run, if you suddenly goose the throttle, the truck lifts up off the ground, and if you are really not careful, it flips over.

The Quark Air Master was about 122 where the leads come in from the motor, so I figured that was hot enough after the running in the hot weather. The motor itself was actually hotter than I thought it would be, 135 was the temps on the fins. Battery was barely warm.

No glitching, no cogging, nothing out of the Air Master but performance. As far as I can tell, without taking both units apart, the Monster Pro and the Air Master seem to perform the same, BUT, I have never owned a Monster Pro, I'm going off of what people say on the forums.

I will have a camera for the weekend, and then edit something together and have it uploaded somewhere early next week. It won't be long, I just need to show the torque.

While I was running, I had 1 person ride by on a bike and ask me if it was gas, and I chuckled and said no, they are too loud and slow. Guy said "yeah your truck is pretty fast for electric."

Someone else asked the same thing while walking by, and I said no again.

Then someone that lives across the street in some apartments came out to load their car, and they asked me the same question. He said that he has a gas car, which I have no idea how he could think mine was gas as it was not making any real noise or smoking, but whatever. I said jokingly, "can your gas car do this?", and I did a standing flip. His eyes lit up and said "not a chance".

I can't wait to get this video shot and edited for everyone, it's scary torque!

10k

I will say maxamps has been going through growing pains recently. I placed an order right after the holidays and they were swamped and looking to hire additional people.

I too received a hand written card apologizing for the delay and thanking me for my business. I also received a refund for the shipping costs. I thought both were good service recovery attempts.

Sorry to hear about your experience, hopefully it will cause things to change with how maxamps hold inventory or at least reports it on the site.

I'm going to assume those temps were fahrenheit.

So it sounds like the Quark Air is suitable for applications with a mechanical brake. Thats good to hear, it could be a $$ saver for some.