When can we expect the Mamba XL in stores again?
 

I know castle is sending out the replacements these days, but those of us who didn't buy the v1, who is looking to buy the v2. Does anybody know when we can expect them back in stock in the stores?

Tower has them in stock now:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXBRBB&P=ML

I am more interested in the current lead time in upgrading the MMMXL to VS2. I know that it states on their site that lead repair times are three weeks but does that also refer to MMMXL. Just don't want to be without a working ESC for too long. Considering I have to send it half way around the world, then for it to come back to me and if it was to sit there for ages would be really pointless. Would be nice if someone from Castle chimed in.

Spare
 

If it were me I would buy a spare to use and then send the other one in for repair/exchange. This way when it comes back you have something to fall back on should anything happen to the one in your vehicle.

Not everyone can just shell out another $300.00 just to have a spare controller. To me, all the people who have controllers out should get theirs before any new ones go to retailers. Of course this depending on you having already sent it in.

I love CC but the communication on this matter has been lackluster.

*Waiting until they get ALL the bugs worked out* :yes:

Yea, I'm waiting as well.

agreed thats just good business to handle it that way, its a real let down that many of us are waiting on them and they are sending batches to tower to sell, its a real let down honestly

Exactly. It's not about the money but more so why should I keep a spare? I haven't blown up a speed controller in years (few just died on me but no flames or smoke) and if I was to buy another MMMXL it would be going into another car for sure. It's kind of like saying "Buy a second 1:1 car in case your first one breaks down". Not really the way to go about it IMO.

I know Castle are hard at work trying to fix all these controllers and good on them for doing so. Just wished they would chime in more often and keep us a little bit better informed. Since my MMMXL works fine for now it would really suck having it sit on the bottom of a pile of other controllers waiting for it's turn to get fixed. That's all.

Not really fair.
 

Comparing an R/C car ($400-$2000) to a 1:1 vehicle ($16K - $30K) is hardly a fair comparison. But at the same time it all depends on your use of said vehicle. If you have a car that you drive to and from work on a daily basis having a spare engine is not the norm, because you expect this vehicle to stand up to the normal punishments of daily driving for quite some time due to the many years of history that has gone into the design, manufacturing, and testing of these vehicles.

On another hand if you are driving a Jeep that you take into the mountains every weekend and you beat the snot out of it, then having backup equipment is expected if you wish to continue this hobby. This is a hobby that is constantly going through changes with experimental equipment, and as we have all seen there are periodic failures due to missuse and even manufacturers faulty design or just bad components. Keeping spares is the norm in this hobby. If you do not then you are going to suffer some down time waiting for replacement parts.

This particular ESC has only been on the market for a short time and expecting CC to turn around repairs so quickly is just unrealistic. If there are any hardware or software issues related to this controller they are focused on resolving those first and foremost, because it just makes good business sense. I am sure that you would not want them to rush a replacement out to you just to have it die on you for the exact same reason. Communication is the key and I am surprized that Joe has not stopped in to respond, but in fact I have not seen him in here much at all lately. Try calling CC dirctly and talking with one of their reps.

Jerry the prices are not a consideration fact. To it seems like if I am going to have a duplicate of something sitting on the shelf in case the original dies then that means that I probably don't have much faith in that product or in what I am doing and neither is the case.
So going by your reasoning, anything that costs $300 or less in my house I should have a duplicate of?????? Kind crazy. I would need a second house. I really need my microwave oven but do I keep a second one in the garage in case the one on my kitchen bench packs it in?:no:

Also no one expects Castle to perform miracles, abolish world hunger, cure all cancer or even develop a new ESC without bugs on the first try. I (and I am sure others are with me on this) would just like to know what the lead time is for Mamba XL repairs/changeovers. No one is asking more than that.

I have emailed Castle a few times in last week and still no answer. I know they must be really busy with all this but their excellent customer service has lost some of it's shine in the last few months. Sorry but just how I feel.

Understand
 

Trust me I understand what your saying and can agree with you about customer service issues. We all have to deal with these issues in the R/C hobby from time to time. Once again your comparisons are way off base. If your microwave takes a crap you can just run down to Wal-Mart and pick up a new one for $100. If your TV dies they have them sitting on the shelf as well ready to be picked up at a moments notice. Even if your fridege goes belly up you can have one sitting in its place that very afternoon. But none of those things are expected to give out nearly as frequently as an R/C ESC due to the usage requirements. We are talking about having a backup for something you mght not be able to just jog on down to the local store and pick one up in the event that the one you are using dies. So please think about what you chose to compare this situation to. Having backup spare parts in this hobby is expected and in some cases required if you hope to be able to keep your vehicles running for the afternoon. So please stop trying to compare R/C electronics, which do fail periodically, to household appliances and 1:1 automobiles, because it just doesn't make any sense. If your concern is so great that you are dying for an answer from CC or anyone else for that matter than it only makes sense to have a spare in your R/C toolbox. Speaking of customer service have you tried calling them on the phone? I know the world has gone gaga over texting, tweeting, and even emailing for just about everythig these days, but some businesses still actually rely on telephone communications for its customer service outside of its doors. I am not trying to argue with anyone on how they run their R/C toolbox, but it only makes sense that if you have items that are hard to acquire or take time to replace due to warranty turn around time that you have a backup if it is all that important to your hobby habits. Regardless of ones driving habits, or how one thinks a piece of electronic equipment should perform these things do fail, and quite often in fact. If money is no object in this discussion I don't understand why you are even on here tryin to defend not having a spare ESC.

^ agreed Jerry.

My MambaXL v1 and v2 are still running fine. I'll wait a little longer before I send them in for MambaXL2's:intello:

Don't know where to start???? First of all I would never buy a crappy $100 microwave from Wal-mart. I paid nearly $400 for my microwave because I wanted a reputable brand, with all the features (convection oven), stylish and with a service center in my country. So a $100 crappy, Chinese no name brand isn't going to cut it for me. I am the same way with everything I buy. I would rather own one good thing than a house full of crap. Get it? So that is a reason why I went with Castle instead of MGM within regards to this ESC. Because they had better service and the ESC would do everything I needed it to. So now what? Buy another ESC, send my in and who knows how long it will take to get back to me??? You really don't see a problem with that? Maybe you have shares with Castle and just tell people to buy a back up. Probably not but at least that would explain to me your angle of view on this.
I DO NOT WANT TO BUY A SECOND MONSTER MAMBA XL!!! Get that. All I want is a bit of customer service that Castle is so renown for and a simple answer. Not expecting a new ESC to appear in front of out of thin air. You are giving me an answer I never asked for no do I care much to hear.

With regards to calling them I work during their business hours (also the time difference) and due to the nature of my job I can't have any electronics at all near me. I work with extremely flammable goods and not even allowed to have phone of any kind. Still even if I did why should I call them. Part of their customer service is their emailing facility. It sure as heck has worked before so why not now?

What no one is talking about here neither is that Castle is shipping new Monster Mamba XLs to stores before they have even taken care of everyone that had bought one already. I hope I am wrong here (I really do) but at least that is what it looks like to me and few others that are in the same boat. If it is the case that isn't just bad service, it is bad business practice. You don't think so? Well again, don't care because I think so.

Now for the part that really makes me mad. I sent Castle a BS question about a Sidewinder ESC from my brothers email account and received an answer less than 24hrs later. What does that say? Not sure but it looks like they might be getting sick about people asking questions about their HV line of ESCs. Remember also these are the same ESCs that Castle was dismissing claims that there was anything wrong with them at all not that long ago and few short months later a blanket recall. Hmmmmmm..... Starting to think I made a bad purchase decision. I think I will run the ESC till it drops it's guts (if it does) and then look for another brand. Not saying that it will be better customer service or that grass is greener on the other side but right now I don't see a reason to give them my hard earned.

I wont discuss this topic any more because I had all I wanted to say. If Castle want to respond, good. If not, I really feel as though I don't care anymore. Over and out.

Well, let me see if I can put this in perspective --

Please be aware that we have shipped over 55,000 ICE HV "style" controllers in the last three years. Every single one of these controllers needs to be updated.

This takes a while. We have to build new control boards for each and every one of those controllers. On top of that, about 10% of the controllers we receive need to be completely replaced because they are damaged in some way.

The Mamba XL is basically the same ESC as the Phoenix-ICE160HV. They share the same control board. So they are in the same queue as the ICE160HV.

While we would love to be able to replace every single controller on the same day we receive them, we simply can't do it. Right now, it's taking anywhere from six weeks to twelve weeks to run through the queue.


