Do Not Open Your Cases Anymore
 

Well as you know I had a v3 failure that was probably my fault for pushing it to its limits...I have been in contact with Morgan over at Castle and got this reply in a email from her

"Yes, it is being replaced and will be shipped in the next two weeks. We
are making sure to just let everyone know that if the case is opened
then it will a void of warranty for all future products. This is just a
precaution I am advising all customers as we have seen a few V3's come
back with cases that have been opened and it has cause damage to the
controller. Please let me know if you have any other questions."

Hmm, at what point is Castle actually going to fix the fan wire issue so customers won't feel the need to open the case and check them? Or how about the bullet to heatsink spacing issue?

that was the exact reason I open the case...the wires looked so smashed I figured I could fix that and not have to send it back

seems like they could have used some sort of small grommet in this area

That is TOTAL BS if Castle is going to void your warranty for fixing their DEFECTIVE mechanical design. Those fan wires will ALWAYS get cut the way they are routing them. Some are even cut "out of the box" (one of my V3 came with the fan wires already damaged). If this statment turns out to be a real Castle policy I will be done with them. While I'm on my rant, CASTLE are you going to void my warranty when that case pops open by by itself (happened on one of my unopened V2's). How about using that new invention to hold the case togeather, it's called a screw.

i put an extra layer of heat shrink over the fan wires, its an easy fix that castle could do before shipping them out

I agree. if thats true then thats BS. I dont care how muh better the case is, the fan will still eventually fail and when it needs to be replaced we have tosend it to castle? If thats the case then ultrasonically seal the case shut and be done with it. I dnont know how they could prove you opened the case anyway. Only if you mod something inside.

Yes, but we are processing all Monster repairs separate. Your Mamba Max
will be replaced, and should ship by next week. You will receive an
email when it goes. Concerning the Monster, the unit is being replaced.
It will be covered under warranty, and should be able to ship in the
next two weeks. However, under all normal circumstances opening the case
on this product voids warranty, and is possibly the reason there was
damage to the internal structure. Please do not open the case with any
additional units or it will void the warranty. If you have any issues
with the controller please contact us.
i got this from castle today also... i guess they are tired of looking at are trashy. ugly. nastly... solutions to there own errors? this baffles me. ok so i will not touch the case, but what if it comes open during a run? will my warranty be void like those stickers on game consoles that say void when you peal them off? this is rc! this stuff gets beat around pretty hard! just think of riding in a 1/1 rollercoaster that goes 560mph! thats about scale speed of a 1/8 rc at 70mph! this stuff is not sitting on a shelf!

As I said on the "first opinions"-thread: My case opened when I landed a small jump, on wheels.

Then I made sure it wont open anymore, so I glued it.

Now, do I still have warranty? :|

Ok guys....calm down. There is a good reason for what they are doing. I've been wondering all along how they were going to react when "modded" modules started showing up for warranty claims.
Most of the active members on this site have the knowledge and expertice to actually repair and improve upon what they sent out. You really have to remember that you are the minority. Most, maybe 99%, of people out there do well just writing a check. Anything beyond that is a challenge. If I were to make a product that had a defect, I would want to fix it myself. If some joe shmo gets on the internet, and happens to read somewhere about a "solution" to a potential problem and opens up his case and frays a wire, then proceeds to fry his product, how do I know that my product is to blame. That part may have been just fine if Mr shmo had left well enough alone.
Yes, they should have posted warnings that you proceed at your own risk in the threads on the mods, but I'd guess they assumed that the people doing so knew this ahead of time. You would likely know this by reading the warranty information they provide.

JesseV: You could send it back for coverage on the case.

WHOA - Guys --

What we are trying to prevent is the fact that people are jamming screwdrivers into the slots on the case and breaking parts off the circuit boards, and ripping wires off circuit boards trying to "fix" issues that don't even exist. 80% of the V3 failures we have seen here at Castle on the V3s have been people who are freaked out about WHAT THEY HAVE READ HERE and have decided to implement a "fix" (for something which isn't a problem) and ended up damaging the boards.

If you are careful and open the case correctly, we don't have a problem with it. But we are reserving the right to DENY fixing under warranty if you are careless and damage the board by jamming a screwdriver into the case slots and destroy parts.

AGAIN, and I have said this like FIVE TIMES already -- there is no problem with the bullets and the heat sink. THERE IS NO PROBLEM WITH THE BULLETS and the HEAT SINK. DO I NEED TO SAY IT AGAIN???

AND so far we haven't seen any problem with the fan and wires on the new case either -- not a SINGLE case of wires even rubbing in the new cases-- but we have had 8 people destroy Monsters trying to "fix" the fan wire "problem" because of what they have read here in this forum.

SO -- don't open your case just 'cause you want to. You might break something.

Thank you for the clarification.


Patrick has spoken.:diablo:

This is exactly the point. There isn't a bullet-to-heatsink spacing issue, and there isn't a fan wire issue on the V3.

So don't risk breaking your MMM V3 by trying to "fix" a non-existent issue.

so can i still put window screen over the fan slots so grass will not get in there? this can cause the fan to stall and thermal the esc

BTW: I don't think speed scales like the size does. From what I gather from this page, the formula for finding scale speed is:

1:1 speed = SQRT(scale) X scale_model_speed

So, if your 8th scale RC does 60mph, that scales up to SQRT(8) X 60 = 169.2mph.
Similarly, if your 10th scale RC does 90mph, that scales up to 284mph.

If someone can verify this, I can add this to the speed calc. :smile:

i just did 70x8. not really acurate but it gets the point by.

