Second Batch
 

When is the second batch coming out? I'm waiting for three Monster Mambas. I have a Losi 8ight T and an X1 CRT waiting on the MMM and I want to put the other one in my Losi 8ight buggy.

No-one knows yet but hopefully they don't start making them until they work out why the MMM's are dieing

Well I wonder if anyone from Castle can comment on this...I recall hearing that the 2nd batch would be ready around the 2nd week in June, is this still on track?

I just wonder if they will have enough to cover the ones that were faulty, plus the preordered ones from guys like myself???

I'm waiting on 2 more. My other 2 are still working, but with mods.

I think it's time we got some straight answers from Castle...this is spiraling out of control. I have NO confidence in ANY shipped MMM's. Kind of sad really because I've been waiting years for this thing.

Yeah, its a scary though

I think we have the answers guys on every point... To recap

They acknowledge issues with the controlers specifically:

- Fan breakage
- Complete failure

They are taking corrective action as best they can

- Stop shipping new controllers until they know what the problem is

- Fan breakage
. - Looking at new supplier
. - Sending replacement fans to those that ask at no cost
- Controller failure
. - They've traced to what they believe to be a duff batch of components but are concerned it might be compounded by a design floor in controller
. - Replacing components on failed controllers if they can - If they can't do a component replace they are waiting to send a version 2 controller
. - Openly asking for details of failure to build up heuristics

What more could a vendor do? I honestly think the whole team are working late on trying to fix this and service clients. They are as dissapointed as we are - whipping into a feeding frenzy won't help.

I think Schulz would have said your batteries leads were too long so buy a new controller...

or you could just pocket the money and move to Korea and unplug the phone (quark)

Ditto to Arct1k's post.

They have been completely forthcoming and honest with all of us, and I have gotten reply emails and pm's from CC at all times of the day and night. They are doing everything they should and more to correct the problem and keep us all informed.

I really don't understand what else they can do. Since when has an MGM, Quark, or any other company tech spent as much time on this and other forums as CC does much less the owner?

How, exactly, is it scary? It's not like castle is going to say "oh darn, we're all out, sorry about that, have a nice life!"

If anything, there isn't any reason to be scared whatsoever. Man, everyone needs to stop being so emo. :oh:

Painting my fingernails black and applying lip stick, Man I hate life, Emo life that is..................... LOL

you could do alot worse than the CC MMM situation. not sounding like a sheep here but with most guys here agree they have been highly communicative, esp to end users as opposed to only dealing with resellers/distibutors. electronics manufacturing esp for niche markets is by no means easy.

when the proverbial hits the fan with a highly anticipated product from a well renowned brand, everyone goes into damage control very very quickly, for the obvious benefit of the end customer and faithful distibutors/resellers. things like counterfeit parts whether deliberate or a mistake, splitting supply chains to make up full BOMs, too much vibration in the pick and place DEK, twisting main pcb on the depanelling machine, components not being left in the humidifier/oven long enough. these small areas which are almost routine are sometimes mistakenly overlooked or skipped in favour of speed to market.

depending on the CC ISO accreditation they have to make absolutely sure checks and balances are in place before getting said ISO. then comes audits etc. needless to say there would be many unpaid sleepless nights down at CC and its what it takes to appease the gods of this hobby. i know what they are going through and can empathize, its fortunate its not an 8 layer board with BGAs on both sides. things could be far far worse. i am pleased its been addressed and look forward to receiving mine soon.

123:smile::mdr:

In general, people have been extremely patient with Castle. Much more so than I would have expected had I foreseen this debacle. How many people would be willing to put money up-front for a product that doesn't work? If you bought something from Walmart, Kmart or Miejer and it didn't work, you might go back for a replacement, but if you did, you would want it NOW or you would demand your money back. How well would it go over if the management at the retailer said, "sorry that your item is broken, but we are working on it. In the meantime, we will just hold your money until this is figured out." I'm sure they are getting some complaints, but for the most part, CC is getting a free pass from the RC community. After all the waiting and baiting, it turns out the MMM was not ready for release. It's shameful.

Everybody wants everything to be perfect all the time, and life just isn't like that. I just read a couple digs on other companies. How's this one. Traxxas...the king of customer support? When I called about 2 dead EVX2 ESCs, one killing a nimh and Spektrum Rx, the other taking a 2s8k lipo with it, their rep said they don't have any problems with the EVX2. Yeah, that's why it's all over the TRX and other forums too. Castle isn't in denial, they are in fix it mode. I can't imagine any testing that would put an RC ESC through everything we are going to do to them once they hit the shelves, so I can understand problems showing up in the first batch. I've got an 08 Caravan that has had a couple trips to the dealer for things like brake shields haning up on lower A arms and power sliding doors not closing in cold weather. It's a new modle with a few bugs that need to be fixed, but it's not the end of the world. Give them a chance and they will fix the Monsters

I love emo and goth, the kids that want to be so different and not conform by being just like and conforming to all the other emo and goth people. One of life's fun little ironies that puts an amused smile on my face whenever I think about it. :mdr:

I had not even factored the ISO part of the deal into the mix and that was a good point 123revo. That brings a whole other level of headache into the mix. I cannot go on enough about how much I loathe ISO or maybe just DNV auditors but oh well.:rules: :whip:

In the end guys, the world is not over, we can still play with our rc's and go on to fight another tyrannical day. :party:

For the record, no one ever did answer the question. When will CC be releasing the 2nd – future batches?? Inquiring minds want to know?

Thanks..

Emo and goth are funny, they dress up like f$%*tards, and try to rebel against their parents. And we all know the only reason they can do it is because the parents are paying for everything. Put the little bastards out to work, in a coal mine, or make them pay for everything. I bet the crappy makeup would come off real fast once they saw what the real world was all about. The sheep people really get me going, what a waste of space.

They probably wouldn't mind working in a coal mine, makeup would be cheaper as they could just use the coal

True, and if they would breathe deeply we would be rid of them much quicker...

http://www.thecheezburgerfactory.com...CatNeedsLo.jpg[/QUOTE]

I bet if I sat on Emo Cat its expression would change...

And then we could put it in the neighbor's mailbox and wait for the mailman!!!

Thats because we all secretly know but are keeping it from you :sarcastic:

Second batch is delayed and a new board design may even be in the works!

Quote Lee Estingoy, Castle Engineer
"It's going to be a few weeks down the road. One of the components is not living up to the manufacturer's specs, and it is letting all of us down. We have a replacement configuration and we are tooling up for that. This involved getting the new part in qty, and possibly new control board design -- I'm not the engineer on this part, so don't hold me to any of this.

We feel the pain of this delay, perhaps even as much as the consumers. , so flogging us online will not be needed, nor will it speed this process.

Thanks,

Lee"

well, least it gives me a date to work on, 2 months or less!! yay :)

How about those first batch ones that is still working but may fail in the future ?

Good question Joeling... :yipi:

this is my case...mine still run perfect,,but for how much time:yes:the esc have about 2 hour of hard street bashing,,im pretty scared to see my maxx stop in the middle of my run:whip:

Castle is doing the right things now but...... it's to late, I could say 2 words.

BETA TESTING


It's like we just did the largest Beta test in the esc market in quite sometime :)

Beta testers don't usually have to pay for the product they are testing though. :whip:

I'm with you on this one. It's scary and frustrating to have this happen and then wait for a long time to get a replacement.

i Think CC is doing a good job under the surcimstances. The only thing that is missing (IMO) is more information from CC. Like, the problem IS ........ We are making these changes....... The ETA is.......

Like this you mean :



We have to re-tool to use the new part.... But we are almost done, got about two weeks before they are coming off the production line again

Patrick...

10 days eta. enough to fulfill ALL of mikes orders. within the month most should have them, and mike will have to sell that ferrarri :lol:

there is alot of difference with changing parts only or redesigning the part of the board where a new part will be. if the parts are almost identical in everyway, its a matter of just loading the component reel on the feeder ,reprogramming the fuji or DEK then away you go . however if the supplier sold the new components in tubes then its more time consuming, even morseo if the part is not the same dimensionally. this means board design changes, solder paste screens need to be made, gerber files to be modified and in some cases completely new pcbs made,a different feeder needs to be jigged up and then a full QA check along with new functional testing. we do part changes often with products 100 times more complex but speed comes down to how big the work force is and how much experience they have. we do take alot for granted and its not like replacing a light bulb. i too am awaiting my mmm, unfortunately i know what goes on and its not a weekend thing.

Yep.

So far: Circuit board changes are complete. Gerbers have been produced, and new PCBs are in process, should have them next Friday. Stencils are ordered, should have them Wednesday. Machine reprogramming should happen sometime next week.

Enough details?

Ouch I dread to think how much this has cost you!

i appreciate the hard work,

Patrick is very active. Glad to have this kind of involvement from a vendor.

I have one question though Patrick, I order MMM from a different site and they say that they should get the ESC from CC on the 24th of June. Does this mean I'll be getting the old (possibly faulty) one? Hope not.