At the same time, we are trying to keep the company in business... It wouldn't do anyone any good if we bankrupted the company. Last month was our single largest month for sales, and we had a significant loss -- due to the fact that warranty costs (recall costs) exceeded profits by a significant margin.

We also have to consider that we OEM to several other companies -- and they also need to stay in business. We have to keep our OEM production continuing without interruption because other companies rely on us to keep their production lines running... And we also need to make sure that our dealers and distributors have product to sell. They also rely on us to make a living. When dealers can't sell cars or helicopters because they can't get controllers for them, it hurts the entire hobby, and the hobby business.

For your question you emailed about -- please be aware that our tech support guys don't know status on recalled product. We have four people working tech support. When they get questions about recall status, they forward the request to our people who are handling the recall. Right now, I've told the recall people to concentrate on getting the recalled units repaired and replaced, and not to spend all their time responding to requests for status on recalled units. I understand this will piss some people off -- because they can't get status on their recalled units. But I think it's more important to get the recalled units returned as quickly as possible. I've asked people who absolutely CAN'T wait, and need status, to PM me directly on forums. I try to take care of the requests personally.


So, we are asking our customers to please, please bear with us. This is an extremely difficult task for us ... we are recalling and replacing three years worth of ESC production, and trying to keep our business (and our customers' businesses) viable at the same time. It's a monumental task for us to take on.

Patrick,

all i can say is, there are not much companys replacing 3 year old products like Castle does
Most other wait until they break

Customer Support is not an deparment, it is an attitude
seen @ Castle Creations

makes me forget the 6-7 weeks waiting on the MXL coming back

Thank to everybody @ Castle

Just want to chime in and say my $100 Wal-Mart microwave has lasted several years with no issues. :smile:

Just curious I send in 2 x MMMs, 2 x CC Becs and an XL - Do i have to wait for the XL or is the other stuff likely to come back sooner?

Cheers

If you spent $100 at walmart for a microwave, you got the super deluxe version - I think mine was $39 and is going strong after a few years. :yes:

Hey, when I buy, I go all out! :lol:

Chris, I'll check. I would guess that they normally would bundle the returns, so the repairs on the MMM and CCBec wouldn't happen until the repair on the XL was queued. But I can check for your specific case and see if we can get the MMMs and CCBECs done earlier.

Thanx!

Thanks Patrick - I'll happily pay postage to not wait... I'd have put them in separate boxes if I'd known...

I kept one XL in my Baja and its running like a champ...

:lol:if it makes you feel better my $700 GE microwave has a bad board for the light and power vent......it lasted a year:lol:

now thats getting what you pay for!

lol, sometimes I don't get why there is such a disparity in price between products. A microwave is a fairly simple device when you break it down. Sure, the high-end models may have special timers/features which may come in handy occasionally, but I use the "30 second" button mostly (hitting it multiple times for cumulatively longer times). The power level and size is plenty for normal stuff - meaning I don't try to cook a 20lb turkey in it. Other than that, what kind of features do you get for an extra $600??

For 600 bucks more you get a remote control, bearings on the door hinges and gold plated aluminum door handle. The instruction manual comes on a Bluray disk. The bricks come in a seperate box, for those that like to melt gold in their microwave.

I forgot to mention the flame stickers and 150C power button.

Ahh flame stickers. They are worth 100's

That's the only button on my $39 microwave I've ever used.

My wife: "how much do you think this weighs so I can defrost it"
Me: "just hit the start button a few times and it will be fine"

Other important info about start (+30sec) button:
- reheat coffee: hit 2 times for perfect temp
- cook veggies for kids: hit 2 times (if not done, hit 2 more times)
- microwave popcorn: hit it many many times because it's a cheap and not so powerful microwave and you don't want it to shut off in the middle
- melt cheese on anything: hit 1 time
- reheat coffee that was left in the microwave from the last time and I forgot where I put it and finally remembered I had heated it up a couple hours ago: hit 2 times for perfect temp

its a hanging model and it has alot of bells a whistles, was it worth $700 mostlikely not, am i going to cook a turkey in it? no, but its always nice to know i could if i wanted to:lol:

do we need brushless power....no come on nitro was fine:diablo:

if you want to see what it is here you go
http://products.geappliances.com/App...ku=PVM2070SMSS

now that they are discontinued they are cheaper :whip:

now we are off topic!

Well, mine is obviously more basic. They don't make it anymore either:

http://products.geappliances.com/App...ku=WES1130DMBB

Only 1.1 cu ft, but big enough for what we use it for.

And no, we don't "need" brushless power, but I'm not going to pay an extra $500+ for a diamond-encrusted gold-plated heatsink. :smile:

Thanks Patrick. If I received an email back with just those words I would have been very much satisfied with that. Also thanks for taking the time to write such a lengthy post to explain the current situation and put some rumors to rest. It's a bit hard to know what is going on when there isn't much info about.

The reason why I really wanted to find out the turnaround time is that I don't get all that much time for RC's due to work but I have four weeks off during the Christmas/New Year break. I want to run my Rc's as much as possible during my break. I wanted to see if it was possible to get the Mamba XL upgraded in time for my summer break but now I know that isn't a possibility. I'll just chance it and run it over summer and send it in to you guys when I get back to work.

I think it would be nice if you guys just checked in once a month and just give us a very basic update on the HV recall. I am going to put up your post on some of the Aussie forums so hopefully people will be better informed on what is going on and you will hopefully receive a few less emails. LOL.

Also sorry to hear about you guys posting a loss but I am sure things will turn around once the Mamba XL2 and other HV ESC's prove them selves and the whole expense of the recall is behind you. I am sure if it.

We go through 5 or 6 cheap microwaves a year at work. Thats whats put me off buying a cheapy. I know they get a lot of use but I still thought they were dying rather too quickly. They always seem to breakdown at the worst possible times. During my lunch break.:grrrrrr:

Anyway the reason I paid so much for my microwave was when I stayed at a friends house for a week (looked after his dogs while he was OS) I fell in love with his microwave.:love: It has more features than a space shuttle but I really liked the sensor cooking. Hit start and the oven it self will work the rest out. And it did so perfectly every time. Also while it is an microwave oven it is also a convection oven. It will also roast. A whole chicken perfectly cooked with crispy skin and all under 15min. I thought it was well worth the money and have no regrets paying for it. My old microwave I took to work where some idiot tried to microwave a doughnut wrapped in aluminum foil in it. No prizes for guessing what happened next. :no:

Wife
 

I guess some of us are just lucky that way. I buy the middle grade model and let the wife do the rest while I sit and watch a good game or a race. I can even get a good massage, and more if I push the right buttons.:party::whistle::intello::yes::rofl::lol:

My microwave is 1,000 watts. You need at least 1,000 watts to pop a bag of popcorn properly. If it is less than that you get unpopped kernels in the bag. If you try to microwave it longer to ensure all of the kernels are popped you end up burning the kernels that are popped. Isn't colonel an odd word? It is pronounced the same as kernel, but spelled completely differently. One time I was behind a couple at KFC. The man ordered a "colonial" chicken sandwich. He was so dumb he pronounced colonel "colonial". As if chicken sandwiches helped colonize people to later form the states. That's not even the dumbest part. After the man completely botched the pronunciation, his wife said, "I'll have the colonial chicken sandwich too". It was the cheapest item on the menu. I don't know what that has to do with anything, it's just a fact. I have a friend that is convinced KFC grows headless hybrid chickens in test tubes. He absolutely will not eat KFC chicken. He doesn't believe in the moon landing either. I have another friend that I went to the KFC buffet with. I noticed he wasn't eating any chicken. I said WTF? He said, "I don't eat chicken with bones in it". I said, "what do you think there is a farm somewhere with boneless chickens that look liked deflated basketballs?". He didn't know what to say. Some people just don't understand how the world works.

"(One) day when I was chillin' in Kentucky Fried Chicken
Just mindin' my business, eatin' food and finger lickin'
This dude walked in lookin' strange and kind of funny
Went up to the front with a menu and his money
He didn't walk straight, kind of side to side
He asked this old lady, "Yo, yo, um...is this Kentucky Fried?"
The lady said "Yeah", smiled and he smiled back
He gave a quarter and his order, small fries, Big Mac!
You be illin' "

Wow Texas, that brings me back!!

SO BACK ON TOPIC,
If i was to purchase a Mamba XL of a ebay store now, would it be a updated one or one that has to be returnd to be updated. How would i know.

Yup, the days before it was all b!tches, garden hoes, and bustin caps. :lol:

The new ones have a big red 2 on them.

Edit: actually it looks like a small red 2:

http://www.castlecreations.com/products/mamba_xl2.html