Do you have to open the case to put screen around the fan slots? :neutral:

no... i guess you dont but it looks better if you do. (im a neat freak):oops:
also i think it would be a good addition to the esc if you had some type of screen to prevent this from happening
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...laMaxx/126.jpg
sorry for stealing you pic neil:whistle:

Sweet, thanks for posting that up. Was wondering how I was going to put a V3 case on my V1 :neutral:

Really, it's not a big deal if you are careful -- but if you aren't careful and jam a screwdriver into the circuit board.... well... :whistle:

If Patrick/CC was to put a screen on the top of the ESC alot of people would probably winge then that can't see if the fan is going or how many blades are left or think of something to winge about

nah you can still see the blades fine! also you can tell if its running by the fact that there is a busing sound coming from the esc and you can feel hot air coming out of the exit slots. if your missing blades then your esc will be vibrating like a bee! why would you loose blades if you have screen?

Hmmm -- ok, I have no comment for this, other than maybe it's not a good idea to run your system through freshly mowed grass?

If you got grass wrapped up in the drive shafts would you blame Traxxas for not completely enclosing all of the drive components? :neutral:

well thats true... in the case of the driveshafts ( i would keep driving :lol:)
also traxxas had the emaxx 3306 without protection and the new ones do:yes:

I have got to say something here. Castle's CS is second to none from their MM to the MMM V3. They have sent out replacements before the broken parts were even recieved, they answer you promptly, and they price their components fairly. I deny anyone to post a company that has better CS. ANND all of this with major production problems on major components.

I've had good customer service from Apple and Sony both.

this is very true! i know this for a fact :yipi:

apple!? :rofl: they charge 100$ just to look at the ipod and another 50$ for the parts! castle is much better at this than apple

I had that happen to mine. It is part of the risk of bashing. (love those rooster tail of cut grass). If you don't want things to break race on carpet. I just blew it out with canned air.

well, I accidentally jumped in my pool with my IPhone in my pocket, and they ended up replacing it for free . . . (kind of a long story about HOW I got it replaced for free -- but they did take really good care of me.)

Considering it was COMPLETELY my fault, I think they took real good care of me. (Actually, the REAL story is about the 19 year old girl who was trying to THROW me into the pool... but I digress...)

Did you threaten them with a fully loaded MMM powered vehicle?:rofl:

that is my ordeal with yal! oops i said it! im doomed! except for the pool part:lol:

Lol we destroyed 2 phones in the same way and another went out the window of the car and was run over by a truck on the same trip a few weeks ago. Fun times, expensive trip.

[QUOTE=Pdelcast;229555] and there isn't a fan wire issue on the V3./QUOTE]

I respectfully disagree. One of my V3's had damage to the fan wires "out of the box". I did not open the units until I saw a pic on this forum of a V3 with stripped wire "out of the box". I seriously doubt that people who have been waiting (some for months) will send you back a V3 for stripped fan wires when they could fix it themselves & not wait for weeks again with nothing to run their cars. I would add that just because people are not sending the units back for fan wires does not mean there is no problem. I would also like to take this time to apologize for my rant earlier in this thread. Sorry.

1) can we see a picture of the new v3 case, as it seems some v3s that people have been sent (replacements for dead v2s) have the same case design as before, and the same bullet connectors; the v3 was ment to have bullets for the motor wires, but just wires for the battery connections I believe...

2) it was freshly mown, wet grass actually :mdr: Being a public park, and the only place for me to run my truck where I live, I had no choice about the grass being mown just before I arrived. Still, the V1 MMM survived just fine, as did the fan, even though it was stalled the whole run. Some kind of mesh would be nice, but I think people should just put a stocking over the esc to keep out large debris, and still allow airflow; kinky...

the wires in my fan were pinched so bad that the fan wouldnt work, the only reason i didnt send it back is bacause i didnt pay $150 to just turn around and send in my mmm before i ever got to run it, and then have wait 5 weeks or more

my fix for it was an external fan hooked up to my external bec.

you know instead of just saying that the bullets touching the heat sink wount be a problem, wouldnt it just be easyer for castle to install the bullets so that they dont touch the heat sink?

alot of us have just moved them over so im sure it wouldnt be that hard to make them that way?

So should I worry about putting a V3 case on my brand new V2? I've e-mailed Christy @ CC(10-31) and have yet to receive a reply. Don

I little tip on opening the MMM case, use a small hex driver, like 1.5mm or 2mm. If you have a few of these drivers it is easier. Start on one corner and lightly push the driver into the slot on the case. Then push another driver lightly on the other side slot on the same corner. That should pop that corner of the lower case loose slightly. Using your fingernail hold it open and carefuly release the clots with the drivers will lightly pulling on the lower case. Very easy to do and you will not distort the case or come close to the pcb.

I should have included this instruction with my fan wiring mod info.

Patrick, I have to say that the fan wire routing on all 4 of my various MMMs left a little to be desired. All 4 were crimped, including the v3 replacement (with v2 case) that was sent to me. When I installed the v3 case it still crimped the fan wire. So I fixed the issue, and pointed it out, only to help!

I do understand that most people do not have the ability or common sense to get the MMM case open, and completely understand that you have to "cover your ass" if you receive a damaged unit, just good business there.

Evidence.
 

19 YEARS OLD EAH??? Someone has got it going on:yipi:. I don't suppose your like 20 to 21 are you Patrick???:whistle: Just checking...:lol:

i use a key for my riding mower to get mine open.

I don't think it's feasible to even try to attain a scale speed for an R/C model. I mean, first of all, what's the point? Second, any estimate will be wayyy off because there are too many variables to account for. For example, take the Thrust SSC vehicle. It can travel at up to 763 mph. A vehicle which is an exact 1/10 scale replica (size, shape, weight, power:weight) would ALSO be able to travel at 763 mph! Now, that certainly does not mean that the "scale" speed of that model would be 7630 mph? Right?