Burned out stock motor and ESC last night!!

[Team Jericho]

Well, after all the posts and excitement, I went out last night and 10 minutes later burned out the port side stock engine and ESC!!

The boat is brand new and I have less than 75 minutes of run time on it since I bought it "NEW" a few weeks ago!! There was electrical smoke everywhere and I was concerned about the Lipos also blowing-up in some kids face..total safety hazard and liability the way this boat is sold stock. I had an electrical engineer go over the stock boat and he wonders if the design has even seen the eye of of a qualified electrician/engineer. Hobby is a bobby, but so many problems, one after the other and I am pissed off after spending more than $1,200 in boat and related equipment, parts etc. :mad:

I have since written a long letter to Venom this morning and wait for their response and I do NOT want them just to send me another stock/crap motor and ESC. Enough is enough. The stock version should never be recommended, marketed and promoted as being able to handle even 3Ss in the first place...nevermind 4Ss like in their misleading Youtube promo video.

Sell it honestly and straight-up as a bloody toy to kids rated with 2Ss, and everything else above should be custom and at owners risk/expense. All else is misleading and not upfront. Not everyone who buys the EKOS are rocket scientists, they want to enjoy their day on the water and are will to pay for this but this experience is borderline rediculous now.

I will keep you guys posted on what Venom do and say :Praying:

[Team Jericho]

Got the response from Venom back....classic! I bought the boat April 7th and used it for a total of less than 75 minutes since then.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Hello Peter,
This email comes as a shock as in all previous correspondence there has been no mention of any defects. I am sorry but we are not going to be able to refund the purchase price of the boat as this is only offer on new and unused goods. Secondly, unfortunately we will be unable to replace the boat because as stated in a previous email the boat has been crashed.
Our warranty for all electronic components is 30 days and assuming you are within this time we can certainly have a look at the motor and esc for possible warranty coverage.
Please advise.








Thank you




Jason Koneval
Venom Group International
14028 N Ohio St
Rathdrum, ID 83858

[Doby]

So you crashed the boat?

[Team Jericho]

well.. |I "beached" the boat on some rocks during a race the other week..ok I was sideblinded but also the steering was off and could not get out of a rihgt turn, the stock rudder mechanism is "flimsy"/crap as you well know...I ordered a replacement rudder mechanism from Venom, it arrived today at my LHS and the intake tubes are so much thinner and smaller than my existing ones?? I doubt they will even touch the water and the small stock hoses will be too bif for them!! WTF is going on with Venom?

Major head ache so far with Venom, emailing back and forth all day, not honoring the 90 day warranty on their website, they say the website needs to be "updated" which I find ludicrous. I am a businessman so we see what develops tomorrow...if I invoiced Venom for my time already invested at what I charge my own clients that would be shocked!

Wish I has ordered this boat from Hobby King at the start :

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=11246&Product_Name=Apparition_Offshore_Brushless_RC_Twin _Hull_(800mm)

Go put it in your shopping cart and see what price you get ;)

[gramsi]

Bad news from Austria! For one month, rain and bad weather! Today, the first trip with my Venom C1 ..... after 8 minutes of a burnt motor and esc .... great !!!!
I had read much about this boat, but unfortunately also took advantage of the reading and prepare anything ... I am very disappointed!

Sad greetings

Walter from Tirol

[BHChieftain]

Really sorry to hear that. I did a ton of research on that boat as I really liked the hull and I have read countless stories like this one. I will NEVER buy a boat from venom...

It is not even the fact that the motor and esc might have a high failure rate-- it is stories of horrendous customer service, ridiculous pre-announcements to bait buyers to order months before the product is ready, and lack of support for spare parts...

Traxxas, on the other hand is unbelievably fantastic. I have a traxxas blast that I submerged by tossing it in the water upside down (don't ask...), and the esc burned out. The boat was out of warranty and I called them to order a new esc (which was 50 bucks). They told me to instead to send the boat in and they would repair it and send it back for 15 bucks-- this is a lifetime service! I also had a motor overheating problem and they replaced that for me at no charge... And they also tossed in a free cooling kit.


Chief

[Team Jericho]

Servus Walter! I know your area quite well as I used to live in Germany, have spent time in Sud-Tirol. Well, we all have the same problem with the EKOS. Having more than 15 years of experience in the "real" boat business both here in North America and in Europe, I have written Venom and have given them much "free" advise, who knows if they will listen. I blew my first motor after less than 75 min. of run time..now have 2 x Feigao 9XLs on order plus other parts. Fact is, this stock ECOS should only run on 2S at most, the stock motors are "Scheiss". We live, we learn. Venom did not honor the 90 day warranty posted on their website..they tell me "sorry, we forgot to make that change to our website"! I told them that if no proper solution is found that I will inform the BBB(Better Business Bureau), they offer me 50% off one of their replacement motors! Idioten, oder nicht? Also I will never buy anything more from Venom unless I have to, like to a spare part I cannot get anywhere else.
PS: Make sure you buy a really good hex tool kit and tighten every single screw on your EKOS, especially the shaft couplings, applying blue lock tight wherever possible. Also make sure your cooling hoses are long enough, especially near front of ESC..if these are too short from the factory, they will kink and no water will go into ESC and thus motor...also make sure the water intakes are sufficiently lowered such that they are at same level as the middle of the propellor shaft. Mine were too high when I got it and that also caused problems.
Machts gut!

[gramsi]

Servus aus Tirol! Thank you for your email! Because of the bad weather in the Tyrol, I could not inaugurate the boat 1 month ", but had much time to read the forum .... I actually followed all the advice and everything checked and replaced screws, etc.! 3S batteries have deliberately bought because 4S batteries do not work anyway! However, only 8 minutes is a joke! Are the Feigao 9XLs the best solution?

And of course, is a guarantee to America not even funny .....

PS: Kannst du Deutsch schreiben, oder bist du schon zu Lange in USA... :) ?

Greetings Walter

[Team Jericho]

After many, many hours of research on forms and advice from other EKOS owners, I think that 9XLs are the best solution, also somehwhat more reliable but apparently not sacraficing speed...should runner fast than stock! I am waiting for the motors to arrive next week and will keep you posted. Ich kann auch Deutsch schreiben aber nicht so gut wie vorher. Ich bin Kanadier und habe 12 Jahre in Deutschland gewohnt bis 2004 :)

[gramsi]

Then I'm already looking forward to your review with the new engines! Replace the ESC you too?

[VIKOS]

might not need to replace the esc could be the crappy kv of the venoms..either way I will never buy from venom again but the hull is awesome no doubt but again it wasn't made by venom so go figure...

[Team Jericho]

Yes, the 60 Amp ESCs should be fine for the 9XLs. I will let you know.

[gramsi]

Was in my workshop, the ESC is also broken! If one of the still functioning engine (by the way, it also runs very "restless"), the ESC beeps and the motor runs only very briefly .... Everything *!***!***!***!**!

[VIKOS]

Was in my workshop, the ESC is also broken! If one of the still functioning engine (by the way, it also runs very "restless"), the ESC beeps and the motor runs only very briefly .... Everything *!***!***!***!**!

Clean your connectors from the ECU to the reciever..corrosion likes to get on the three metal tabs causing glitch's in the system..every time I turned the controller wheel the props would spin like the controller was switched bac kwords but there is no feature like that on the controller. Once I cleaned of some corrision..BAM..brand new and working great.:thumbup1: